U.S. SERVING CHINESE INTERESTS IN AFGHANISTAN

"In Afghanistan’s Logar Province, just south of Kabul, the geopolitical future of Asia is becoming apparent: American troops are providing security for a Chinese state-owned company to exploit the Aynak copper reserves, which are worth tens of billions of dollars... China has its eyes on some of world’s last untapped deposits of copper, iron, gold, uranium and precious gems... China has a vision of Afghanistan as a secure conduit for roads and energy pipelines that will bring natural resources from the Indian Ocean and elsewhere... while America is sacrificing its blood and treasure, the Chinese will reap the benefits. The whole direction of America’s military and diplomatic effort is toward an exit strategy, whereas the Chinese hope to stay and profit... Afghanistan should be the very last place where we are a land-based meddler, caught up in internal Islamic conflict, helping the strategic ambitions of the Chinese and others... This is exactly how an empire declines, by allowing others to take advantage of its own exertions..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/opinion/07kaplan.html?_r=1&hp