I’m still suspicious about that Times article. But TPM Reader SC has his own theory …
Based on my experience, the discovery of vast natural resources in Afghanistan seems perfectly normal. I lived in Mongolia from ’94 to ’99 – the period when that country was emerging from 70+ years of Soviet control and discovering itself and the world. While the Soviets controlled Mongolia, they did “extensive” geological surveys and declared that there was nothing exciting – a little coal, a little gold, a little uranium, a fair amount of copper, but nothing world class. It was not until the country opened up and Canadian and American geologists intently surveyed the almost unpeopled stretches of back country that numerous world class finds in copper, gold, uranium were announced as well as lesser finds in oil and silver and iron, etc.
I don’t want to sound trite, but in my view the difference between Soviet and Western geological surveys came down to motivation. Sure there may have been some differences in technology that was available, but basically it was motivation: the Soviets geologists didn’t have a profit motive and the western geologists did. While I was living in Mongolia I had a chance to speak with a couple Mongolians who had gone along on Soviet geological surveys. They described them as memorable parties, where truly significant amounts of vodka were consumed and only the most cursory of surveys were undertaken. I compare this with my conversations with Canadian geologists, who came back to the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, shaking their heads at what the Soviets missed.
With this perspective, and given the remote and hostile nature of the Afghan back country, it is easy to understand how truly major mineral deposits would be turned up by a geologic survey that was profit-motivated.
