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![hideous and illegal war"or be tarnished as a criminal accomplice.
It is a war of naked imperialism, undertaken for the geopolitical control of the
immense hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian Basin: Afghanistan, lying directly
between those resources and the worlds richest markets, uniquely offers pipeline
routes of incalculable value.
By 1996 the Bridas Corporation of Argentina had a lock on the routes. With
signed pipeline contracts from both General Dostum of the Northern Alliance and
the Taliban, Bridas controlled the Caspian play.
To the Unocal Corporation of the U.S. (and subsequently to the Bush
Administration) that was intolerable. To contest Bridas success, Unocal hired a
number of consultants: Henry Kissinger, Hamid Karzai, Richard Armitage, and
Zalmay Khalilzad. Armitage would later serve George W. Bush as Deputy Secretary
of State, and Khalilzad would become a prominent diplomat. Both were
enthusiastic members of the oePNAC, the Project for a New American Century, a
far-right group that asked President Clinton in January of 1998 to remove
forcibly the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. (Clinton ignored the request.)
In the late [#x2dc]90s Unocal hosted Taliban leaders at its headquarters in
Texas and in Washington D.C., seeking to have the Bridas contract voided. The
Taliban refused. Finally, on February 12, 1998, Mr. John J. Maresca, a Vice
President of Unocal, testified to the House Committee on International
Relations. He asked to have the Taliban removed from power in Afghanistan, and
for a oestable government to be installed in its place.
The Clinton Administration, having rejected a month earlier the PNAC request to
invade Iraq, was not any more interested in overthrowing the Taliban: President
Clinton understood and chose to abide by the United Nations Charter. In August
of 1998, however, Clinton launched a few cruise missiles into Afghanistan,
retaliating for al Qaeda attacks on the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
And he signed an Executive Order prohibiting further trade negotiations with the
Taliban.
Mr. Maresca was thus doubly disappointed. The Taliban would remain in power, and
now Unocal could not even continue its private entreaties.
Unocals prospects declined even further on October 12, 2000. In yet another al
Qaeda attack, the U.S.S. Cole was bombed, killing 17 sailors and injuring 39
more.
Some people in the Clinton Administration wanted immediately to oebomb the hell
out of Afghanistan. A few more cruise missiles wouldnt do. But the State
Department first dispatched Mr. Kabir Mohabbat, a U.S. citizen but a native
Afghani, to arrange a negotiating meeting with the Taliban.
The parties met November 2, 2000 in the Sheraton hotel in Frankfurt, Germany.
Frantic to avoid the retaliatory bombing, the Taliban offered the surrender of
Osama bin Laden.
As the details of the handover were being worked out, however, the stalemated
election of 2000 was awarded to George W. Bush. The surrender of Osama bin
Laden would be handled by the incoming Administration.
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![with the invasion was intractable, but with bin Laden in custody, the argument
for the oeWar on Terror smokescreen would collapse. Osama bin Laden simply had
to remain at large.
Several weeks later the Taliban's offer was repeated. And so was the White
House rejection.
On October 7, 2001, the carpet of bombs was unleashed over Afghanistan.
Then, with the Taliban removed from power, Mr. Hamid Karzai, the former Unocal
consultant, was installed by the U.S. as head of an interim government.
The first U.S. envoy to Afghanistan was Mr. John J. Maresca, a former Vice
President of the Unocal Corporation.
The next Ambassador to Afghanistan was Mr. Zalmay Khalilzad, also a former
Unocal consultant.
On February 8, 2002, four months after the carpet of bombs, Presidents Hamid
Karzai of Afghanistan and Perves Musharraf of Pakistan signed a new agreement
for a pipeline. The Bridas contract was now moot. The way was open for American
companies"Unocal and Enron"to proceed.
About a year later in the British trade journal Alexander's Gas and Oil
Connections dated March 20, 2003, the truth about the Afghan war is laid bare.
The article describes the readiness of three U.S. Federal agencies in the Bush
Administration to fund the pipeline project: the U.S. Import/Export Bank, the
Trade and Development Agency, and the Overseas Private Insurance Corporation.
The article continues: oe...some recent reports ...indicated ...the United
States was willing to police the pipeline infrastructure through permanent
stationing of its troops in the region.
It didnt take long for that to occur. At the website of GlobalSecurity.org, a
report entitled oeOperation Enduring Freedom Facilities tells what happened:
oeSince the 11 September 2001 attacks, the U.S. military has deployed to 13
locations in nine countries [in addition to] Afghanistan. More then 2,000 civil
engineers deployed to the region building and maintaining bases. Including
additional deployments in Bulgaria, Turkey, and Kuwait, by early 2002 over
60,000 U.S. troops were deployed at these forward bases, and hundreds of
aircraft were flying from expeditionary airfields.
Superimposing the base-locations over maps of the pipelines, the Bush
Administrations design is unmistakable. U.S. bases in Afghanistan proper"there
are now 15 altogether"precisely straddle the prospective pipeline routes.
Much has changed since President Bush launched his premeditated war of energy
imperialism. The warlords, the poppy growers, and the Taliban dominate
Afghanistan once more. A oestable government is nowhere to be seen. The Bridas
Corporation was bought by British Petroleum, Unocal is now part of
Chevron/Texaco, and the war in Afghanistan has a new Commander In Chief.
Yes, President Obama, this is your war now. This war of naked imperialism is
yours. This international crime is yours.
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![6 of 214 DOCUMENTS
Charleston Gazette (West Virginia)
February 21, 2010, Sunday
THE REASON THAT IS NOT DISCUSSED;
Why we are in Afghanistan
BYLINE: Lynda Ann Ewen
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. P1C
LENGTH: 702 words
While Congress debates who is going to pay the spiraling costs of health, the
U.S. government spent $30 billion to send 30,000 additional troops to
Afghanistan. According to Linda Bilmes, a public-finance expert at Harvard's
Kennedy School of Government: "The total cost of [the escalation in] Afghanistan
will be at least twice the direct cost and perhaps three times the cost of the
estimate." She cites equipment replacement, medical and disability payments to
veterans and interest accrued on money we are borrowing to finance the war. And
how does one put a monetary value on the lives that will be lost?
Reading press accounts closely, one is left befuddled as to who we are really
fighting and why - al-Qaida, the Taliban or the "bad" Taliban vs. the "good"
Taliban. Nor do these explanations address the fact that al-Qaida operates
openly in Somalia, Yemen or any number of other states, including Pakistan. Why
have we not targeted those countries?
Humanitarian reasons have been cited - to improve the status of women and to aid
the economic development of Afghanistan. But then why do we not have troops in
the Congo to stop the rape and mutilation of thousands of women, or in Myanmar
(Burma) to stop the violent repression of human rights there?
The reasons for our military commitments are complex, but one explanation can be
summed up as: pipelines, geography and energy reserves. Afghanistan sits smack
in the middle of a pipeline route that would bring the control of future energy
to whoever can install "friendly governments" in the area. Afghanistan's gas
reserves are largely unexplored, but expected to be vast (the World Bank is
funding a study of those reserves). But the key is the region itself.
Afghanistan lies south of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. These three
countries have known gas reserves that place each of them among the top 20
nations with the most natural gas.
There are a number of financial interests vying to control the pipeline that has
actually started construction in Afghanistan. One is the Asian Development Bank,
whose purpose includes meeting Japan's future energy needs. Why is the U.S.
fighting to protect Japan's interests?
Japan and the United States each hold 12.8 percent of the votes in the Asian
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![the United States to reengage' the Afghan regime. This 'reengagement' would, of
course, have been enormously profitable to UNOCAL, which was otherwise unable to
bring gas and oil to the market from landlocked Turkmenistan.
Khalilzad only shifted his position on the Taliban after the Clinton
administration fired cruise missiles at targets in Afghanistan in August 1998,
claiming that terrorists under the direction of Afghan-based Osama bin Laden
were responsible for bombing US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. One day after
the attack, UNOCAL put Centgas on hold. Two months later it abandoned all plans
for a trans-Afghan pipeline. The oil interests began to look towards a
post-Taliban Afghanistan, and so did their representatives in the US national
security establishment.
Born in Mazar-e Sharif in 1951, Khalilzad hails from the old ruling elite of
Afghanistan. His father was an aide to King Zahir Shah, who ruled the country
until 1973. Khalilzad was a graduate student at the University of Chicago, an
intellectual center for the American right-wing, when the Soviet Union invaded
Afghanistan in 1979. He was a special advisor to the state department during the
Reagan administration, lobbying successfully for accelerated US military aid to
the Mujahideen, including hand-held Stinger anti-aircraft missiles which played
a key role in the war. He later became under-secretary of defence in the
administration of senior Bush, during the US war against Iraq, and then went to
the Rand Corporation, a top US military think tank.
After George W. Bush was installed as president by a 5-4 vote of the US Supreme
Court, Khalilzad headed the Bush-Cheney transition team for the Defence
Department and advised incoming Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Significantly, however, he was not named to a sub-cabinet position, which would
have required senate confirmation and might have provoked uncomfortable
questions about his role as an oil company advisor in Central Asia and
intermediary with the Taliban. Instead, he was named to the National Security
Council (NSC), where no confirmation vote was needed.
At the NSC, Zalmay Khalilzad reported to Condoleezza Rice, then national
security advisor [later became US Secretary of State] who also served as UNOCAL
consultant on Central Asia. After serving in the first Bush administration from
1989 to 1992, Rice was placed on the board of directors of Chevron Corporation
and served as its principal expert on Kazakhstan, where Chevron holds the
largest concession of any of the international oil companies. The oil industry
connections of Bush and Cheney were well known, but little was said in the media
about the prominent role being played in Afghan policy by officials who advised
the oil industry on Central Asia.
One of the few commentaries in the America media about this aspect of the US
military campaign appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on September 26, 2001.
Staff writer Frank Viviano observed: 'The hidden stakes in the war against
terrorism can be summed up in a single word: oil. The map of terrorist
sanctuaries and targets in the Middle East and Central Asia is also, to an
extraordinary degree, a map of the world's principal energy sources in the 21st
century.
It is inevitable that the war against terrorism will be seen by many as a war on
behalf of America's Chevron, Exxon, and Arco; France's TotalFinaElf; British
Petroleum; Royal Dutch Shell and other multinational giants, which have
hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in the region.' This reality is
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![well understood in official Washington, but the most important
corporate-controlled media outlets - the television networks and major national
daily newspapers - have maintained silence that amounts to deliberate
politically motivated self-censorship.
The sole exception was an article, which appeared December 15, 2001 in the New
York Times business section, headlined, 'As the War Shifts Alliances, Oil Deals
Follow.' The Times reported, 'The State Department is exploring the potential
for post-Taliban energy projects in the region, which has more than 6 percent of
the world's proven oil reserves and almost 40 percent of its gas reserves. The
Times noted that during a visit in early December to Kazakhstan, "'Secretary of
State Colin L. Powell said he was particularly impressed with the money that
American oil companies were investing there. He estimated that $200 billion
could flow into Kazakhstan during the next 5 to 10 years." Secretary of Energy,
Spencer Abraham also pushed US oil investments in the region during a November
visit to Russia, on which he was accompanied by David J. O'Reilly, chairman of
ChevronTexaco.
Former Defence Secretary Rumsfeld also played a role in the oil pipeline
maneuvers. During a visit to Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, he assured officials
of the oil-rich Caspian state that the administration would lift sanctions
imposed in 1992 in the wake of the conflict with Armenia over the enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia aligned themselves with the US
military thrust into Central Asia, offering the Pentagon transit rights and use
of airfields. Rumsfeld's visit and his conciliatory remarks were the reward.
Rumsfeld told President Haydar Aliyev that the administration had reached
agreement with congressional leaders to waive the sanctions.
The White House released a statement hailing the official opening of the first
new pipeline by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, a joint venture of Russia,
Kazakhstan, Oman, ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil and several other oil companies. The
pipeline connects the huge Tengiz oilfield in north-western Kazakhstan to the
Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, where tankers are loaded for the world
market. US companies put up $1 billion of the $2.65 billion construction cost.
The Bush statement declared, 'The CPC project also advances my Administration's
National Energy Policy by developing a network of multiple Caspian pipelines
that also includes the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Supsa, and Baku-Novorossiysk
oil pipelines and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline.' The pipeline
consortium involved in the Baku-Ceyhan plan, led by the British oil company BP,
is represented by the law firm of Baker & Botts. The principal attorney at this
firm was James Baker III, Secretary of State under Bush's father.
The subsequent invasion of Iraq by US and its allies using the myth of weapons
of mass destruction [which proved to be a hoax] and appointment of Zalmay
Khalilzad as US Ambassador proved beyond any doubt that the reality of 'war on
drug' is nothing but quest for OIL. Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele [TIME,
May 19, 2003] remarkably exposed the dark side of American oil policy from
classified government documents and oil industry memos, involving a pair of
Iraq's neighbours, Iran and Afghanistan. The aim of controlling Iranian oil
forced Americans for 25 years to spend more than $20 billion in US taxpayers'
money as military aid and subsidised weapons sales for the Shah's most
undemocratic rule, its oppressive armed forces and ruthless intelligence
apparatus SAVAK. These policies lead to take-over of Iran by anti-US forces in
1979. Resultantly for two decades, American oil companies were barred by the US
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![government from doing business with Iran.
In Afghanistan the story was even more bizarre as in 1977 the CIA "sounded an
alarm on the Soviets' faltering energy prospects in a secret 14-page memo
titled: The Impending Soviet Oil Crisis." President Jimmy Carter, in the wake of
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, concluded that the Soviet Army was passing
through Afghanistan to seize the Middle East oil fields and "any outside attempt
to gain control of Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the
vital interests of the United States of America..." Soon after Reagan took
office the CIA began one of its largest, longest and most expensive covert
operations, "supplying billions of dollars in arms to a collection of Afghan
guerrillas who were fighting the Soviets". The arms shipments included Stinger
missiles, the shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft weapons that were used with deadly
accuracy against Soviet helicopters - these are now in circulation among
terrorists who fight US and Nato forces in Afghanistan. Among the rebel
recipients of US arms was Osama bin Laden, who is now considered as enemy no.1
in 'war on terrorism'.
At the same time the USA was moving into the Persian Gulf militarily and
supplying Afghan rebels, all based on a faulty CIA oil assessment, it was also
secretly supporting Saddam Hussein - in 1982 when the state department removed
Iraq from its list of countries supporting terrorism. The root of all this folly
was the US government's officially sanctioned version of faltering Soviet oil
production, which was at odds with reality. In fact, Russia today is the world's
second largest [oil] producer, after Saudi Arabia. Instead of becoming a major
buyer of Middle East oil, as the CIA had warned, Russia ships 3 million bbl. a
day to other countries, including the US. As all this makes clear, the former
Soviet Union was not running out of oil. Neither is the world. The one
exception: the USA, which was the Saudi Arabia of the first half of the 20th
century, is finally running out. As a result, thanks in part to American policy
that put an emphasis on foreign intervention rather than domestic conservation,
Americans are more dependent than ever on imported oil.
The second myth that Taliban was not able to effectively curb poppy cultivation
and drug trade is equally false. According to The Economist (August 16-22,
2003), the Taliban regime clamped down on poppy growing with an iron fist, and
banned it completely in 2000. Production collapsed from its peak of over 4,500
tonnes in 1999 to 185 tonnes in 2001. However, the ban did not cover trade, and
opiates kept on flowing into Central Asia - Mullah Omar and many others made
billions after this ban as they had huge stockpiles with them (see details in
Peter Gretchen's book Seed of Terrorism). After the downfall of the Taliban,
poppy cultivation re-appeared with a vengeance, in spite of a fresh ban imposed
by US-installed Hamid Karzai's government. According to UN estimates [United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime] production increased to over 8,000 tonnes in
2007. Afghanistan once again dominates world production of opium, with almost
80% of the total annual global yield.
Obama administration like that of his predecessor is not interested in democracy
in Afghanistan. On assuming power Obama promised more military operations in
war-ravaged country. In fact, no US administration has ever engaged in any 'war
on terrorism (sic). In reality, they have launched "oil and war bonanza" around
Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan with multiple objectives: ensuring continuous
enormous profits for war industry, control over oil and gas rich countries and
containment of China by physical military presence in its nearby areas. The
statement of Bush on September 8, 2008 declaring Pakistan "a major theatre" in
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![An additional $600 million extension to India was also under consideration.
Khalilzad also lobbied publicly for a more sympathetic US government policy
towards the Taliban. Four years ago, in an op-ed article in the Washington Post,
he defended the Taliban regime against accusations that it was a sponsor of
terrorism, writing, 'The Taliban does not practice the anti-US style of
fundamentalism practised by Iran.'
'We should be willing to offer recognition and humanitarian assistance and to
promote international economic reconstruction,' he declared. 'It is time for the
United States to re-engage' the Afghan regime. This 're-engagement' would, of
course, have been enormously profitable to UNOCAL, which was otherwise unable to
bring gas and oil to the market from landlocked Turkmenistan.
Khalilzad only shifted his position on the Taliban after the Clinton
administration fired cruise missiles at targets in Afghanistan in August 1998,
claiming that terrorists under the direction of Afghan-based Osama bin Laden
were responsible for bombing US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. One day after
the attack, UNOCAL put Centgas on hold. Two months later it abandoned all plans
for a trans-Afghan pipeline. The oil interests began to look towards a
post-Taliban Afghanistan, and so did their representatives in the US national
security establishment.
Born in Mazar-e Sharif in 1951, Khalilzad hails from the old ruling elite of
Afghanistan. His father was an aide to King Zahir Shah, who ruled the country
until 1973. Khalilzad was a graduate student at the University of Chicago, an
intellectual center for the American right-wing, when the Soviet Union invaded
Afghanistan in 1979.
Khalilzad became an American citizen, while serving as a key link between US
imperialism and the Islamic fundamentalist Mujahideen fighting the Soviet-backed
regime in Kabul - the milieu out of which both the Taliban and bin Laden's al
Qaeda group emerged. He was a special advisor to the State Department during the
Reagan administration, lobbying successfully for accelerated US military aid to
the Mujahideen, including hand-held Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, which played
a key role in the war.
He later became Under-secretary of Defence in the administration of senior Bush,
during the US war against Iraq, and then went to the Rand Corporation, a top US
military think tank. After George W. Bush was installed as president by a 5-4
vote of the US Supreme Court, Khalilzad headed the Bush-Cheney transition team
for the Defence Department and advised incoming Defence Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld.
Significantly, however, he was not named to a sub-cabinet position, which would
have required Senate confirmation and might have provoked uncomfortable
questions about his role as an oil company advisor in Central Asia and
intermediary with the Taliban. Instead, he was named to the National Security
Council (NSC), where no confirmation vote was needed.
At the NSC, Zalmay Khalilzad reported to Condoleezza Rice, then national
security advisor [later became US Secretary of State] who also served as UNOCAL
consultant on Central Asia. After serving in the first Bush administration from
1989 to 1992, Rice was placed on the board of directors of Chevron Corporation
and served as its principal expert on Kazakhstan, where Chevron holds the
largest concession of any of the international oil companies.
Page 32
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![that also includes the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Supsa, and Baku-Novorossiysk
oil pipelines and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline.'
There was little US press coverage of this announcement. Nor did the media refer
to the fact that the pipeline consortium involved in the Baku-Ceyhan plan, led
by the British oil company BP, is represented by the law firm of Baker & Botts.
The principal attorney at this firm was James Baker III, Secretary of State
under Bush's father and chief spokesman for the 2000 Bush campaign during its
successful effort to "shut down the Florida vote recount".
The subsequent invasion of Iraq by US and its allies using the myth of weapons
of mass destruction [which proved to be a hoax] and appointment of Zalmay
Khalilzad as US Ambassador proved beyond any doubt that the reality of 'war on
drug' is nothing but quest for oil. Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele [TIME,
May 19, 2003] remarkably exposed the darker side of American oil policy from
classified government documents and oil industry memos, involving a pair of
Iraq's neighbours, Iran and Afghanistan.
The aim of controlling Iranian oil forced Americans for 25 years to spend more
than $20 billion in US taxpayers' money as military aid and subsidised weapons
sales for the Shah's most undemocratic rule, its oppressive armed forces and
ruthless intelligence apparatus SAVAK.
These policies lead to take-over of Iran by anti-US forces in 1979. Resultantly
for two decades, American oil companies were barred by the US government from
doing business with Iran. In Afghanistan the story was even more bizarre as in
1977 the CIA "sounded an alarm on the Soviets' faltering energy prospects in a
secret 14-page memo titled: The Impending Soviet Oil Crisis."
President Jimmy Carter, in the wake of Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, concluded
that the Soviet Army was passing through Afghanistan to seize the Middle East
oil fields and "any outside attempt to gain control of Persian Gulf region will
be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of
America..." Soon after Reagan took office the CIA began one of its largest,
longest and most expensive covert operations, "supplying billions of dollars in
arms to a collection of Afghan guerrillas fighting the Soviets".
The arms shipments included Stinger missiles, the shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft
weapons that were used with deadly accuracy against Soviet helicopters - these
are now in circulation among terrorists fighting US and Nato forces in
Afghanistan. Among the rebel recipients of US arms was Osama bin Laden, who is
now considered as Enemy No 1 in 'war on terrorism'.
At the same time the US was moving into the Persian Gulf militarily and
supplying Afghan rebels, all based on a faulty CIA oil assessment, it was also
secretly supporting Saddam Hussein - in 1982 when the State Department removed
Iraq from its list of countries supporting terrorism. The root of all this folly
was the US government's officially sanctioned version of faltering Soviet oil
production, which was at odds with reality.
In fact, Russia today is the world's second largest [oil] producer, after Saudi
Arabia. Instead of becoming a major buyer of Middle East oil, as the CIA had
warned, Russia ships 3 million bbl. a day to other countries, including the US.
As all this makes clear, the former Soviet Union was not running out of oil.
Neither is the world. The one exception: the US, which was the Saudi Arabia of
Page 34
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![the first half of the 20th century, is finally running out. As a result, thanks
in part to American policy that put an emphasis on foreign intervention rather
than domestic conservation, Americans are more dependent than ever on imported
oil.
The second myth that Taliban was not able to effectively curb poppy cultivation
and drug trade is equally false. According to The Economist (August 16-22,
2003), the Taliban regime clamped down on poppy growing with an iron fist, and
banned it completely in 2000.
Production collapsed from its peak of over 4,500 tonnes in 1999 to 185 tonnes in
2001. However, the ban did not cover trade, and opiates kept on flowing into
Central Asia. After the downfall of the Taliban, poppy cultivation re-appeared
with a vengeance, in spite of a fresh ban imposed by US-installed Hamid Karzai's
government.
According to UN estimates [United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime] production
increased to over 8,000 tonnes in 2007. Afghanistan once again dominates world
production of opium, with almost 80 percent of the total annual global yield.
About 70-80% of Afghans depend on what they can grow. But Afghanistan lacks
water and cultivable land. Even in the halcyon 1970s, less than 5% of the land
was irrigated.
The war halved that. Then during the seven-year-long drought in some places,
most of the livestock died and staple crops failed. In the south and south-west
of the country, water-tables are dangerously low. Even with the best possible
governance, that part of Afghanistan is a poor proposition.
In post-Taliban Afghanistan, drought, drugs and insecurity started to feed off
each other. Three of the country's five big drug-producing provinces - Helmand,
Uruzgan, and Kandhar - remained unsafe and parched. In today's Afghanistan,
poppy cultivation is spreading to new areas, and with it insecurity. The
nightmare is a new Colombia: a place where drug lords capture and wreck
governments and the economy alike - the return of butcher likes Rashid Dostum in
August 2009 elections proves the point.
The drug trade in the post-Taliban Afghanistan is becoming institutionalised.
Opium is now being processed into morphine and heroin inside Afghanistan. That
means a lot more money for warlords and militia commanders on the ground,
something made apparent by the switch-over to ever more expensive jeeps.
Self-styled, US-hijacked, Nato-sponsored democracy (sic) in Afghanistan plays in
the hands of more sophisticated narco-enriched criminals - these include members
of parliament, warlords and militia commanders. Obama administration like that
of his predecessor is not interested in democracy in Afghanistan. On assuming
power Obama promised more military operations in war-ravaged country.
In fact, no US administration has ever engaged in any 'war on terrorism (sic).
In reality, they have launched "oil and war bonanza" around Iraq, Afghanistan
and Pakistan with multiple objectives: ensuring continuous enormous profits for
war industry, control over oil and gas rich countries and containment of China
by physical military presence in its nearby areas.
The statement of Bush on September 8, 2008 declaring Pakistan "a major theatre"
in 'war on terror" and Obama's AfPak Policy, followed by wanton attacks on
civilians inside our territories, should be viewed in proper perspective: the
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![15 of 214 DOCUMENTS
The Public Record
October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST
The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World
War III
BYLINE: David DeGraw
LENGTH: 5817 words
Oct. 21, 2010 (The Public Record delivered by Newstex) --
Editors Note: This is the third installment of David DeGraws new book, oeThe
Road Through 2012: Revolution or World War III. Read the introduction here.
Part I can be read here. Part II can be read here. To purchase a copy of the
book visit AmpedStatus.com
I: The CIA, BCCI & The Origins of Al Qaeda
Now that we have an understanding of how the Global Banking Intelligence Complex
ran operations through BCCI, lets look at how some of BCCIs key players kept
operating after the bank was finally shut down. As discussed in the last
chapter, during the 1980s and early 90s, the CIA worked in partnership with
BCCI in what was, at the time, the agencys largest covert operation ever,
pumping an estimated $10 billion into funding the Afghan Mujahideen. Through
this operation, Osama bin Ladens al Qaeda network was formed. Bin Laden had
accounts in BCCI and ran CIA/BCCI-funded camps.
In ??Modern Jihad:Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks, investigative
reporter Loretta Napoleoni described the origins of the al Qaeda network:
oe[During the Afghan-Soviet war,] potential Arab warriors traveled to Pakistan
where they resided in guesthouses. These hostels did not keep any records and
not a single organization listed the names of the fighters, where they had gone
to fight and if they had been injured or killed. The lack of vital information
caused distress among relatives. At that time bin Laden was in charge of
several guesthouses and was embarrassed by the hundreds of calls requesting
information. Hence, he decided to keep track of whoever stayed at the hostels
and that record came to be known as the Record of al-Qaeda. This is how
al-Qaeda, which means the base or the scroll, was born.
Throughout this time period, bin Ladens mentor was a man named Gulbuddin
Hekmatyar. In oeAfghanistan 1979-1992: Americas Jihad, William Blum reported
some background information on Hekmatyar:
oeHis followers first gained attention by throwing acid in the faces of women
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![who refused to wear the veil. CIA and State Department officials I have spoken
with call him scary, [#x2dc]vicious, [#x2dc]a fascist,¦ [#x2dc]definite
dictatorship material¦. His name was Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. He was the head of
the Islamic Party and he hated the United States almost as much as he hated the
Russians. His followers screamed [#x2dc]Death to America along with
[#x2dc]Death to the Soviet Union¦ some of them had kidnapped the American
ambassador in the capital city of Kabul, leading to his death in the rescue
attempt¦ these same people shot down civilian airliners and planted bombs at
the airport¦ anti-American mobs had burned and ransacked the US embassy in
Islamabad and American cultural centers in two other Pakistani cities¦ their
brother Islamic fundamentalists in next-door Iran seized the US Embassy in
Teheran¦ and held 55 Americans hostage for over a year.
Supporting acknowledged terrorists and enemies presented the US government with
a huge public relations problem. So the White House and CIA went to work on
the propaganda front. The United Sates Information Agency (USIA) launched the
oeAfghan Media Project. The project was run by Joachim Maitre, a man who also
worked with Oliver North to make TV ads attacking government officials who were
against giving aid to the Contras during the BCCI-financed Iran-Contra Affair.
Reporting in oeCovert Action: The Afghan Pipeline, Steve Galster revealed the
hypocrisy of the US propaganda campaign:
oeWidespread corruption also exists among the [Afghan] rebel leaders but has
gone practically unnoticed in the United States thanks to CIA propaganda. The
same kinds of things that tarnished the Contras image, such as killing
civilians, drug smuggling and embezzlement are practiced by many Afghan rebels.
Taking no prisoners, assassinating suspected government collaborators,
destroying government-built schools and hospitals, killing [#x2dc]unpious
civilians are just a few of the inhumane acts they have carried out. But the
picture we receive of the rebels in the United States is of an uncorrupt,
popular group of freedom-loving people who aspire toward a democratic society.
In oeJihad International Inc., Eqbal Ahmad further exposed the propaganda
effort:
oeThey also invested in this Jihad the legitimacy of their enormous power, and
the luster of their media-made glory. On one especially memorable occasion when
Afghanistans hard-line Islamists visited the White House, President Ronald
Reagan described them as the Muslim worlds [#x2dc]moral equivalent of our
founding fathers. Similarly, the American and European media played up the war
in Afghanistan as the greatest story of the eighties. Foreign correspondents
combed the Hindu Kush for stories of [#x2dc]Mooj heroism. Competition for Jihad
narrative was so great that in one instance a major network, CBS, paid
handsomely to film a staged battle between Islam and Communism. As the western
media carries great importance and authority in the third world, its
Afghanistan war coverage made an enormous impact, especially on Muslim youth.
As bin Laden himself would later say in his 1997 interview with CNN, oeI have
benefited so greatly from the Jihad in Afghanistan that it would have been
impossible for me to gain such benefit from any other chance?
Thanks to CIA funding and weapons, delivered through BCCIs oeblack network with
the help of Pakistans intelligence service the ISI, bin Laden and al Qaeda were
off and running. In 1992, just after BCCI had been shut down in a global
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![sweep, the Afghan-Soviet war finally came to an end. The war resulted in the
death of 1.3 million Afghans, three million were disabled, and 5.5 million
became refugees " in total, about half the population.
When BCCI was shut down, most of its major players were allowed to walk away
without being held accountable, due to the fact that BCCI was deeply entwined
within the upper echelons of US intelligence. Elements of BCCI would then
evolve into al Qaeda, as the Washington Post revealed in 2002:
oeWilliam F. Wechsler, who monitored bin Ladens finances at the National
Security Council during the last two years of the Clinton administration, told
Congress in September that bin Laden initially rose to prominence for building
[#x2dc]a financial architecture that supported the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan
against the Russians.
[#x2dc]Its this financial architecture that continued with him when he turned
to terrorism, and its this financial architecture that is at the heart of how
al Qaeda today gets its finances, he said.
Much of that architecture, according to French, Pakistani and American
investigators, is modeled on the Bank of Credit and Commerce International
(BCCI)¦. In the 1980s it was used to launder drug money, harbor terrorist funds
and buy illegal weapons. Its collapse in 1991 was a major global financial
scandal.
