• This tragedy negatively impacts our ability to continue serving the Afghan people. We hope it will not stop our work that benefits over a quarter of a million Afghans each year.
• A message on International Assistance Mission’s Web site • Regarding the deaths of at least ten of its medical staffers in northeastern Afghanistan. The deaths, mostly of Americans, were apparently brutal – each were individually shot in what was called a robbery. Two Afghans on the team survived. source

• In this incident several insurgents were killed and I can tell you that the security perimeter was not breached and the insurgents were being stopped by Afghan and ISAF forces very effectively.
• NATO spokesman Brigadier General Josef Blotz • Refuting claims by the Taliban that they killed dozens of Afghan and coalition fighters in the midst of a firefight outside Jalalabad’s Bagram Air Base. Instead, six Taliban solders were killed and two coalition soliders were wounded. The Taliban’s attack was flashy but ineffective – first a car bomb went off and then a bunch of insurgents tried to storm the air base, but never got close. source

• It’s this shepherd’s lucky day. He’s standing on so much lithium that he could power your laptop’s battery for decades to come. He doesn’t have to herd livestock in the worst place in the world anymore. There are $1 tRILLION dollars worth of precious metals to mine for. This is big. It could change the entire war and might even be enough to defang the Taliban, if it’s handled correctly. And it could make the value of Glenn Beck’s gold tip downward. (Thank God.) Some more details on the amazing find:

• $1
  trillion the amount of money the country is currently standing on
• $12
  billion the size of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product last year

Some obvious questions

• What’s down there? Lots of stuff, including iron, copper, cobalt, gold and lithium. An internal memo says Afghanistan could be the “Saudi Arabia of lithium.” Wow, nice metaphor.
• how long will it take? It might take a few years to put together the things needed to help Afghanistan take advantage of their vast resources. And the U.S. is already there.
• Current economic driver? Opium. Lots and lots of opium. Part of the reason terrorism is so strong in the region is because so much money comes from the opium trade and narcotics trafficking.

Did Afghanistan mine before?

• This is a country that has no mining culture. They’ve had some small artisanal mines, but now there could be some very, very large mines that will require more than just a gold pan.
• United States Geological Survey geologist Jack Medlin • On the sheer lack of mining history n the country. So why wasn’t this discovered before? Well, there were hints of it in prior Soviet-era documents, but for whatever reason, the potential was overlooked. No longer. The U.S. has spent too freaking long in this country not to start mining it for what it’s worth. It’s estimated that it’s going to take decades to reach their full potential of mining. This’ll be fun to watch. It’ll make their opium crops seem like a waste of time. source

• 1st try The Afghan leader submitted 24 names to the parliament last week. 17 were rejected. Wait, you mean they’re not in his pocket? Who forgot to bribe them?
• 2nd try Karzai’s second list, submitted today, is “a little better than the previous one – not a lot, but a little,” according to one critical Parliament member. Ouch. source

• 7,000 troops coming from NATO, too source

• 8+ Afghan security forces were killed in a bombing today source

• six United Nations workers were killed in the attack in Kabul today source

• 90+ people were killed in the airstrike early this morning source

• It’s a real hard thing to prove. Who is going to survive to testify about that? That is our challenge. But that doesn’t mean we stop trying. We want to get to the bottom of it.
• USAID Office of Inspector General representative Dona Dinkler • Regarding reports that some taxpayer money meant to go to rebuilding infrastructure, such as bridges and roads, in Afghanistan (currently at $7.5 billion between 2002 and now) has instead been funneled to the Taliban. Which should probably make a lot of taxpayers angry if it’s true. • source