You're right. 'Foolish' was a poor choice of word. When pairing mineral resources with a chaotic government like Afghanistan's, I can't help but picture klept

You're right. 'Foolish' was a poor choice of word. When pairing mineral resources with a chaotic government like Afghanistan's, I can't help but picture kleptocratic scenarios like Nigeria, Congo or the like and that's what brings 'foolish' to mind. If mining started there today we would certainly enjoy the fruits of the labour, but I'm not sure the people would see anything from it. A few other posters have mentioned 'The Resource Curse' and I think Afghanistan would end up more like Congo than Norway if minerals were extracted in quantity from their soil. I think starting with agricultural exports and building slowly from there would provide a more stable economic foundation.