Natural resources in Afghanistan : geographic and geologic perspectives on centuries of conflict

572 Pages·2014·106.811 MB·English

by  John F Shroder

Natural
Resources in
Afghanistan
Geographic and Geologic
Perspectives on
Centuries of Conflict
John F. Shroder
Senior Research Scholar
Center for Afghanistan Studies
Emeritus Professor of Geography and Geology
University of Nebraska
Omaha, NE 68182
AmsterdAm • Boston • HeidelBerg • london • new York • oxford • PAris
sAn diego • sAn frAncisco • singAPore • sYdneY • tokYo
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shroder, John F., 1939-
Natural resources in Afghanistan : geographic and geologic perspectives on centuries
of conflict / John F. Shroder. -- First edition, 2014.
pages cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-12-800135-6 (alkaline paper) 1. Natural resources--Afghanistan.
2. Economic geography--Afghanistan. 3. Afghanistan--Economic conditions.
4. Agricultural geography–Afghanistan. 5. Water-supply--Afghanistan. I. Title.
HC417.5.S57 2014
333.709581--dc23
2014005299
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-12-800135-6
Printed and bound in China
For information on all Elsevier publications
visit our web site at store.elsevier.com
14 15 16 17 18 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Afghan carpet picture courtesy of Richard Pratt, Emmett Eiland’s Oriental Rug Company,
Berkeley, CA
Dedication
To the young children of Afghanistan—may you grow up into a decent and
healthy environment of expanding horizons brought about by the wise and
beneficial exploitation of your tremendous natural resource base. Allah seems
to have given your region (Afghanistan) a great and good quantity and qual-
ity of natural resources to make your lives better, providing that your elders
have the wisdom to exploit the resources properly.
Professor John F. Shroder—October 2013.
Bismullah!
Dedication from Abdul Yaseer
and Sher Jan Ahmadzai in Dari
The people of Afghanistan have been blessed by Allah with a huge natural
resource base of minerals and oil and gas, which if exploited properly with
modern methods while protecting the natural surface environment, would
make them rich beyond belief. Wise selling of their own resources to raise
their level of living must have been the plan that Allah had for the people of
Afghanistan. Bismullah, that they be allowed this blessing.
vii
Dedication
viii
Acknowledgments
This book is a product of fascination with the enigmatic but enormously hospi-
table people of Afghanistan, coupled with the unusual historical circumstances
that have led to the special conditions of the modern Afghanistan. Many people
and institutions over the years have helped to accrue the necessary knowledge
on Afghanistan and motivate the author to keep at it even when the situation
was not particularly conducive to continuation. Afghanistan is a difficult place
to work, in large part because of threats from polluted water, lurking patho-
genic organisms, baksheesh-ridden and crooked bureaucracies, as well as life-
threatening driving on tortured roads, not to mention the great danger from
the murderous terrorists who imagine themselves to be some sort of religious
freedom fighters. But such difficulties aside, the effort to do this book was well
worth it because of the opportunities to show possibly realistic opportunities for
things to actually get better for the people who value life, rather than the more
death-loving Islamicist dimwits who operate so much in the region. Mankind
seems to have many possible paths to failure and Afghanistan has more than
most, while it also slyly teases at the possibilities of some success. Great thanks
are due to the many people and institutions over the past four decades for the
opportunity to work on this fascinating place.
A number of institutions gave considerable encouragement and funding to
study Afghanistan. This especially includes the US Agency for International
Development (USAID) who first provided the author direct (Atlas of Afghani-
stan) funding though the US National Foundation, and most recently indirectly
(Hindu Kush and Himalayan glaciers) through the US National Academy of Sci-
ences. Unusual open-ended funding from the National Geographic Society also
helped recently to contribute to the author’s plentiful travel and stays in South
Asia to gather some of the information and make contact with a few of the
people needed. Early on, the American Geological Institute which publishes
the Geotimes/Earth had asked for Afghanistan resource information within the
context of the Cold War. The author had responded then, and a number of
times since, as political conditions in Afghanistan have changed (Shroder, 1987,
2003, 2004, 2009, 2013). The most recent two of these articles were under the
guidance of Managing Editor, Megan Server, at Earth, which are the publication
opportunities for which great thanks are due. Many thanks are also extended
to personnel at various times in the US Geological Survey (Jack Medlin, Ritchie
Willams, Jane Ferrigno, Bruce Molnia, Jeff Kargel, Cal Ruleman, Hugh Kieffer,
Craig Wandry, and John SanFilipo), who all provided help at various times.
