Propaganda campaign in Afghanistan after minerals find?

The announcement of a big mineral find in Afghanistan this week turns out to be old news. It was revealed in 2007, but its recent repeat revelation appears to be politically motivated.

An article in the New York Times Monday reported that under Afghanistan's parched deserts lies nearly a $1 trillion in minerals. The minerals include iron, copper, cobalt, gold and lithium, a crucial element in computer batteries. But the Huffington Post reports that the story is neither new nor good. It turns out to be more or a propaganda campaign than real news. it It is true that there are minerals in Afghanistan but the U.S. Geological survey announced the discovery in 2007. The U.S. government is believed to be pushing the story at this time because the coalition has been rocked by some bad press in the past week. The most damaging of which were comments by President Karzai about the West not being able to win in Afghanistan. Additionally, the Christian Science Monitor reports that the mineral announcement is likely to have the unintended consequence of confirming a deeply entrenched Afghan conspiracy theory that America is looking to permanently occupy and take over Afghan land and resources. Afghans are proud of their country. And, for many it doesn't makes sense that the US can't just decimate the Taliban, so an imperialist land grab becomes the natural thought. Afghan's deep suspicions of the US are only being confirmed by Pentagon announcements that they will be conducting quiet survey of that nation's land for the minerals. Stories like that just won't help American troops trying to win the trust of a population used to tiring of invaders.