Private War: Erik Prince Has His Eye On Afghanistan's Rare Metals
Source: Buzz Feed News
Controversial private security tycoon Erik Prince has famously pitched an audacious plan to the Trump administration: Hire him to privatize the war in Afghanistan using squads of "security contractors." Now, for the first time, Buzzfeed News is publishing that pitch, a presentation that lays out how Prince wanted to take over the war from the US military and how he envisioned mining some of the most war-torn provinces in Afghanistan to help fund security operations and obtain strategic mineral resources for the US.
... snip
Prince briefed top Trump administration officials directly, talked up his plan publicly on the DC circuit, and published op-eds about it. He patterned the strategy he's pitching on the historical model of the old British East India Company, which had its own army and colonized much of Britain's empire in India. "An East India Company approach," he wrote in the Wall Street Journal, "would use cheaper private solutions to fill the gaps that plague the Afghan security forces, including reliable logistics and aviation support."
But the details have never been made public. Here is the never-before-published slide presentation for his pitch, which a source familiar with the matter said was prepared for the Trump administration.
One surprising element is the commercial promise Prince envisions: that the US will get access to Afghanistans rich deposits of minerals such as lithium, used in batteries; uranium; magnesite; and "rare earth elements," critical metals used in high technology from defense to electronics. One slide estimates the value of mineral deposits in Helmand province alone at $1 trillion.
Read more: https://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/private-war-erik-prince-has-his-eye-on-afghanistans-rare?utm_term=.gjaYGJvXj#.rnz85kvzn
montanacowboy
(6,103 posts)the Trump Family
Such scum should walk the earth - I spit on them
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)ret5hd
(20,523 posts)What are ya gonna do, convert them all to Scientology?
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,621 posts)Retweeted by David Fahrenthold: https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold
BuzzFeed News is publishing the slide presentation by Erik Prince to privatize the Afghan war and mine Afghanistan's valuable minerals. He pitched the proposal to the Trump administration. Prince told BuzzFeed News, "You're a fucking hack."
https://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/private-war-erik-prince-has-his-eye-on-afghanistans-rare?utm_term=.ia4R9GgOm5#.rlYqnzpNlL @AramRoston
Link to tweet
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,369 posts)Ilsa
(61,698 posts)Is there any doubt he'll go after $1 trillion in rare minerals?
Dalton Mac
(76 posts)Dispensing apples to Adam and Eve.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)Page two- Don't capitalize every other word, and they are bullet points, you don't use periods
Page three- If you have mission statements, put the detailing sub-bullets under each statement as was done with #2, consistency
---Also, you have the first presence of acronym ANSF, this needs to be spelled out with the acronym in parentheses after. From there forward you can use the acronym as the reader knows what it means
Page four- Even worse, Now you have primary bullet points as their own bulleted items in bold with supporting text rambling after a colon
I could go on but more important things LOL
groundloop
(11,523 posts)What with losing a great Senator to what appears to be a smear campaign, 45* undoing every last accomplishment of President Obama's that he possibly can, and now these criminals laying plans to plunder another nation in the name of national security I just really can't take it any more. I'm ready for a break from politics for a little while.
I'll be back when I cast my vote for Doug Jones on Tuesday.
Initech
(100,104 posts)And leave the US out of it. They are a small minority that thinks they are god's gift to the earth and the sooner they go away, the better we will be.
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)potone
(1,701 posts)It has all been too much the last few days.
riversedge
(70,310 posts)umm.. I hope the Afgans run him out of the country.
Prince envisions: that the US will get access to Afghanistans rich deposits of minerals such as lithium,
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)resources for ourselves? Won't the Afghans have a little problem with that?
mopinko
(70,238 posts)my son is a rock hound. he has purchased many, many rare rocks on ebay. all kinds of unusual stuff is coming out of that region these days. whether they are coming from ordinary folks who are picking them up after explosions, or whether something more nefarious is afoot, i dont know.
he thinks soldiers are bringing home duffle bags full of rocks.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Ugh! Another Christian "Family Values" man.