Quote Originally Posted by gute
wait, Afghanistan does not have oil - then why are we nation building. We gave 15 billion to Africa for AIDS - we did not get anything out of it. We responded and helped with disaster relief after the Tsunami - there was nothing to gain.
We've had a developing economic interest in Afghanistan since the 1990s under Clinton, not only for its limited resources, but also as a transit country for access to the rest of Central Asia's resources, most importantly natural gas. Afghanistan is the only alternative other than Turkemenistan via the Caspian Sea. We give billions of dollars of AIDS money to Africa because those countries in turn buy our patented drugs that we protect by sanctioning the countries if they decide to produce them generically (and cheaper). We give aid elsewhere because typically that aid is tied to an understanding that they will use the funds to purchase American products.