Financing from NASA to Michael Bishop and the author for the Global Land
Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) Regional Center for Southwest Asia
(Afghanistan and Pakistan) was most welcome.
ix
Acknowledgments
Other encouragement and funding has long come from the Center for Afghani-
stan Studies (CAS) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), which has
been the author’s main place of employment since first coming there in 1969
from employment at the University of Malawi in East Africa. In 1972, Christian
Jung and the author had started the CAS at UNO (Figure 1), in part because of
recognition of the great potential that Afghanistan had to provide interesting
research for young professors. Little did the author realize! But Chris died of a
rare blood disease a year later and the author realized that help was needed if
the CAS was to become a lasting entity. With the accompanying support of the
UNO administration, great help came in the person of Thomas Gouttierre, a
former Peace Corps teacher in Afghanistan in the 1960s, who was the director
of AFAMEC (Afghan American Educational Commission) in Kabul in the 1970s,
where he ran the Fulbright program. Although he took considerable convincing
to move to the middle of flatland USA, he was finally prevailed upon to run the
nascent program. The result was transformative as Tom was able to transfuse
high energy and plentiful Kabul and Washington associations into the CAS. This
he did to bring UNO into active participation just as the country of Afghani-
stan was achieving a peak of Cold War competition between the USA and the
USSR. Chancellor Del Weber and the late Vice Chancellor Otto Bauer at UNO
also gave the author great support for years, even while their successors in later
years did not quite seem to realize or care that Afghanistan really did matter as
much as it many thought that it did. With my retirement to Emeritus status in
2011 and reappointment as the Senior Research Scholar at the CAS enabled
continuation of the work through renewed grant monies.
Drafting of the various graphics in this book came from many sources but spe-
cial thanks goes to former students, Mr Brandon Weihs, now a doctoral candi-
date at Kansas State University. Professor Breckle gave permission to republish
a number of his excellent graphics in Chapter 4 as well, for which he is greatly
thanked.
The Afghans who helped along the way are too numerous to mention but a
few who are especially noteworthy are former student Lutfullah Safi, as well as
Professor (later Rector), Hamidullah Amin, Drs Ismael Burhan and Abdul Yaseer,
and Sher Jan Ahmadzai. Ms Sahista Wahab, the head of our Arthur Paul Afghan-
istan Library collection, has looked after the author’s Afghanistan maps and files
very well for years.
Finally, dear wife, Susie Nye, has supported me through the thick and thin
on production of this book, and I truly must say that had she not given me
all the uncompromising business acumen and culinary expertise and effort to
keep me contented, this work could not have been done. I am madly grate-
ful! Grandson John Ficenec seems to have bitten into the fruit of knowledge
too, as he seeks to become a photographer/writer in the mode of his grand-
father. And finally, to my little namesake grandson, Henry Shroder Stubbe,
x
Acknowledgments
I wish you such a bright life because you kept me laughing all through the
writing of this work.
References
Shroder Jr., J.F., March 1987. Afghanistan resources and the Soviet Union. Geotimes 32, 4–5.
Shroder Jr., J.F., October 5, 2003. Reconstructing Afghanistan: nation building or nation failure?
Geotimes.
Shroder, J., October 2004. Afghanistan redux: better late than never? Geotimes, 34–8.
Shroder Jr., J.F., 2009. Saving Afghanistan: redevelopment one resource at a time. Earth 54
(7), 38–47.
Shroder, J.F., September 2013. Building resource corridors in Afghanistan: a solution to an
interminable war? Earth, 25–31.
xi
Foreword
Timeliness, content, context are essential to any study of a nation as storied and
complex as Afghanistan. John (Jack) Shroder effectively employs each of these
qualities in his book, Natural Resources of Afghanistan.
Following decades of war and destruction, it is the right time for a penetrating
examination of Afghanistan’s natural resources as that nation continues its diffi-
cult reconstruction with anticipated reduced assistance from international part-
ners. Natural Resources of Afghanistan provides the historical and social context
that enables both the scholar and the casual reader the means to understand
the problems and opportunities facing Afghans at this crucial juncture.
The depth and length of Professor Shroder’s commitment to the study of a
singular country’s natural resources are most uncommon. The result is a book
rich in content regarding what only a few scholars and intelligence person-
nel understood—Afghanistan possesses natural resources substantial enough,
if properly exploited and used, to underwrite significant portions of its future
rebuilding and development.
I first met Jack Shroder in the winter of 1973–1974. A member of a delegation
from the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO), he and three colleagues arrived
in snow-bound Kabul several days behind schedule, after a rather harrowing
journey. (Jack describes this trip in the Preface.)
I was then the Executive Director of the Afghan-American Education Commis-
sion, which oversaw Fulbright and other education exchanges between the USA
and Afghanistan. I was in charge of coordinating the schedule of the UNO del-
egation, which had been reduced to 3 days due to the delayed arrival. One of
the delegation’s objectives, in which it was successful, was to persuade me to
move to UNO to head up that institution’s newly created Center for Afghani-
stan Studies. Thus was born a professional and personal association between
Jack and myself that has now spanned an uninterrupted four decades.