The CIA used BCCI to funnel millions of dollars to the fighters battling the
Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Bin Laden had accounts in the bank, U.S.
officials said¦.
The BCCI Model
A 70-page French intelligence report, prepared for Parliament in October and
obtained by The Washington Post, outlined some details of this network.
[#x2dc]The financial network of bin Laden, as well as his network of
investments, is similar to the network put in place in the 1980s by BCCI for
its fraudulent operations, often with the same people (former directors and
cadres of the bank and its affiliates, arms merchants oil merchants, Saudi
investors), the report said. [#x2dc]The dominant trait of bin Ladens operations
is that of a terrorist network backed up by a vast financial structure.
A senior U.S. investigator said U.S. agencies were looking into these ties
because [#x2dc]they just make so much sense, and so few people from BCCI ever
went to jail. BCCI was the mother and father of terrorist financing operations.
The report identifies dozens of companies and individuals who were involved
with BCCI and were found to be dealing with bin Laden after the bank collapsed.
Many went on to work in banks and charities identified by the United States and
others as supporting al Qaeda.
BCCIs Chief Operations Officer and the man the US Senate Intelligence Committee
considered to be oethe most powerful banker in the Middle East, Khalid bin
Mahfouz, was let off with a fine and would become a major al Qaeda funder.
As the Washington Post report continued:
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![oeThe French report highlighted the role of Saudi banker Khalid bin Mahfouz, a
former director of BCCI, whose sister is married to bin Laden. In 1995 bin
Mahfouz paid a $225 million fine in a settlement with U.S. prosecutors for his
role in the BCCI scandal and went on to serve as director of the National
Commercial Bank, one of Saudi Arabias largest¦.
Saudi officials, at the urging of the United States, audited his bank and found
that millions of dollars were being funneled through the bank to charities
controlled by bin Laden, U.S. officials and the French document said¦. U.S.
intelligence officials said Washington pushed for the audit of bin Mahfouzs
bank but was never allowed to question him.
Saudi officials [#x2dc]werent willing to let us talk to him, said one U.S.
source with direct knowledge of events, [#x2dc]and we asked at a very senior
level.
One vital point that most of the US mainstream media obscured when revealing
bin Mahfouz as a key al Qaeda funder was his heavy ongoing involvement with top
US officials and oil companies throughout BCCIs reign and after the banks
collapse. One of the few outlets to pick up on this was the Boston Herald, who
reported in December, 2001:
oeTwo billionaire Saudi families scrutinized by authorities for possible
financial ties to Osama bin Ladens terrorist network continue to engage in
major oil deals with leading U.S. corporations.
The bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi clans, who control three private Saudi Arabian
oil companies, are partners with U. S. firms in a series of ambitious oil
development and pipeline projects in central and south Asia, records show.
Working through their companies " Delta (NYSE:DAL) Oil, Nimir Petroleum and
Corral Petroleum " the Saudi families have formed international consortiums
with U. S. oil giants Texaco, Unocal, Amerada Hess and Frontera Resources.
(OOTC:FRTE)
These business relationships persist despite evidence that members of the two
Saudi families " headed by patriarchs Khalid bin Mahfouz and Mohammed Hussein
Al-Amoudi " have had ties to Islamic charities and companies linked financially
to bin Ladens al-Qaeda organization. So far, bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi¦ have
been left untouched by the U. S. Treasury Department, which has frozen the
assets of 150 individuals, companies and charities suspected of financing
terrorism¦.
II: oeThe Strategy of the Silk Route & 9/11
One of the worlds richest oil fields is on the eastern shore of the Caspian
sea, just northeast of Afghanistan. The Caspian oil reserves are of top
strategic importance in the quest to control the earths remaining oil supply.
The U.S. government developed a policy called oeThe Strategy of the Silk Route.
The strategy was designed to lock out Russia, China, and Iran from the oil in
this region. This called for U.S. corporations to construct an oil pipeline
running through Afghanistan. Since the mid 1990s, a consortium of US oil
companies led by Unocal, which was later bought by Chevron, have been pursuing
this goal. The plan was to build a Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline from
Turkmenistans natural gas fields to Pakistan. Unocal partnered with Saudi Delta
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![Oil, which was owned by al Qeada funders Khalid bin Mahfouz and Mohammed
Hussein al-Amoudi, and they formed Central Asia Gas Pipeline, Ltd. (CentGas).
A feasibility study for the Central Asian pipeline project was performed by
Enron. This study concluded that as long as the country was split among
fighting warlords the pipeline could not be built. Stability was necessary for
the $4.5 billion project and the US believed that the Taliban would impose the
necessary order. U.S. intelligence and Pakistans ISI then continued the close
relationship that they established through BCCI and agreed to funnel arms and
funding to the Taliban in their war for control of Afghanistan. Until 1999, US
taxpayers paid the entire annual salary of every single Taliban government
official. The U.S., Saudi and Pakistani alliance established within BCCI
reunited to facilitate the rise of the Taliban.
The American oil interests at the heart of this pipeline deal took control of
the White House on January 20, 2001, when George Bush Jr. became president. As
previously mentioned, Enron was heavily involved in this oil deal. Enron CEO
Ken Lay was an old Bush family friend and was Bush Jr.s biggest campaign
contributor. Donald Rumsfeld, who became the Secretary of Defense, was a large
stockholder in Enron. Thomas White, former vice-chairman of Enron, became the
Secretary of the Army. Condoleezza Rice, a former Chevron board member, became
National Security Advisor and then Secretary of State. A major benefactor of
the CentGas deal was going to be Halliburton. (NYSE:HAL) Dick Cheney, who
became Vice President, was Halliburtons CEO. Richard Armitage, who worked as a
key lobbyist for Unocal, became Under Secretary of State. Hamid Karzai, who
would later become Afghanistans Prime Minister, was a top Unocal adviser.
Shortly after taking office, the Bush Administration was quickly losing faith
in the Talibans ability to control Afghanistan and be a reliable partner in the
pipeline deal. James Baker, who was also a key BCCI player, having served as
Treasury Secretary, Bush Sr.s Secretary of State and Chief of Staff during
BCCIs reign, was a leading player in developing the oeStrategy of the Silk
Route. In April 2001, Baker and the Council on Foreign Relations demanded
immediate action and publicly released a Task Force Report entitled,
oeStrategic Energy Policy Challenges For The 21st Century, by the James A.
Baker III Institute. They stressed the urgency of the pipeline project and
openly called for the Bush Administration to oequickly facilitate higher
exports of oil from the Caspian Basin region? and they reiterated the basic
premise of the oeStrategy of the Silk Route, stating, oethe exports from oil
discoveries in the Caspian Basin could be hastened if a secure, economical
export route could be identified swiftly. That oeexport route, as previously
planned, would need to run through Afghanistan and into Pakistan.
The tangled web of conflicts of interests within the Bush Administration, oil
industry, Taliban and al Qaeda were concisely summed up by investigative
reporter Loretta Napoleoni:
oeThe CentGas deal never came to fruition. The Talibans inability to commit to
any agreement, coupled with public recognition of the exploitive nature of
their regime, contributed to its failure. For years, the Taliban skilfully
conducted simultaneous negotiations with two potential oil companies:
Argentinean Bridas [later bought by BP] and Unocal/CentGas. Both companies
showered the Taliban with gifts and money, flying their delegations to the US
to win them over. On one occasion, a group of Taliban met high-ranking
executives of Unocal in Texas. Parties, dinners and trips to the local
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![shopping malls were organized. At the same time, Zalmay Khalizad, who was
working for Unocal, lobbied the Clinton administration to [#x2dc]engage with
the Taliban. The press reported some of these [#x2dc]informal meetings between
US officials and rulers of Afghanistan: [#x2dc]Senior Taliban leaders attended
a conference in Washington in mid-1996 and US diplomats regularly traveled to
Taliban headquarters, wrote the Guardian¦.
[#x2dc]The United States wants good ties [with the Taliban] but cant openly
seek them while women are oppressed, reported CNN. None the less, negotiations
carried on more or less openly until 1998, when bin Ladens associates bombed US
embassies in Africa. Clinton launched cruise missiles at bin Ladens supposed
whereabouts in Afghanistan, an act that convinced the oil lobby that, for the
moment, the pipeline deal could not go ahead¦.
Corporate America continued to do business with people who supported Islamist
insurgency. The oil industry, in particular, continues to be run by a very
small group of American and Saudi families with close financial relations.
Among them were the Bush family, the bin Laden family and Osama bin Ladens
Saudi sponsors. The ties among these people go back a long way¦.
Naturally, as soon as George W. Bush was elected president, Unocal and
BP-Amoco, which had in the meantime bought Bridas, the Argentinean rival,
started once again to lobby the administration, among whom were several of
their former employees. Unocal knew that Bush was ready to back them and
resumed the consortium negotiations. In January 2001, it began discussions
with the Taliban, backed by members of the Bush administration among whom was
Under Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who had previously worked as a
lobbyist for Unocal. The Taliban, for their part, employed as their PR officer
in the US Laila Helms, niece of Richard Helms, [BCCI player] former director
of the CIA and former US ambassador to Iran. In March 2001, Helms succeeded in
bringing Rahmatullah Hashami, Mullah Omars adviser, to Washington¦. As late as
August 2001, meetings were held in Pakistan to discuss the pipeline business¦.
While negotiations were underway, the US was secretly making plans to invade
Afghanistan. The Bush Administration and its oil sponsors were losing patience
with the Taliban; they wanted to get the Central Asian gas pipeline going as
soon as possible. The [#x2dc]Strategy of the Silk Route had been resumed¦.
Paradoxically, 11 September provided the Washington with a casus belli to invade
Afghanistan and establish a pro American government in the country. When, a
few weeks after the attack, the leaders of the two Pakistani Islamist parties
negotiated with Mullah Omar and bin Laden for the latters extradition to
Pakistan to stand trial for the 11 September attacks, the US refused the offer.
Back in 1996, the Sudanese Minister of Defence, Major General Elfaith Erwa, had
also offered to extradite Osama bin Laden, then resident in Sudan, to the US.
American officials declined the offer at that time as well. [#x2dc]Just dont
let him go to Somalia, they added¦. When Erwa disclosed that he was going to
Afghanistan, the American answer was [#x2dc]let him go¦.
In November 2001¦ Hamid Karzai was elected [Afghanistans] prime minister¦. Yet
very few people remember that during the 1990s Karzai was involved in
negotiations with the Taliban regime for the construction of a Central Asian
gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through western Afghanistan to Pakistan. At
that time he was a top adviser and lobbyist for Unocal¦ In the early 1990s,
thanks to his [Karzai's] excellent contacts with the ISI, he moved to the US
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![put in place to keep the United States safe is so massive that its
effectiveness is impossible to determine¦. The U.S. intelligence budget is
vast, publicly announced last year as $75 billion, 2 1/2 times the size it was
on Sept. 10, 2001. But the figure doesnt include many military activities or
domestic counterterrorism programs.
III: The Road to World War III
The war for a pipeline to extract oil from the Caspian Sea is far from over.
China, a country US oil interests were determined to block out of the region,
has been making moves to take control and has clearly established the upper
hand. In a TomDispatch report entitled, oePipelineistans New Silk Road, Asia
Times correspondent Pepe Escobar reports:
oeFuture historians may well agree that the twenty-first century Silk Road
first opened for business on December 14, 2009. That was the day a crucial
stretch of pipeline officially went into operation linking the fabulously
energy-rich state of Turkmenistan (via Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) to Xinjiang
Province in Chinas far west¦.
The bottom line is that, by 2013, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong will be
cruising to ever more dizzying economic heights courtesy of natural gas
supplied by the 1,833-kilometer-long Central Asia Pipeline, then projected to
be operating at full capacity¦. When the Bush administrations armchair generals
launched their Global War on Terror, this was not exactly what they had in
mind.
Meanwhile, in the New Great Game in Eurasia, China had the good sense not to¦
get bogged down in an infinite quagmire in Afghanistan. Instead, the Chinese
simply made a direct commercial deal with Turkmenistan and, profiting from that
countrys disagreements with Moscow, built itself a pipeline which will provide
much of the natural gas it needs.
No wonder the Obama administrations Eurasian energy czar Richard Morningstar
was forced to admit at a congressional hearing that the U.S. simply cannot
compete with China when it comes to Central Asias energy wealth. If only he had
delivered the same message to the Pentagon¦.
If China has so far proven masterly in the way it has played its cards in its
Pipelineistan [#x2dc]war, the U.S. hand " bypass Russia, elbow out China,
isolate Iran " may soon be called for what it is: a bluff.
If you have wondered why so many US/NATO/private military troops have been
deployed to the Af-Pak region, just consider that China, which shares a border
with Pakistan and Afghanistan, has also begun moving troops into the region (it
is also important to note that Iran is surrounded by Afghanistan and Iraq). As
a New York Times report stated:
oe[Pakistan] is handing over de facto control of the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan
region in the northwest corner of disputed Kashmir to China.
The entire Pakistan-occupied western portion of Kashmir stretching from Gilgit
in the north to Azad (Free) Kashmir in the south is closed to the world, in
contrast to the media access that India permits in the eastern part, where it
is combating a Pakistan-backed insurgency. But reports from a variety of
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![foreign intelligence sources¦ reveal two important new developments in
Gilgit-Baltistan: a simmering rebellion against Pakistani rule and the influx
of an estimated 7,000 to 11,000 soldiers of the [Chinese] Peoples Liberation
Army.
China wants a grip on the region to assure unfettered road and rail access to
the Gulf through Pakistan. It takes 16 to 25 days for Chinese oil tankers to
reach the Gulf. When high-speed rail and road links through Gilgit and
Baltistan are completed, China will be able to transport cargo from Eastern
China to the new Chinese-built Pakistani naval bases at Gwadar, Pasni and
Ormara, just east of the Gulf, within 48 hours.
As the war in Afghanistan continues to escalate over the border into Pakistan,
you can be assured that China, Russia and Iran will become more militarily
involved in defense of their regions resources. Pakistan is already becoming
increasingly hostile to an escalation of US drone and NATO strikes within its
borders, and have even begun to openly aid the Taliban by cutting off key NATO
supply lines. Pakistan has also recently deployed anti-aircraft missiles on its
border with Afghanistan. Current intelligence leads one to conclude that the
war will continue to expand further into Pakistan, which will lead to China and
Iran becoming more involved in what is essentially a proxy war against
US/NATO/private military forces.
The bottom line, and one of the main themes of this book, is that we have
entered a period of major wars over declining resources. The Af-Pak operations
are only initial moves in an attempt to control the earths remaining oil
supply.
Any talks of troop withdrawals from the Af-Pak region and Iraq are
psychological operations. US/NATO/private military contractors are still in
the process of building the worlds largest military bases in this region, they
are not going to abandon these newly constructed mega-bases. These bases are
designed to be operational and, as oil continues to become more scarce, they
will be used to militarily control the remaining supply throughout this region.
Chris Martenson, a former Vice President at intelligence company SAIC, recently
wrote the following in an analysis entitled, oeFuture Chaos: There Is No
[#x2dc]Plan B:
oeThe future is likely to be more chaotic than you probably think. This was
the primary conclusion that I came to after attending the most recent
Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas (ASPO) in Washington, DC in
October, 2010¦. The impact of Peak Oil on markets, lifestyles, and even
national solvency deserves our very highest attention¦. Rear Admiral Lawrence
Rice¦ presented the findings of the 2010 Joint Operating Environment (a
forward-looking document examining the trends, contexts, and implications for
future joint force commanders in the US military), which spends 76 pages
summarizing the key trends and threats of the world¦. Peak Oil dominates the
discussion. Among the conclusions (on page 29), we find this:
[#x2dc]By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and
as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 MBD.
The Joint Operating Environment report goes on to reveal:
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![oeTo meet climbing global requirements, OPEC will have to increase its output
from 30 MBD to at least 50 MBD. Significantly, no OPEC nation, except perhaps
Saudi Arabia, is investing sufficient sums in new technologies and recovery
methods to achieve such growth. Some, like Venezuela and Russia, are actually
exhausting their fields to cash in on the bonanza created by rapidly rising oil
prices¦.
A severe energy crunch is inevitable without a massive expansion of production
and refining capacity. While it is difficult to predict precisely what
economic, political, and strategic effects such a shortfall might produce, it
surely would reduce the prospects for growth in both the developing and
developed worlds¦.
Increasing OPEC output up to 50 MBD from the current level of 30 MBD is simply
not possible, in fact its absurd to even consider that as a possibility. Once
you disregard that, as the report states, oeA severe energy crunch is
inevitable. To make matters even worse, we are much more likely to see a
steady decline in output. So war with Pakistan, China, Russia and Iran, along
with continued military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, is increasingly
probable, and their planned strategy.
Their strategy becomes all the more apparent when you consider the ramp up in
military exercises and drills around China, which has included a series of
massive 86,000-troop war games throughout the Korean Peninsula. Add in the
recent record-setting $123 Billion in weapons sales to Gulf nations, with Saudi
Arabia getting $67.8 Billion in weapons, which was the largest US arms deal
ever. Israel also recently purchased 20 F-35 fighter jets for $2.5 billion, and
has recently conducted their largest ever joint military exercises with the US.
[See Moves Upon the Grand Chessboard for more information. In the next part of
this series, we will take a close look at how Iraq fits into this picture.]
Now that we have a basic understanding of how much effort has gone into
controlling Middle East and Caspian oil, and as demand for oil increases as
production decreases, we can easily see how this is going to become an
increasingly dangerous and hostile situation. If we stay on this present
course, the oeStrategy of the Silk Route leads us straight down the road to
World War III.
IV: War Racket: The Global Banking Intelligence Complex Business Plan
One of the reactions a person may have after learning this information, is to
believe that perhaps these wars to control the earths remaining oil supply are
beneficial to the US population. It may even eventually be a clever propaganda
strategy to paint these wars as preserving the American way of life and our
standard of living by obtaining these vital resources. Coming to this belief
would be tremendously naïve.
As recent history has proved, US oil interests and the bankers behind them are
global in nature and they dont have any loyalty to the American people. As
their actions have clearly demonstrated, they use the oil, and the obscene
profits obtained from it, for their own short-sighted personal gain, at the
brutal expense of the overwhelming majority of humanity and at the
extraordinary expense of the earths ecosystem. Americans are shielded from the
enormous inhumanity of millions of maimed and dead bodies as a result of their
addiction to power. If these wars continue to escalate, they will inevitably
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![oeThe Americans wanted a pipeline that bypassed Russia and Iran and went through
Afghanistan. To insure this, an invasion was necessary. The idiot American
public could be told that the invasion was necessary because of 9/11 and to save
them from [#x2dc]terrorism, and the utter fools would believe the lie. The war,
Roberts continued, is to guard the pipeline route. oeIts about money, its about
energy, its not about democracy.
According to an AP dispatch of November 26th, oeThe president promised this week
to [#x2dc]finish the job begun eight years ago¦but
liberal Democrats already are lining up against it (escalation), in part because
of the also-surging cost---up to $75 billion a year. Describing the war in
workplace terminology makes it sound as if Obama is running a personnel agency
that was dispatching workers to build some public works, not as though he is
continuing President George Bushs illegal war.
Apparently, only escalation in Afghanistan was considered by Obama. As The
Washington Post reported last December, oestanding at Kandahar Air Field in
Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the United States is making
a [#x2dc]sustained commitment to that country, one that will last [#x2dc]some
protracted period of time. The story goes on to discuss $300 million in new
construction at just one base, including a new power plant, electrical and water
distribution systems, and housing for 1,500 personnel. Gates hardly would have
made a oesustained commitment if Obama planned to withdraw. And every day the
war goes on while Obama mulls his options is a day of victory for the hawks.
In January, a Defense Department report stated oebuilding a fully competent and
independent Afghan government will be a
lengthy process that will last, at a minimum, decades, The Nation magazines
Jonathan Schell reports (Nov. 30). So far from defeating the Taliban are Allied
forces that US military contractors oeare forced to pay suspected insurgents to
protect American supply routes, Aram Roston writes in the same issue. oeIt is an
accepted fact of the military logistics operation in Afghanistan that the US
government funds the very forces American troops are fighting. In fact, an
American executive there told Roston, oeThe Army is basically paying the Taliban
not to shoot at them. It is Department of Defense money.
Nevertheless, the slick orator from Illinois continues U.S. aggression in the
energy-rich Middle East. Obama clearly is no liberal, much less a progressive.
He is a reactionary. He is advancing the militarist policies of the Bush-Cheney
regime. He is defending the CIA. He is increasing the total Pentagon budget. He
is expanding an illegal war into Pakistan. Once this is understood, the other
pieces of Obama policy fall into place. Obama is continuing the illegal
oeextraordinary rendition kidnappings authorized by President Bush. Obama
rejects prosecuting CIA torture goons who broke the law and refuses to release
photos of their grisly handiwork. Obama balks at signing a treaty to ban land
mines that has been affirmed by 150 nations.
Obama expands the Predator assassination attacks claiming hundreds of civilian
lives. And so on, ad nauseam.
The military-industrial complex will support Obamas escalation of these wars in
order to cash in on those lucrative defense contracts valued at $700 billion a
year while good jobs in other sectors of the U.S. economy, starved for
investment capital, continue to shrink; while cities continue to decline; while
handgun massacres become commonplace in our schools and offices; while
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![that the vast untapped oil and gas reserves in the Central Asian and Caspian
region could be transported to markets in South Asia, South-East Asia, Far East
and the Pacific 17. This is supported by Jon Flanders (2001, 18) article. While
official relations were purportedly broken off in 1998, relations with the
Taliban were maintained through the State Department (Ahmad) and through the
Pakistan Military Intelligence ISI by the CIA. 19 According to Jon Flanders
(2001), U.S. interest in the pipeline restarted in 2000, but was still not
moving forward when Bush was elected. With Bush came Cheney (CEO of Halliburton
(NYSE:HAL) ) and Halliburton had investments in Turkmenistan for oeintegrated
drilling services with an estimated value of $30 million for the total package.
20 It should not be surprising given the oil interests of the President, his
kin, and his appointees, that Bush placed Afghanistan on the top of his action
list. In July 2001, Colin Powell gave the Taliban $43 million for oehumanitarian
aid (Madsen, 2002, 21). According to a BBC report by George Arney (9/18/01),
the US was planning military action in Afghanistan prior to 9/11. oeNaiz Naik, a
former Pakistan Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in
mid-July that military action would go ahead by the middle of October. 22 OpEd
informed people all over the world cannot fathom how the American administration
can seriously claim to be pursuing oeal Qaida-connected terrorists, when they
know that oeal Qaida, the terrorist organization never existed. Thanks to
revelations by British MP Robin Cook in the Guardian,
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1523838,00.html ), and French
intelligence agent Pierre-Henry Bunel at the Wayne Madsen Report,
(http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=BUN20051120&articleId=1291)
people know that when the United States needed a new enemy, after the demise of
the Soviet empire, they decided to call oethe base (an international computer
data base in Saudi Arabia of Afghan fighters), designated as oeal Qaida [an
email address], an international terrorist network.
oeBin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by western
security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the
Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al-Qaida,
literally oethe database, was originally the computer file of the thousands of
mujahideen who were recruited andtrained with help from the CIA to defeat the
Russians. - Robin Cook
oeThe truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida. And
any informedintelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign
to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing
the [#x2dc]devil only in order to drive the [#x2dc]TV watcher to accept a
unified internationalleadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind
this propaganda is the US and the lobbyists for the US war on terrorism are only
interested in making money. " Pierre-Henry Bunel
oeElements associated with al Qaida has become the new official catch-all
phrase, used as often as possible, to incite terror among the American people
and to justify new attacks by American forces and American-supported militia
groups. We are going into Pakistan in force, to train new Pakistanis to fight
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![other Pakistanis that we had trained too well in the past. How will we separate
the oefriendly al Qaida from the unfriendly ones, when we bundle the whole bunch
together under the rubric oeal Qaida?
Why are Islamists like Ayman al Zawahiri considered al Q., after they provided
the US Islamic fighters in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia, as well other Islamic
recruits who served US interests in Chechnya?
(http://www.bestcyrano.org/THOMASPAINE/?p=143)
The Islamic mercenaries were fighting for us when the embassies were bombed in
Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, even after bin Laden and Zawahiriannounced the
establishment of oeThe International Islamic Front for Holy War Against Jews
andCrusaders, (an umbrella organization linking Islamic extremists in scores of
countries around the world, the bin Laden group that was renamed Al Qaida). The
militant group, now called al Qaeda was the instant answer to the 9/11 attacks,
even though it was never what it was alleged to be, the ultimate terrorist
bogeyman. The conjunction of US and al Qaida interests all over the Muslim world
should warn thinking individuals, whenever attacks happen to occur in just the
places that the neoconwar planners would most like to invade.
It is more than reasonable to question where al Qaida ends and the secret world
of their CIA trainers begins. Was it other trained al Qaida agents who
pre-planted the demolitions that brought the towers down, obtained US security
codes, timed the attacks into ongoing war games and stood down fighter cover, or
was that part of the act of war the CIAs domain? Questioning further along that
line, was Pakistans ISI (secret service) still acting as the CIAs surrogate,
when ISIhead General Mahmud Ahmad allegedly had Sheik Omar wire Mohammed Atta
$100,000? According to Chossudovsky:
oeThe FBI had information on the money trail. They knew exactly who was
financing the terrorists. Less than two weeks later, the findings of the FBI
were confirmed by Agence France Presse (AFP) andthe Times of India, quoting an
official Indian intelligence report (which had been dispatched to Washington).
According to these two reports, the money used to finance the 9-11 attacks had
allegedly been oewired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan, by Ahmad
Umar Sheikh, at the instance of [ISIChief] General Mahmoud [Ahmad]. 10 According
to the AFP (quoting the intelligence source):
oeThe evidence we have supplied to the U.S. is of a much wider range and depth
than just one piece of paper linking a rogue general to some misplaced act of
terrorism.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20020620&articleId=371
The name oeSheikh Omar should set off alarms to those who are paying attention.
He was the one who Bhutto fingered on the David Frost interview on 2nd November
2007 (2:15),
oeOmar Sheikh, the man who murdered Osama bin Laden.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnychOXj9Tg
Omar is mentioned in connection with a man that Bhutto feared might be involved
in threats against her.
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![President Musharraf, in his book In the Line of Fire stated that the Sheikh was
originally recruited by British intelligence agency, MI6 to go to the Balkans.
Here is another shadowy figure linked to al Qaida, Western intelligence agencies
andthe US program, organized by Bill Clinton, to bring radical Islamist Jihadis
to the war in Yugoslavia. They fought on the US side, in a war prosecuted by the
United States, as an Islamic paramilitary force. The Grassy knoll by peter
Chamberlin
To put salt on open wounds, the US signed a Nuclear deal with arch-rival-India,
not the major Non-NATO ally (Pakistan). Many Pakistanis wonder why $30 Billion
were offered to Turkey to support war in Iraq, while Pakistan only received 1
billion to Pakistan for fighting Al-Qaeda and the Talibaan. You need to look at
the situation with sanity and calm. Selective amnesia is the favorite tactic
those who have an agenda. President Ayub Khan in 1966 said is best in his best
selling book Pakistanis need oeFriends no Masters.
Inconveniently, invading Afghanistan was not ObL " at least not directly. First,
regardless of the brutality of the Taleban inside Afghanistan, the U.S. was
friendly with the Taleban. Through the Clinton administration, and into George
W. Bush administration, the U.S. supported the Taleban government. In fact,
Colin Powell gave the Taleban government $43 million in the summer of 2001 to
facilitate progress on a pipeline through Afghanistan. That was the carrot. The
stick was " do it or we will invade by October. Wow! Time lines from the Bush
administration.
The short story is that Hamid Karzai, former UNOCAL advisor in Afghanistan,
became the head of the new Afghan government. The pipeline project moved
forward, and the Bush administration jumped off to the next big energy target
for control " Iraq. But Afghanistan would not, and did not, go away. Now the
people of Afghanistan want Karzai out for corruption and failure.OpEdNews
October 24th, 2008
Pakistanis desire want and cherish American friendship however Pakistanis are
not the oelittle brown brothers who can do the bidding of anyone. Pakistan is a
150 million strong nuclear state anda crucial pivot on the war on terror.
President Musharraf said it quite bluntly, oeno one can do more and the West
will go down on their knees and fail if Pakistan without the help of the ISI
andthe Pakistan army. Those who deal with Pakistan need to learn some manners
and some appreciation of the sacrifice of 1000 Pakistani soldiers who died
fighting the war on terror. Pakistanis are sick and tired of lectures on oedo
more.
In the 1980s, the CIA provided some $5 billion in military aid for Islamic
fundamentalist rebels fighting the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan, but scaled
down operations after Moscow pulled out in 1989. However, Selig Harrison of the
DC-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars recently told a
conference in London that the CIA created the Taliban oemonster by providing
some $3 billion for the ultra-fundamentalist militia in their 1994-6 drive to
power,
US AfPak policy review results mimic Chinese demads given to Hillary Force is
all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived. ~Abraham Lincoln In 1821
Solutions to oeObamas VietnamKabul: The Final Spring Offensive? End of
NATO?Afghanistan: The writing is on the wall. Can Obama read it?UK Brig. Smith:
oeWere not going to win this [Afghan] war
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![is very biased. On deconstructing the wrong paradigm. Why the US Think Tank
industry is wrong!Another prophecy of doom for Pakistan. Blah Blah
Blah!Pakistanis want to hear oeThank You for the USPakistanis to USA: We want
oeFriends Not MastersAmerica: Say Thank YouPakistan US Relations should be
normal not transactionalResponse to Congressman Hoyer on Pakistan
On inadequate US Aid to Pakistan¦.Pakistanis are not stupid and have their nukes
hiddenWhere in the world is Osama Bin LadenThe CIA Connection??.The Benzair
Bhutto Assassination was preplanned, the Zia model with a twist. The continued
CIA involvement in Pakistan. The Great Game continues. When the Elephants dance
the grass gets stamped upon¦Pakistanis suffer. The purpose of this assignation
is to destabilize Pakistan and find a reason to secure the Nukes
APPENDIX A
March 4, 2002
The Enron Corporation gave the Taliban millions of dollars in a no-holds-barred
bid to strike a deal for an energy pipeline in Afghanistan " wile the Taliban
were already sheltering terror kingpin Osama Bin Laden!
Enron executives even met with Taliban officials in Texas, where they were given
the red-carpet treatment and promised a fortune if the deal went through.
Thats the bombshell finding of an exclusive ENQUIRER investigation into the
collapse of the company that ripped off Americans for millions of dollars. The
ENQUIRER has also uncovered that some of the Enron money wound up supporting Bin
Laden and his Al Qaeda terrorist network!
oeEnron would do business with the devil if it would make the company money!
said a member of a Congressional committee investigating the companys collapse.
