The biggest differences that I can see are:
1. The Chinese wants the oil and the development in Afghanistan.
2. The "Western" companies want money.

And this one is funny, especially if you consider the oil industry:
> the presence of Western companies in Afghanistan would help strengthen U.S.-Afghan ties and would inculcate respect for the rule of law, transparency, and other related Western business values

"Chinese low-wage laborers are imported." China is able to bid $5-$7 over per barrel, because they can make up for that cost with cheap labor. I bet they do not have insurance workers and can bring them in by the thousands. There is little regard for human life in China (not a judgement, fact based on the record) and they pay their workers pennies compared to what American workers would be paid. So of course China was going to win this. I would not want to work in an environment like this either, as I would have to buy health, life, and even travelinsurance. Employers would have to pay hazard pay to workers too, since it is still a war zone. Also, there is a lot of new oil and natural gas reserves that are accessible with fracking, so there was now way US companies would venture into this country for oil. Although it would have been worth it to keep China out of there, but oh well it wasn't in the bottom line.\ for these companies.

Heh, this is getting funny. You got into the country, started looting (remember the articles about the rare material-riches of Afghanistan a few years back?) but got so broke during the occupation that you have to sell part of the spoils and never stop to complain about it... classy.

How about not wasting trillions of dollars on the unnecessary slaughter, then you could have easily outbid the Chinese regardless of their offer. Now is is just sour grapes for you.

actually unneccessary slaughter would have been exceedingly cheap, the Mongols did it quite cheaply. It is the fact that the political leadership did not have the will to carry through to the end, and didn't have the will to pull out that has been costing us. At this point the terrorism risk from Afghanistan is not worth staying there, and 'giving Afghans democracy' is a reason I laugh at and say who cares! Let the Afghans rot, let them rot under the Chinese yoke, bloom under the Chinese yoke, fight off the Chinese yoke, or simply sell to the Chinese, I don't care.

At this point leaving Afghanistan would be the best economic decision in 2 decades for the government, but it would be slightly worse for the domestic American public. As for national security, our economy is a national security risk. Deal ...With....That

Protectionism all the way.

It's not quite clear to me why Afghanis should place US interests ahead of their own interests when deciding who will develop their national resources.

It's not like we did Afghanistan a favor by invading them.

We supposedly went into Afghanistan in and kicked over their sand castle because Al Queda was operating there. Al Queda is also operating in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, but nobody talks of invading those countries. What's going on here?

What's going on is that the Western multinationals already have access to Saudi Arabia. And there's not much in Pakistan to interest them. But primitive Afghanistan has quite a lot of mineral and oil wealth waiting to be pulled from the ground. Unfortunately for the multinationals, the Taliban didn't want to deal with them. That, from the standpoint of the multinationals, was intolerable.

Al Queda in Afghanistan was a pretext from the start. And now the multinationals - I love it when they pretend to be American companies, which they certainly are not - are upset because the Afghanis got to make their own call, and they called on the Chinese.

So we invaded for nothing, from the perspective of the multinationals. The sweet, sweet profits they expected did not fall neatly into their hands. That's quite disappointing for them, considering how much money they put into US politicians' hands to ensure that the invasion would happen.

The crux of the author's argument is that multinational corporate goals for the invasion weren't satisfied. It would be good if they would take this lesson to heart and refrain from greasing the skids for similar adventures.

Obviously, this is another example of gross incompetence, brought about by Interventionism, American Hubris/Exceptionalism and the Pax Americana, which pays decreasing dividends to the taxpayer and has always supported parasitic foreign economic interests.

It also reveals what has been commented on before, the rivalry between US Petro Industry and Defense/Government sector. The two are not as closely allied as some would have it.

However, we shouldn't grieve too much for the authors and their clients. One wonders how much domestic tax these companies have paid. Are they, like so many other multinationals, off-shored entities with foreign investors who sought to gain an economic advantage on the backs of the American taxpayer?