Jack’s challenging personal introduction to Afghanistan must have appealed
to his geoscience nature. He set aside previous focuses on the geology of
Malawi and tree rings in Utah and invested himself fully into research regarding
Afghanistan.
He pursued his commitment to Afghanistan Studies with what at times seemed
a curmudgeonly dedication. His efforts contributed to the growth, reputation,
and reach of the Center for Afghanistan Studies; and, Jack became an interna-
tionally recognized authority on Afghanistan’s earth sciences.
Jack’s second trip to Afghanistan was no less inauspicious than his first. The
recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, he was obliged to leave Kabul, like many
xiii
Foreword
other Americans, due to a pro-Soviet coup and the changed political climate.
He returned to the area on another Fulbright Fellowship in 1983–1984 to work
with Kabul University colleagues in exile in Pakistan. Jack took full advantage
of these new surroundings to begin research on the Karakoram Range and
regional glacial and water studies. Since then, he has made numerous trips to
South Asia to collaborate with Pakistani, Indian, and Nepalese scholars.
Since 9/11, Jack has returned several times to Afghanistan to reestablish con-
nections and to begin collaboration on research with a new generation of
Afghan earth scientists. Due to his experiences in South Asia, Jack has also been
instrumental in facilitating research dialogue and activities between Afghans
and other scholars in South Asia.
The expanse and diversity of these experiences have enhanced the breadth of
knowledge Jack has been able to incorporate into his research efforts and is
now able to share with others in the Natural Resources of Afghanistan.
The scholar will appreciate the sections that focus on Afghanistan’s environ-
ment and resource base, and their relationship to development; others will
appreciate how Jack has tied the resources together with history and global pol-
itics. All will be interested in the scenarios, both optimistic and pessimistic, that
Jack paints regarding Afghanistan’s utilization of its natural resources in future
development.
Natural Resources of Afghanistan is an engaging scholarly read, containing inter-
esting facts and anecdotes, as well as critical scientific information. Jack’s writ-
ing style is sometimes brusque, at other times, delightfully colorful; it is always
entertaining, fully cited, and scientifically sound.
Natural Resources of Afghanistan is a major contribution to the study of Afghani-
stan. It affords all readers an informed look into a country whose natural and
human resources are generally underestimated, into a nation often misrepre-
sented and misunderstood, into a proud and independent people who take
pride in their reputation for the hospitality they eagerly provide their friends.
Thomas E. Gouttierre
Senior Officer for Global Engagement
Dean, International Studies and Programs
Director, Center for Afghanistan Studies
University of Nebraska Omaha
xiv
Preface
Capt Henry Drummond, a member of the British 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry who
was part of the invasion force into Afghanistan in 1839, described his geologi-
cal rambles through the wildest parts of the country to conduct a first Western
mineral survey (Drummond, 1841). He found abundant green stains and dif-
ferent ores of copper at Aynak and elsewhere, some of which rivaled the great
deposits of Chile at the time, as well as rich veins of iron ore, both deposits
of which in 2013 have new mines finally contracted and planned after more
than a century and three quarters later. Although many of his countrymen
viewed Afghanistan as an unruly place, where a man could not stir many yards
from his home or tent without the risk of being assassinated, Drummond wan-
dered without arms and lived among the people on many occasions. He was
of the opinion that in any attempt to develop the resources of the country,
an acquaintance with the character of the inhabitants was a matter of serious
consideration. He thought that given the keen commercial spirit of the nation,
if the Afghans could be convinced of British friendship, then no end of good
things could happen. Mining, he felt—not the gun—offered the best hope to
pacify the territory and win over the Afghans.
“Give them, however, but constant employment, with good wages and regular pay-
ment; encourage a spirit of industry, both by precept and example; let strict justice
be dealt out to them without respect of persons; and we shall shortly see their swords
changed into plowshares, industry take place of licentiousness, and these people be
converted into peaceable and useful subjects,”
Drummond opined.
But the Afghans were not keen on the idea of handing over their minerals to
occupiers, or for that matter, on tolerating the British occupation itself for much
longer. A year later the Afghans massacred most of the British army who had
remained in country after Drummond had gone back to India.
If more people had paid attention to Drummond long ago, things might
be very different today. As Karr (1849) first noted at about the same time,
“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” The more things change the
more they remain the same. Indeed, in Afghanistan the irony is that the issue
of its natural resources appears to have been an item of some attention for
a rather long time. This book is an assessment of many of the aspects of
Afghanistan that are responsible for the situation in which the country finds
itself today. It is possible that these resources, which as can be seen from
Drummond’s early words, may be at least a partial solution to Afghanistan’s
future betterment.
xv