And Atul Davda, who worked as a senior director for Enrons InternationalDivision
until the companys collapse, confirmed to The ENQUIRER: oeEnron had intimate
contact with Taliban officials. Building the pipeline was one of the
corporations prime objectives.
As The ENQUIRER revealed two weeks ago, Enron secretly employed CIA agents to
carry out its dealings overseas. And a CIA insider disclosed : oeEnron was
wooing the Taliban and was willing to make the Taliban a partner in the
operation of a pipeline through Afghanistan.
oeEnron proposed to pay the Taliban large sums of money in a [#x2dc]tax on every
cubic foot of gas and oil shipped through the pipeline.
Enron shelled out more than $400 million for a feasibility study on the pipeline
and oea large portion of that cost was payoffs to the Taliban, said the CIA
source.
Shockingly, Enrons wooing of the Taliban continued even after Al Qaeda agents
bombed two American embassies in Africa in 1998, andthe U.S. retaliated with
missile attacks on suspected Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and Sudan.
oeThe U.S. was shooting missiles into Afghanistan, and it was clear that the
Taliban were enabling Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, terrorist expert Jeffrey
Steinberg, editor of the Executive Intelligence Review, told The ENQUIRER.
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![42 of 214 DOCUMENTS
New Internationalist
October 1, 2009
Our terrorists: Islamic fundamentalist militants are the
enemies of Israel and Western governments, right? Think
again;
Islam in power
BYLINE: Ahmed, Nafeez Mosaddeq
SECTION: Pg. 17(4) No. 426 ISSN: 0305-9529
LENGTH: 2462 words
Once upon a time, the CIA trained, financed and supported Osama bin Laden and
his mujahidin networks in Afghanistan to repel the Sovietinvasion of
Afghanistan. After the end of the Cold War, bin Laden turned against the West
and we no longer had any use for him. His persistent terrorist attacks against
us for more than a decade, culminating in 9/11, provoked our own response, in
the form of the 'war on terror.' This is the official narrative. And it's false.
Not only did Western intelligence services continue to foster Islamist extremist
and terrorist groups connected to al-Qaeda after the Cold War; they continued to
do so even after 9/11.
Graham Fuller, the former Deputy Director of the CIA's National Council on
Intelligence, alluded to the strategy in 1999. 'The policy of guiding the
evolution of Islam and of helping them against our adversaries worked
marvellously well in Afghanistan against the Red Army.The same doctrines can
still be used to destabilize what remains of Russian power, and especially to
counter the Chinese influence in Central Asia.'
Throughout the 1990s, US intelligence sponsorship of Islamist extremist networks
was linked to destabilizing Russian and Chinese influence in Eastern Europe, the
Balkans, Central Asia, the Caucasus and North Africa--which contain the world's
largest energy reserves after the Middle East.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Afghanistan--Big Oil and the Taliban
In 1997 a US diplomat commented: "The Taliban will probably develop like the
Saudis ... There will be Aramco [consortium of oil companies controlling Saudi
oil], pipelines, an emir, no parliament and lotsof sharia law. We can live with
that.'
Continued US sponsorship of the al-Qaeda-Taliban nexus in Afghanistan was
confirmed as late as 2000. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations
Subcommittee on South Asia, Dana Rohrabacher--former White House Special
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![Assistant to President Reagan and now Senior Member of the House International
Relations Committee--declared: 'This administration has a covert policy that has
empowered the Taliban and enabled this brutal movement to hold on to power.' The
assumption was that 'the Taliban would bring stability to Afghanistan and permit
the building of oil pipelines from Central Asia through Afghanistan to
Pakistan'. US companies involved in the project included Unocal and Enron. As
early as May 1996, Unocal had officially announced plans to build a pipeline to
transport natural gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan through western Afghanistan.
US officials held several meetings with the Taliban from 2000 to the summer of
2001, in an effort to get the Taliban to agree to a joint federal government
with their local enemies, the Northern Alliance. In exchange, they promised the
Taliban financial aid and international legitimacy. But eventually US
policymakers concluded that the Taliban would never bring the stability needed
for the pipeline project. According to Pakistani Foreign Minister NiazNaik, who
was present at the meetings, US officials threatened the Taliban with military
action if they failed to comply with the federalization plan. Even a date for
threatened military action--October 2001--was proposed. The Taliban rejected the
plan. So months before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a war on Afghanistan was
already on the table. Jean-Charles Brisard, a former French intelligence
officer, thus speculates that 9/11 may have been a pre-emptive attack by
al-Qaeda to head off the declared US military invasion of Afghanistan.
There is still keen interest in the pipeline. 'Since the US-led offensive that
ousted the Taliban from power,' reported Forbes in 2005,'the project has been
revived and drawn strong US support' as it would allow the Central Asian
republics to export energy to Western markets 'without relying on Russian
routes'. Then-US Ambassador to Turkmenistan Ann Jacobsen noted that: "We are
seriously looking at the project, and it is quite possible that American
companies will join it.' The problem remains that the southern section of the
proposed pipeline runs through territory still de facto controlled fay Taliban
forces.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Chechnya--Jihad in the Caucasus
The US flirtation with the al-Qaeda-Taliban nexus in Afghanistan was only part
of wider US plan to secure key energy resources.
Chechnya is one victim of this strategy. The encroachment of US-sponsored
mujahidin operatives linked to Osama bin Laden transformed the character of the
Chechen resistance movement by the late 1990s. Al-Qaeda's hardline Islamist
ideology was empowered, at the expense of Chechnya's populist Sufi culture and
traditions.
Back in 1991, CIA veteran Richard Secord, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of
Defense for International Security Affairs, landed in Baku to set up a front
company that would fly hundreds of al-Qaeda mujahidin from Afghanistan into
Azerbaijan. By 1993, 2,000 mujahidin were recruited, converting Baku into a base
for regional jihadi operations, which quickly extended into Dagestan and
Chechnya.
US intelligence remained deeply involved until the end of the 1990s. According
to Yossef Bodanksy, then Director of the US Congressional Task Force on
Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, US Government officials participated in a
formal meeting in Azerbaijan in December 1999 in which specific programmes for
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![the training and equipping of mujahidin from the Caucasus, Central/South Asia
and the Arab world werediscussed and agreed upon'. This, he said, culminated in
'Washington's tacit encouragement of both Muslim allies (mainly Turkey, Jordan
and Saudi Arabia) and US "private security companies" ... to assist the Chechens
and their Islamist allies to surge in the spring of 2000 and sustain the ensuing
jihad for a long time.'
The US saw the sponsorship of 'Islamist jihad in the Caucasus' as a way to
'deprive Russia of a viable pipeline route through spiralling violence and
terrorism'.
Algeria--state terrorism in disguise
Covert operations were deployed in the same period in Algeria, where the army
cancelled national democratic elections in 1992 that would have brought the
Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) to power in a landslide victory. Not long after
the coup, hundreds of civilians were being mysteriously massacred by an unknown
terrorist group, identified bythe Algerian junta as a radical offshoot of the
FIS--calling itself the Armed Islamic Group (GIA). The GIA was formed largely of
Algerianveterans of bin Laden's mujahidin forces in Afghanistan, who had
returned in the late 1980s. To date, the total death toll from the massacres by
the GIA is an estimated 150,000 civilians.
Yet in the late 1990s, evidence emerged from dissident Algerian Government and
intelligence sources that the GIA atrocities were in fact perpetrated by the
state. 'Yussuf-Joseph', a career secret agent inAlgeria's securite militaire for
14 years, defected to Britain in 1997. He told the Guardian newspaper: "The GIA
is a pure product of [the Algerian] secret service. I used to read all the
secret telexes. I know that the GIA has been infiltrated and manipulated by the
Government. The FIS aren't doing the massacres,' Joseph's testimony has
beencorroborated by numerous defectors from the Algerian secret services. Secret
British Foreign Office documents--revealed for the first time during the 2000
London trial of an alleged Algerian terrorist--referred to the 'manipulation of
the GIA' by the Algerian Government as acover to carry out their own
operations'.
Currently, the militant Algerian splinter group, the al-Qaeda Organization in
the Islamic Maghreb, plays a predominant role in regionalterrorist violence. Yet
in a series of extensive analyses for the Review of African Political Economy,
social anthropologist Jeremy Keenan of Britain's University of East Anglia has
unearthed the role played by Western intelligence agencies, He documents an
increasing amountof evidence to suggest that the alleged spread of terrorist
activities across much of the Sahelian Sahara, has indeed been an elaborate
deception on the part of US and Algerian military intelligence services'. Keenan
argues that an al-Qaeda hostage-taking of European tourists in early 2003 'was
initiated and orchestrated by elements within the Algerian military
establishment'--an operation condoned by the US'--and that al-Qaeda leader Ammar
Saifi (also known as 'the Maghreb's bin Laden) 'was "turned" by the Algerian
security forces in January 2003',
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Corroborating Keenan's findings, a Pentagon adviser told US investigative
journalist Seymour Hersh that the Algerian operation was partof a new Pentagon
covert operations programme, originally proposed in August 2002 by the Defense
Science Board as the 'Proactive, Pre-emptive Operations Group'. The covert
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![programme would aim to 'stimulate reactions' among al-Qaeda terrotists by duping
them into undertaking operations through US military penetration of terrorist
groups and recruitment of locals to conduct 'combat operations, or even
terrorist activities'. The capture of Ammar Sain was a pilot for the new
programme.
Western interest is easily explained. Algeria has the fifth-largest reserves of
natural gas in the world, and is the second-largest gasexporter. It ranks
fourteenth for oil reserves, with official estimates at 9.2 billion barrels.
Approximately 90 per cent of Algeria's crude oil exports go to Western Europe
and Algeria's major trading partners are Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the
US.
Energy hegemony is a key priority. On the pretext of fighting al-Qaeda in North
Africa, the US has pushed through a regional counter-terrorism architecture that
has evolved into the $500 million Trans-Sahara Counter terrorism Initiative, in
which Algeria plays a pivotal role. The initiative coincides with the
inauguration of a $6 billion World Bank project, the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline.
Israel and Hamas--an ambiguous affair
Israel has played a very similar game to the US and Britain in itsambiguous
relationship to the Palestinian organization, Hamas. US Government and
intelligence sources confirm that Israel provided directand indirect financial
aid to Hamas in the late 1970s as a counterbalance to the Palestinian Liberation
Organization (PLO). According to Israeli military affairs experts Ze'ev Schiff
and Ehud Ya'ari, at thetime of the first intifadah the Palestinian Fatah
organization 'suspected the Israelis of a plot first to let Hamas gather
strength and then to unleash it against the PLO, turning the uprising into a
civil war ... many Israeli staff officers believed that the rise of
fundamentalism in Gaza could be exploited to weaken the power of the PLO.'
Israeli support for Hamas reportedly continued even after the signing of the
Oslo Peace Accords in 1993--during the period of some of the worst suicide
bombings. Even the late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat said in
2001 that Hamas 'continued to benefit from permits and authorizations, while we
have been limited, even [for permits] to build a tomato factory ... Some
collaborationists of Israel are involved in these [terrorist] attacks.'
Indeed, there are indications that the Israeli assassination of Hamas leader Abu
Hanoud in November 2001 was a ploy to provoke more terror bombings. Three months
earlier, the Israeli Insider reported Ariel Sharon's plan for an all-out attack
on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to desttoy permanently its infrastructure,
noting that the plan would only 'be launched immediately following the next
high-casualty suicide bombing'--which was later provoked by Israel's
extrajudicial killing of Hanoud. As Israeli military security analyst Alex
Fishman noted in Ha'aretz:
'Whoever gave a green light to this act of liquidation knew full well that he
was thereby shattering in one blow the "gentleman's agreement" between Hamas and
the Palestinian Authority [under which] Hamaswas to avoid in the near future
suicide bombings inside the Green Line ... This understanding was, however,
shattered by the assassination the day before yesterday--and whoever decided
upon the liquidation of Abu knew in advance that that would be the price.'
Elements of the Israeli far-right, including senior cabinet officials,
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Our terrorists: Islamic fundamentalist militants are the enemies of Israel and
Western governments, right? Think again; Islam in power New Internationalist
October 1, 2009](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/afghanistanunocal-140925065543-phpapp02/85/Attack-on-Afghanistan-Formalised-before-9-11-was-Key-to-Unlock-Route-to-Gas-and-Oil-from-Central-Asian-Republics-141-320.jpg)
![44 of 214 DOCUMENTS
Boise Weekly (Idaho)
September 23, 2009 - September 29, 2009
THE IMPOTENT DICTATOR
BYLINE: Rall, Ted.
Ted Roll is author of the books To Afghanistan and Back and Silk Road to Ruin.
SECTION: Pg. 6 Vol. 18 No. 13
LENGTH: 1131 words
ABSTRACT
Americans are finally waking up. Afghanistan, most people finally understand, is
not "the good war" but the stupid one. We can't win. Even worse, there's nothing
to win. The historical parallels aren't perfect - they never are - but it's hard
not to think of the cost of propping up the corrupt Diem regime and its
successors in South Vietnam when you see [Hamid Karzai] prancing around in
Kabul, never an arm's length away from U.S. Special Forces commandos. You see,
Karzai's own troops can't be trusted not to kill him.
Looking at Karzai's resume, it's hard to imagine what George W. Bush and his
"pet Afghan" Zalmay Khalilzad were thinking when they appointed Karzai as the
U.S. puppet "interim president" of occupied Afghanistan in late 2001. Granted,
all three were oilmen - Karzai and Khalilzad had both worked as consultants for
the energy corporation Unocal, which tried to build an oil-gas pipeline across
Afghanistan in the '90s.
On Oct. 9, 2004, Karzai "won" his first "democratic election." As before,
Karzai's goons stacked the deck. Unsympathetic elections officials were
kidnapped. The United Nations concluded that "fraud had occurred, particularly
ballot-box stuffing" in the 2004 election. The United Nations "noted that some
estimates have said that 10 percent to 15 percent of the 11.5 million registered
voters, in Afghanistan and among Afghan refugees abroad, may be registered more
than once," reported the Times at the time. The three-member committee that
counted the ballots were all appointed by Karzai.
FULL TEXT
How many more must die for Karzai?
NEW YORK- "For five years, Mt Karzai was my president," Ashraf Ghani, an
opposition candidate, bemoaned after widespread reports that incumbent Hamid
Karzai had used fraud on a massive scale to steal the election. "Now how many
Afghans will consider him their president?"
Not many. In a country where civil war is a national pastime, this is not good.
But Ghani is asking the wrong question. The real question is how many Americans
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![will continue to see Karzai as viable and be willing to pay the price of
propping him up?
California Sen. Diane Feinstein used to support Karzai. "Afghanistan is our
beachhead on our war on terror. We cannot lose it, or we lose our war on
terror," she said in 2002. What a difference seven years makes. "I do not
believe we can build a democratic state in Afghanistan," she said last week.
Americans are finally waking up. Afghanistan, most people finally understand, is
not "the good war" but the stupid one. We can't win. Even worse, there's nothing
to win. The historical parallels aren't perfect - they never are - but it's hard
not to think of the cost of propping up the corrupt Diem regime and its
successors in South Vietnam when you see Hamid Karzai prancing around in Kabul,
never an arm's length away from U.S. Special Forces commandos. You see, Karzai's
own troops can't be trusted not to kill him.
There were at least 800 fake polling sites on Afghanistan's election day -
places that "existed only on paper," reported The New York Times. "We think that
about 15 percent of the polling sites never opened on Election Day," the paper
quoted a "senior Western diplomat. "
"But they still managed to report thousands of ballots for Karzai," the Times
story stated. "Mr. Karzai's supporters also took over approximately 800
[additional] legitimate polling centers and used them to fraudulently report
tens of thousands of additional ballots for Mr. Karzai."
Actually, make that hundreds of thousands. In "Kandahar ... preliminary results
indicate that more than 350,000 ballots have been turned in to be counted. But
Western officials estimated that only about 25,000 people actually voted there,"
the story states. "Pro-Karzai ballots may exceed the people who actually voted
by a factor of 10."
The truth is, there's nothing new here. Ashraf Ghani may have been the only
Afghan to have ever considered Karzai legitimate. To most Afghans, Karzai has
always been a curious "impotent dictator," propped up by U.S. military force but
with insufficient funding to exert his power outside the capital of Kabul. In
the provinces, tribal warlords fight the Taliban for control.
Looking at Karzai's resume, it's hard to imagine what George W. Bush and his
"pet Afghan" Zalmay Khalilzad were thinking when they appointed Karzai as the
U.S. puppet "interim president" of occupied Afghanistan in late 2001. Granted,
all three were oilmen - Karzai and Khalilzad had both worked as consultants for
the energy corporation Unocal, which tried to build an oil-gas pipeline across
Afghanistan in the '90s.
But Karzai lacked both integrity - as a Taliban official in 1997, Karzai was
caught embezzling government funds and forced to flee the country - and support.
Karzai's drive to consolidate power since 2001 has been marked by trickery,
intimidation, ballot stuffing and systemic corruption. One "election" has
followed another. But none have been conducted legitimately.
Perhaps democracy was too much to hope for in a nation whose infrastructure had
been degraded to the 14th century. There was no census, no house addresses, no
mail service. How could a fair election be held?
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2009](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/afghanistanunocal-140925065543-phpapp02/85/Attack-on-Afghanistan-Formalised-before-9-11-was-Key-to-Unlock-Route-to-Gas-and-Oil-from-Central-Asian-Republics-147-320.jpg)
![from the Bureau of Prisons," said King. "It is imperative that BOP not only
remove all materials produced by the 'Nation of Islam' and Louis Farrakhan but
ensure that all other Islamic texts provided to inmates are vetted."
Wolf is chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on Commerce-Justice-Science
responsible for funding the BOP.
"I want to thank Chairman King for his work on this critical issue," Wolf said.
"As chairman of the subcommittee that funds the Justice Department, I am
committed to conducting thorough oversight of BOP to ensure that our prisons are
not breeding grounds for terrorism."
The full text of Wolf and King's letter is available below.
Dear Acting Director Kane:
On June 15, the House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing titled, "The
Threat of Muslim-American Radicalization in U.S. Prisons," as part of its
oversight of the federal response to domestic radicalization. Chairman King's
hearings have been critical to understanding the evolving threat of terrorism to
Americans. As you know, prisons -- both in the U.S. and abroad -- have been a
fertile breeding ground for violent ideology leading to radicalization. As
former Bureau of Prisons (BOP) director Harley Lappin testified, "Inmates are
particularly vulnerable to recruitment by terrorists," and "[BOP] must guard
against the spread of terrorism and extremist ideologies."
Over the last several years, we have witnessed repeated attempts by former
prisoners who converted to Islam in U.S. prisons attempting to commit terrorist
attacks. Just last month, two radicalized converts were arrested for attempting
a "Fort Hood-style assault" on a military facility in Seattle, Washington.
According to ABC News, "both suspects were believed to have met in prison and to
have converted to Islam in prison."
In 2004, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Justice Department
released a report that concluded that "The BOP's selection process [for Muslim
chaplains, literature and videos] needs improvement to further protect the BOP
from hiring religious services providers that could pose security threats."
Specifically, the report noted that "Inmates can be radicalized in many ways,
including through the delivery of anti-U.S. sermons, exposure to other radical
inmates, or the distribution of extremist literature." The report included a
series of recommendations to protect BOP inmates from radicalization,
specifically calling on BOP to "conduct an inventory of chapel books and videos
and re-screen them to confirm that they are permissible."
That is why we were deeply concerned to learn from the Homeland Security
Committee hearing memorandum that seven years after the OIG report:
"At the direction of the Justice Department, [BOP] plays sermons by Louis
Farrakhan's Nation of Islam in prison chapel services. Staff obtained a list of
the titles of the Nation of Islam sermons played in Federal prisons and reviewed
several. In one, Farrakhan states, 'I hasten to tell you that the precious lives
that were lost in the World Trade Center was a cover, a cover for a war that had
been planned to bring a pipeline through Afghanistan to bring oil from that
region, oil owned by Unocal, of which Dick Cheney is a stock holder.'
"Nation of Islam video titles include:
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Wolf, King Ask Federal Prisons To Remove "Nation Of Islam" Materials; Request
Immediate Audit of All Other Texts Available in U.S. Prisons; Rep. Frank Wolf
(R-VA) News Release Congressional Documents and Publications July 5, 2011](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/afghanistanunocal-140925065543-phpapp02/85/Attack-on-Afghanistan-Formalised-before-9-11-was-Key-to-Unlock-Route-to-Gas-and-Oil-from-Central-Asian-Republics-160-320.jpg)
![66 of 214 DOCUMENTS
Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania)
October 1, 2009 Thursday
FIFTH Edition
Afghanistan has never been the 'good and necessary' war;
it's about control of oil
BYLINE: Gary Olson Special to The Morning Call - Freelance
SECTION: News; Pg. A14
LENGTH: 522 words
U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal's recent upbeat assessment that the war in
Afghanistan "can still be won" is eerily reminiscent of Gen. William
Westmoreland's "light at the end of the tunnel" comments from Vietnam and the
early rosy reports from Iraq.
Currently there are 68,000 U.S. soldiers and marines in Afghanistan. There have
been 190 American fatalities this year, the highest total in nearly eight years.
This year's Pentagon budget for Afghanistan is $65 billion and total costs now
exceed $228 billion.
Just as the U.S. war on Iraq had nothing to do with the stated reasons, so is it
the case with U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. This was told to the American
people on multiple fabrications, including defeating al-Qaida, building
democracy, stopping heroin, fighting terrorism and liberating Afghan women. Not
one of these reasons is remotely close to the truth.
The 2001 U.S. invasion and occupation of Afghanistan has never been the "good
and necessary war" defended by President Obama. Although you rarely read it in
the mainstream U.S. media, Washington's motive is control of oil. In this case
it's not Afghan reserves but Central Asian oil and gas. A planned $7.6 billion,
1,050-mile oil pipeline running from Turkmenistan to India is called TAPI for
Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India. Turkmenistan has the third largest
natural gas reserves in the world and Afghanistan is the crucial transit
corridor.
Asia Times journalist Pepe Escobar reveals that TAPI's origins goes back to the
mid-1990s "[W]hen the Taliban were wined and dined by California-based Unocal --
and the Clinton machine." According to insider accounts, negotiations broke down
because the Taliban were demanding too much in transfer fees. (Recall that the
Taliban, al-Qaida, and Osama bin Laden were created by the CIA).
This pipeline would bisect Afghanistan's volatile Kandahar province. It also
would permit bypassing Iran, one of Washington's key geopolitical objectives.
For this to occur, a reliable client regime needs to be established in Kabul,
hence the U.S. invasion, occupation, likely escalation. It's the primary reason
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![83 of 214 DOCUMENTS
Jalopnik
November 10, 2009 Tuesday 2:20 PM EST
Have the Taliban Abandoned Toyotas for American Pickup
Trucks? [Pickup Trucks]
LENGTH: 547 words
Nov. 10, 2009 (Gawker Media delivered by Newstex) --
If youre a militiaman rolling in hostile terrain, your best vehicle choice is
the Toyota pickup. A minuscule clue in the latest issue of The New Yorker
suggests that all that is about to change.
Like the AK-47 assault rifle and the RPG"7 bazooka, the Toyota pickup truck has
become an icon of irregular armies worldwide. When mounted with an anti-aircraft
cannon or a rocket laucher on its bed, it is called a technical and technicals
have helped militas wage and win war against armies equipped with mechanized
divisions. There was even a conflict in 1987 called the Toyota War, in which
Chads Toyota-equipped troops defeated Muammar al-Gaddafis Libyan army.
The practice is not local to Africa. In Afghanistan, it was an influx of Toyota
pickups from Pakistans ISI spy agency which transformed the Taliban from a
Kandahar militia to a force which took over most of Afghanistan with remarkable
speed, defeating established mujahideen commanders with decades of experience.
This has nothing to do with good guys, bad guys or tribal affiliations and all
to do with the Toyota pickups extreme reliability on hostile terrain. You have
no doubt seen the famous Top Gear episode where a Toyota Hilux is subjected to
every manner of destructive testing short of a thermonuclear explosion yet it
keeps on ticking"but you may not have seen this image from 2002, where US
Special Forces soldiers ride in a quad cab Toyota identical to the ones used by
their Taliban foes:
But all that may be about to change.
The only clue is a few pixels of an illustration which accompanies Seymour
Hershs latest piece for The New Yorker, where he reports on the safety of
Pakistans nuclear arsenal"or its lack thereof. It was created by the acclaimed
French illustrator Guy Billout and if you lean in close, the truck you see the
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![Taliban soldiers riding in is rather striking:
Its not a Toyota. Its a quad cab Dodge"a Dakota to my untrained eye, but it
could be a Ram as well. This might be an inconsequential detail if the magazine
in question was not The New Yorker, famous for their fact checking team. And the
truck is definitely not some sort of generic placeholder pickup: it has a Dodge
grille.
Cooperation between American companies and the Taliban would not be without
historical precedent. Back in 1995 before they conquered Kabul and became host
to Al-Qaeda, Unocal executive Marty Miller was involved in negotiations with the
Taliban leadership for a natural gas pipeline which was to run from Turkmenistan
to Pakistan, straight through Taliban territory. While the deal eventually fell
through, Miller visited Kandahar several times and at one point even had Taliban
leaders flown to Houston for Christmas, of all holidays.
Perhaps Toyota, with its humbling losses and its exit from Formula One, has gone
over the hill"while Chrysler has found itself a particularly lucrative market
for trucks, where demand for new vehicles is guaranteed not by rebates but by
American firepower. And nobody likes to stick with a loser. Least of all the
Taliban.
Photo Credit: SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images, TERENCE WHITE/AFP/Getty Images, Paula
Bronstein/Getty Images, Guy Billout, EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images, U.S. Air
Force
Newstex ID: GAWK-0007-39598661
SUBJECT: MOTOR VEHICLES (93%); PICKUP TRUCKS (91%); PARAMILITARY & MILITIA
(90%); ARMIES (90%); ARMED FORCES (89%); MILITARY WEAPONS (77%); TERRORIST
ORGANIZATIONS (67%); NUCLEAR WEAPONS (67%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (65%);
NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (50%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (50%); AL-QAEDA (67%); TALIBAN
(90%)
GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) UNITED STATES (93%); AFGHANISTAN (93%);
PAKISTAN (79%); TURKMENISTAN (79%); LIBYA (76%); LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA (76%)
LOAD-DATE: November 10, 2009
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its
re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily
the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are
provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and
information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and
should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on
such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly,
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Jalopnik November 10, 2009 Tuesday 2:20 PM EST](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/afghanistanunocal-140925065543-phpapp02/85/Attack-on-Afghanistan-Formalised-before-9-11-was-Key-to-Unlock-Route-to-Gas-and-Oil-from-Central-Asian-Republics-209-320.jpg)
![neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees
about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained
therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of
such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as
author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other
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anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their
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or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's
comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right
to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion.
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog
Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC
All Rights Reserved
Newstex Web Blogs
Copyright 2009 Jalopnik
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![84 of 214 DOCUMENTS
BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
September 28, 2010 Tuesday
Taleban article says Afghan nation looking forward to
group's victory
LENGTH: 876 words
Excerpt from article by Sayed Sa'id entitled "In honour of 6 Mizan [28
September]" by Afghan Taleban Voice of Jihad website on 27 September
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
The disintegration of the Warsaw Block as a result of the decade-long sacred
struggle of the oppressed but courageous Afghan nation and the collapse of the
puppet Kabul regime in April 1992, once again revived the hope of independence,
security, progress and Islamic rule among the people. Unfortunately, contrary to
the hopes and aspirations of the Afghan Muslim and mojahed nation, some
power-hungry elements and groups, at the behest of neighbours and outsiders,
started bloody fighting with each other which turned the beautiful city of Kabul
to ruins and martyred 60,000 compatriots in this city alone. Destroying public
installations, looting and plundering of national and private property and
violation of national honours and Islamic values, became a daily occurrence
throughout the country. It was these events that forced the newly-returned
refugees to once again leave the country. True mojahedin made every effort in
order to bring peace among the warring sides end the above misfortunes, but
unfortunately failed. That's why they left the scene and decided to engage in
normal everyday life activities.
The Afghan nation was suffering from endless insecurity and hopelessness and was
hoping for a true saviour through the grace of Almighty God. Fortunately, in the
month of Sonbola 1373 [August/September 1994] a national uprising took place in
the guise of the Islamic Movement of Taleban with the unprecedented bravery and
prudence of Mullah Mohammad Omar Mojahed in Sangesar area in Maywand District of
Kandahar Province, in order to put an end to the above-mentioned suffering and
oppression. In a brief period of time, this movement ended insecurity from the
west to the east of the country. On 6 Mizan 1375 [28 September 1996] with God's
assistance and the nation's support, it captured Kabul, the country's capital.
With the capture of Kabul, all sinister objectives and filthy plans of the
enemies of the country and Islam on the top of which was the certain partition
of the beloved country of Afghanistan were foiled. Finally the Taleban put an
end to the rule of warlords and the remnants of the communist regime, feudalism,
anarchy and immorality over 95 per cent of the territory of Afghanistan, and
established a national Islamic system, which was the manifestation of
aspirations of the oppressed people in the country, in particular of the widows,
orphans and the martyrs.
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![[Passages omitted: Brief description of who the Taleban are, the Taleban
government, their policy on science and technology, dealings with Unocal and
Bridas oil companies, their view of women's rights, relations with Pakistan and
the international community]
To dear Taleban:
Oh mojahed, although you are fighting against the crusader imperialism of the 21
century with empty hands, you are equipped with the sacred weapon of faith and
belief. The soul of millions of innocent martyrs, the aspirations of the widows
and orphans and in general the oppressed but heroic Afghan nation are awaiting
your victory. They beg Almighty God to shine the bright sun of Islamic law and
hoist its white banner once again on the roof of the world, because they are
still thinking about your achievements of the past golden era (protection of
territorial integrity, complete Islamic law, national sovereignty, Islamic
traditions and national honours) and desire that these happen again. However, be
careful that the enemies have put traps in the way of achieving these goals to,
God forbid, separate the nation and make them unhappy with you and your sacred
struggle. This is because they cannot tolerate your shining in the political map
of the world. You have to be careful about the dangers ahead and you have to
foil the enemy conspiracies. You have to be committed to national Islamic values
and you have to strengthen and accelerate efforts to achieve your sacred goals.
The Taleban are coming again:
From the day that America and its allies started their aggression against
Afghanistan, the Afghans have not stood silent, but have confronted the
aggression under the leadership of the Islamic Emirate from the start. Over the
past nine years, in addition to inflicting hundreds of billions of dollars of
damage on the savage imperialism, they have killed thousands of their soldiers
and have sent them to hell.
