for decades one of the most powerful forces holding down afghanistan has never changed. poverty. the nation s gross domestic product is $12 billion, much of it foreign assistance. but in our number one story tonight, with about 100,000 americans fighting there, what if underneath that nation s mountains lay a fortune in natural resources? a trillion dollars worth of fortune? since the soviet occupation, geologists have known of afghanistan s potential for mineral wealth, wealth that can be unearthed only by mining an industry afghanistan does not have, yet. now the new york times reports mr. karzai has been briefed about the findings of a survey by u.s. geologists and the pentagon indicating that afghanistan has far greater untapped natural resources than anyone knew, estimated at more than $1 trillion in minerals, oil and gas. the underground reserves were found in 2006 and -7 by aerial surveys using magnetic and other scanners on the ground below. the findings, the times reports,
afghanistan s potential for mineral wealth, wealth that can be unearthed only by mining an industry afghanistan does not have, yet. now the new york times reports mr. karzai has been briefed about the findings of a survey by u.s. geologists and the pentagon indicating that afghanistan has far greater untapped natural resources than anyone knew, estimated at more than $1 trillion in minerals, oil and gas. the underground reserves were found in 2006 and -7 by aerial surveys using magnetic and other scanners on the ground below. the findings, the times reports, ignored by both the u.s. and afghanistan governments until their discovery by a pentagon task force. while the timing of the story with the on-the-record cooperation from the pentagon, could help president obama generate support for the nine-year-old war, it could also fuel afghanistan s notorious corruption as well as taliban determination to fight on, now for the riches that are literally beneath their feet. the determination
team which did high-tech aerial surveillance to discover the extent of this massive potential wealth and found that afghanistan has deposits of iron and copper that could make it a major producer in the world and deposits of lithium that rival the large reserves in bolivia. lithium is used in batteries that power everyone s computers and blackberries. general david petraeus says there s stunning potential in that mineral wealth, martha. martha: how long would it take for them to start realizing that potential? it could take years, of course, because afghanistan has no industrial infrastructure. all that would have to be brought in. and it could be difficult politically as well. president hamid karzai, of course, he was recently briefed on all this, and corruption within his own government could be a problem. when china recently bid for a copper mine in afghanistan, afghanistan s minister of mines was accused of accepting a $30 million bribe. he s no longer in his job. on top of that,
good stuff falls in the wrong hands? like, say, the taliban? let s go to steve. is he live at the pentagon. steve, talk about it. yeah, jon. that s a major concern, of course, you know the taliban have been vying for control of the entire country against the u.s. and its allies. if there was this huge opportunity for a trillion dollars worth of mineral wealth, the tall badge might resurge even further than it has. on top of that, you might have tribal war lords and the disputed parts of the country. trying to get their hands on that mineral wealth, trying to get control of the mind. so that s a very serious problem. that s why there has to be security. security is only one of the problems. there is also corruption. the taliban or tribal war lords could siphon off all the profits and the people of afghanistan may never benefit. and they re the ones who need to see their economy turn around after 30 years of warfare and a very, very bad economy. other problems, too for those who might
contractors. today, iraq s parliament met for a few minutes in symbolic inaugural session. there is word today of hidden riches in afghanistan, no longer secret. national correspondent steve centanni tells us about an incredible fortune in a hard-to-get place. tower mountains and wide-open spaces give afghanistan a stark beauty and conceal a treasure trove of minerals. power force that is helping connect afghan government with developers that put a price tag on the vast mineral wealth, worth $1 trillion. all that copper, iron, gold, lithium may not be easy to extract. turning to the potential of the wealth to revenue will take years and mineral extraction faces numerous but not insurmountable challenges. one challenge is security.