Our Resources, Our Destiny — From Liberia to Congo, Gaza to Kabul

 The Editor

 Our Resources, Our Destiny — From Liberia to Congo, Gaza to Kabul

Across the globe—from the copper fields of the Congo, to the oil basins of Iraq, to the lithium veins of Afghanistan, now to the mine fields of mighty Nimba in Liberia—a familiar tragedy unfolds: nations rich in natural wealth, yet devastated by conflict, corruption, and foreign manipulation.

 Just the other day, our President Joseph Nyumah Boakai was compelled to bend back-kwards in appeasement to the CEO of Ivanhoe the parent company of HPX following him being publicly disrespected by Browyn Barnes the very CEO for daring to prevent HPX from imposing its greed and desire for de facto sovereign status in Liberia. 

Liberia must heed the lessons of Afghanistan, where foreign powers cloaked in promises of development instead oversaw decades of war, extractive deals, and hollow state-building. Today, multinational giants like AML and HPX are not just vying for rail lines—they are vying for economic sovereignty, political influence, and generational control. These are not simply commercial contracts. These are geopolitical chess moves.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a tragic example of what happens when resource wealth becomes a curse. Global powers are complicit—directly or indirectly—in arming the chaos in the DRC. It’s a tragic example of how global capitalism, geopolitics, and militarism intersect, leaving millions of innocent people to suffer while coltan, cobalt, and gold are flown out to feed the tech and defense industries of the very nations fueling the fire.

In his letter to the Editor, we believe “Liberia Must Learn from Afghanistan: Our Resources Are for Our People, Not for Foreign Domination”, whether corporate or sovereign, delivers a powerful warning: resource-rich nations without strong legal safeguards, civic vigilance, and visionary leadership are ripe for exploitation—not just by corporations, but by global power blocs using proxies, pacts, and private militaries.

The Middle East’s perpetual battleground status is another warning. The persistence of conflict in the Middle East is not just accidental or due to ancient hatred. It is sustained—consciously or by systemic inertia—because it benefits elites who profit from war, fear, control, and division. The U.S., Russia, and even China exploit Middle Eastern instability to:

• Sell weapons

• Justify military bases and geopolitical influence

• Divide regional unity

• Access or control energy routes and strategic waterways

This is not theory—it is history repeating. Remember how Firestone and Washington were complicit in the destruction of Liberia, paying taxes to Charles Taylor’s warlord regime instead of the legitimate Interim Government of National Unity. That deal fueled civil war, undermined democracy, and cost tens of thousands of Liberian lives—all for rubber profits and foreign interests.

Afghanistan sits on trillions in untapped minerals, yet its children remain hungry. Why? Because its fate was never about peace or prosperity—but about strategic denial, geopolitical rivalry, and profit margins.

Liberia must not become the next pawn.

We must ask:

• Who owns the rails?

• Who benefits from our oil?

• Who writes the contracts?

• Who holds our leaders accountable?

Let this be the moment we declare: our resources are for our people—not foreign domination, not political puppetry, and not corporate monopolies. From Monrovia to Mogadishu, from Gaza to Goma, from Kabul to Khartoum, we must awaken.

If we do not own our wealth, we will be owned by it—by the wars it brings, the deals it signs, and the lives it steals.

Respectfully,

Jacob Doe