Since the start of the crusader war-mongering coalition's aggression against
Afghanistan, those who are aware of the history of Afghanistan - both domestic
and foreign - were of the opinion that the Afghan nation throughout its history
have not only protected its country from the ill intentions of the invaders but
have also contributed to the demise of the international expansionist forces and
imperialist monsters. In other words, it has the honour of defeating Genghis,
Gurgin, the British and the Russian great empires. Therefore, the American
war-mongering and dark-minded officials will under no circumstances be able to
make this courageous and pious nation captive without destroying and disgracing
themselves.
Source: Voice of Jihad website, in Pashto 27 Sep 10
SUBJECT: RELIGION (90%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (90%); HUMAN RIGHTS (76%); PUBLIC
POLICY (71%); WOMEN (69%); WAR & CONFLICT (67%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (60%);
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (50%); SCIENCE POLICY (50%); TALIBAN (90%)
GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (94%) AFGHANISTAN (96%); PAKISTAN (79%); ASIA
(79%)
LOAD-DATE: September 28, 2010
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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Taleban article says Afghan nation looking forward to group's victory BBC
Monitoring South Asia - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring September
28, 2010 Tuesday](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/afghanistanunocal-140925065543-phpapp02/85/Attack-on-Afghanistan-Formalised-before-9-11-was-Key-to-Unlock-Route-to-Gas-and-Oil-from-Central-Asian-Republics-212-320.jpg)
![85 of 214 DOCUMENTS
Platts Oilgram News
July 30, 2009 Thursday
Pakistan's oil minister in US to promote E&P
BYLINE: Starr Spencer
SECTION: ASIA PACIFIC; Pg. 3 Vol. 87 No. 148
LENGTH: 520 words
Houston
Pakistan's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources will offer 53 onshore
blocks in the country's latest oil and gas licensing round and hopes to attract
some new players to the country, Oil Minister Asim Hussain said late July 28.
Hussain expects many global majors and national oil companies to bid on the
blocks, which are spread throughout the country, including BP, Petronas, Italy's
Eni, Australia's BHP Billiton, Hungary's MOL and Austria's OMV, he told Platts
in an interview following the Houston leg of a road show that also takes in
London and Calgary this week. Pakistan is particularly focused on attracting US
and Canadian companies in this licensing round, Hussain added. "Exploration and
production companies are seeing that you have to go to hard places to find oil,"
he said. "It has been difficult, but Pakistan is improving."
Hussain noted that US troops were "sitting right next door to us" in
Afghanistan, but he added that "we haven't seen any attacks on any oil and gas
facilities in the country."
Earlier this year, Afghanistan also launched a bid round to initiate hydrocarbon
exploration in its own northern region (ON 4/28). The average size of the blocks
being offered in Pakistan's current licensing round is a substantial 7,000 sq
km, the minister said. The blocks span territory as varied as the high-risk,
high-cost West Balochistan, Pashin and Potowar basins in the country's
southwest, to the lower-risk, low-cost Lower Indus Basin in the southeast, and
the Punjab and Suleman basins in the north. Bids are due by the end of August,
although Hussain said he expected this could be extended by two weeks since US
companies have asked for more time to study the seismic data and work up their
offers. If the extension is granted, awards would be expected in late September.
Hussain said the Petroleum Ministry's two-day Houston road show had generated a
lot of activity and discussions between US oil companies and Pakistani energy
officials. "I think now [Western companies] are pretty safe" to operate in
Pakistan, he added. "They want to work with us, they want to come as service
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![101 of 214 DOCUMENTS
Aljazeera.net
January 27, 2010 Wednesday
Talking to the Taliban
LENGTH: 764 words
The former Taliban government was only ever officially recognised by three
countries [AFP]
As Western leaders consider possible exit strategies from Afghanistan, a plan
for encouraging Taliban fighters to lay down their weapons in return for money
and jobs has several times been suggested.
Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president, has said that peace must be reached "at
any cost" and the scheme, which it is thought would cost between $500m to $1bn
over five years, has prompted some furious policy debate.
It's critics argue that the West should avoid engaging the Taliban, especially
when the conflict in Afghanistan is going so badly for the US and its allies
leaving the group in a strong negotiating position.
But while US-led forces ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in 2001,
the West has been far more conciliatory to the Taliban in the past.
The Taliban emerged in the 1990s as a Sunni movement of Pashtun tribes and their
supporters.
The group took Kabul and established their rule, including enforcing their
interperatation of Sharia, or Islamic law, in Afghanistan in 1996, amid the
civil conflict that had erupted in the wake of the Soviet defeat and withdrawal
from the country.
Promising rule
In those early days, Western observers saw a group that appeared to be ready to
bring an end to the corruption and chaos in Afghanistan.
The Taliban government was only ever officially recognised by the Pakistan, the
UAE and Saudi Arabia.
But, in 1996, after the group had taken power, the Taliban were engaged by US
oil company Unocal, which hoped to build an oil export pipeline through
Afghanistan.
For their part, the Taliban saw in the plan an opportunity to gain greater
recognition from the US.
Abdul Rashid Dostum, the Uzbek militia leader, visited the US at the oil
company's behest and visits from other Taliban officials followed.
But the plans attracted criticism from human rights groups that objected to an
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![brought the overall number of US troops in Afghanistan to 68,000, double the
number there when Bush left office.
Where opposition was fierce to Bushs surge, barely any opposition was expressed
during Obamas surge. Part of the reason for so little political and public
backlash was the cleverly orchestrated psychological operation to announce the
beginning of US troop withdrawal from Iraq. While the drawdown in Iraq has been
greatly exaggerated in the US mainstream media, as of October, Obama still had
124,000 troops deployed in Iraq (not counting private military contractors).
When Obama casts the illusion of a 2011 withdrawal from Afghanistan, one just
needs look at the reality of the situation with the over-hyped withdrawal in
Iraq.
Now, with Obamas latest surge announcement he will again be adding a minimum of
another 30,000 US soldiers. This means that Obama has now led a bigger surge
than Bush¦ on two separate occasions within the past nine months of his new
administration.
Obama has now escalated deployments in the Af-Pak region to 98,000 US troops. So
in Af-Pak and Iraq, he will now have a total of 222,000 US troops deployed,
36,000 more than Bush ever had " 186,000 was Bushs highest total.
PRIVATE MILITARY AND NATO DEPLOYMENTS
The amount of private military contractors deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan is
rarely reported on in the US mainstream press, but a Congressional Research
Service investigation into this revealed that a record high 69 percent active
duty soldiers are in fact private mercenaries.
Although the administration is yet to disclose how many private mercenaries will
be deployed in the latest surge, it is believed that the 69 percent ratio will
remain in tact.
The Pentagon released a report showing that Obama already had a total of
242,657 private contractors in action, as of June 30th. 119,706 of them in Iraq,
73,968 in Afghanistan, with 50,061 active in oeother US CENTCOM locations.
Back in June, Jeremy Scahill reported on these findings: oeAccording to new
statistics released by the Pentagon, with Barack Obama as commander in chief,
there has been a 23 percent increase in the number of [#x2dc]Private Security
Contractors working for the Department of Defense in Iraq in the second quarter
of 2009 and a 29 percent increase in Afghanistan¦.
Plus, we must mention, the immense dangers of having private military
contractors as 69 percent of our fighting force. For those of you unaware,
private military contractors are hired from all over the world. Any former
soldier, from any country, is welcome to come and fight for a salary " a salary
that is often significantly more than what we pay our own US soldiers.
These mercenaries have a vested interest in prolonging the war, for as long as
there is a war, they have a well paying job. So it is easy to infer that a
significant percentage of these contractors will not have the US soldiers, or US
taxpayers, best interests at heart.
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![Obama continues to feed this out of control private army by pouring billions of
taxpayer dollars into shady and scandalous companies like Blackwater, who
recently changed their name to Xe Services, because they destroyed their
reputation by committing numerous war crimes in Iraq. A recent investigation by
Jeremy Scahill revealed the extent to which Blackwater is involved in covert
operations inside Afghanistan and Pakistan. In some cases, Blackwater is not
working for the US, but were hired by covert elements inside Pakistan. When it
comes to private contractors, the fog of war grows ominous, exactly who is
fighting for whom is unclear. The crucial factor is who paid them the most that
particular day.
The US military can give them $1000 today, and an enemy can give them $1000
tomorrow, when you have people who fight for a payday and not for a country, you
get chaos. This leads to a breakdown in the chain of command, effectively
turning a military operation into a covert intelligence operation, where youre
never really sure if the person you are fighting with is on your side or not.
A federal investigation by the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and
Afghanistan, revealed in June: oeMore than 240,000 contractor employees, about
80 percent of them foreign nationals, are working in Iraq and Afghanistan to
support operations and projects of the U.S. military, the Department of State,
and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Contractor employees
outnumber U.S. troops in the region. While contractors provide vital services,
the Commission believes their use has also entailed billions of dollars lost to
waste, fraud, and abuse due to inadequate planning, poor contract drafting,
limited competition, understaffed oversight functions, and other problems.
Before this latest surge, there were over 123,000 US and NATO troops in the
Af-Pak region, and 200,000 Afghan security forces, supporting the US effort.
According to US intelligence sources the total number of Taliban and al-Qaida
fighters in the region was estimated to only be about 25,000, giving the US led
forces a minimum of a 12 to 1 troop advantage.
When you add in estimated private soldiers, you get an approximate minimum of a
17 to 1 advantage.
Although Obama opened his war speech by mentioning al-Qaida as the main
justification for this war, consider this AP report: oenational security adviser
James Jones said last weekend that the al-Qaida presence has diminished, and he
does not [#x2dc]foresee the return of the Taliban to power. He said that
according to the maximum estimate, al-Qaida has fewer than 100 fighters
operating in Afghanistan without any bases or ability to launch attacks on the
West.
Does it seriously take a surge of hundreds of thousands of troops to contain
what amounts to oeless than 100³ al-Qaida members?
Any serious war strategist will tell you that the most effective way to combat
the remains of the al-Qaida network, is through an intelligence operation, and
statistics prove that escalating more troops into the region will only fuel
further acts of terrorism.
DRONE DEPLOYMENTS
Speaking of fueling hatred toward the US, other than a huge troop increase,
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![18 and 64 lacked insurance.
Despite all of this, in another devastating example of how the economy is
unraveling US society, military enlistment levels have reached a high. In a
report by the Washington Post headlined: oeA Historic Success In Military
Recruiting they reveal:
oeFor the first time in more than 35 years, the U.S. military has met all of its
annual recruiting goals, as hundreds of thousands of young people have enlisted
despite the near-certainty that they will go to war.
The Pentagon¦ said the economic downturn and rising joblessness, as well as
bonuses and other factors, had led more qualified youths to enlist. The military
has not seen such across-the-board successes since the all-volunteer force was
established.¦
[#x2dc]We delivered beyond anything the framers of the all-volunteer force would
have anticipated, Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense for military
personnel policy, said at a Pentagon news conference.
Overall, the Defense Department brought in 168,900 active-duty troops, or 103
percent of the goal for the fiscal year¦.
What we are witnessing here with such high enlistment levels during this
economic crisis has many parallels to Germany in the 1930s. Just like the United
States now, the German economy in the 1930s was devastated by an economic crisis
brought on by Wall Street. With rising unemployment and poverty, German men
turned to the military for income and health benefits that their family severely
needed. With over 25 million US citizens unemployed and underemployed, over 50
million with no healthcare, and over 50 million living in poverty, military
service is now a last resort for a growing number of desperate Americans as
well. The record-breaking enlistment numbers are expected to continue to rise as
the economy continues to decline.
oeSuch a perfect democracy constructs its own inconceivable foe, terrorism. Its
wish is to be judged by its enemies rather than by its results.
" Guy DeBord, Comments On the Society of the Spectacle, 1988
II: THE MILITARIZED ECONOMY
The amount of money necessary to keep the US military machine growing has
reached astonishing levels. Considering the increasing amount of troops and
contractors, the White House estimates that it spends one million dollars per
soldier, per year in Afghanistan, oenot including the added expense of training
and maintaining a security force.
According to these calculations, 30,000 troops for this latest surge will add an
additional $30 billion to the annual budget, just in troop related costs. Also
consider the price of moving fuel around, AFP reports: oeMoving soldiers and
supplies across the rugged Afghan landscape costs more than in Iraq, with the
military consuming 83 liters or 22 gallons of fuel per soldier per day. The Hill
adds: oePentagon officials have told the House Appropriations Defense
Subcommittee a gallon of fuel costs the military about $400 by the time it
arrives in the remote locations in Afghanistan where U.S. troops operate.
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![In this struggling economy, weapon sales have become one of Americas most
booming businesses. US weapon sales have hit a record level under the Obama
administration. Foreign Policy In Focus reports:
oeIn fiscal year 2008, the foreign military sales program sold $36 billion in
weapons and defense articles, an increase of more than 50 percent over 2007.
Sales for the first half of 2009 reached $27 billion, and could top out at $40
billion by the end of the year. In contrast, through the early 2000s, arms sales
averaged between $8-13 billion per year¦.
But last year, the United States sold arms or military services to well over 100
nations¦.
¦ the majority of U.S. arms sales to the developing world went to countries that
our own State Department defined as undemocratic regimes and/or major human
rights abusers. And over two-thirds of the worlds active conflicts involved
weapons that had been supplied by the United States.
Selling all these weapons, especially during the biggest global financial
crisis, will lead to one thing¦ terrorism.
Given these statistics, it shouldnt be a surprise to hear how US taxpayer
dollars are still funding the Taliban. Prior to the 9/11 attacks, the Taliban
government was funded by the US taxpayer. In fact, the Taliban still receives a
significant portion of their funding courtesy of the US taxpayer. As The Nation
recently reported: oeIt is an accepted fact of the military logistics operation
in Afghanistan that the US government funds the very forces American troops are
fighting. And it is a deadly irony, because these funds add up to a huge amount
of money for the Taliban. [#x2dc]Its a big part of their income, one of the top
Afghan government security officials told The Nation in an interview. In fact,
US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10 percent of the
Pentagons logistics contracts"hundreds of millions of dollars"consists of
payments to insurgents.
As former CIA Station Chief John Stockwell explained: oeEnemies are necessary
for the wheels of the US military machine to turn.
With the war in Afghanistan now entering its 9th year, senior military
commanders and a growing number of experts have come to the conclusion that this
war is unwinnable and will fuel terrorism.
However, they all seem to be missing the point, before explaining this in more
detail, let me start by referring you to a quote from a journalist who had
firsthand experience operating inside a militaristic empire:
oeThe war is not supposed to be winnable, it is supposed to be continuous¦ all
for the hierarchy of society¦ The essential act of war is destruction, not
necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labor. War is a way of
shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths
of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too
comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent¦ it helps to preserve
the special mental atmosphere that a hierarchical society needs. War¦ is now a
purely internal affair. " George Orwell
MASTERS OF WAR
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![oeCome you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know,
I can see through your mask?
Many of the weapons manufactures and private military contractors are seen as
the primary war profiteers. For an example of grotesque war profiteering, lets
look at Dick Cheneys former company Halliburton. (NYSE:HAL) In a report
headlined: oeU.S. War Privatization Results in Billions Lost in Fraud, Waste and
Abuse, Jeremy Scahill reports on KBR (NYSE:KBR) , a Halliburton subsidiary.
oeKBR has been paid nearly $32 billion since 2001. In May, April Stephenson,
director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency, testified that KBR was linked to
[#x2dc]the vast majority of war-zone fraud cases and a majority of the $13
billion in [#x2dc]questioned or [#x2dc]unsupported costs. According to Agency,
it sent the inspector general [#x2dc]a total of 32 cases of suspected
overbilling, bribery and other violations since 2004.
According to the Associated Press, which obtained an early copy of the
commissions report, [#x2dc]billions of dollars of the total paid to KBR
[#x2dc]ended up wasted due to poorly defined work orders, inadequate oversight
and contractor inefficiencies.
KBR is at the center of a lethal scandal involving the electrocution deaths of
more than a dozen US soldiers, allegedly as a result of faulty electrical work
done by the company. The DoD paid KBR more than $80 million in bonuses for the
very work that resulted in the electrocution deaths.
With numerous scandals over KBR operations, Halliburton ended its relationship
with the company. However, oeHalliburton reported $4 billion in operating
profits in 2008, while KBR recently said its first quarter revenues in 2009 were
up 27 percent, for a total of $3.2 billion. Its sales in 2008 were up 33
percent, and according to the Financial Times, the company had $1 billion in
cash, no debt, and was looking for acquisitions.
Beyond these blatant examples of war profiteering, there are more insidious
forces at play that most people dont see. These war profiteering companies are
funded by the same banks that have destroyed the US economy.
Consider this example concerning Alliant Techsystems (NYSE:ATK) and Textron,
two manufactures of cluster bombs, the controversial civilian killing WMDs. The
Guardian reported:
oeThe deadly trade in cluster bombs is funded by the worlds biggest banks who
have loaned or arranged finance worth $20bn to firms producing the controversial
weapons, despite growing international efforts to ban them¦
Goldman Sachs, the US bank which made £3.19bn profit in just three months,
earned $588.82m for bank services and lent $250m to Alliant Techsystems and
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![Textron¦
Last December 90 countries, including the UK, committed themselves to banning
cluster bombs by next year. But the US was not one of them. So far 23 countries
have ratified the convention.
Before going into further detail on how these banks make a lions share of war
profits, lets look back at the origins of these wars.
GEO-STRATEGIC OIL OPERATIONS
With all due respect to people who have been force-fed Pentagon propaganda by
the US mainstream media, any serious observer of the Iraq and Af-Pak wars knows
that these are geo-strategic conflicts based on controlling the worlds oil
supply. Anyone in the oenews media who tells you otherwise is either unaware of
what is actually going on, or is a well-paid propagandist working for the very
people who profit off of them.
ORIGINS OF THE IRAQ OCCUPATION: CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE
As an AlterNet report put it: oeIn January 2000, 10 days into President George
W. Bushs first term, representatives of the largest oil and energy companies
joined the new administration to form the Cheney Energy Task Force.
Secret Task Force documents that were dated March 2001, which were obtained by
Judical Watch in 2003 after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, contained oea
map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as two
charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects? They also had:
?? a series of lists titled [#x2dc]Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield
Contracts[#x2dc] naming more than 60 companies from some 30 countries with
contracts in various stages of negotiation.
None of contracts were with American nor major British companies, and none could
take effect while the U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iraq remained in
place. Three countries held the largest contracts: China, Russia and France "
all members of the Security Council and all in a position to advocate for the
end of sanctions.
Were Saddam to remain in power and the sanctions to be removed, these contracts
would take effect, and the U.S. and its closest ally would be shut out of Iraqs
great oil bonanza.
Project Censored highlighted a Judicial Watch report that stated: oeDocumented
plans of occupation and exploitation predating September 11 confirm heightened
suspicion that U.S. policy is driven by the dictates of the energy industry.
According to Judicial Watch President, Tom Fitton, [#x2dc]These documents show
the importance of the Energy Task Force and why its operations should be open to
the public.
ORIGINS OF THE AFGHANISTAN OCCUPATION: oeSTRATEGY OF THE SILK ROUTE
Up until 9/11, oil companies, with the help of the Bush administration, were
desperately trying to work out a deal with the Taliban to build an oil pipeline
through Afghanistan. One of the worlds richest oil fields is on the eastern
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![shore of the Caspian sea just north of Afghanistan. The Caspian oil reserves are
of top strategic importance in the quest to control the earths remaining oil
supply. The US government developed a policy called oeThe Strategy of the Silk
Route.
The policy was designed to lock out Russia, China and Iran from the oil in this
region. This called for U.S. corporations to construct an oil pipeline running
through Afghanistan. Since the mid 1990s, a consortium of U.S. companies led by
Unocal have been pursing this goal. A feasibility study of the Central Asian
pipeline project was performed by Enron. Their study concluded that as long as
the country was split among fighting warlords the pipeline could not be built.
Stability was necessary for the $4.5 billion project and the U.S. believed that
the Taliban would impose the necessary order. The U.S. State Department and
Pakistans ISI, impressed by the Taliban movement to cut a pipeline deal, agreed
to funnel arms and funding to the Taliban in their war for control of
Afghanistan.
oeUntil 1999 U.S. taxpayers paid the entire annual salary of every single
Taliban government official.
The U.S., Saudi and Pakistan intelligence alliance that created the terrorist
financing bank BCCI reunited to facilitate the rise of the Taliban. BCCI was a
US intelligence bank, which served as the financing arm for the creation of the
al-Qaida network. BCCI was involved in many covert operations throughout the
80s. They played a pivotal role in arming Saddam in Iraq, creating the Iran
hostage crisis, even selling drugs through Manuel Noriega and other top drug
dealers. BCCI gave nuclear weapons to Pakistan, which led to North Korea and
Iran obtaining pivotal nuclear secrets as well. BCCI was also a driving force
behind the Savings and Loan scandals that were a precursor to our current
economic crisis.
Focusing on the creation of the Taliban, lets read an excerpt from a 2003 book,
oe Modern Jihad: Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks, by Loretta
Napoleoni:
oeThe alliance between American capitalism and Islamist fundamentalism is not
limited to the creation of the Taliban; it also produced business ventures
designed to extract favours from the new regime. To strengthen its bargaining
power with the newly formed Islamist state, Unocal joined the Saudi Delta Oil
Corporation to create a consortium called CentGas. Delta Oil is owned by the bin
Mahfouz and al-Amoudi families [pivotal BCCI players], Saudi clans which have
strong links with Osama bin Ladens family¦. Mahfouz has been sponsoring
charitable institutions used as fronts for bin Ladens associates through the
National Commercial Bank, which his family controls¦.
Naturally, as soon as George W. Bush was elected president, Unocal and [UKs]
BP-Amoco¦ started once again to lobby the administration, among whom were
several of their former employees. Unocal knew that Bush was ready to back them
and resumed the consortium negotiations. In January 2001, it began discussions
with the Taliban, backed by members of the Bush administration among whom was
Under Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who had previously worked as a
lobbyist for Unocal. The Taliban, for their part, employed as their PR officer
in the US Laila Helms, niece of Richard Helms, former director of the CIA and
former US ambassador to Iran. In March 2001, Helms succeeded in bringing
Rahmatullah Hashami, Mullah Omars adviser, to Washington¦. As late as August
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![2001, meetings were held in Pakistan to discuss the pipeline business¦.
While negotiations were underway, the US was secretly making plans to invade
Afghanistan. The Bush administration and its oil sponsors were losing patience
with the Taliban; they wanted to get the Central Asian gas pipeline going as
soon as possible. The [#x2dc]strategy of the Silk Route had been resumed¦.
Paradoxically, 11 September provided Washington with a casus belli to invade
Afghanistan and establish a pro American government in the country. When, a few
weeks after the attack, the leaders of the two Pakistani Islamist parties
negotiated with Mullah Omar and bin Laden for the latters extradition to
Pakistan to stand trial for the 11 September attacks, the US refused the offer¦.
In November 2001¦ Hamid Karzai was elected [Afghanistans] prime minister¦ Yet
very few people remember that during the 1990s Karzai was involved in
negotiations with the Taliban regime for the construction of a Central Asian gas
pipeline from Turkmenistan through western Afghanistan to Pakistan. At that time
he was a top adviser and lobbyist for Unocal¦ during the anti-Soviet jihad,
Karzai was a member of the Mujahedin. In the early 1990s, thanks to his
excellent contacts with the ISI, he moved to the US where he cooperated with the
CIA and the ISI in supporting the Talibans political adventure.
So it is not all that surprising to see recent reports revealing that Hamid
Karzais drug kingpin brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, is also on the CIA payroll.
With this, a new Senate investigation just revealed evidence that Donald
Rumsfeld made a conscious strategic decision to let Bin Laden escape. AFP
reports:
oeOsama bin Laden was within the grasp of US forces in late 2001 and could have
been caught if then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld hadnt rejected calls for
reinforcements, a hard-hitting US Senate report says¦.
It points the finger directly at Rumsfeld for turning down requests for
reinforcements as Bin Laden was trapped in caves and tunnels in a mountainous
section of eastern Afghanistan known as Tora Bora.
[#x2dc]The vast array of American military power, from sniper teams to the most
mobile divisions of the marine corps and the army, was kept on the sidelines,
the report said.
So now that we see how these wars are driven by oil, lets look at how the oil
industry is benefiting from them. Since the invasion, the industry has
experienced record profits across the board, setting new profit records quarter
after quarter, year after year, as these wars rage on.
IRAQI OIL DEALS
With Exxon and Shell just signing new oil contracts in Iraq, its obvious why
there are still over 100,000 troops in Iraq. In a Daily Mirror report headlined,
oeOil Billions and Weapons of Mass Deception In Iraq, they report on the new oil
deals:
oeExxon-Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell won the development rights of a massive oil
field " West Qurna near Basra in Iraqs south. The two oil giants hope to boost
daily production from the current 300,000 barrels to 2.3 million barrels a day
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![The profit topped Exxons previous quarterly record of $10.7 billion, set in the
fourth quarter of 2005, which also was an all-time high for a U.S. corporation.
In January 2009, during a severe economic crisis, the Washington Post reported:
oeExxon Mobil finished a roller-coaster year in the oil markets with an all-time
record $45.2 billion in profits¦
The worlds most far-flung oil giant broke its own record for corporate profits
in a year that saw oil prices climb to $147 a barrel in July¦ Exxon Mobil still
beat analysts expectations by registering $7.82 billion in profits, or $1.55 a
share, for the final quarter of the year. Exxon Mobil and Chevrons revenue
combined for 2008 exceeded the gross domestic product of all but 16 of the
worlds nations, according to Bloomberg.
Royal Dutch Shell, Europes largest oil firm¦ posted a $26.3 billion profit for
the year.
Once again, beyond these blatant examples of war profiteering, there are more
insidious forces at play that most people dont see. When you take a closer look
at the oil profits, you see the true driver and ultimate beneficiary of these
profits are none other than the same people who benefited the most from the
stock market collapse and the ensuing $23.7 trillion taxpayer oebailout.
As the Washington Post reported, the huge oil profit margins were the result of
the soaring price of a barrel of oil, reaching oe$147 a barrel in July.
The InterContinental Exchange (ICE)
In 2000, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) , Morgan Stanley and several oil companies
oefounded the InterContinental Exchange (ICE)¦. ICE is an online commodities and
futures marketplace. It is outside the US and operates free from the constraints
of US laws. The exchange was set up to facilitate [#x2dc]dark pool trading in
the commodities markets.
A Congressional investigation into this exchange found that these companies were
fraudulently inflating the price of oil by executing oeround-trip trades where
one company would sell shares in oil to another company who would then sell the
shares right back. This would drive the price of oil to however high they wanted
it to go to. oeNo commodity ever changes hands. But when done on an exchange,
these transactions send a price signal to the market and they artificially boost
revenue for the company. This is nothing more than a massive fraud, pure and
simple.
So when oil was selling at $147 a barrel, the actual worth was most likely
closer to half that price. Phils Stock World summed up the situation:
oeHow widespread are round-trip trades? The Congressional Research Service
looked at trading patterns in the energy sector and this is what they reported:
This pattern of trading suggests a market environment in which a significant
volume of fictitious trading could have taken place. Yet since most of the
trading is unregulated by the Government, we have only a slim idea of the
illusion being perpetrated in the energy sector.
DMS Energy, when investigated by Congress, admitted that 80 percent of its
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![trades in 2001 were round-trip trades. That means 80 percent of all of their
trades that year were bogus trades where no commodity changed hands, and yet the
balance sheets reflect added revenue¦
¦the InterContinental Exchange; that is, the online, nonregulated, nonaudited,
nonoversight for manipulation and fraud entity run by banks in this country¦.
Under investigation, a lawyer for J.P. Morgan Chase admitted the bank engineered
a series of round-trip trades with Enron¦.
ICE¦ turned commodity trading into a speculative casino game where pricing was
notional and contracts could be sold by people who never produced a thing, to
people who didnt need the things that were not produced. And in just 5 years
after commencing operations, Goldman Sachs and their partners managed to TRIPLE
the price of commodities.
Goldman Sachs Commodity Index funds accounted for $60Bn out of $100Bn of all
formula-managed funds in 2007 and investors in the GSCI lost 15 percent in 2006
while Goldman had a record year. John Dizard, of the Financial Times calls this
process [#x2dc]date rape by Goldman Sachs¦
It is not surprising that a commodity scam would be the cornerstone of Goldman
Sachs strategy. CEO Lloyd Blankfein, rose to the top through Goldmans commodity
trading arm J Aron, starting his career at J Aron before Goldman Sachs bought
them over 25 years ago. With his colleague Gary Cohn, Blankfein oversaw the key
energy trading portfolio. According to Chris Cook: [#x2dc]It appears clear that
BP and Goldman Sachs have been working collaboratively " at least at a strategic
level " for maybe 15 years now. Their trading strategy has evolved over time as
the global market has developed and become ever more financialised. Moreover,
they have been well placed to steer the development of the key global energy
market trading platform, and the legal and regulatory framework within which it
operates¦.
Before ICE, the average American family spent 7 percent of their income on food
and fuel. Last year, that number topped 20 percent. Thats 13 percent of the
incomes of every man, woman and child in the United States of America, over $1Tn
EVERY SINGLE YEAR, stolen through market manipulation. On a global scale, that
number is over $4Tn per year " 80 Madoffs! Why is there no outrage, why are
there no investigations. Well the answer is the same " $4Tn per year buys you a
lot of political clout, it pays to have politicians all over the world look the
other way while GS and their merry men rob from the poor and give to the rich on
such a vast scale that its hard to grasp the damage they have done and continue
to do to the global economy.
The congressional investigation into ICE concluded that they couldnt do anything
about it because the exchange was set up offshore.
How convenient!
So here we can see, that behind almost all of our societal problems and
suffering, you have this small elite group profiting on destruction and misery
at record highs.
When Gold Sachs CEO Llyod Blankfien says that he is doing oeGods work, one has
to wonder, who is the God he is praying to?
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Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record
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![With over 200 active militia cells, who are equipped with weapons, training and
strategizing, the government must take swift action to rein in the economic
elite. Otherwise, we are heading to war, not in a distant foreign land, within
the US.
The economic elite are well aware of the threat of a violent uprising within US
borders. US Army documents have revealed that strategic plans are already formed
for this situation. Chris Hedges explains:
oeThe military must be prepared, the document warned, for a [#x2dc]violent,
strategic dislocation inside the United States, which could be provoked by
[#x2dc]unforeseen economic collapse, [#x2dc]purposeful domestic resistance,
[#x2dc]pervasive public health emergencies or [#x2dc]loss of functioning
political and legal order. The [#x2dc]widespread civil violence, the document
said, [#x2dc]would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in
extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security.
[#x2dc]An American government and defense establishment lulled into complacency
by a long-secure domestic order would be forced to rapidly divest some or most
external security commitments in order to address rapidly expanding human
insecurity at home, it went on.
