The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Afghanistan in Ruins:
A Great Opportunity for Profit

Dec 17, 2001

Mark Brown, the United Nations official coordinating the “rebuilding” effort of Afghanistan, estimates it will cost 6.5 billion dollars over five years. This has officials of the biggest corporations seeing dollar signs.

Much of the rebuilding is expected to occur in agriculture, energy and a few other industries. Cargill Inc., the giant grain company, sees good opportunities there. Caterpillar, which makes heavy tractors, said it would be “the logical beneficiary” of a U.S. government promise to dig new irrigation systems. Unocal, the giant oil company, is looking to build a pipeline across the country to move oil from the Caspian sea area to foreign markets.

The companies say they expect higher profit margins due to the risks of operating in a war zone. But as the head of the construction division of Samsung said, “The money is a sure thing because it’s backed by UN member countries.”

During the Viet Nam war a U.S. commander said he destroyed a village in order to save it. Now U.S. imperialism is completing the destruction of Afghanistan in order to save it... so big corporations can make a profit.