May be the idea is to buy more expensive oil, and let the Chinese into the quagmire that is petroleum-geopolitics. Let us see how much of a stomach the Chinese have when the Pashtuns start killing the cheap Chinese labourers by the thousands. If China thinks it can neutralize radical Islamism with Buddhism / Taoism / Conficianism then more power to them, but I doubt they can. It is already apparent that Capitalism has not been able to counter radical Islamism and thousands of year old tribalism.

The West would do well to let the Chinese clean up the dirt that is Islam's hegemonic and imperialist tendencies. They (the West) missed the chance when the Soviets wanted to do it. If the US had not countered the USSR in Afghanistan in the 80s, the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and probably even Iran would have had different histories to the betterment of their people.
True, a few tens of thousands of Muslims would have died due to political repression, but the majority would have been better off with education, gender equality and learning to keep religion between the individual and the Creator (instead of in the public square). The hundreds of thousands died anyway, due to some other conflict.

If the Chinese enforce a Cultural revolution like whitewashing on the Afghans / Pakistanis through their stooges a few decades down the line then I guess they do have the stomach to stand up to Islam's imperialism and win the war with their multitudes.

The cardinal principle the task force should exercise on awarding the development contracts is the most benefit rendered to Afghanistani government and people. It is only a right thing to do whereat the task force selects a contract the most lucrative to Afghansitan regardless where it is originated. Except, the contractor is proven to lack technical expertise to fulfill the contract.

Furthermore it conforms to the spirit of fair competition.

The occupying country does not need to control the future and economic development of the occupied country by exercising favoritism to the companies of the occupying country. I doubt most Americans would think the US should be entitled to colonial privileges in Afghanistan.

The article by ALEXANDER BENARD & ELI SUGARMAN conjures up an image a footbal coach complaining about the unfairness of a rulebook only after his team's loss of a match. Singaling out Chinese adds racial undertone to the oil companies' express covetousness of Afghan riches that is merited solely by the fact that our army is in control of that country.

I am glad to know that the task force in Afghanistan comprises no oil company executives or well-connected lawyers.

U.S. has a nice model for conquest; not only the citizens of target country die, but they also pay the cost of the war through country's riches. Remember the cost of Iraq1 was justified by the Iraq's oil. Neocons were assuring that it would cost America nothing. After Iraq2 essentially this is what happened; Paul Bremer handed out lucrative contracts to American corporations. Then there is saga of Billions of dollars of Iraqi money, delivered by American as cash. Major portion promptly went missing. Americans point finger at Iraqis and Iraqis point right back.

War is very profitable venture for America, but some poor sucker must die and pay. God Bless America!

As hot to trot as the Chicoms are to exploit Afghanistan’s riches and given how eager that country’s kleptocrats are for them to do it is quite possible that the former might demand protection for their people prior to the US leaving that country. Kabul could round up a lot Afghans for this duty, but this would concentrate a lot of tempting targets for the Taliban to take out. Will the US come to the Chicoms’ rescue if it turns out that the Taliban have blood in their eyes for all foreigners? If anyone needs an answer to this question they probably believe that Ben Laden just happened to be hiding out in Pakistan. It will indeed be very interesting and very revealing to see how safe the Chicom’s are in Afghanistan.

While I understand the arguments for a US policy of strengthening security and relations in Afghanistan by securing partnerships for mineral exploration, the article rings a little false in my ear. The main complaint seems to be that the bid rules set forth by the government in charge of the bidding process would NOT be amended to favor western bidders. I concur with the posters above who say that this is a good thing. As the US grows increasingly war-weary and begins to pull out of Afghanistan we should welcome help from other countries in stabilizing the region. It also sounds like - other then the importation of cheap laborers instead of employing locals - the Chinese deal will be better for the budget of a new country in the long run.

Beyond that, the Chinese will be able to utilize these resources more effectively than any Western power because they aren't already viewed as an enemy by the militants and people of the region. They wouldn't face the same extent of risk that a US company would face. Also, it seems like we should be eager for China to have more access to resources in order to facilitate their own growth and security. This might be naive of me, but I think the quickest road to further cooperation between the US and China is for China to feel like it doesn't have to rely on Western powers for resources that it's growing economy desperately needs.