?? this might include use of military force against hostile groups inside the
United States. Further, DoD [the Department of Defense] would be, by necessity,
an essential enabling hub for the continuity of political authority in a
multi-state or nationwide civil conflict or disturbance, the document read.
In plain English¦ this translates into the imposition of martial law and a de
facto government being run out of the Department of Defense. They are
considering it. So should you.
We could have a situation where the government deploys private soldiers, mostly
foreign nationals, on US soil to fight against US citizens. Blackwater and
DynCorp already had active duty soldiers deployed within the US when Hurricane
Katrina hit.
In New Orleans, they were essentially a foreign occupying force.
LOSS OF FAITH IN POLITICAL PROCESS
In response to the report, oeThe Critical Unraveling of US Society, readers
primarily critiqued the part in which we call on readers to engage their
representatives.
An irate majority of the responses have consistently stated that they have
repeatedly contacted their representative through multiple forms of
communication, and no action was taken. A growing segment of the US population
has now lost all faith in our government and they are on the verge of taking
violent action.
Personally, I believe that non-violent action is a much more strategic and
effective move. We are 99 percent of the population, and the enemy is less than
1 percent. We are a sleeping giant; they are a small group of clueless
greed-addicted people who desperately cling to the Administration, Treasury, Fed
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![Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or Pakistan Taliban). I observed that the TTP
seemed well funded and supplied and asked Gul how the group obtains financing
and arms.
He responded without hesitation. "Yeah, of course they are getting it from
across the Durand Line, from Afghanistan. And Mossad is sitting there, the
Research and Analysis Wing [India's external intelligence agency] is sitting
there they have the umbrella of the US. And now they have created another
organisation which is called RAMA. It may be news to you that very soon this
intelligence agency - of course, they have decided to keep it covert but it is
Research and Analysis Milli Afghanistan. That's the name. The Indians have
helped create this organization, and its job is mainly to destabilise Pakistan."
General Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, former deputy minister of defense of the
Northern Alliance under Ahmad Shah Massoud and the chief of staff of the Afghan
National Army since 2002 - "whom I know very well" General Gul told me - "had
gone to India a few days back, and he has offered bases to India, five of them:
Three on the border, the eastern border with Pakistan, from Asadabad, Jalalabad,
and Kandhar; one in Shindand, which is near Herat; and the fifth one is near
Mazar-e Sharif. So these bases are being offered for a new game unfolding
there."
This is why, he asserted, the Indians, despite a shrinking economy, have
continued to raise their defense budget, by 20 percent last year and an
additional 34 percent this year.
He also cited as evidence of these designs to destabilize Pakistan the US
Predator drone attacks in Waziristan, which have "angered the Pathan people of
that tribal belt. And this state of anger is being fuelled. It is that fire that
has been lit, is being fuelled, by the Indian intelligence from across the
border. Of course, Mossad is right behind them. They have no reason to be
sitting there, and there's a lot of evidence. I hope the Pakistan government
will soon be providing some of the evidence against the Indians."
Several days after I had first spoken with General Gul, the news hit the
headlines that the leader of the TTP, Baitullah Mehsud, had been killed by a CIA
drone strike. So I followed up with him and asked him to comment about this
development.
"When Baitullah Mehsud and his suicide bombers were attacking Pakistan armed
forces and various institutions," he said, "at that time, Pakistan intelligence
were telling the Americans that Baitullah Mehsud was here, there. Three times,
it has been written by the Western press, by the American press - three times
the Pakistan intelligence tipped off America, but they did not attack him. Why
have they now attacked and killed him, supposedly?"
"Because there were some secret talks going on between Baitullah Mehsud and the
Pakistani military establishment. They wanted to reach a peace agreement, and if
you recall there is a long history of our tribal areas, whenever a tribal
militant has reached a peace agreement with the government of Pakistan,
Americans have without any hesitation struck that target."
Among other examples, the former ISI chief said "an agreement in Bajaur was
about to take place" when, October 30, 2006, a drone struck a madrassa in the
area, an attack "in which 82 children were killed".
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(New York) August 21, 2009 Friday](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/afghanistanunocal-140925065543-phpapp02/85/Attack-on-Afghanistan-Formalised-before-9-11-was-Key-to-Unlock-Route-to-Gas-and-Oil-from-Central-Asian-Republics-288-320.jpg)
![113 of 214 DOCUMENTS
BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
May 17, 2011 Tuesday
Turkmen hope to revive Afghan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline
project- Russian paper
LENGTH: 968 words
Text of report by the website of liberal Russian newspaper Vremya Novostey on 14
December
[Article by Arkadiy Dubnov: "Turkmen 'Centre of the Planet'" (Vremya Novostey
Online)]
Turkmen 'centre of the planet'
Asgabat once again announces the start of implementation of the trans-Afghan gas
pipeline.
An event of planetary proportions took place in one of the countries to the
north of Afghanistan. It was learned that Turkmenistan, which is located there,
had "acquired the high status in world policy of being the peacemaking centre of
the planet in the third millennium." This was stated in the greeting directed by
the president of that country, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, to the Turkmen people
on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the day on which the country
proclaimed its neutrality.
The president, as befitting a leader of the "era of the Great Rebirth," appeals
to his fellow countrymen in an epic manner: "My dear people!" Berdymukhamedov's
speech writers tried to supply the text of the greeting with such "masterpieces"
of style, which even the late Turkmenbashi the Great would have envied: This
"glorious date his forever etched into modern history of mankind as a decisive
step of global significance in international relations of Turkmenistan." Then
again, we need not be surprised here. The authors of texts of "global
significance" have not changed since the times of Turkmenbashi's rule, and are
headed up by the eternal aide to the first and second presidents, Viktor
Khramov.
Turkmenbashi's name is not mentioned in a single one of the abundant lofty turns
of phrase in honour of the glorious anniversary. Desacralization of the "diamond
wreath of the Turkmen people" - as it was customary to refer during his life to
the ruler who had met an untimely death - is slowly but surely continuing, along
with the imposition of the cult of personality by his successor, the former
"surgeon-general of the Turkmen court," Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.
And, of course, no one in Asgabat would dare to recall that the idea of
Turkmenistan's adopting the status of permanent neutrality belongs to former
Minister of Foreign Affairs Boris Shikhmuradov. Sentenced to life imprisonment 8
Page 290](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/afghanistanunocal-140925065543-phpapp02/85/Attack-on-Afghanistan-Formalised-before-9-11-was-Key-to-Unlock-Route-to-Gas-and-Oil-from-Central-Asian-Republics-290-320.jpg)
![years ago for organizing a so-called "attempt" on the life of Turkmenbashi,
Shikhmuradov has vanished without a trace in the Turkmenistani prison system.
For all these years, the Turkmenistan authorities are not telling his family
anything about his fate, or whether he is alive or dead. The situation is
exactly the same with the rest of those who were sentenced in the case of the
"assassination attempt." And Berdymukhamedov himself, addressing his people on
the occasion of the holiday, assures them without any doubt that, "embodying the
love of peace, goodwill and humanism, he will bring endless happiness and joy to
every family."
When the British newspaper, Guardian, yesterday published an extensive list of
countries whose leaders had been given an unflattering appraisal in secret
dispatches of American diplomats, published by WikiLeaks, Turkmenistan occupied
a notable place in it. A report sent to Washington states that "President of
Turkmenistan Berdymukhamedov seems to be vain, faultfinding, vengeful [leader]
who controls every step," "an experienced liar," and "not a very smart fellow."
In accordance with the closed nature of the regime, "the accusations evoked
practically no reaction," the Guardian concludes.
This time, the celebrations in Turkmenistan on the occasion of the "day of
neutrality" were rather pompous. Berdymukhamedov even refused to go to Moscow
for the CIS Summit, which for him looked like an unprecedented act in recent
years. But it was worth it. Numerous guests were invited to Asgabat. The main
ones among them turned out to be the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan,
Khamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari, as well as Minister of Oil and Natural Gas
of the Republic of India Murli Deora. This made it possible to hold the
"Turkmenistan -Afghanistan -Pakistan -India" summit, in the course of which
framework and intergovernmental agreements on the "practical" start of
implementation of the TAPI gas pipeline -from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan
to Pakistan and India -were signed.
The idea for this truly remarkable project was born back in the early 1990's,
right after Turkmenistan acquired its independence. But as a result of the
unending Afghan guerrilla war, as well as the differences between Asgabat during
the times of Turkmenbashi and Western companies -the Argentinian Bridas and the
American Unocal -the TAPI project could not be implemented. After the death of
Turkmenbashi, work on this project was revitalized. A Management Committee on
the Gas Pipeline Project was created, and representatives of the Asian
Development Bank, which allocated funds for development of a technical-economic
feasibility study of the TAPI project, were involved in the work.
But, as evidenced by the signing of the aforementioned documents (which, we
might add, were never publicized), the matter came to a standstill after this.
As informed diplomatic sources of Vremya Novostey in Asgabat point out, the text
of the agreement contains no specifics which would define such important
characteristics as the determination of the formula for establishing the price
on gas, selection of the contracting company and operator company for the
project, and guarantees for the gas consumer countries (Pakistan, India) and for
the gas transit country (Afghanistan). And without such guarantees, not one
international financial institution would grant loans for financing construction
of a gas pipeline that is 1,735 km in length, with a capacity of 33 billion
cubic meters of gas and an estimated cost of 7.5 billion dollars.
Source: Vremya Novostey website, Moscow, in Russian 14 Dec 10
Page 291
Turkmen hope to revive Afghan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project- Russian paper
BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide
Monitoring May 17, 2011 Tuesday](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/afghanistanunocal-140925065543-phpapp02/85/Attack-on-Afghanistan-Formalised-before-9-11-was-Key-to-Unlock-Route-to-Gas-and-Oil-from-Central-Asian-Republics-291-320.jpg)
![114 of 214 DOCUMENTS
BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
May 17, 2011 Tuesday
Turkmen hope to revive Afghan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline
project- Russian paper
LENGTH: 968 words
Text of report by the website of liberal Russian newspaper Vremya Novostey on 14
December
[Article by Arkadiy Dubnov: "Turkmen 'Centre of the Planet'" (Vremya Novostey
Online)]
Turkmen 'centre of the planet'
Asgabat once again announces the start of implementation of the trans-Afghan gas
pipeline.
An event of planetary proportions took place in one of the countries to the
north of Afghanistan. It was learned that Turkmenistan, which is located there,
had "acquired the high status in world policy of being the peacemaking centre of
the planet in the third millennium." This was stated in the greeting directed by
the president of that country, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, to the Turkmen people
on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the day on which the country
proclaimed its neutrality.
The president, as befitting a leader of the "era of the Great Rebirth," appeals
to his fellow countrymen in an epic manner: "My dear people!" Berdymukhamedov's
speech writers tried to supply the text of the greeting with such "masterpieces"
of style, which even the late Turkmenbashi the Great would have envied: This
"glorious date his forever etched into modern history of mankind as a decisive
step of global significance in international relations of Turkmenistan." Then
again, we need not be surprised here. The authors of texts of "global
significance" have not changed since the times of Turkmenbashi's rule, and are
headed up by the eternal aide to the first and second presidents, Viktor
Khramov.
Turkmenbashi's name is not mentioned in a single one of the abundant lofty turns
of phrase in honour of the glorious anniversary. Desacralization of the "diamond
wreath of the Turkmen people" - as it was customary to refer during his life to
the ruler who had met an untimely death - is slowly but surely continuing, along
with the imposition of the cult of personality by his successor, the former
"surgeon-general of the Turkmen court," Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.
And, of course, no one in Asgabat would dare to recall that the idea of
Turkmenistan's adopting the status of permanent neutrality belongs to former
Minister of Foreign Affairs Boris Shikhmuradov. Sentenced to life imprisonment 8
Page 293](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/afghanistanunocal-140925065543-phpapp02/85/Attack-on-Afghanistan-Formalised-before-9-11-was-Key-to-Unlock-Route-to-Gas-and-Oil-from-Central-Asian-Republics-293-320.jpg)
![years ago for organizing a so-called "attempt" on the life of Turkmenbashi,
Shikhmuradov has vanished without a trace in the Turkmenistani prison system.
For all these years, the Turkmenistan authorities are not telling his family
anything about his fate, or whether he is alive or dead. The situation is
exactly the same with the rest of those who were sentenced in the case of the
"assassination attempt." And Berdymukhamedov himself, addressing his people on
the occasion of the holiday, assures them without any doubt that, "embodying the
love of peace, goodwill and humanism, he will bring endless happiness and joy to
every family."
When the British newspaper, Guardian, yesterday published an extensive list of
countries whose leaders had been given an unflattering appraisal in secret
dispatches of American diplomats, published by WikiLeaks, Turkmenistan occupied
a notable place in it. A report sent to Washington states that "President of
Turkmenistan Berdymukhamedov seems to be vain, faultfinding, vengeful [leader]
who controls every step," "an experienced liar," and "not a very smart fellow."
In accordance with the closed nature of the regime, "the accusations evoked
practically no reaction," the Guardian concludes.
This time, the celebrations in Turkmenistan on the occasion of the "day of
neutrality" were rather pompous. Berdymukhamedov even refused to go to Moscow
for the CIS Summit, which for him looked like an unprecedented act in recent
years. But it was worth it. Numerous guests were invited to Asgabat. The main
ones among them turned out to be the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan,
Khamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari, as well as Minister of Oil and Natural Gas
of the Republic of India Murli Deora. This made it possible to hold the
"Turkmenistan -Afghanistan -Pakistan -India" summit, in the course of which
framework and intergovernmental agreements on the "practical" start of
implementation of the TAPI gas pipeline -from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan
to Pakistan and India -were signed.
The idea for this truly remarkable project was born back in the early 1990's,
right after Turkmenistan acquired its independence. But as a result of the
unending Afghan guerrilla war, as well as the differences between Asgabat during
the times of Turkmenbashi and Western companies -the Argentinian Bridas and the
American Unocal -the TAPI project could not be implemented. After the death of
Turkmenbashi, work on this project was revitalized. A Management Committee on
the Gas Pipeline Project was created, and representatives of the Asian
Development Bank, which allocated funds for development of a technical-economic
feasibility study of the TAPI project, were involved in the work.
But, as evidenced by the signing of the aforementioned documents (which, we
might add, were never publicized), the matter came to a standstill after this.
As informed diplomatic sources of Vremya Novostey in Asgabat point out, the text
of the agreement contains no specifics which would define such important
characteristics as the determination of the formula for establishing the price
on gas, selection of the contracting company and operator company for the
project, and guarantees for the gas consumer countries (Pakistan, India) and for
the gas transit country (Afghanistan). And without such guarantees, not one
international financial institution would grant loans for financing construction
of a gas pipeline that is 1,735 km in length, with a capacity of 33 billion
cubic meters of gas and an estimated cost of 7.5 billion dollars.
Source: Vremya Novostey website, Moscow, in Russian 14 Dec 10
Page 294
Turkmen hope to revive Afghan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project- Russian paper
BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide
Monitoring May 17, 2011 Tuesday](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/afghanistanunocal-140925065543-phpapp02/85/Attack-on-Afghanistan-Formalised-before-9-11-was-Key-to-Unlock-Route-to-Gas-and-Oil-from-Central-Asian-Republics-294-320.jpg)
![119 of 214 DOCUMENTS
Pacific Free Press
June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt
BYLINE: David DeGraw
LENGTH: 9378 words
Jun. 23, 2011 (Atlantic Free Press delivered by Newstex) --
Dont Believe The Hype: Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt
by David Degraw It is a positive development that the Obama Administration is
withdrawing some troops from Afghanistan. However, Obamas announcement of troop
reductions is primarily a propaganda stunt. It is another perfect example of
how the Obama Administration and the mainstream media manipulates public opinion
and deceives the American public.
Headlines throughout the media are declaring: oeObama Announces Troop Withdrawal
from Afghanistan and oeObama to announce return of 30,000 troops from
Afghanistan by end of next year. All of this is designed to give you the
impression that Obama is going to end the war, and give his re-election campaign
a boast as well. As CBS News reported:
oePresident Obamas [#x2dc]surge of 30,000 troops to Afghanistan announced in
late 2009 was meant to be temporary, and Wednesday night the president is
expected to announce that they will return home by around the time voters head
to the polls to determine whether he gets another term. However, what very
few in the mainstream media will even make the effort to mention is something
Wired concisely explained in this new report:
Never Mind The Drawdown: Taliban Talks, Not Troop Numbers, Are What Really
Matter for Afghanistan
oeEven if Obama decides to pull out all the 30,000 troops he ordered sent to
Afghanistan in a December 2009 speech at West Point, that still wont constitute
the end of the reinforcements he ordered earlier same year. Its easy to forget,
but Obama sent 21,000 extra troops to Afghanistan as one of his first acts in
office. Front-load the withdrawal of [#x2dc]West Point troops, and 68,000 U.S.
troops will still remain. [Note: This does not take into account the dramatic
increase in private mercenary deployments under the Obama Adminstration as well
" see below.]
There the majority of them will stay until 2014, when the Afghans are supposed
to take over combat duties. But those troops are largely illiterate. Many still
walk off the job, and some have taken to killing their American sponsors. The
general in charge of training them thinks theyll need mentoring until 2017. Then
there are negotiations with the Afghan government for long-term basing accords.
The military, as weve been reporting, wants a token withdrawal this year "
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![maybe two brigades. Support troops, not the guys who pull triggers, would leave
first. Afghanistansswarm of drones, surveillance aircraft and spy blimps would
stay.
So there you have it, oea token withdrawal. Yet another propaganda ploy from
the psychological operations department. Whats next? Is Obama going to get
tough on those oefat cat bankers again, now that they are raking in yet another
round of record-breaking bonuses?
Dont believe the hype people. The joke is always at our expense.
You can expect a few more oemajor announcements on the imperial wars that the
Obama Administration has raging throughout the world in coming months. Not
only to dupe voters into re-electing Obama, but to also defuse the momentum
building to the massive October 6th Afghanistan War ten-year anniversary protest
in DC:
oeOn Thursday, October 6, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the invasion of
Afghanistan, we who oppose war in the United States will occupy Freedom Plaza
in Washington, DC, and we wont budge until U.S. troops and mercenaries are out
of Afghanistan and the money now being used to keep them there is brought home
to fund human needs. We know our overlords are adept at ignoring marches,
demonstrations, and what few expressions of free speech we have left. This time,
we wont let them. We intend to shut down business as usual and force them to
listen. [read more]
To keep up on Obamas deceptive propaganda, read our Obama Illusion news wire.
For some much needed background, heres an extensive report I wrote on Obamas
Af-Pak War policies:
Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down
By David DeGraw, AmpedStatus Report
Originally published by AmpedStatus.com on December 2, 2009.
Report Contents:
""""I: Troop Deployments
""""II: The Militarized Economy
""""III: Masters of War
""""IV: PsyOps: Wag the Dog and Shake the Mohammed
""""V: U.S. Insurgency: Violent, Strategic Dislocation Within U.S.
The economic elite have escalated their attack on the U.S. public
by surging military operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
As Obama announced plans for escalating the war effort, it has become clear
that the Obama Illusion has taken yet another horrifying turn. Before
explaining how the Af-Pak surge is a direct attack on the US public, lets peer
through the illusion and look at the reality of the situation.
Now that the much despised George W. Bush is out of the way and a more popular
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![figurehead is doing PR for Dick Cheneys right-hand military leader Gen. Stanley
McChrystal, who is leading his second AF-Pak surge now, and with long time Bush
family confidant Robert Gates still running the Defense Department, the masters
of war have never had it so good.
Barack Obama, the anti-war candidate, has proven to be a perfect decoy for the
military industrial complex. Consider all the opposition and bad press Bush
received when he announced the surge in Iraq. Then consider this:
I: TROOP DEPLOYMENTS
The Bush surge in Iraq deployed an extra 28,000 US troops. Under Obama, back in
March, a surge in Afghanistan, that also further escalated operations inside
Pakistan, deployed an extra 21,000 troops. However, in an unannounced and
underreported move, Obama added 13,000 more troops to that surge to bring the
total to 34,000 troops. Obama actually outdid Bushs surge by 6000 troops and
brought the overall number of US troops in Afghanistan to 68,000, double the
number there when Bush left office.
Where opposition was fierce to Bushs surge, barely any opposition was expressed
during Obamas surge. Part of the reason for so little political and public
backlash was the cleverly orchestrated psychological operation to announce the
beginning of US troop withdrawal from Iraq. While the drawdown in Iraq has
been greatly exaggerated in the US mainstream media, as of October, Obama still
had 124,000 troops deployed in Iraq (not counting private military contractors).
When Obama casts the illusion of a 2011 withdrawal from Afghanistan, one just
needs look at the reality of the situation with the over-hyped withdrawal in
Iraq.
Now, with Obamas latest surge announcement he will again be adding a minimum of
another 30,000 US soldiers. This means that Obama has now led a bigger surge
than Bush¦ on two separate occasions within the past nine months of his new
administration.
Obama has now escalated deployments in the Af-Pak region to 98,000 US troops.
So in Af-Pak and Iraq, he will now have a total of 222,000 US troops deployed,
36,000 more than Bush ever had " 186,000 was Bushs highest total.
PRIVATE MILITARY AND NATO DEPLOYMENTS
The amount of private military contractors deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan is
rarely reported on in the US mainstream press, but a Congressional Research
Service investigation into this revealed that a record high 69% active duty
soldiers are in fact private mercenaries.
Although the administration is yet to disclose how many private mercenaries will
be deployed in the latest surge, it is believed that the 69% ratio will remain
in tact.
The Pentagon released a report showing that Obama already had a total of 242,657
private contractors in action, as of June 30th. 119,706 of them in Iraq, 73,968
in Afghanistan, with 50,061 active in oeother US CENTCOM locations.
Back in June, Jeremy Scahill reported on these findings: oeAccording to new
statistics released by the Pentagon, with Barack Obama as commander in chief,
there has been a 23% increase in the number of [#x2dc]Private Security
Contractors working for the Department of Defense in Iraq in the second quarter
of 2009 and a 29% increase in Afghanistan¦.
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![Plus, we must mention, the immense dangers of having private military
contractors as 69% of our fighting force. For those of you unaware, private
military contractors are hired from all over the world. Any former soldier,
from any country, is welcome to come and fight for a salary " a salary that is
often significantly more than what we pay our own US soldiers.
These mercenaries have a vested interest in prolonging the war, for as long as
there is a war, they have a well paying job. So it is easy to infer that a
significant percentage of these contractors will not have the US soldiers, or US
taxpayers, best interests at heart.
Obama continues to feed this out of control private army by pouring billions of
taxpayer dollars into shady and scandalous companies like Blackwater, who
recently changed their name to Xe Services, because they destroyed their
reputation by committing numerous war crimes in Iraq. A recent investigation
by Jeremy Scahill revealed the extent to which Blackwater is involved in covert
operations inside Afghanistan and Pakistan. In some cases, Blackwater is not
working for the US, but were hired by covert elements inside Pakistan. When it
comes to private contractors, the fog of war grows ominous, exactly who is
fighting for whom is unclear. The crucial factor is who paid them the most that
particular day.
The US military can give them $1000 today, and an enemy can give them $1000
tomorrow, when you have people who fight for a payday and not for a country,
you get chaos. This leads to a breakdown in the chain of command, effectively
turning a military operation into a covert intelligence operation, where youre
never really sure if the person you are fighting with is on your side or not.
A federal investigation by the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and
Afghanistan, revealed in June: oeMore than 240,000 contractor employees, about
80 percent of them foreign nationals, are working in Iraq and Afghanistan to
support operations and projects of the U.S. military, the Department of State,
and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Contractor employees
outnumber U.S. troops in the region. While contractors provide vital services,
the Commission believes their use has also entailed billions of dollars lost to
waste, fraud, and abuse due to inadequate planning, poor contract drafting,
limited competition, understaffed oversight functions, and other problems.
Before this latest surge, there were over 123,000 US and NATO troops in the
Af-Pak region, and 200,000 Afghan security forces, supporting the US effort.
According to US intelligence sources the total number of Taliban and al-Qaida
fighters in the region was estimated to only be about 25,000, giving the US led
forces a minimum of a 12 to 1 troop advantage.
When you add in estimated private soldiers, you get an approximate minimum of a
17 to 1 advantage.
Although Obama opened his war speech by mentioning al-Qaida as the main
justification for this war, consider this AP report: oenational security
adviser James Jones said last weekend that the al-Qaida presence has diminished,
and he does not [#x2dc]foresee the return of the Taliban to power. He said that
according to the maximum estimate, al-Qaida has fewer than 100 fighters
operating in Afghanistan without any bases or ability to launch attacks on the
West.
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![number of soldiers serving in Afghanistan are suffering from some kind of
mental stress and is urging the military to double the number of mental health
professionals deployed there. The study, conducted by the Army Mental Health
Advisory Team, found that soldiers morale in Afghanistan is
[#x2dc]significantly lower than it was in 2005 and 2007 studies?
As wounded soldiers return from Afghanistan and Iraq, they are finding a
healthcare system that is increasingly more difficult and costly to get care
from. In fact, 2,266 US veterans died in 2008 due to lack of healthcare, and
oeresearchers also found that, in 2008, 1,461,615 veterans between the ages of
18 and 64 lacked insurance.
Despite all of this, in another devastating example of how the economy is
unraveling US society, military enlistment levels have reached a high. In a
report by the Washington Post headlined: oeA Historic Success In Military
Recruiting they reveal:
oeFor the first time in more than 35 years, the U.S. military has met all of its
annual recruiting goals, as hundreds of thousands of young people have enlisted
despite the near-certainty that they will go to war.
The Pentagon¦ said the economic downturn and rising joblessness, as well as
bonuses and other factors, had led more qualified youths to enlist. The military
has not seen such across-the-board successes since the all-volunteer force was
established.¦
[#x2dc]We delivered beyond anything the framers of the all-volunteer force would
have anticipated, Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense for military
personnel policy, said at a Pentagon news conference.
Overall, the Defense Department brought in 168,900 active-duty troops, or 103
percent of the goal for the fiscal year¦.
What we are witnessing here with such high enlistment levels during this
economic crisis has many parallels to Germany in the 1930²s. Just like the
United States now, the German economy in the 1930²s was devastated by an
economic crisis brought on by Wall Street. With rising unemployment and
poverty, German men turned to the military for income and health benefits that
their family severely needed. With over 25 million US citizens unemployed and
underemployed, over 50 million with no healthcare, and over 50 million living in
poverty, military service is now a last resort for a growing number of desperate
Americans as well. The record-breaking enlistment numbers are expected to
continue to rise as the economy continues to decline.
oeSuch a perfect democracy constructs its own inconceivable foe, terrorism. Its
wish is to be judged by its enemies rather than by its results.
" Guy DeBord, Comments On the Society of the Spectacle, 1988 II: THE
MILITARIZED ECONOMY
The amount of money necessary to keep the US military machine growing has
reached astonishing levels. Considering the increasing amount of troops and
contractors, the White House estimates that it spends one million dollars per
soldier, per year in Afghanistan, oenot including the added expense of training
and maintaining a security force.
According to these calculations, 30,000 troops for this latest surge will add an
additional $30 billion to the annual budget, just in troop related costs. Also
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![future military costs.
With the country already operating at a record $12 trillion deficit, members of
congress dont know how we can afford increasing an already huge war expenditure.
WEAPONS SALES
In this struggling economy, weapon sales have become one of Americas most
booming businesses. US weapon sales have hit a record level under the Obama
administration. Foreign Policy In Focus reports:
oeIn fiscal year 2008, the foreign military sales program sold $36 billion in
weapons and defense articles, an increase of more than 50% over 2007. Sales for
the first half of 2009 reached $27 billion, and could top out at $40 billion by
the end of the year. In contrast, through the early 2000s, arms sales averaged
between $8-13 billion per year¦.
But last year, the United States sold arms or military services to well over 100
nations¦.
¦ the majority of U.S. arms sales to the developing world went to countries that
our own State Department defined as undemocratic regimes and/or major human
rights abusers. And over two-thirds of the worlds active conflicts involved
weapons that had been supplied by the United States.
Selling all these weapons, especially during the biggest global financial
crisis, will lead to one thing¦ terrorism.
Given these statistics, it shouldnt be a surprise to hear how US taxpayer
dollars are still funding the Taliban. Prior to the 9/11 attacks, the Taliban
government was funded by the US taxpayer. In fact, the Taliban still receives a
significant portion of their funding courtesy of the US taxpayer. As The Nation
recently reported: oeIt is an accepted fact of the military logistics operation
in Afghanistan that the US government funds the very forces American troops are
fighting. And it is a deadly irony, because these funds add up to a huge amount
of money for the Taliban. [#x2dc]Its a big part of their income, one of the top
Afghan government security officials told The Nation in an interview. In fact,
US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10 percent of the
Pentagons logistics contracts"hundreds of millions of dollars"consists of
payments to insurgents.
As former CIA Station Chief John Stockwell explained: oeEnemies are necessary
for the wheels of the US military machine to turn.
With the war in Afghanistan now entering its 9th year, senior military
commanders and a growing number of experts have come to the conclusion that this
war is unwinnable and will fuel terrorism.
However, they all seem to be missing the point, before explaining this in more
detail, let me start by referring you to a quote from a journalist who had
firsthand experience operating inside a militaristic empire:
oeThe war is not supposed to be winnable, it is supposed to be continuous¦ all
for the hierarchy of society¦ The essential act of war is destruction, not
necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labor. War is a way of
shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths
of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too
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![comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent¦ it helps to preserve
the special mental atmosphere that a hierarchical society needs. War¦ is now a
purely internal affair. " George Orwell
III: MASTERS OF WAR oeCome you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know,
I can see through your mask?
Many of the weapons manufactures and private military contractors are seen as
the primary war profiteers. For an example of grotesque war profiteering, lets
look at Dick Cheneys former company Halliburton. (NYSE:HAL) In a report
headlined: oeU.S. War Privatization Results in Billions Lost in Fraud, Waste and
Abuse, Jeremy Scahill reports on KBR (NYSE:KBR) , a Halliburton subsidiary.
oeKBR has been paid nearly $32 billion since 2001. In May, April Stephenson,
director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency, testified that KBR was linked to
[#x2dc]the vast majority of war-zone fraud cases and a majority of the $13
billion in [#x2dc]questioned or [#x2dc]unsupported costs. According to Agency,
it sent the inspector general [#x2dc]a total of 32 cases of suspected
overbilling, bribery and other violations since 2004.
According to the Associated Press, which obtained an early copy of the
commissions report, [#x2dc]billions of dollars of the total paid to KBR
[#x2dc]ended up wasted due to poorly defined work orders, inadequate oversight
and contractor inefficiencies.
