Afghanistan's Oil Connection

[SpearsBritney]

Ca$pian $ea

In 1998, Dick Cheney, now US vice-president but then chief executive of a major oil services company, remarked: "I cannot think of a time when we have had a region emerge as suddenly to become as strategically significant as the Caspian."

Testimony of John Maresca, Vice President, International Relations, of Unocal Corporation

The territory across which the pipeline would extend is controlled by the Taliban, an Islamic movement that is not recognized as a government by most other nations. From the outset, we have made it clear that construction of our proposed pipeline cannot begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments, lenders and our company.

Failed Negotiations

Bush-Cheney/Big Oil and Afghanistan's Taliban negotiated for MONTHS over running a Caspian Sea oil pipeline through Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Timeline

Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid- July that military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October.

Iraq Timeline

Shortly thereafter, the US placed a new regime in Afghanistan that was strongly linked to the oil industry. The building of a US controlled one-million barrels/day trans-Afghanistan oil pipeline, earlier refused by the Taliban, was soon after approved.

[Arnfinn Madsen]

I am quite into Afghanistani history and politics (followed it also prior to 9/11). I think US prefered to keep Taliban in power because even if the negotiations went bad their chances were better with a stable Taleban-government than with any other government, so I don't believe this conspiracy while I believe the ones about Iraq.

Just look at the difference between Afghanistan and Iraq. In Afghanistan the focus is on protecting the capital Kabul, attacking Al-Qaida and no focus on gaining territorial control (in reality US only controls small parts of Afghanistan). In Iraq the focus is on getting territorial control to keep oil exports running.

Bush sacrifices blood for oil, but not directly in Afghanistan (indirectly though, attacking Al-Qaida is to keep a stable Middle East to secure oil exports etc.).