In my quest to try and formulate a big picture scenario concerning the US response to the WTC bombing, I have learned that Chevron, Conoco, Bechtel and GE (among others) have been working on the development of an oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to Turkey. Am I being my paranoid, cynical self or has our government been looking for an excuse to develop a stronger military presence in the region in order to protect our energy interests? I see that the CIA world factbook lists oil and natural gas as major natural resources in Afghanistan. Also in Turkmenistan. The whole region seems to be a relatively untapped source. This is frightening to me. Anybody else see the bigger picture?
You sir are precisely on target. Our interest has been and will continue to be oil no matter what disguise is used. If it all dried up tomorrow it would be assholes and elbows all the way to the USA. I have been trying to get a response on this same point for hours but no one seems to recognize that this is the problem…not just the root but tree, bark, leaves and all. three words; Alternative energy sources. oh yeah, one more; NOW
US Oil Companies are doing stuff all over the world. If we went after terrorist where there was no oil whatsoever, then I would be suspicious.
And, of course, that the oil mentioned has been known to have been there for a very long time, yet the U.S. did nothing to try to ace the U.S.S.R. out of Afghanistan for the first 35 years of the Cold War (despite playing hard ball in Iran from the early 1950s onward) means nothing.
I have no trouble with making the case that the U.S. is more responsive to the need for “democracy” when our economic future is at stake. Whether you view that as pragmatic or cynical is up to you.
Claiming that we are “only” interested in Afghanistan, now, because someone wants to build a pipeline, has the same validity as claiming the U.S. “only” was interested in Japan in 1942 because we wanted a good source of cheap radios and small cars.
Not exactly. The pipe-line under the Caspian is AFAIK an alternative to the pipie-line through Afghanistan which couldn’t been build, due to the diplomatical situation, after the 1998 american bombings in Afghanistan. The oil (apparently more exactly the gas) in central asia is one of the few reasons why this part of the world has some interest. American companies want to build a pipe under the Caspian because Iran isn’t an option for them, Russian would benefit to Gazprom, and Afghanistan isn’t any more an option, either. Or more exactly wasn’t any more. I suppose that depending upon the results of the present campaign, this could change.
Actually, I recently searched for sites about this pipe-line issue and I discovered that there are really big bucks to make with Turkmenistan gas. For instance, the estimated cost of the pipe-line through Afghanistan was 2 billions dollars. And Pakistan expected an annual 700 millions dollars income just to transport gas through its territory to…India!!!( Yes India, despite the “excellent” diplomatic relations between Pakistan and India). So, one can suspect that the total value of this gas is enormous and well worth the cost and risk involved in building pipe-lines in an unstable country. Or even building them under the caspian sea, through such calm countries like Azerbaïdjan and Armenia to end up in the very convenient Turkish Kurdistan…
Also, I discovered that a great number a countries/companies had a lot of pipe-line projects in this area. Pretty much everybody (Russian, French, American, Iranian, Chinese, Pakistanese, Indian, Korean, etc… companies) wants to build pipe-lines pretty much everywhere (through Afghanistan, under the Caspian sea, through Iran, through China…even under the Indian Ocean!!!)
To sum up, this central asian gas is really a big deal, apparently, much more than I suspected…