KBR is at the center of a lethal scandal involving the electrocution deaths of
more than a dozen US soldiers, allegedly as a result of faulty electrical work
done by the company. The DoD paid KBR more than $80 million in bonuses for the
very work that resulted in the electrocution deaths.
With numerous scandals over KBR operations, Halliburton ended its relationship
with the company. However, oeHalliburton reported $4 billion in operating
profits in 2008, while KBR recently said its first quarter revenues in 2009 were
up 27%, for a total of $3.2 billion. Its sales in 2008 were up 33%, and
according to the Financial Times, the company had $1 billion in cash, no debt,
and was looking for acquisitions.
Beyond these blatant examples of war profiteering, there are more insidious
forces at play that most people dont see. These war profiteering companies are
funded by the same banks that have destroyed the US economy.
Consider this example concerning Alliant Techsystems and Textron, two
manufactures of cluster bombs, the controversial civilian killing WMDs.The
Guardian reported:
oeThe deadly trade in cluster bombs is funded by the worlds biggest banks who
have loaned or arranged finance worth $20bn to firms producing the
controversial weapons, despite growing international efforts to ban them¦
Goldman Sachs, the US bank which made £3.19bn profit in just three months,
earned $588.82m for bank services and lent $250m to Alliant Techsystems and
Textron¦
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![Last December 90 countries, including the UK, committed themselves to banning
cluster bombs by next year. But the US was not one of them. So far 23 countries
have ratified the convention.
Before going into further detail on how these banks make a lions share of war
profits, lets look back at the origins of these wars.
GEO-STRATEGIC OIL OPERATIONS
With all due respect to people who have been force-fed Pentagon propaganda by
the US mainstream media, any serious observer of the Iraq and Af-Pak wars knows
that these are geo-strategic conflicts based on controlling the worlds oil
supply. Anyone in the oenews media who tells you otherwise is either unaware of
what is actually going on, or is a well-paid propagandist working for the very
people who profit off of them.
ORIGINS OF THE IRAQ OCCUPATION: CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE
As an AlterNet report put it: oeIn January 2000, 10 days into President George
W. Bushs first term, representatives of the largest oil and energy companies
joined the new administration to form the Cheney Energy Task Force.
Secret Task Force documents that were dated March 2001, which were obtained by
Judical Watch in 2003 after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, contained oea
map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as two
charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects? They also had:
?? a series of lists titled [#x2dc]Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield
Contracts[#x2dc] naming more than 60 companies from some 30 countries with
contracts in various stages of negotiation.
None of contracts were with American nor major British companies, and none
could take effect while the U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iraq
remained in place. Three countries held the largest contracts: China, Russia and
France " all members of the Security Council and all in a position to advocate
for the end of sanctions.
Were Saddam to remain in power and the sanctions to be removed, these contracts
would take effect, and the U.S. and its closest ally would be shut out of Iraqs
great oil bonanza.
Project Censored highlighted a Judicial Watch report that stated: oeDocumented
plans of occupation and exploitation predating September 11 confirm heightened
suspicion that U.S. policy is driven by the dictates of the energy industry.
According to Judicial Watch President, Tom Fitton, [#x2dc]These documents show
the importance of the Energy Task Force and why its operations should be open to
the public.
ORIGINS OF THE AFGHANISTAN OCCUPATION: oeSTRATEGY OF THE SILK ROUTE
Up until 9/11, oil companies, with the help of the Bush administration, were
desperately trying to work out a deal with the Taliban to build an oil pipeline
through Afghanistan. One of the worlds richest oil fields is on the eastern
shore of the Caspian sea just north of Afghanistan. The Caspian oil reserves
are of top strategic importance in the quest to control the earths remaining oil
supply. The US government developed a policy called oeThe Strategy of the Silk
Route.
The policy was designed to lock out Russia, China and Iran from the oil in this
region. This called for U.S. corporations to construct an oil pipeline running
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![through Afghanistan. Since the mid 1990s, a consortium of U.S. companies led by
Unocal have been pursing this goal. A feasibility study of the Central Asian
pipeline project was performed by Enron. Their study concluded that as long as
the country was split among fighting warlords the pipeline could not be built.
Stability was necessary for the $4.5 billion project and the U.S. believed that
the Taliban would impose the necessary order. The U.S. State Department and
Pakistans ISI, impressed by the Taliban movement to cut a pipeline deal, agreed
to funnel arms and funding to the Taliban in their war for control of
Afghanistan.
oeUntil 1999 U.S. taxpayers paid the entire annual salary of every single
Taliban government official.
The U.S., Saudi and Pakistan intelligence alliance that created the terrorist
financing bank BCCI reunited to facilitate the rise of the Taliban. BCCI was a
US intelligence bank, which served as the financing arm for the creation of the
al-Qaida network. BCCI was involved in many covert operations throughout the
80²s and early 90²s. They played a pivotal role in arming Saddam in Iraq, the
Iran-Contra scandal, the Iran hostage crisis, even selling drugs through Manuel
Noriega and other top drug dealers. BCCI gave nuclear weapons to Pakistan, which
led to North Korea and Iran obtaining pivotal nuclear secrets as well. BCCI was
also a driving force behind the Savings and Loan scandals that were a precursor
to our current economic crisis.
Focusing on the creation of the Taliban, lets read an excerpt from a 2003 book,
oeModern Jihad: Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks, by Loretta
Napoleoni:
oeThe alliance between American capitalism and Islamist fundamentalism is not
limited to the creation of the Taliban; it also produced business ventures
designed to extract favours from the new regime. To strengthen its bargaining
power with the newly formed Islamist state, Unocal joined the Saudi Delta Oil
Corporation to create a consortium called CentGas. Delta Oil is owned by the
bin Mahfouz and al-Amoudi families [pivotal BCCI players], Saudi clans which
have strong links with Osama bin Ladens family¦. Mahfouz has been sponsoring
charitable institutions used as fronts for bin Ladens associates through the
National Commercial Bank, which his family controls¦.
Naturally, as soon as George W. Bush was elected president, Unocal and [UKs]
BP-Amoco¦ started once again to lobby the administration, among whom were
several of their former employees. Unocal knew that Bush was ready to back them
and resumed the consortium negotiations. In January 2001, it began discussions
with the Taliban, backed by members of the Bush administration among whom was
Under Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who had previously worked as a
lobbyist for Unocal. The Taliban, for their part, employed as their PR officer
in the US Laila Helms, niece of Richard Helms, former director of the CIA and
former US ambassador to Iran. In March 2001, Helms succeeded in bringing
Rahmatullah Hashami, Mullah Omars adviser, to Washington¦. As late as August
2001, meetings were held in Pakistan to discuss the pipeline business¦.
While negotiations were underway, the US was secretly making plans to invade
Afghanistan. The Bush administration and its oil sponsors were losing patience
with the Taliban; they wanted to get the Central Asian gas pipeline going as
soon as possible. The [#x2dc]strategy of the Silk Route had been resumed¦.
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![Paradoxically, 11 September provided Washington with a casus belli to invade
Afghanistan and establish a pro American government in the country. When, a few
weeks after the attack, the leaders of the two Pakistani Islamist parties
negotiated with Mullah Omar and bin Laden for the latters extradition to
Pakistan to stand trial for the 11 September attacks, the US refused the offer¦.
In November 2001¦ Hamid Karzai was elected [Afghanistans] prime minister¦ Yet
very few people remember that during the 1990s Karzai was involved in
negotiations with the Taliban regime for the construction of a Central Asian gas
pipeline from Turkmenistan through western Afghanistan to Pakistan. At that
time he was a top adviser and lobbyist for Unocal¦ during the anti-Soviet
jihad, Karzai was a member of the Mujahedin. In the early 1990s, thanks to his
excellent contacts with the ISI, he moved to the US where he cooperated with
the CIA and the ISI in supporting the Talibans political adventure.
So it is not all that surprising to see recent reports revealing that Hamid
Karzais drug kingpin brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, is also on the CIA payroll.
With this, a new Senate investigation just revealed evidence that Donald
Rumsfeld made a conscious strategic decision to let Bin Laden escape. AFP
reports:
oeOsama bin Laden was within the grasp of US forces in late 2001 and could have
been caught if then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld hadnt rejected calls for
reinforcements, a hard-hitting US Senate report says¦.
It points the finger directly at Rumsfeld for turning down requests for
reinforcements as Bin Laden was trapped in caves and tunnels in a mountainous
section of eastern Afghanistan known as Tora Bora.
[#x2dc]The vast array of American military power, from sniper teams to the most
mobile divisions of the marine corps and the army, was kept on the sidelines,
the report said.
So now that we see how these wars are driven by oil, lets look at how the oil
industry is benefiting from them. Since the invasion, the industry has
experienced record profits across the board, setting new profit records quarter
after quarter, year after year, as these wars rage on.
IRAQI OIL DEALS
With Exxon and Shell just signing new oil contracts in Iraq, its obvious why
there are still over 100,000 troops in Iraq. In a Daily Mirror report
headlined, oeOil Billions and Weapons of Mass Deception In Iraq, they report on
the new oil deals:
oeExxon-Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell won the development rights of a massive oil
field " West Qurna near Basra in Iraqs south. The two oil giants hope to boost
daily production from the current 300,000 barrels to 2.3 million barrels a day
at West Qurna, which the ousted and hanged Iraqi President Saddam Hussein wanted
to give to a Russian oil company.
Last month, British Petroleum (BP) and the China National Petroleum Corporation
(CNPC) won a contract to develop another oil field. The invitation to China to
join the plunder of Iraq is probably a payoff by the US so that this Asian
economic powerhouse and rising military power would not rock the pirates boat.
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![The worlds most far-flung oil giant broke its own record for corporate profits
in a year that saw oil prices climb to $147 a barrel in July¦ Exxon Mobil still
beat analysts expectations by registering $7.82 billion in profits, or $1.55 a
share, for the final quarter of the year. Exxon Mobil and Chevrons revenue
combined for 2008 exceeded the gross domestic product of all but 16 of the
worlds nations, according to Bloomberg.
Royal Dutch Shell, Europes largest oil firm¦ posted a $26.3 billion profit for
the year.
Once again, beyond these blatant examples of war profiteering, there are more
insidious forces at play that most people dont see. When you take a closer look
at the oil profits, you see the true driver and ultimate beneficiary of these
profits are none other than the same people who benefited the most from the
stock market collapse and the ensuing $23.7 trillion taxpayer oebailout.
As the Washington Post reported, the huge oil profit margins were the result of
the soaring price of a barrel of oil, reaching oe$147 a barrel in July.
The InterContinental Exchange (ICE)
In 2000, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and several oil companies oefounded the
InterContinental Exchange (ICE)¦. ICE is an online commodities and futures
marketplace. It is outside the US and operates free from the constraints of US
laws. The exchange was set up to facilitate [#x2dc]dark pool trading in the
commodities markets.
A Congressional investigation into this exchange found that these companies
were fraudulently inflating the price of oil by executing oeround-trip trades
where one company would sell shares in oil to another company who would then
sell the shares right back. This would drive the price of oil to however high
they wanted it to go to. oeNo commodity ever changes hands. But when done on an
exchange, these transactions send a price signal to the market and they
artificially boost revenue for the company. This is nothing more than a massive
fraud, pure and simple.
So when oil was selling at $147 a barrel, the actual worth was most likely
closer to half that price. Phils Stock World summed up the situation:
oeHow widespread are round-trip trades? The Congressional Research Service
looked at trading patterns in the energy sector and this is what they reported:
This pattern of trading suggests a market environment in which a significant
volume of fictitious trading could have taken place. Yet since most of the
trading is unregulated by the Government, we have only a slim idea of the
illusion being perpetrated in the energy sector.
DMS Energy, when investigated by Congress, admitted that 80 percent of its
trades in 2001 were round-trip trades. That means 80 percent of all of their
trades that year were bogus trades where no commodity changed hands, and yet the
balance sheets reflect added revenue¦
¦the InterContinental Exchange; that is, the online, nonregulated, nonaudited,
nonoversight for manipulation and fraud entity run by banks in this country¦.
Under investigation, a lawyer for J.P. Morgan Chase admitted the bank engineered
a series of round-trip trades with Enron¦.
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![ICE¦ turned commodity trading into a speculative casino game where pricing was
notional and contracts could be sold by people who never produced a thing, to
people who didnt need the things that were not produced. And in just 5 years
after commencing operations, Goldman Sachs and their partners managed to TRIPLE
the price of commodities.
Goldman Sachs Commodity Index funds accounted for $60Bn out of $100Bn of all
formula-managed funds in 2007 and investors in the GSCI lost 15% in 2006 while
Goldman had a record year. John Dizard, of the Financial Times calls this
process [#x2dc]date rape by Goldman Sachs¦
It is not surprising that a commodity scam would be the cornerstone of Goldman
Sachs strategy. CEO Lloyd Blankfein, rose to the top through Goldmans commodity
trading arm J Aron, starting his career at J Aron before Goldman Sachs bought
them over 25 years ago. With his colleague Gary Cohn, Blankfein oversaw the key
energy trading portfolio. According to Chris Cook: [#x2dc]It appears clear
that BP and Goldman Sachs have been working collaboratively " at least at a
strategic level " for maybe 15 years now. Their trading strategy has evolved
over time as the global market has developed and become ever more financialised.
Moreover, they have been well placed to steer the development of the key global
energy market trading platform, and the legal and regulatory framework within
which it operates¦.
Before ICE, the average American family spent 7% of their income on food and
fuel. Last year, that number topped 20%. Thats 13% of the incomes of every
man, woman and child in the United States of America, over $1Tn EVERY SINGLE
YEAR, stolen through market manipulation. On a global scale, that number is
over $4Tn per year " 80 Madoffs! Why is there no outrage, why are there no
investigations. Well the answer is the same " $4Tn per year buys you a lot of
political clout, it pays to have politicians all over the world look the other
way while GS and their merry men rob from the poor and give to the rich on such
a vast scale that its hard to grasp the damage they have done and continue to do
to the global economy.
The congressional investigation into ICE concluded that they couldnt do anything
about it because the exchange was set up offshore.
How convenient!
So here we can see, that behind almost all of our societal problems and
suffering, you have this small elite group profiting on destruction and misery
at record highs.
When Gold Sachs CEO Llyod Blankfien says that he is doing oeGods work, one has
to wonder, who is the God he is praying to?
Famed two-time Congressional Medal of Honor recipient US Brigadier General
Smedley D. Butler accurately summed up the situation when he said: oeI spent 33
years in the Marines, most of my time being a high-class muscle man for big
business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for
Capitalism¦. The general public shoulders the bill. This bill renders a
horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones, Mangled bodies. Shattered minds.
Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Back-breaking taxation for
generations and generations.
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![of current serving members, have already made this connection, and they are
organizing, training and strategizing tactical operations. They are factions
inside a quickly growing " heavily armed "militia movement that now numbers over
200 active cells, within the US.
The mainstream press gives some passing attention to the fringe factions that
make threats against Obama, but the more experienced soldiers understand that he
is just a figurehead and they have connected all these dots and have come to
the conclusion that this war is actually a war to create profits for the
economic elite at the expense of the US public.
Llyod Blankfein, Jamie Dimon and John Mack can arm themselves and hire all the
security they can get, but will it actually keep them safe when you have a
population of millions living in dire straights as a direct result of their
actions? At this point, even their own security members may be conspiring
against them.
The Obama illusion is fading fast. Every time you see through it, you get a
glimpse of them. The Economic Death Squad is exposed under the bright light of
inspection and investigation.
Take a look at many of the major problems facing us today, as a country and as a
species, and then you will understand that these problems exist because the
economic elite are profiting off of them.
Obama is just their mask, an illusion to pacify the masses. The economic crisis
and the wars have now shattered this illusion " it has come crashing down¦ upon
us.
It has become clear that an opinion has emerged among a growing segment of the
United States population: If the government will keep pouring money into banks
and war, and wont stop the theft of US taxpayer money by holding accountable
those responsible for it, WE MUST.
And the question that arises after that: Can it be done non-violently?
I certainly hope it can.
However, this growing segment of the population uses strong rhetoric and is
prepared to take up arms.
With over 200 active militia cells, who are equipped with weapons, training and
strategizing, the government must take swift action to rein in the economic
elite. Otherwise, we are heading to war, not in a distant foreign land, within
the US.
The economic elite are well aware of the threat of a violent uprising within US
borders. US Army documents have revealed that strategic plans are already
formed for this situation. Chris Hedges explains:
oeThe military must be prepared, the document warned, for a [#x2dc]violent,
strategic dislocation inside the United States, which could be provoked by
[#x2dc]unforeseen economic collapse, [#x2dc]purposeful domestic resistance,
[#x2dc]pervasive public health emergencies or [#x2dc]loss of functioning
political and legal order. The [#x2dc]widespread civil violence, the document
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![said, [#x2dc]would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in
extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security.
[#x2dc]An American government and defense establishment lulled into complacency
by a long-secure domestic order would be forced to rapidly divest some or most
external security commitments in order to address rapidly expanding human
insecurity at home, it went on.
?? this might include use of military force against hostile groups inside the
United States. Further, DoD [the Department of Defense] would be, by necessity,
an essential enabling hub for the continuity of political authority in a
multi-state or nationwide civil conflict or disturbance, the document read.
In plain English¦ this translates into the imposition of martial law and a de
facto government being run out of the Department of Defense. They are
considering it. So should you.
We could have a situation where the government deploys private soldiers, mostly
foreign nationals, on US soil to fight against US citizens. Blackwater and
DynCorp already had active duty soldiers deployed within the US when Hurricane
Katrina hit.
In New Orleans, they were essentially a foreign occupying force.
LOSS OF FAITH IN POLITICAL PROCESS
In response to the report, oeThe Critical Unraveling of US Society, readers
primarily critiqued the part in which we call on readers to engage their
representatives.
An irate majority of the responses have consistently stated that they have
repeatedly contacted their representative through multiple forms of
communication, and no action was taken. A growing segment of the US population
has now lost all faith in our government and they are on the verge of taking
violent action.
Personally, I believe that non-violent action is a much more strategic and
effective move. We are 99% of the population, and the enemy is less than 1%.
We are a sleeping giant; they are a small group of clueless greed-addicted
people who desperately cling to the Administration, Treasury, Fed and a few
other firms like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.
If we can take action on a mass non-violent scale, the rule of law and economic
justice can be obtained. In our nations history, the stakes have never been
higher. If we cannot organize a mass movement to non-violently oppose outright
theft, then violence will ultimately tear our nation apart.
The question on my mind: Can we swiftly mobilize such a heavily propagandized
population to take mass non-violent action?
A growing population does not believe we can do so, and is on the verge of
launching a heavily armed insurgency.
So in the months ahead, while they are Wagging the Dog and Shaking the Mohammed,
the US public vitally needs to understand that the stakes have never been
higher.
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![127 of 214 DOCUMENTS
Rupee News
November 12, 2009 Thursday 4:22 PM EST
[#x2dc]A donkey with a new saddle: What they say in Kabul
BYLINE: aliphbay@aol.com (Rupee News)
LENGTH: 1162 words
Nov. 12, 2009 (Rupee News delivered by Newstex) --
President Barack Obama has concluded his deliberations about the vital subject.
Last week witnessed the ticklish toll among foreign troops while eight Afghans
working with the US forces were killed al a NATO air strike. Recently, a tragedy
struck Hood Fort in Texas. Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an American Muslim and a
psychiatrist, opened fire on his comrades killing 13 and wounding 29 before
getting shot. President Obama, while expressing his outrage at the sad demise of
troopers, counselled patience so that facts are brought out. In the same vein,
the Muslim community in the US also condemned such a grisly incident, which
bedevilled the prevailing gloom in the US and the world over.
In Pakistan, serious loss of life is becoming a daily affair. Undoubtedly, the
start of the military operation against South Waziristan blew it. While the army
has made great progress, the situation remains awfully confused. A perception
prevails here that Pakistan and the US are not operating on the same wavelength.
Reportedly the army seized arms and ammunition of US/Indian origin and the ISPR
has been hesitant to disclose the same. Such a complex set of insights or ground
realities appear to be rather demoralising for the Pakistani people, more so, in
the worst hit areas of NWFP that bear the brunt of the bizarre blitz.
They are suffering from regular bombings, suicidal or otherwise, but their
sacrifices appear to be billed against nobody except the spectre of
[#x2dc]terrorism. In places like Peshawar or DIK, the relief infrastructure is
so poor that the people have to, generally, carry their own dying patients at
their own risk and cost. This does not bode well for the coalition, as losing
public support can spell a cataclysm in this sensitive area. Except for one or
two ministers, the rich representatives " because no poor person passes
political criteria for issuance of tickets " hesitate even going for offering
fateha. However, the Frontier society is traditional and it stands by their
country, despite poor governance. Why cant the US build makeshift hospital
facilities to alleviate the sufferings of these people, as our
[#x2dc]disaster-relief appears to be [#x2dc]busy? Why cant the federal
communications minister, who is the son of a late dear friend of mine and
belongs to a respectable family of Peshawar, put his foot down to provide
immediate rescue outposts for his constituents? We definitely want answers, but
that is not going to happen.
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![Next in Washington DC, President Obama faces a gigantic challenge. The
administration seems to be split over General Stanley McChrystals request for
more troops. While the army commanders are taken in by the Iraq experience,
discretion demands distinct foresight. Moreover, the British media are crying
hoarse that going by history, the war is not winnable despite the hectic efforts
of Gordon Brown to promote other course. In addition, the European Union too is
sceptical about the nature of the NATO commitment to the ongoing war regardless
of the over-enthusiasm of Secretary General Anders Fogh Rassmussen. No wonder
its leaders, generally, keep blowing hot and cold to put paper over cracks
without practically raising their stakes. As most of the major countries were
colonial powers while Germany suffered a catastrophe in search of her share of
the same under Hitler, their experience also dictates their [#x2dc]to be or not
to be policy in Afghanistan.
General McChrystals new strategy lays the right emphasis on the security of the
Afghan people. It visualises his troops learning Pashto to be able to show
respect for the local culture and traditions for winning the [#x2dc]hearts and
minds of the people. Reuters has circulated a photo from Killeen in Texas
wherein an American Chaplain Jason Palmer in uniform is talking to Imam Syed
Ahmed Ali on Saturday (November 07, 2009) at the local Islamic Community Centre
while his colleague looks on. They met as Jason invited the Imam to join the
memorial service for the 13 victims of the Fort Hood. Major Hasan was said to
have used the centre to offer prayers. Furthermore, Jason is caught making a
gesture, which means a lot to an Afghan. He is holding his hand against his
chest, which signifies goodwill. Thus, General McChrystals inspiration appears
to be at work. However, this ought to have been initiated in 2002 when the Bonn
Conference created a mirage about great things to come after the Taliban lost
power. Sadly then the army, like the neo-con administration, was rather gung-ho.
François-Marie Arouet, known by the pen name Voltaire, has said: "Is there
anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?" Hence, all options
before President Obama underline the necessity for a concord with the Afghans.
This is so because history highlights hereditary hostility to [#x2dc]foreign
occupation despite all odds.
In the past, Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, advised the US to aim at
"dialogue" to terminate the "long sufferings of the people." About the surge, he
emphasised: "This is something we discussed too, years ago. But we decided not
to do it. I think our experience deserves attention."
In Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai is to become a president again following his
discredited election. Recently, the news appeared that his brother was a CIA
agent as well as a drug baron. Reportedly, Obama has warned him to cut
corruption visibly for earning US support. While Admiral Michael Mullen rightly
labelled Karzais legitimacy, "at best, in question right now and at worst, does
not exist." Apparently insulting Karzai, a former Unocal employee and another
Diem, publicly makes him [#x2dc]a donkey with a new saddle as per an Afghan
proverb. Anyway, the US does realise that a coalition of warlords had been
whipped up by spending dollars duly helped by the neighbouring countries in the
wake of the 9/11 sympathy wave. In Iraq, the US persecuted the Sunni minority by
partnering the majority but the Pashtuns are the majority in Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, while the Taliban creed caused a lot of misery, the ethnic factor
is still important.
The US must define its long-term strategy to be followed regardless of the party
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![politics. Pakistan is playing the pivotal part, despite the widespread mayhem
let loose against the people. How long can our people keep dying in the hope
that the US would stand by them? Moreover, Indian overtures reveal
self-deception. The Maoists, a rebellion against the status quo defined by the
rampage of the rich, are a great threat. Arundhati Roy asks: "If it takes
600,000 soldiers to hold down the tiny valley of Kashmir, how many will it take
to contain the mounting rage of hundreds of millions of people?" Therefore, the
US must guarantee her commitment to the region to win peace and also to AfPak.
Remember fire-fighting cant forestall an Armageddon.
The Nation. I M Mohsin. The writer is a former secretary interior.
Posted in Current Affairs
Newstex ID: RPNW-5065-39673999
SUBJECT: RELIGION (94%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (91%); ARMED FORCES (90%); US
PRESIDENTS (90%); ARMIES (90%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (90%); MILITARY
OPERATIONS (90%); WAR & CONFLICT (90%); US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008 (90%);
RESCUE OPERATIONS (89%); POLITICS (89%); MUSLIM AMERICANS (77%); SHOOTINGS
(77%); WOUNDS & INJURIES (76%); RIOTS (74%); HOSPITALS (72%); TERRORISM (72%);
PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS (71%); DISASTER RELIEF (64%) Current Affairs; Asia;
GeoCodes; unrest; conflicts and war; politics; religion and belief; North
America; Europe; Global; Afghanistan; Pakistan; Iraq; civil unrest; armed
conflict; defense; islam; United States of America; Germany; Middle East; Asia;
Europe; rebellions and revolutions; social conflict; armed forces; Islamic
politics; banking and law
ORGANIZATION: NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (58%)
PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (94%); GORDON BROWN (50%)
GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (92%) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, USA (79%) UNITED
STATES (98%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (93%); IRAQ (92%); EUROPE (92%); ASIA
(92%); NORTH AMERICA (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%)
LOAD-DATE: November 12, 2009
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its
re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily
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![to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion.
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog
Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC
All Rights Reserved
Newstex Web Blogs
Copyright 2009 Rupee News
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The Public Record
June 18, 2010 Friday 2:37 PM EST
Global War Racket Exposed: Trillions in Resources &
Funding Our Enemies
BYLINE: David DeGraw
LENGTH: 2962 words
Jun. 18, 2010 (The Public Record delivered by Newstex) --
Building on my Af-Pak War Racket report, a few recent news items help expose
the true drivers of current wars around the world. #1) Wherever there is a war,
look for CIA/IMF/private military war profiteers covertly funding and supporting
BOTH sides in order to keep the wars raging and the profits rolling in. As
former CIA Station Chief John Stockwell explained: oeEnemies are necessary for
the wheels of the US military machine to turn.
Building on my Af-Pak War Racket report, a few recent news items help expose the
true drivers of current wars around the world.
#1) Wherever there is a war, look for CIA/IMF/private military war profiteers
covertly funding and supporting BOTH sides in order to keep the wars raging and
the profits rolling in. As former CIA Station Chief John Stockwell explained:
oeEnemies are necessary for the wheels of the US military machine to turn.
Heres an important glimpse of truth to seep through last week in the NY Times,
via Raw Story:
US-backed [#x2dc]bribes in Afghanistan may be funding Taliban
On June 7, the day Afghanistan became Americas longest-ever war, the New York
Times reported on an ongoing investigation poised to prove that private security
companies oeare using American money to bribe the Taliban to fuel combat and
thus enhance demand for their services. The news follows a oeseries of events
last month that suggested all-out collusion with the insurgents, the Times said.
oeThe American people are paying to prop up a corrupt government that may be
using our money to pay private companies to drum up business by paying the
insurgents to attack our troops, [Kucinich] said¦. The Times interviewed a NATO
official in Kabul who oebelieved millions of dollars were making their way to
the Taliban. [read more]
#2) On top of that report, Sundays headlines read, oePakistani spy agency
supports Taliban:
Pakistans main spy agency continues to arm and train the Taliban and is even
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![represented on the groups leadership council despite U.S. pressure to sever ties
and billions in aid to combat the militants, said a research report released
Sunday.
The findings could heighten tension between the two countries and raise further
questions about U.S. success in Afghanistan since Pakistani cooperation is seen
as key to defeating the Taliban, which seized power in Kabul in the 1990s with
Islamabads support.
U.S. officials have suggested in the past that current or former members of
Pakistans powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, have maintained
links to the Taliban despite the governments decision to denounce the group in
2001 under U.S. pressure. [read more]
First off, these two reports are really not news at all. Reports of American tax
dollars ending up in the hands of the Taliban have been coming out since the
start of the war and the ISI, as the CIA has been well aware of for years now,
has been playing both sides of this war and is pivotal in keeping the war going.
Secondly, I have long wondered when the CIA / US military would start exposing
all of this in the mainstream propaganda press as a pretext to further expand
the war into Pakistan.
#3) As a result of all this, and not surprising at all to people who were paying
close attention to Obamas surge strategy, costs and death counts are quickly
rising. Jim Lobe reports from Afghanistan that the oeNews is Bad.
While U.S. officials insist they are making progress in reversing the momentum
built up by the Taliban insurgency over the last several years, the latest news
from Afghanistan suggests the opposite may be closer to the truth.
Even senior military officials are conceding privately that their much-touted
new counterinsurgency strategy of oeclear, hold and build in contested areas of
the Pashtun southern and eastern parts of the country are not working out as
planned despite the oesurge of some 20,000 additional U.S. troops over the past
six months.
Casualties among the nearly 130,000 U.S. and other NATO troops now deployed in
Afghanistan are also mounting quickly. [read more]
#4) In a propaganda effort to spin away from all the latest bad news, the
desperate US military has pulled this dusty old news report out of their
back-pocket and launched a psychological operation in the NY Times to give a
positive spin in hopes of further manipulating US public opinion:
U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan
The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits
in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves¦. The previously
unknown deposits " including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and
critical industrial metals like lithium " are so big and include so many
minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually
be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the
United States officials believe.
An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the
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![oeSaudi Arabia of lithium, a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries
for laptops and BlackBerrys. [read more]
In the process of this latest propaganda campaign, the Pentagon has unwittingly
exposed two things that I will now jump on. A) The real reason why we are in
this war to begin with: its all about natural resources. And B) All the BS
statements about these oepreviously unknown deposits clearly prove, yet again,
that the NY Times is only too happy to play the role of a straight-up propaganda
paper. For those of us paying attention, weve been reading reports about these
minerals for the past decade! Roland Sheppard just sent this along:
oeThe New York Times, when it was beating the drums of war in 2002, failed to
mention that the USGS published a report, at that time, Mines and Mineral
Occurrences of Afghanistan Compiled by G.J. Orris and J.D. Bliss. Open-File
Report 02-110. On page 16, they list as [#x2dc]Significant Minerals or Materials
magnetite, hematite, chalcopyrite, covellite, chalcocite, cuprite, malachite,
azurite, molybdenite, and native gold " lithium is mentioned on page 10 under
[#x2dc]References.
