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The Pipeline Through Afghanistan
What is the war in Afghanistan about?
Yes, you guessed it: hydrocarbons. Today's Globe and Mail reports:
Afghanistan and three of its neighbouring countries have agreed to build a $7.6-billion (U.S.) pipeline that would deliver natural gas from Turkmenistan to energy-starved Pakistan and India – a project running right through the volatile Kandahar province – raising questions about what role Canadian Forces may play in defending the project.
To prepare for proposed construction in 2010, the Afghan government has reportedly given assurances it will clear the route of land mines, and make the path free of Taliban influence.
...
The so-called Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline has strong support from Washington because the U.S. government is eager to block a competing pipeline that would bring gas to Pakistan and India from Iran.
The TAPI pipeline would also diminish Russia's dominance of Central Asian energy exports.
The project to build that pipeline was nearly ready in 1998 when Unocal had a deal with the Taliban government and the Northern Alliance.
The deal was stopped in 1998 because no one was willing to finance it:
An internationally-recognised government in Kabul would have paved the way for securing the financing, but American anger at the Taleban for harbouring Osama bin Laden, has, for the time being, stopped that.
Following the US air strikes Unocal suspended its plans.
This time the deal is supposed to be financed by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank.
Still there are several issues that will make it very difficult to build the pipeline.
* Russian and Iranian (and Chinese?) interests are touched and both have incentives and capabilities to hinder it by various means.
* As the occupation troops continue to bomb the Afghan population, the support for the resistance against the occupation will increase.
* It is impossible to 'make the path free of Taliban influence', because the most of the Taliban in that pipeline path is the native population living there.
* Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan are getting worse by the day and may endanger the deal.
* NATO countries will be reluctant to support further action in Afghanistan as the real interests behind these are now revealed.
Until now whoever mentioned such a deal as being behind the Afghan War was seen as falling for conspiracy theories. That will now end and I welcome the discussion that will follow.
Today we also learn that Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP are getting no-bid, two years contracts to 'service' Iraq’s largest fields. This puts them into the position to win further exploration rights.
As the real war reason are now in the open the key question is: How many of their sons and daughters are 'western' democracies willing to get killed in support of such schemes?
What is the war in Afghanistan about?
Yes, you guessed it: hydrocarbons. Today's Globe and Mail reports:
Afghanistan and three of its neighbouring countries have agreed to build a $7.6-billion (U.S.) pipeline that would deliver natural gas from Turkmenistan to energy-starved Pakistan and India – a project running right through the volatile Kandahar province – raising questions about what role Canadian Forces may play in defending the project.
To prepare for proposed construction in 2010, the Afghan government has reportedly given assurances it will clear the route of land mines, and make the path free of Taliban influence.
...
The so-called Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline has strong support from Washington because the U.S. government is eager to block a competing pipeline that would bring gas to Pakistan and India from Iran.
The TAPI pipeline would also diminish Russia's dominance of Central Asian energy exports.
The project to build that pipeline was nearly ready in 1998 when Unocal had a deal with the Taliban government and the Northern Alliance.
The deal was stopped in 1998 because no one was willing to finance it:
An internationally-recognised government in Kabul would have paved the way for securing the financing, but American anger at the Taleban for harbouring Osama bin Laden, has, for the time being, stopped that.
Following the US air strikes Unocal suspended its plans.
This time the deal is supposed to be financed by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank.
Still there are several issues that will make it very difficult to build the pipeline.
* Russian and Iranian (and Chinese?) interests are touched and both have incentives and capabilities to hinder it by various means.
* As the occupation troops continue to bomb the Afghan population, the support for the resistance against the occupation will increase.
* It is impossible to 'make the path free of Taliban influence', because the most of the Taliban in that pipeline path is the native population living there.
* Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan are getting worse by the day and may endanger the deal.
* NATO countries will be reluctant to support further action in Afghanistan as the real interests behind these are now revealed.
Until now whoever mentioned such a deal as being behind the Afghan War was seen as falling for conspiracy theories. That will now end and I welcome the discussion that will follow.
Today we also learn that Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP are getting no-bid, two years contracts to 'service' Iraq’s largest fields. This puts them into the position to win further exploration rights.
As the real war reason are now in the open the key question is: How many of their sons and daughters are 'western' democracies willing to get killed in support of such schemes?
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