Oil as a factor in US policy decisions in Central Asia
"Oil and gas are not the reason the US has attacked Afghanistan, but Afghanistan has long had a key place in US plans to secure control of the vast but landlocked oil and gas reserves of Central Asia." See article by Richard Tainter (for original version at www.outlookindia.com)


Oil interest not the basis for conspiracy January 12 "The trouble with many conspiracy theories is that they strain excessively to avoid the obvious. Namely: Both under Bush's and Clinton's presidencies the US has been eager since the fall of the Soviet Union to find some way to assist the hopes of US oil companies and pipeline companies to exploit the oil resources of the Asian republics, most notably reserves in western Kazakhstan. Similarly consistent has been the US's desire not to have oil from Kazakhstan pass through Russia."
Taliban defeat revives debate over Afghanistan's role in oil transport December 13 "The United States and Great Britain have recently lifted economic sanctions against Afghanistan. This move, apprehensively notes Moscow economic publication Rossiiskaya Biznes-Gazeta, "can be the first harbinger of the US companies' intentions to re-join the trans-Afghan gas consortium."
One view of Russian oil interests November 7
Analysis of early US Taliban policy emphasizes oil interests October 7 "When the Taliban rolled into Kabul [in 1996], Washington appeared initially enthusiastic amid signs it would consider recognising the new regime. The top US diplomat in Pakistan planned a visit to Kabul just days after it was captured by the Taliban and a State Department official expressed hope that the Taliban would "move quickly to restore order and security." But Washington cancelled the diplomat's trip as protests against the Taliban's treatment of women erupted in the United States, news reports said at the time. Unocal withdrew from the pipeline consortium two years later." Business Week on US oil interests October 20 Afghanistan an important alternative to Iran for oil pipeline from Central Asia October 23 Green Berets active in Uzbekistan long before September 11 October 25 "On one level, the United States sought to replace some of Uzbekistan's affinity for Russia with ties to the West, and create a reliable ally near the Caspian Sea, a region with reserves of untapped oil."
Michael Ratner home page, for information on the suit against Unocal over Burmese forced labour (see right column fo his page)
Energy Information Administration article on Afghanistan
Energy Information Administration article on Caspian Sea region
Energy Information table on oil reserves in Central Asia
Oil and natural gas in Turmenistan

 

 

 

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