So, from the very beginning, as I went into further detail in the past, the war
in Afghanistan is all about resources. Ill get back to the oeSaudi Arabia of
lithium in a minute, heres a brief excerpt from my prior report on another key
resource in the region:
ORIGINS OF THE AFGHANISTAN OCCUPATION: oeSTRATEGY OF THE SILK ROUTE
Up until 9/11, oil companies, with the help of the Bush administration, were
desperately trying to work out a deal with the Taliban to build an oil pipeline
through Afghanistan. One of the worlds richest oil fields is on the eastern
shore of the Caspian sea just north of Afghanistan. The Caspian oil reserves are
of top strategic importance in the quest to control the earths remaining oil
supply. The US government developed a policy called oeThe Strategy of the Silk
Route.
The policy was designed to lock out Russia, China and Iran from the oil in this
region. This called for U.S. corporations to construct an oil pipeline running
through Afghanistan. Since the mid 1990s, a consortium of U.S. companies led by
Unocal have been pursing this goal. A feasibility study of the Central Asian
pipeline project was performed by Enron. Their study concluded that as long as
the country was split among fighting warlords the pipeline could not be built.
Stability was necessary for the $4.5 billion project and the U.S. believed that
the Taliban would impose the necessary order. The U.S. State Department and
Pakistans ISI, impressed by the Taliban movement to cut a pipeline deal, agreed
to funnel arms and funding to the Taliban in their war for control of
Afghanistan. [read more]
Then of course we have the war in Iraq, again from my previous report:
ORIGINS OF THE IRAQ OCCUPATION: CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE
As an AlterNet report put it: oeIn January 2000, 10 days into President George
W. Bushs first term, representatives of the largest oil and energy companies
joined the new administration to form the Cheney Energy Task Force.
Secret Task Force documents that were dated March 2001, which were obtained by
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![Judical Watch in 2003 after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, contained oea
map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as two
charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects? They also had: ?? a series of lists
titled [#x2dc]Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts[#x2dc] naming more
than 60 companies from some 30 countries with contracts in various stages of
negotiation.
None of contracts were with American nor major British companies, and none could
take effect while the U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iraq remained in
place. Three countries held the largest contracts: China, Russia and France "
all members of the Security Council and all in a position to advocate for the
end of sanctions.
Were Saddam to remain in power and the sanctions to be removed, these contracts
would take effect, and the U.S. and its closest ally would be shut out of Iraqs
great oil bonanza.
Project Censored highlighted a Judicial Watch report that stated: oeDocumented
plans of occupation and exploitation predating September 11 confirm heightened
suspicion that U.S. policy is driven by the dictates of the energy industry.
According to Judicial Watch President, Tom Fitton, [#x2dc]These documents show
the importance of the Energy Task Force and why its operations should be open to
the public.
So thats the oil angle of this resource war, now back to the lithium angle. This
longest war in US history is very similar to the even longer wars raging in
Northern Africa, another resource rich paradise of death and destruction. In the
late 1990s, CIA-connected corporations like Bechtel worked with NASA to conduct
infrared satellite studies to discover mineral rich regions throughout the
world. Other than the discoveries in South-Central Asia (Af-Pak region),
Northern Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo region), emerged as a key source
for future resources. In particular, the mineral coltan, which like lithium, is
vital to powering most computer technology. Since Bechtel and NASA made these
discoveries, a report from The International Rescue Committee revealed that an
astonishing 5.4 MILLION Africans have been killed in the region. For some
background, heres an excellent report from July 2001, in Dollars and Sense
magazine:
The Business of War in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dena Montague and Frida
Berrigan
oeThis is all money, says a Western mining executive, his hand sweeping over a
geological map toward the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He is
explaining why, in 1997, he and planeloads of other businessmen were flocking to
the impoverished country and vying for the attention of then-rebel leader
Laurent Kabila. The executive could just as accurately have said, [#x2dc]This is
all war.
The interplay among a seemingly endless supply of mineral resources, the greed
of multinational corporations desperate to cash in on that wealth, and the
provision of arms and military training to political tyrants has helped to
produce the spiral of conflicts that have engulfed the continent " what many
regard as oeAfricas First World War. These minerals are vital to maintaining
U.S. military dominance? [read more]
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![For further detail, heres Project Censoreds 2003 report:
American Companies Exploit the Congo:
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been labeled oethe richest patch of
earth on the planet. The valuable abundance of minerals and resources in the DRC
has made it the target of attacks from U.S.-supported neighboring African
countries Uganda and Rwanda.
The DRC is mineral rich with millions of tons of diamonds, copper, cobalt, zinc,
manganese, uranium, niobium, and tantalum also known as coltan. Coltan has
become an increasingly valuable resource to American corporations. Coltan is
used to make mobile phones, night vision goggles, fiber optics, and capacitators
used to maintain the electrical charge in computer chips¦.
The DRC holds 80% of the worlds coltan reserves, more than 60% of the worlds
cobalt and is the worlds largest supplier of high-grade copper. With these
minerals playing a major part in maintaining US military dominance and economic
growth, minerals in the Congo are deemed vital US interests.
Historically, the U.S. government identified sources of materials in Third World
countries, and then encouraged U.S. corporations to invest in and facilitate
their production. Dating back to the mid-1960s, the U.S. government literally
installed the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko, which gave U.S. corporations
access to the Congos minerals for more than 30 years. However, over the years
Mobutu began to limit access by Western corporations, and to control the
distribution of resources. In 1998, U.S. military-trained leaders of Rwanda and
Uganda invaded the mineral-rich areas of the Congo. The invaders installed
illegal colonial-style governments which continue to receive millions of dollars
in arms and military training from the United States. Our government and a $5
million Citibank loan maintains the rebel presence in the Congo. Their control
of mineral rich areas allows western corporations, such as American Mineral
Fields, to illegally mine. Rwandan and Ugandan control over this area is
beneficial for both governments and for the corporations that continue to
exploit the Congos natural wealth¦.
San Francisco based engineering firm Bechtel Inc. established strong ties in the
rebel zones as well. Bechtel drew up an inventory of the Congos mineral
resources free of charge, and also paid for NASA satellite studies of the
country for infared maps of its minerals. Bechtel estimates that the DRCs
mineral ores alone are worth $157 billion dollars. Through coltan production,
the Rwandans and their allies are bringing in $20 million revenue a month.
Rwandas diamond exports went from 166 carats in 1998 to 30,500 in 2000. Ugandas
diamond exports jumped from approximately 1,500 carats to about 11,300. The
final destination for many of these minerals is the U.S. [read more]
And to close this out, let me return to oeThe Business of War report by Dena
Montague and Frida Berrigan. As you will see, you always have to follow the
money, the bankers and our friends at the IMF are always at the root of global
death and destruction, and are the true Masters of War:
oeToday, the United States claims that it has no interest in the DRC other than
a peaceful resolution to the current war. Yet U.S. businessmen and politicians
are still going to extreme lengths to gain and preserve sole access to the DRCs
mineral resources. And to protect these economic interests, the U.S. government
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![continues to provide millions of dollars in arms and military training to known
human-rights abusers and undemocratic regimes. Thus, the DRCs mineral wealth is
both an impetus for war and an impediment to stopping it¦.
During his historic visit to Africa in 1998, President Clinton praised
Presidents Kagame and Musevini as leaders of the [#x2dc]African Renaissance,
just a few months before they launched their deadly invasion of the DRC with
U.S. weapons and training¦.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have knowingly contributed
to the war effort. The international lending institutions praised both Rwanda
and Uganda for increasing their gross domestic product (GDP), which resulted
from the illegal mining of DRC resources. Although the IMF and World Bank were
aware that the rise in GDP coincided with the DRC war, and that it was derived
from exports of natural resources that neither country normally produced, they
nonetheless touted both nations as economic success stories¦.
In January 2000, Chevron " the corporation that named an oil tanker after
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice " announced a three-year, $75 million
spending program in the DRC, thus challenging the notion that war discourages
foreign investment¦. As one investor put it, oeIt is a good moment to come: it
is in difficult times that you can get the most advantage.?.
In April 2001, a scathing UN report argued that Presidents Kagame and Museveni
are oeon the verge of becoming the godfathers of the illegal exploitation of
natural resources and the continuation of the conflict in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. The two leaders, the report alleged, have turned their armies
into armies for business¦.
According to East African media reports, U.S. diplomats continue to view Rwanda
and Uganda as oestrategic allies in the Great Lakes region and oewould not want
to upset relations with them at this time. ¦. The IMF and World Bank have also
indicated that their policies toward Rwanda and Uganda will remain unchanged¦.
Famed two-time Congressional Medal of Honor recipient US Brigadier General
Smedley D. Butler accurately summed up the situation when he said: oeI spent 33
years in the Marines, most of my time being a high-class muscle man for big
business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for
Capitalism¦. The general public shoulders the bill. This bill renders a horrible
accounting. Newly placed gravestones, Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken
hearts and homes. Economic instability. Back-breaking taxation for generations
and generations.
Sing it with me:
oeCome you masters of war¦
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know,
I can see through your mask?
Read more of David DeGraws work at DavidDeGraw.org.
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![141 of 214 DOCUMENTS
Rupee News
April 7, 2010 Wednesday 8:16 PM EST
Mr. Karzais madness?
BYLINE: aliphbay@aol.com (Rupee News)
LENGTH: 1485 words
Apr. 7, 2010 (Rupee News delivered by Newstex) --
Reading the speeches of Mr. Hamid Karzai, one wonders if he has gone stark
raving mad. Some may think that Hamids Anti-Americanism is an attempt at
self-suicide. However sagacious analyst know that Mr Karzai speaks many
languages"but his best eloquence is in Schmooze. There is a method to his
madness.
Mr. Karzai is a chameleon. He has come full circle. He used to a representative
of Unocal pushing for the Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan gas pipeline. After
the Taliban took over, he lived in Quetta"however he had extensive contacts with
the Taliban and was proposed as the Talibans UN Ambassador.
Today Mr. Karzai knows that the US is about to leave Afghanistan. Therefore it
suits Mr. Karzai to be Anti-American.
Tony Karan of Time Magazine correctly and brilliantly describes the reason for
Mr. Karaais timely tirades against America.
To some it may seem as if President Hamid Karzai has a death wish. The Afghan
leader has lately begun sticking it to the U.S. and its Western allies " the
only force protecting him from a surging Taliban, which hanged the last
foreign-backed President when it reached Kabul in 1996. Having infuriated the
Obama Administration by continuing to drag his feet on corruption " and then
cozying up to Iran and China when Washington turned up the heat " Karzai
ratcheted up the rhetoric last week. He accused the U.S. of trying to dominate
his country, blamed the West for last years electoral fraud (which his campaign
was accused of masterminding) and made comments that verged on sanctifying the
Taliban insurgency as a oenational resistance against foreign invaders. The New
York Times reported on Sunday that Karzai even threatened, during a meeting with
Afghan parliamentarians, to join the Taliban himself if the West continued to
pressure him.
Karzais ebullition: [#x2dc]Ill rejoin the Taliban
But bizarre as his behavior may seem, there may be a method in Karzais madness.
For one thing, he has begun denouncing the Western powers in his country because
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![structure, decision-making and evolving ideology. The December 1998 Embassy
cable noted above describes how Mullah "Omar - perhaps under the influence of
bin Ladin and other extremists - may have become more sympathetic to
pan-Islamist thinking. For example, he was quoted at least twice in 1998 as
criticizing the U.S. presence in the Gulf, which is not usually a great concern
of Afghans."
Furthermore, Mullah Omar's Taliban ruling style may be even more controlling and
brutal than previously reported. The December 1998 Embassy cable mentioned above
notes that Omar "maintains an idiosyncratic, almost obscurantist, leadership
style," making policy decisions, "but generally leav[ing] the day-to-day matters
to his key lieutenants." In order to ensure his deputies remain "off balance"
and do "not grow overly comfortable in their positions, Omar also rotates
Taliban officials from post-to-post, apparently at a whim." Omar may have felt
threatened by his now-deceased deputy, Mullah Mohammad Rabbani. A "moderate,"
who reportedly disagreed with Omar's decision to protect al-Qaeda leader Osama
bin Laden, Rabbani wanted to "settle the [bin Laden] matter before [the Taliban]
become even more isolated from the international community." By 1996, Omar had
purged Taliban members loyal to Mullah Rabbani in order to prevent his Deputy
from gaining popularity and an independent base of power.
Also contained in the documents are indications that despite Mullah Omar's
authoritarian methods, the Taliban may have been more politically and
ideologically diverse than previously known. In March 1997, U.S. State
Department officials note that "while we do not know much about [Taliban]
decision-making, there is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest there are
differences of opinion among high-level Taliban leaders. And when they do reach
a decision, there is not a well-defined process for communicating that decision
to all the areas under their control, let alone making sure that it is carried
out." There is surprising ideologically heterogeneity in the organization as
some Taliban officials, such as Minister of Defense Mullah Obaidullah, regularly
recruit former communists for Taliban membership. U.S. officials note, "there
are also many non-ideological Afghans (former commanders, tribal leaders,
khalqis, etc.) who have jumped into the Taliban bandwagon for their own motives.
There is thus some evidence to suggest that in provinces where they are in
control, they - or at least their ideology - are spread thin."
As a collection, the documents reproduced here provide an interesting
illustration of the complexity of dealing with a repugnant political regime.
U.S. State Department officials describe Taliban social policies as abominable;
yet they find themselves engaged in regular diplomatic contact and even
supporting potential commercial deals. While the State Department is studying
reports of growing domestic opposition to the Taliban (prompting Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright to write in the margins of one memo, "This is
encouraging"), UNOCAL (the Union Oil Company of California) is sponsoring a
Taliban delegation on a tour of the United States in hopes of getting permission
to build a pipeline through Afghanistan. One of the visitors, Mullah Amir Khan
Muttaqi, the Taliban Minister of Education and Minister of Information and
Culture, is described as a "key figure in the Taliban's ideological projects,"
and an individual even more "extreme on social issues than most Taliban." The
State Department confesses U.S. policy "will inevitably be messy and the policy
we follow will be ridden with inner tensions, as we simultaneously engage with
the Taliban and criticize their abuses."
Highlights:
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![responsibility on all levels, and a culture of mistrust and jingoism are issues
that will undermine any effort to restore Afghanistan to a civilised country.
Lack of indigenous effort towards changing the tide of events will keep Afghans
begging for assistance from international donors and governments, indefinitely.
Afghans appear to have embraced a culture of shedding any responsibility off
their shoulders and blaming others as a solution to all their day to day
problems. For example, starting with the brutal periods of the late nineteenth
and early twentieth century all the way to the overthrow of the monarchy, to the
cruel episode that was Afghan communism, to the bloody civil war involving
Jihadi factions, to the arrival of the Taliban, to the 2001 US invasion of
Afghanistan and the consequent insurgency, there emerges a pattern of the blame
game where all the peoples and countries of the world but Afghans themselves are
responsible for Afghanistan's troubles.
The ethnic genocides of the late nineteenth century are blamed upon the British
Empire, similar accusations are made for the failures of the successive
monarchs, President Daud's failures were not his but that of the West and the
Soviet Union, PDPA's mass murders, corruption and other failures were all the
work of Moscow, Najeebullah was a spy of the (then non-existent) Soviet Union,
Jihadi brutalities were all American/Pakistani/Saudi/Iran sponsored, the dark
period under the Taliban was all the work of the ISI, Karzai is a is a
CIA/Unocal/Halliburton employee and a crony of the White House. Large scale
corruption is the work of Mossad, Tolo Television is designed to destroy Islam
and Pervez Kambakhsh was paid to download literature off the internet and
eventually destroy Islam. Afghans have had nothing to do with anything that
could be wrong with this country. If it's bad, there has to be an outside hand
involved. Such is the scale of arrogant ignorance rife on the streets and even
inside University classrooms and the academia.
When examined on a micro level, matters worsen. Ethnic, linguistic and sectarian
rivalries get involved as each religious sect and ethnic group blames the other
for all their respective miseries as well as their social, economic and
political troubles. Beneficiaries to this idiosyncrasy have been former Jihadis
- current "democratically" elected MPs and the so called reformed Communists
and/or Taliban. While they did represent tiny minorities in the nineties, today
their celebrity status runs inside schools, universities, local communities as
well as large sections of the Afghan Diaspora who have done a great job
glorifying their (lack of) achievements to the extent that yesterday's toll
collectors are 21st century resistance legends whose expertise stretched from
guerrilla warfare to theology as well as to modern sciences and international
peace movements. While Afghans take pride in voting criminals and their cronies
into powerful positions, they waste no time in passing the blame for their
failure on to the shoulders of above mentioned "enemies of Afghanistan".
Look brother, my leader is the most honest person in Afghanistan and possibly
the world. He is a symbol of democracy, Islam and peace. America, Britain and
Pakistan will not let him work for the advancement of this country; otherwise,
Afghanistan would be the number one country in the world.
-But he has amassed immense wealth and power while people in his own
constituency are starving to death.
[Nay. Uthu nesth]. He has had most of it all the time, the rest he has achieved
through hard work and the grace of Allah. Mashallah!
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![147 of 214 DOCUMENTS
Pacific Free Press
October 7, 2009 Wednesday 3:09 PM EST
Does the Maple Leaf Need be There?
BYLINE: Anthony Fenton
LENGTH: 1653 words
Oct. 7, 2009 (Atlantic Free Press delivered by Newstex) --
Great Game: 'The maple leaf needs to be there'
by Anthony Fenton l Special to Vue Weekly
Eight years into a war that many commentators are now calling a quagmire from
which NATO should extricate itself as soon as possible, most Canadians are
unaware of the link between the war and Canada's increasing involvement in the
"Great Game" for the region's abundant natural resources.
This lack of understanding is no surprise. The government's public relations
strategy"echoed with few exceptions by Canadian media"purposefully avoids
discussing the relationship between our presence in Afghanistan and the broader
geopolitical interests of Canadian corporations in Central Asia. The focus is
instead kept to more nebulous talking points such as "the effort to stabilize
and reconstruct Afghanistan" in the interests of Canada's much-vaunted "3D"
approach of defence, development and diplomacy. As one declassified government
memo stated, "When presented in the 3D context, the majority of Canadians (68%)
[show] support for the mission in Afghanistan."
But behind the public relations façade looms a geopolitical context that finds
Canada deeply enmeshed in what experts have long called the "Great Game" for the
vast, untapped natural resources of the Central Asian region that Afghanistan
bridges. On the anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan, Vue looks at
Canada's deepening interest in the region's new In their acclaimed book
Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia,
authors Karl Ernest Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac define how "Pipelines, tanker
routes, petroleum consortiums and contracts are the prizes of the new Great
Game."
In his 2008 report prepared for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, A
Pipeline Through Troubled Land: Afghanistan, Canada, and the New Great Energy
Game, energy economist John Foster draws attention to the fact that a
long-proposed TAPI gas pipeline"so named for its 1680 kilometre planned path
from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan, Pakistan, and, eventually, India"is
slated to be constructed on the very soil that Canadian and US troops now occupy
in southern Afghanistan.
Foster notes that Canada has been closely involved in the negotiations and
planning meetings for the pipeline via its membership on the board of the Asian
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![Development Bank, the pipeline's coordinating body. Arguing that "The TAPI
pipeline proposal could have positive or negative impacts on Canada's role in
[Afghanistan]," Foster contends that public debates concerning the matter have
"ignored regional geopolitics and energy issues."
Implications concerning the pipeline, construction of which is supposed to begin
in 2010 according to the Afghan Ministry of Mines, are not the only questions
being ignored. Three Canadian companies have recently been involved in attempts
to bid on two gas fields and one oil field as part of the First Afghan
Hydrocarbon Bidding Round. At least one of the gas fields is expected to feed
into the TAPI pipeline.
One of the Canadian companies to pre-qualify for the bidding is Calgary-based
Nations Petroleum, whose CEO, John Imle, is the former Vice-President of UNOCAL,
and the person who first proposed the creation of TAPI on the company's behalf
in negotiations with the Taliban during the 1990s.
Another of the Canadian companies that attempted to bid on the Afghan resource
prizes was AfghCana Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:EGAS) In an email response to inquiries
by Vue, the Afghan Ministry of Mines revealed that the person behind AfghCana is
John Komarnicki, who is also the CEO of Alhambra Resources (TSXV:ALH) , a
Calgary-based company that also holds gold exploration rights to 2.7 million
acres in northern Kazakhstan.
Laura Dalby, an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade, said in an email reply to Vue that the Canadian government
is "aware of the First Afghan Hydrocarbon Bidding Round and is providing
information to Canadian companies at their request."
Acknowledging that they were contacted by AfghCana, DFAIT would only say that
their Senior Trade Commissioner "provided information" to them. Canada's
economic interests in Afghanistan are handled by the embassy in Islamabad,
Pakistan, and "with a locally engaged officer in Canada's embassy in Kabul."
Shortly after AfghCana failed in its attempt to pre-qualify for the bidding in
Afghanistan, Komarnicki was in Kazakhstan, where his company received a
favourable court decision enabling him to begin exploring for gold. Offering a
sign of Canada's self-conscious stake in the Great Game, beside Komarnicki in
the courtroom was a "senior representative of the Canadian ambassador to
Kazakhstan."
Komarnicki declined to be interviewed for this article.
On the heels of Komarnicki's favourable outcome, International Trade Minister
Stockwell Day travelled to Kazakhstan to bolster economic ties with "president
for life" Nursultan Nazarbayev. In a subsequent press release, Day revealed that
Alhambra Resources is just one of 170 Canadian companies which now have
operations in the country, 40 of which have a permanent presence.
Asked to provide similar data for the other countries in the region"Afghanistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan"DFAIT officials declined,
stating that compiling such statistics is "rare" and was only done in this one
instance in order to publicize Day's meetings.
That Canada has a stake in the Great Game has been acknowledged for years by
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![government officials and parliamentarians. On the eve of the 9/11 attacks in the
United States, a Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade
study examined Canada's role in the region, publishing an extensive report in
June 2001. Testifying to the Committee in April 2000, Dr. Rob Sobhani, president
of Caspian Energy (TSX:CEK') Consulting, described how the region's vast
resources presented lucrative opportunities for Canadian companies.
"The opportunity for Canada is ... the fact that these are untapped resources.
The 150 billion barrels of oil have yet to be discovered. The natural gas has
yet to be discovered," said Sobhani. "This is a huge, huge opportunity for
Canadian energy companies."
Sobhani urged Canada to become "a participant and a player in this very
promising part of the world."
Today, Sobhani agrees that Canada, and NATO, are in the thick of a continuing
Great Game.
"Canadian companies have been more aggressive" in the region since his
testimony, Sobhani pointed out in an interview with Vue. "There's no doubt that
[Canada's military presence] obviously has changed perceptions."
Sobhani adds that Canadian leadership on the question of the TAPI pipeline could
help "depoliticize" the involvement of foreign companies in a way that the US or
UK cannot.
"Canada has the potential to beat [its] rivals because it has such a
uncheckered history in that part of the world. People like Canadians, Canadians
are apolitical," Sobhani argues. "If America puts [a plan] forward, it's going
to get criticized. If the British put it forward, it's going to get criticized.
Canada's loved by everyone, and so if the Canadians put it together I think the
chances of it succeeding are greater."
But Todd Gordon, professor of political science at York University and the
author of a forthcoming book on Canadian foreign policy, argues differently.
"Wherever Canadian companies go, especially in the natural resources sector,
they leave a trail of human rights and ecological disasters behind them," Gordon
says. "It's not a case of a few exceptions to an otherwise benign Canadian
capital. It's systemic. Like their counterparts from other nations, Canadian
companies are driven by one thing: the pursuit of profit."
Gordon adds that this corporate history is all the more significant given the
region's history.
"When you add in the instability caused in the region by decades, and in some
cases centuries, of foreign meddling"leading to poverty, internecine violence
and so on"Canadian investment will only make matters worse."
Gordon says that Canada's military presence in Afghanistan helps provide it with
significant economic leverage in the broader region.
"I don't think you can separate ... Canada's deepening economic presence and its
military presence," argues Gordon.
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![This may not have been what Sobhani meant when in 2000 he told the standing
committee that "the Maple Leaf needs to be [in Central Asia]," but, as Gordon
says, "Ask yourself this: were Canadian companies bidding on Afghan natural
resources before the invasion? While Canada may not have joined the invasion and
subsequent occupation of Afghanistan simply to promote economic interests,
there's no doubt that a much stronger military and diplomatic presence will
facilitate this."
Gordon also disagrees with the notion that Canada is an "apolitical" actor in
the region, arguing instead that Canada has an obvious stake in the geopolitics
of the region.
"Canada has its own specific economic interests in the region," he says. "It
needs to ensure the region is compliant with the interests of Canadian foreign
investors"that is, there is a strong rights regime for foreign capital,
including liberalized markets, weak environmental protections and low royalty
rates. At the same time, Canada is part of a TransAtlantic axis led by the US,
the military arm of which is NATO."
As questions loom over the matter of Canada's longer-term presence in
Afghanistan"Canadian combat forces are slated to be withdrawn by the end of
2011"equally important if less publicized questions concerning how to protect
Canada's deepening economic interests in the region are sure to arise.
Anthony Fenton is an author, independent journalist and researcher based in Pitt
Meadows, BC. He can be reached via his website, WebofDemocracy.org. source
Newstex ID: ATFR-5311-38631530
SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (86%); SPORTS & RECREATION EVENTS (78%);
TOURNAMENTS (78%); ENERGY & UTILITY POLICY (75%); PUBLIC RELATIONS (75%); OIL &
GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (73%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (72%); ANNIVERSARIES (72%);
NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (68%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (67%); DEVELOPMENT BANKS
(67%); INFRASTRUCTURE (65%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS (65%); ARMED
FORCES (50%); NATURAL RESOURCES (89%)
COMPANY: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (61%) ENERGY INC.; ALHAMBRA RESOURCES LTD;
CASPIAN ENERGY INC
ORGANIZATION: NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (58%)
TICKER: ATB (ASX) (61%) EGAS (NASDAQ); ALH (TSXV); CEK (TSX)
INDUSTRY: NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (61%); SIC6081 BRANCHES & AGENCIES OF
FOREIGN BANKS (61%)
GEOGRAPHIC: CANADA (99%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); ASIA (94%); CENTRAL ASIA (91%);
NORTH AMERICA (79%); INDIA (79%); PAKISTAN (79%); UNITED STATES (79%);
TURKMENISTAN (79%)
LOAD-DATE: October 8, 2009
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its
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Uploaded bySadanand Patwardhan
Attack on Afghanistan Formalised before 9/11: was Key to Unlock Route to Gas and Oil from Central Asian Republics.
The document discusses the motivations behind the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, focusing on the desire for control over oil and gas resources in Central Asia. It details the historical context of pipeline agreements involving companies like Unocal and the Taliban, as well as the geopolitical strategies surrounding the invasion that began after the September 11 attacks. Ultimately, it argues that the war was driven more by imperial interests than by genuine counter-terrorism efforts.
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Similar to Attack on Afghanistan Formalised before 9/11: was Key to Unlock Route to Gas and Oil from Central Asian Republics.
Attack on Afghanistan Formalised before 9/11: was Key to Unlock Route to Gas and Oil from Central Asian Republics.