As far as furthering our style of economy and political system in Afghanistan is concerned - I seriously doubt that the best examples of the good points of a democracy and capitalist market are oil and mineral multinational corporations.

To conclude: it actually gives me hope for the US and Afghanistan that bidding policies set up by the Afghanistan government with the help of the US government were transparent and fair enough to allow someone other than the US or Western affiliated actors to win the bid.

www.negiyinelim.com

Afghanistan is not really a sovereign state and had no right to act as though it is.

Evidently, the Afghans don't see things that way. How to handle this? Invade Afghanistan?

Of course the Afghan government and power brokers want the Chinese involved. The kickback they pay for contracts is huge - check out the Aynak copper mine arrangement in Logar province and you'll see - and there's no crying in the media about payoffs, etc. like USA - sourced monies. It's truly a win-win for both parties.

I think game is over for afghanistan.

The natural resources of the Afghan people seem to be the only commodity that the west is interested in. It reminds me of why Iraq was liberated (invaded) and I can see the pattern repeating itself here in Afghanistan. Sure there is a thinly veiled excuse for why the west is there... The threat of terrorism, but I think we all know there is more to the occupation than this. I am glad women are now being treated with a bit more respect and are allowed to attend school and become individuals in their own right, without having to answer to the nearest living male relative. But I get the impression that the local infrastructure of the towns and villages is being neglected in favor of 'the bigger agenda'. Where are all the facilities for the less able bodied? Is there facilities for disabled people? Are there disabled access ramps, portable wheelchair ramps or provisions for the sick and needy? As a westerner, I feel we need to let the Afghans rule their own lives and allow them to use their 'natural resources' in a manner they see fit. I don't think western ways of doing business or controlling the country will work in a place that is traditionally ran in a tribal manner. The Russians tried to force rule on the area and it didn't work, I fear the same thing will happen to the west...

The conversation is starting to get better when somebody finally spoke about focusing on the greater problem which is – the country is getting more and more problematic! The people are also getting even far worse lives due to the economy’s downfall, or even poor circulation. With all these, can our government honestly think about war machines that aren’t what we really need to feed our children at least three times a day? I hope someone realizes what the real problem is, and not just focus on extending land of territory for what? For more space for people who are starving?

I find it sad that those in our government, who have a role in deciding to go to war in Afghanistan, can start a company, and then complain when they are not awarded a contract whereby they can enrich themselves.

>Alexander Benard is managing director of Gryphon Partners, an advisory and investment firm focused on the Middle East and Central Asia. He previously worked at the U.S. Defense Department. Eli Sugarman is a Truman fellow and senior director of Gryphon Partners. He previously worked at the U.S. State Department<

Benard...US defnese Department
Sugarman....US State Department

I thought US Imperialism was over!

Alexander Khalilzad Half-Ghan--Hey dude, don't you get tired of complaining about losing oil money so you can cavort around the world and seem important?
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/10383/u-s-must-follow-through-on-economic-statecraft
A thinly veiled essay again to complain about the fact that "Gryphon" lost out. Your entire essay commenting on what this Administration should or should not do seemed high falutin, except just like Ghadaffi who got his punk ass popped today, you don't seem to realize that the days of NeoCons are over.
It's done, Mr. KhalilZod. Superman Obama is sending you and Zod back to the remnants of Krypton.
Your dad, will never be allowed into ANY White House again! It's over dude. The biggest foreign policy mistake: Iraq was lead by Zod. It plunged our economy into a Depression. Yet here you are again, commenting and beating the drum hoping that some idiot will lament and say, "hey, give this boy a chance, he got into Stanford solely on his own merit, and is now a great political thinker" ( I'd love to see your SATs). Nobody gives a rats ass what you think. Keep trolling around DC for business Mr .Half Ghan, hoping no one knows you are Zod's son. Alexander "Benard". What a crock of s&*%! All you political rich kids just want to get richer. No progeny of a political family has ever contributed to humanity. Go get a real job!