- 1. 1 of 214DOCUMENTS Geelong Advertiser (Australia) April 1, 2011 Friday 1 - First Edition Edition Why the US is in Afghanistan ... It's all about the oil BYLINE: ALLAN SARGENT SECTION: PERSPECTIVE; Pg. 32 LENGTH: 924 words 'It's not going to be built until there is a single Afghan government. That's the simple answer. John Maresca, vice president of international relations for Unocal. INTERNATIONAL oil companies have long been aware that the former USSR states of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have huge reserves of oil and natural gas. The problem for US, and other Western oil companies, is how to get oil and gas from these huge land-locked reserves to seaports for export. In 1995, the Union Oil Company of California (Unocal) gained an agreement with Turkmenistan to lay a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan, across Afghanistan, to the Pakistan coast. US oil giant Enron planned another line from Turkmenistan, across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, where it could link with the Azerbaijan fields and then run to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Unocal also gained a natural gas agreement with Uzbekistan. Pipelines from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan could then merge and cross Afghanistan. Unocal then gained a deal with Uzbekistan's northern neighbour, Kazakhstan, and oil and gas pipelines could then run south from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan and link with the trans-Afghanistan pipelines. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the US established a covert operation in Afghanistan code named `Bear Trap'. This anti-Soviet operation established a base in Afghanistan jointly funded by the US and Saudi Arabia -- and run by the CIA and Pakistan's ISI. The ISI component was headed by Osama bin Laden. The purpose of this base, known as al Qaeda -- al Qaeda is literally `the base' -- was to provide arms and training to warlords and Islamic fundamentalists that later became the Mujaheddin or holy warriors. Following Soviet withdrawal, the Afghan PDPA government fell and the Mujaheddin took power in 1992. The Mujaheddin regime was plagued by factional fighting with the Northern Alliance. In 1995, the Taliban was formed by Sunni, Pashtun Muslims Page 1
- 2. and fundamentalists ofthe Mujaheddin. The Taliban took control in Kabul in 1996. In August 1996, Unocal led the formation of Central Asia Gas Pipeline Ltd (Centgas). Unocal invited Taliban leaders to Texas to finalise the Centgas project. The Telegraph reported on December 14, 1997, ``Oil barons court Taliban in Texas''. By 1998, Unocal were concerned that the Taliban only had partial control in Afghanistan and there was continuing conflict. On February 12, 1998, John Maresca, vice president of international relations for Unocal, testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on International Relations about the Centgas project. He told the committee: ``It's not going to be built until there is a single Afghan government. That's the simple answer.'' In December 1998, Unocal withdrew from the Centgas agreement. Following the attacks on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, US President George W. Bush declared war on `global terrorism' and accused Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda of organising the attacks from Afghanistan. On October 7, 2001, US and UK forces commenced their attack on Afghanistan. However, the US planned an invasion of Afghanistan before the events of 9/11. The Guardian reported on September 22, 2001, ``Threat of US strikes passed to Taliban weeks before New York attack''. Time magazine reported on August 12, 2002, ``They had a plan; long before 9/11''. US and Northern Alliance forces took control in Kabul in November 2001 and former Unocal staffer, Hamid Karzai, was installed to head an interim Afghanistan Government. With war still raging, on December 27, 2002, Karzai signed an agreement for a $5 billion trans-Afghanistan pipeline. The Associated Press reported the next day, ``$5 billion gas pipeline planned in Afghanistan''. Centgas and Central Asia Oil trans-Afghanistan plans stalled in 2003 due to continuing hostilities. However, the gas pipeline was revived in 2005 when the Asian Development Bank agreed to finance it. The trans-Afghanistan pipeline is now known as TAPI ( initials of the signatory countries: Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India). An agreement was signed in April 2008, for a $7.6 billion gas pipeline from the Dauletbad gas field in Turkmenistan to Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan, and then via Multan in Pakistan, to India. Potential revenue from the pipeline is given as $14 trillion. Reuters reported on September 22, 2010, ``Afghanistan says confident can secure TAPI gas pipeline through the Taliban heartland''. The US and NATO forces now believe they have control from the Turkmenistan border through to Kandahar in Afghanistan. However, much of Kandahar and Oruzgan Provinces, and the Hada Mountains where the pipeline must pass, is still under de facto Taliban rule. General Petraeus, of US Command has been concentrating US forces (with Australian forces), in eliminating the Taliban from Kandahar and Oruzgan Provinces. But it seems the US has serious doubts the Taliban can be defeated in Page 2 Why the US is in Afghanistan ... It's all about the oil Geelong Advertiser (Australia) April 1, 2011 Friday
- 3. this region. Dexter Filkins,of the New York Times, reported October 20, 2010: ``Taliban leaders of this region have been escorted to Kabul, under guarantees of safe conduct, for discussions with US Command.'' The pipeline is due for completion in 2014 and US forces have stepped up their patrols of Highway One to ensure safe transport of materials (the pipeline follows Highway One). It was reported in February 2011, that an agreement with the Taliban may be close. -- ALLAN SARGENT was a research officer for the late Senator C. G. Primmer, senator 1971-85, member Senate Committee Foreign Affairs and Defence. SUBJECT: OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (93%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (91%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (90%); CRUDE OIL & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (90%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (90%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (89%); AL-QAEDA (89%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (89%); TERRORISM (89%); TALIBAN (89%); RELIGION (88%); FUNDAMENTALISM (86%); CRUDE OIL PIPELINES (77%); EXPORT TRADE (77%); INTERNATIONAL TRADE (77%); OIL & GAS PIPELINES (77%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (73%); US PRESIDENTS (73%); HARBORS & PORTS (70%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (69%); TESTIMONY (65%) COMPANY: ENRON CREDITORS RECOVERY CORP (56%) INDUSTRY: SIC4911 ELECTRIC SERVICES (56%) PERSON: OSAMA BIN LADEN (82%); GEORGE W BUSH (50%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) TEXAS, USA (92%); CASPIAN SEA (79%); CALIFORNIA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (95%); KAZAKHSTAN (94%); TURKMENISTAN (94%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); UZBEKISTAN (94%); AZERBAIJAN (94%); PAKISTAN (92%); TURKEY (79%); SAUDI ARABIA (79%); CENTRAL ASIA (79%); ASIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: April 1, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: GAT Copyright 2011 Nationwide News Pty Limited All Rights Reserved Page 3 Why the US is in Afghanistan ... It's all about the oil Geelong Advertiser (Australia) April 1, 2011 Friday
- 4. 2 of 214DOCUMENTS Atlantic Free Press September 8, 2009 Tuesday 11:51 PM EST Obamas Imperative in Afghanistan: OUT! BYLINE: R.W. Behan LENGTH: 2210 words Sep. 8, 2009 (Atlantic Free Press delivered by Newstex) -- by Richard W. Behan Mr. President, you cannot continue this wretched, dishonest, disastrous war. If you do, your legacy will be poisoned by its obscene history. George W. Bush was planning and mobilizing his attack on Afghanistan as early as March of 2001, some six months prior to the horrors of 9/11. The Afghan war, consequently, has nothing remotely to do with counter-terrorism. It is not an act even of preemptive self defense, but one of utterly unprovoked military aggression. Expressly prohibited by the charter of the United Nations, George Bushs incursion into Afghanistan is an international crime. Nor was the capture of Osama bin Laden of the least importance to the Bush White House"before or after 9/11. Waiting on his desk when George Bush took office on January 20, 2001 was an offer from the Taliban to surrender Osama bin Laden, an offer negotiated by the Clinton Administration after the al Qaeda attack on the U.S.S. Cole. But Mr. Bush turned it down. And twice more during the spring and summer of 2001 the Bush Administration refused the offer. Then on September 11 bin Laden struck again. Four days afterward the Taliban sweetened the offer: now they would also shut down bin Ladens bases and training camps. Once again the White House refused the offer. Several weeks later the Taliban repeated the offer, again it was rejected, and on October 7, 2001, George Bush launched the war on Afghanistan he had been planning for months on end. This is the war, President Obama, in which you apparently intend to oesucceed. With your dispatch of 21,000 additional American troops, you now command an American force in Afghanistan larger than the Russians deployed there. And General McChrystal is expected to ask for more troops"10,000-15,000 more will constitute a oehigh risk option, 25,000 a oemedium-risk option, and 45,000 a oelow-risk option. Mr. President, before you commit more young American lives to the tragedy, please confront the facts about George Bushs invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. Instead of expanding, you must choose to end immediately this Page 4
- 5. hideous and illegalwar"or be tarnished as a criminal accomplice. It is a war of naked imperialism, undertaken for the geopolitical control of the immense hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian Basin: Afghanistan, lying directly between those resources and the worlds richest markets, uniquely offers pipeline routes of incalculable value. By 1996 the Bridas Corporation of Argentina had a lock on the routes. With signed pipeline contracts from both General Dostum of the Northern Alliance and the Taliban, Bridas controlled the Caspian play. To the Unocal Corporation of the U.S. (and subsequently to the Bush Administration) that was intolerable. To contest Bridas success, Unocal hired a number of consultants: Henry Kissinger, Hamid Karzai, Richard Armitage, and Zalmay Khalilzad. Armitage would later serve George W. Bush as Deputy Secretary of State, and Khalilzad would become a prominent diplomat. Both were enthusiastic members of the oePNAC, the Project for a New American Century, a far-right group that asked President Clinton in January of 1998 to remove forcibly the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. (Clinton ignored the request.) In the late [#x2dc]90s Unocal hosted Taliban leaders at its headquarters in Texas and in Washington D.C., seeking to have the Bridas contract voided. The Taliban refused. Finally, on February 12, 1998, Mr. John J. Maresca, a Vice President of Unocal, testified to the House Committee on International Relations. He asked to have the Taliban removed from power in Afghanistan, and for a oestable government to be installed in its place. The Clinton Administration, having rejected a month earlier the PNAC request to invade Iraq, was not any more interested in overthrowing the Taliban: President Clinton understood and chose to abide by the United Nations Charter. In August of 1998, however, Clinton launched a few cruise missiles into Afghanistan, retaliating for al Qaeda attacks on the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. And he signed an Executive Order prohibiting further trade negotiations with the Taliban. Mr. Maresca was thus doubly disappointed. The Taliban would remain in power, and now Unocal could not even continue its private entreaties. Unocals prospects declined even further on October 12, 2000. In yet another al Qaeda attack, the U.S.S. Cole was bombed, killing 17 sailors and injuring 39 more. Some people in the Clinton Administration wanted immediately to oebomb the hell out of Afghanistan. A few more cruise missiles wouldnt do. But the State Department first dispatched Mr. Kabir Mohabbat, a U.S. citizen but a native Afghani, to arrange a negotiating meeting with the Taliban. The parties met November 2, 2000 in the Sheraton hotel in Frankfurt, Germany. Frantic to avoid the retaliatory bombing, the Taliban offered the surrender of Osama bin Laden. As the details of the handover were being worked out, however, the stalemated election of 2000 was awarded to George W. Bush. The surrender of Osama bin Laden would be handled by the incoming Administration. Page 5 Obamas Imperative in Afghanistan: OUT! Atlantic Free Press September 8, 2009 Tuesday 11:51 PM EST
- 6. But the newAdministration demurred. In letter to the Taliban the Bush White House asked to postpone the handover of bin Laden until February; the Administration was still oesettling in. Kabir Mohabbat, however, was retained as a consultant to the National Security Council. Unocal's fortunes then improved dramatically. In direct repudiation of Clintons Executive Order, the Bush Administration itself resumed pipeline negotiations with the Taliban in February of 2001. (At one meeting, a Taliban official presented President Bush with an expensive Afghan carpet.) The Administration offered a tempting package of foreign aid in exchange for secure and exclusive access to the Caspian Basin for American companies. (The Enron Corporation also was eyeing a pipeline, to feed its proposed power plant in India.) The Bridas contract might still be voided. The Administration met with Taliban officials three times: in Washington, Berlin, and Islamabad. Still the Taliban refused. But the Bush Administration meant to prevail, by force if necessary. As early as March 15, 2001, when Janes, the British international security journal disclosed the fact, the Administration was engaged in a oeconcerted front against Afghanistans Taliban regime. Confirming the Administrations intended violence, George Arney of BBC News wrote a story published September 18, 2001: oeU.S. Planned Attack on Taliban. In mid-July of 2001 a oesenior American official told Mr. Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary that oe...military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October. Finally, on August 2 of 2001, the last pipeline negotiation with the Taliban ended with a terse statement by Christina Rocca of the State Department: oeAccept our offer of a carpet of gold or we bury you under a carpet of bombs. Shortly afterward, President Bush informed India and Pakistan the U.S. would launch a military mission into Afghanistan oebefore the end of October. This was five weeks before the events of 9/11. Twice during the spring and summer of 2001 Mr. Kabir Mohabbat was sent to discuss the still pending surrender of Osama bin Laden. At both meetings Mr. Mohabbat could only apologize. The Bush Administration was not yet ready to accept the handover. Then on September 11 Osama bin Laden struck once more. With the Trade Towers in rubble and the Pentagon smoking, the Bush Administration seized immediately on the stupendous opportunity to disguise its intended attack on Afghanistan. It would be recast as a oeGlobal War on Terror, and bringing Osama bin Laden to justice would be its initial, prime objective. The Taliban asked quickly for another meeting. Once again Kabir Mohabbat was dispatched to arrange it. On September 15, Taliban officials were flown in Air Force C-130 aircraft to the Pakistani city of Quetta, to negotiate with the State Department. Once again desperate to avoid a catastrophic bombing, the Taliban sweetened the deal: now they would also shut down bin Laden's bases and training camps. The offer was rejected by the White House. The geopolitical need to proceed Page 6 Obamas Imperative in Afghanistan: OUT! Atlantic Free Press September 8, 2009 Tuesday 11:51 PM EST
- 7. with the invasionwas intractable, but with bin Laden in custody, the argument for the oeWar on Terror smokescreen would collapse. Osama bin Laden simply had to remain at large. Several weeks later the Taliban's offer was repeated. And so was the White House rejection. On October 7, 2001, the carpet of bombs was unleashed over Afghanistan. Then, with the Taliban removed from power, Mr. Hamid Karzai, the former Unocal consultant, was installed by the U.S. as head of an interim government. The first U.S. envoy to Afghanistan was Mr. John J. Maresca, a former Vice President of the Unocal Corporation. The next Ambassador to Afghanistan was Mr. Zalmay Khalilzad, also a former Unocal consultant. On February 8, 2002, four months after the carpet of bombs, Presidents Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Perves Musharraf of Pakistan signed a new agreement for a pipeline. The Bridas contract was now moot. The way was open for American companies"Unocal and Enron"to proceed. About a year later in the British trade journal Alexander's Gas and Oil Connections dated March 20, 2003, the truth about the Afghan war is laid bare. The article describes the readiness of three U.S. Federal agencies in the Bush Administration to fund the pipeline project: the U.S. Import/Export Bank, the Trade and Development Agency, and the Overseas Private Insurance Corporation. The article continues: oe...some recent reports ...indicated ...the United States was willing to police the pipeline infrastructure through permanent stationing of its troops in the region. It didnt take long for that to occur. At the website of GlobalSecurity.org, a report entitled oeOperation Enduring Freedom Facilities tells what happened: oeSince the 11 September 2001 attacks, the U.S. military has deployed to 13 locations in nine countries [in addition to] Afghanistan. More then 2,000 civil engineers deployed to the region building and maintaining bases. Including additional deployments in Bulgaria, Turkey, and Kuwait, by early 2002 over 60,000 U.S. troops were deployed at these forward bases, and hundreds of aircraft were flying from expeditionary airfields. Superimposing the base-locations over maps of the pipelines, the Bush Administrations design is unmistakable. U.S. bases in Afghanistan proper"there are now 15 altogether"precisely straddle the prospective pipeline routes. Much has changed since President Bush launched his premeditated war of energy imperialism. The warlords, the poppy growers, and the Taliban dominate Afghanistan once more. A oestable government is nowhere to be seen. The Bridas Corporation was bought by British Petroleum, Unocal is now part of Chevron/Texaco, and the war in Afghanistan has a new Commander In Chief. Yes, President Obama, this is your war now. This war of naked imperialism is yours. This international crime is yours. Page 7 Obamas Imperative in Afghanistan: OUT! Atlantic Free Press September 8, 2009 Tuesday 11:51 PM EST
- 8. The nation, theworld, and the judgment of history await your next decision about the war: what can you justifiably do, for Gods sake, but end it? Authors note: to avoid cluttering the text with parenthetical references or footnotes, here are my sources, not otherwise cited, in sequence of relevance: Bedi, Rahul, oeIndia Joins Anti-Taliban Coalition, Janes Security News, March 15, 2001. Clarke, Richard, Against All Enemies; Inside Americas War on Terror, The Free Press, 2004. Ames, Mark, oeObama Is Leading the U.S. Into a Hellish Quagmire, posted on Alternet, September 3, 2009 Baker, Peter, and Elisabeth Bumiller, oeAdvisers to Obama Divided on Size of Afghan Force, The New York Times, September 3, 2009. U.S. Department of Defense, oeDoD News Briefing with Secretary Gates and Adm. Mullen from the Pentagon, dated September 3, 2009. Sperry, Paul, Crude Politics: How Bushs Oil Cronies Hijacked the War on Terrorism, WND Books, 2003. Chin, Larry, oePlayers on a Rigged Chessboard: Bridas, Unocal, and the Afghanistan Pipeline. Online Journal, March 2002. Madsen, Wayne, oeAfghanistan, the Taliban, and the Bush Oil Team. Counterpunch, November 1, 2004. Martin, Patrick, oeUS Planned War in Afghanistan Long Before September 11. World Socialist Website, November 20, 2001. oeAfghanistan: A Timeline of Oil and Violence, on the website ringnebula.com Buncombe, Andrew, oeBush Rejects Taliban Offer to Surrender bin Laden, U.K. Guardian, October 15, 2001. Pizzey, Allen, oeOn the Scene: Taliban Talks, posted on the CBS website, September 25, 2001. ABC News, oeTaliban Told US It Would Give Up Osama: Report, June, 2004. Cockburn, Alexander, and St. Clair, Jeffrey, oeHow Bush Was Offered bin Laden and Blew It, Counterpunch, November 1, 2004. Richard W. Behan lives and writes on Lopez Island, off the northwest coast of Washington state. He has published on various websites some three dozen articles exposing and criticizing the criminal wars of the Bush Administration. The work is summarized in an electronic book, The Fraudulent War, available in PDF format here. He can be reached at rwbehan@rockisland.com Page 8 Obamas Imperative in Afghanistan: OUT! Atlantic Free Press September 8, 2009 Tuesday 11:51 PM EST
- 9. Newstex ID: ATFR-0001-37822327 SUBJECT:TERRORISM (90%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (90%); US PRESIDENTS (90%); ARMED FORCES (89%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (88%); WAR & CONFLICT (78%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (77%); COUNTERTERRORISM (71%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (63%) COMPANY: BRIDAS CORP (60%) ORGANIZATION: AL-QAEDA (55%); UNITED NATIONS (57%) INDUSTRY: NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (60%); SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (60%) PERSON: GEORGE W BUSH (96%); SADDAM HUSSEIN (59%); BARACK OBAMA (53%) Saddam Hussein; George W. Bush GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (96%); AFGHANISTAN (94%) LOAD-DATE: September 9, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2009 Atlantic Free Press Page 9 Obamas Imperative in Afghanistan: OUT! Atlantic Free Press September 8, 2009 Tuesday 11:51 PM EST
- 10. 3 of 214DOCUMENTS TendersInfo August 7, 2010 Saturday Afghanistan : TAPI Natural Gas Pipeline Through Afghanistan Revived BYLINE: roshani03 LENGTH: 475 words The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline, first proposed in 1995, is back on the drawing boards. The TAPI technical working group's executive committee -- originally the Trans-Afghan Pipeline, "TAP," now "TAPI" with the inclusion of Pakistan and India -- stated that construction of TAPI could maintain and strengthen political stability throughout Central Asia, including Afghanistan, Itar-Tass reported Thursday. Stretching 1,043 miles from Turkmenistan's Dauletabad gas field to the northwestern Indian town of Fazilka, the $3.3 billion pipeline's annual throughput of 33 billion cubic meters will be delivered to consumers in Pakistan and India after transiting Afghanistan. Despite the ongoing turmoil in Afghanistan, in 2005 the Asian Development Bank financed technical feasibility study. The project has a long genesis. In 1996 a memorandum of understanding resulted in the establishment of a consortium led by Unocal, the Central Asia Gas Pipeline Ltd. A Taliban delegation subsequently visited Unocal headquarters in Texas and in January 1997 the Taliban approved TAP's construction. Afghanistan's current President Hamid Karzai at the time worked for Unocal. Whatever chances the project had were set on hold in the rising chaos in the aftermath of November 2001's Operation Enduring Freedom, which quickly drove the Taliban from power, invalidating the arrangements. Despite Karzai's persistent support for the project, security of TAPI's route through Afghanistan remains a major impediment to the project's realization, though in 2008 the Afghan government made several pledges to relieve those concerns. As the Obama administration is continuing its predecessor's policy of containment and isolation of both Russia and Iran, TAPI is currently the most significant undeveloped southern output project for Central Asian natural gas and oil. Page 10
- 11. A problem withTAPI that has yet to be addressed is whether Turkmenistan will be able to provide the required throughout, should the natural gas pipeline be built. At present Turkmenistan exports pipeline gas to China, Russia and Iran. In 2006 Turkmenistan produced 62.2 bcm of natural gas, second only to Russia. With 2005 domestic consumption estimated at 17.07 bcm, approximately 45 bcm, or more than two-thirds of Turkmen production, was available for export. The three above-mentioned countries now account for virtually all of Turkmenistan's exports for the foreseeable future. Most notably, recently a Turkmen-China natural gas pipeline agreed in 2006 capable of handling up 30 bcm annually came online, providing an export route for Turkmen natural gas exports for the near future. How TAPI, which at present would be constructed through a war zone, could compete with Turkmenistan's pre-existing markets in China, Russia and Iran remains to be seen. Ltd. SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (93%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (92%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (91%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (89%); OIL & GAS EXPORTS & IMPORTS (78%); CONSUMPTION (74%); DEVELOPMENT BANKS (74%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS (71%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (69%); WAR ON TERROR (73%); TALIBAN (90%) COMPANY: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (70%) TICKER: ATB (ASX) (70%) INDUSTRY: NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (70%); SIC6081 BRANCHES & AGENCIES OF FOREIGN BANKS (70%) PERSON: HAMAD KARZAI (68%); BARACK OBAMA (54%) GEOGRAPHIC: TURKMENISTAN (97%); PAKISTAN (94%); ASIA (94%); CENTRAL ASIA (94%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); RUSSIA (94%); INDIA (94%); CHINA (93%); IRAN (92%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (94%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (92%) LOAD-DATE: August 7, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Publication JOURNAL-CODE: 81 Copyright 2010 TendersInfo - Euclid Infotech Pvt. Ltd. All Rights Reserved Syndigate.info, Al Bawaba.com Page 11 Afghanistan : TAPI Natural Gas Pipeline Through Afghanistan Revived TendersInfo August 7, 2010 Saturday
- 12. 4 of 214DOCUMENTS In These Times April 2010 Pipeline Politics BYLINE: Carol Brightman. CAROL BRIGHTMAN is the author of Total Insecurity: The Myth of American Omnipotence (Vreso, 2004). SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 27 Vol. 34 No. 4 LENGTH: 557 words WE'LL NEVER GET A straight answer from the U.S. government, not because the al Qaeda attacks on September 11 were an administration set-up, which they weren't; or because the CIA knew something was up (but not enough), which they did. Or because Bush's buddies were still hoping to get a contract for an oil pipeline across Afghanistan, which the Taliban government was refusing to give them. There's truth there, for the Taliban had been entertained in Houston in 1997, and were in negotiations with Unocal until 1998, when President Clinton fired cruise missiles at targets in Afghanistan after al Qaeda bombed U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. At that point Unocal pulled back and began to look toward a post-Taliban Afghanistan, as did members of the U.S. national security establishment. After the arrival of Cheney and Bush in 2001, the Taliban discussions were revived, until the Taliban began to demand "rent" for the roads, water supplies, telephone and power lines, as well as a "tap" to provide oil and gas for Afghanistan. It's not hard to see how al Qaeda's attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon gave the United States a passport to invade Afghanistan, oust the Taliban, and install a puppet regime of former Unocal employees, like Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun royalist, and Zalmay Kalizad, U.S. envoy. This was the origin of the Karzai government, Bush's first experiment with "regime change," followed by the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and the installation of the accommodating regime of Shiite Nouri al-Maliki. Only the San Francisco Chronicle broke the media's silence by observing, as early as Sept. 26, 2001, that "the map of terrorist sanctuaries and targets in the Middle East and Central Asia is also, to an extraordinary degree, a map of the world's principal emerging energy sources in the 21st century," adding that "it was inevitable that the war against terrorism will be seen... as a war on behalf of America's Chevron, Exxon, and Arco; France's TotralFinalElf; British Petroleum; Royal Dutch Shell ... which have hundreds of billions of dollars in the region." Page 12
- 13. But government PRmachines, followed by a docile media, kept oil out of the picture. New U.S. bases sprang up across the region in strategic proximity to hydrocarbon assets, but little was said. The war against terror was a fake. Osama bin Laden's motivation to do us harm was based on his intimate knowledge of the global campaign to expand U.S. access to Middle East oil. On the day he attacked the United States, Shafiq bin Laden, Osama bin Laden's estranged brother, was attending an investment conference in Washington with George Bush, Sr., and his former secretary of state, James Baker, which was hosted by the Carlyle Group. Such were Carlyle's connections that immediately following al Qaeda's attacks, when no one was allowed in or out of the United States, most of the extended bin Laden clan were spirited home to Saudi Arabia. Could that date have mattered to Osama? It surely wasn't the reason for the attacks, which took years to prepare. But Osama bin Laden's resentment of his family's attachment to Bush, Baker, et al., and to the enormous oil wealth at their fingertips in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, and Central Asia, was considerable. That is the direction we must take to find the answer to Helen Thomas' question. SUBJECT: TERRORISM (90%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (90%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (90%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (78%); CRUDE OIL PIPELINES (76%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (76%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (76%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (76%); EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (74%); NATIONAL SECURITY (73%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (71%); AL-QAEDA (90%); WAR ON TERROR (89%); TALIBAN (90%) COMPANY: ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC (81%); BP PLC (74%) TICKER: RDSA (LSE) (81%); RDSA (AMS) (81%); RDS (NYSE) (81%); BP (NYSE) (74%); BP (LSE) (74%); RDS.B (NYSE) (81%); RDS.A (NYSE) (81%) INDUSTRY: NAICS447110 GASOLINE STATIONS WITH CONVENIENCE STORES (81%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (81%); NAICS325110 PETROCHEMICAL MANUFACTURING (81%); NAICS324110 PETROLEUM REFINERIES (74%) PERSON: HAMAD KARZAI (82%); BILL CLINTON (57%); HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (57%); DICK CHENEY (56%); SADDAM HUSSEIN (54%); NOURI AL-MALIKI (53%); GEORGE H W BUSH (50%); OSAMA BIN LADEN (81%) GEOGRAPHIC: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (73%) UNITED STATES (96%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); IRAQ (92%); MIDDLE EAST (92%); KENYA (79%); CENTRAL ASIA (79%); TANZANIA (79%); ASIA (79%); FRANCE (71%); TANZANIA, UNITED REPUBLIC OF (79%) LOAD-DATE: April 7, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH GRAPHIC: Picture, Iraqi contractors clean the Tigris river in Baghdad on March 28, 2009. Environmentalists say the river is polluted with war waste, oil derivatives, and industrial and toxic waste. ALI AL-SAADI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES PUBLICATION-TYPE: Magazine Page 13 Pipeline Politics In These Times April 2010
- 14. Copyright 2010 Institutefor Public Affairs All Rights Reserved Page 14 Pipeline Politics In These Times April 2010
- 15. 6 of 214DOCUMENTS Charleston Gazette (West Virginia) February 21, 2010, Sunday THE REASON THAT IS NOT DISCUSSED; Why we are in Afghanistan BYLINE: Lynda Ann Ewen SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. P1C LENGTH: 702 words While Congress debates who is going to pay the spiraling costs of health, the U.S. government spent $30 billion to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. According to Linda Bilmes, a public-finance expert at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government: "The total cost of [the escalation in] Afghanistan will be at least twice the direct cost and perhaps three times the cost of the estimate." She cites equipment replacement, medical and disability payments to veterans and interest accrued on money we are borrowing to finance the war. And how does one put a monetary value on the lives that will be lost? Reading press accounts closely, one is left befuddled as to who we are really fighting and why - al-Qaida, the Taliban or the "bad" Taliban vs. the "good" Taliban. Nor do these explanations address the fact that al-Qaida operates openly in Somalia, Yemen or any number of other states, including Pakistan. Why have we not targeted those countries? Humanitarian reasons have been cited - to improve the status of women and to aid the economic development of Afghanistan. But then why do we not have troops in the Congo to stop the rape and mutilation of thousands of women, or in Myanmar (Burma) to stop the violent repression of human rights there? The reasons for our military commitments are complex, but one explanation can be summed up as: pipelines, geography and energy reserves. Afghanistan sits smack in the middle of a pipeline route that would bring the control of future energy to whoever can install "friendly governments" in the area. Afghanistan's gas reserves are largely unexplored, but expected to be vast (the World Bank is funding a study of those reserves). But the key is the region itself. Afghanistan lies south of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. These three countries have known gas reserves that place each of them among the top 20 nations with the most natural gas. There are a number of financial interests vying to control the pipeline that has actually started construction in Afghanistan. One is the Asian Development Bank, whose purpose includes meeting Japan's future energy needs. Why is the U.S. fighting to protect Japan's interests? Japan and the United States each hold 12.8 percent of the votes in the Asian Page 15
- 16. Development Bank, whichmeans they control more than one-quarter of the votes. The next largest bloc of votes is China and India, both countries with desperate future energy needs. They each only control a little over 5 percent of the votes. Vote proportions are based on "subscribed capital." This means the United States has purchased a controlling interest in this bank. Where was the general public discussion of this investment? The second important player in Afghanistan is Chevron. In 2005, Chevron merged with Unocal - an energy company that had been in talks with the Taliban after the Soviet army was driven out. Unocal had negotiated an agreement to build a pipeline through Afghanistan. According to Richard H. Matzke, president of Chevron Overseas Petroleum Inc., "Another mega-project on the drawing board is called the Central Asian Oil Pipeline. This is a proposal by Unocal and the Saudi company Delta. They want to build a $2.7 billion pipeline from the heart of Turkmenistan, south through Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. Oil would then move by tanker to the fast-growing economies of East Asia." The above quote is an "American" corporation executive with an "American" company describing the plans to deliver oil, not to America, but to the economies of East Asia. Unfortunately, American troops are being used to accomplish this agenda. If "American interests" are at stake in the quest for energy sources, why are we not developing the vast natural gas reserves of the Marcellus shale formation - a gas reserve the size of Greece that underlies West Virginia and several other northern Appalachia states. Is "energy independence" simply a slogan for political purposes? The American public needs answers for these questions that, so far, our media has failed to give. Ewen is a retired sociology professor and former co-director of the Center for the Studies of Ethnicity and Gender in Appalachia at Marshall University. SUBJECT: EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); PUBLIC FINANCE (90%); ARMED FORCES (90%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (90%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (89%); DEVELOPMENT BANKS (89%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (87%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (87%); WOMEN (78%); POLITICAL DEBATES (73%); HUMAN RIGHTS (72%); ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (71%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS (71%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (69%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (69%); ECONOMIC NEWS (66%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (66%); AL-QAEDA (90%); TALIBAN (90%) COMPANY: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (64%) ORGANIZATION: AL-QAEDA (83%) TICKER: ATB (ASX) (64%) INDUSTRY: NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (64%); SIC6081 BRANCHES & AGENCIES OF FOREIGN BANKS (64%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (94%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); JAPAN (93%); MYANMAR (92%); ASIA (92%); INDIA (79%); CHINA (79%); PAKISTAN (79%); KAZAKHSTAN (79%); SOMALIA (79%); TURKMENISTAN (79%); UZBEKISTAN (79%) LOAD-DATE: February 22, 2010 Page 16 THE REASON THAT IS NOT DISCUSSED; Why we are in Afghanistan Charleston Gazette (West Virginia) February 21, 2010, Sunday
- 17. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright2010 Charleston Newspapers Page 17 THE REASON THAT IS NOT DISCUSSED; Why we are in Afghanistan Charleston Gazette (West Virginia) February 21, 2010, Sunday
- 18. 8 of 214DOCUMENTS Evansville Courier & Press (Indiana) December 4, 2009 Friday WAR IN AFGHANISTAN IS ALL ABOUT OIL AND SHOULD BE ENDED BYLINE: SAM BLANKENSHIP, SPECIAL TO THE COURIER & PRESS SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A14 LENGTH: 285 words We must end our war in Afghanistan. The motives for our actions in Afghanistan have been represented incompletely to both the people of Afghanistan and the American people. We continue in Afghanistan because Afghanistan provides a good path for oil and gas pipelines from the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Russia to markets such as Pakistan, India and China. The war in Afghanistan aptly has been called the "pipeline war." The war in Afghanistan was planned well before the bombing of the World Trade Center. The Congressional Record states that on February 12, 1998, John J. Maresca, vice president, international relations for UNOCAL oil company, testified before the US House of Representatives on Central Asian gas reserves and their importance to US foreign policy. On June 13, 2002, Hamid Karzai, a former UNOCAL consultant, was elected president of Afghanistan. On December 27, 2002, a pipeline deal was signed in Turkmenistan. There are 19 American military bases in Afghanistan strategically placed along pipeline routes. Soldiers along these routes in Afghanistan protect the interests of oil companies, while controlling for the United States the Central Asian oil and gas access of Pakistan, China, India, et al. President Obama saw the real cost of war when he saluted a flag-draped coffin at Dover Air Force Base at 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 29. Obama now plans to send more troops to Afghanistan as a stage in what later will become a withdrawal process. Events likely will provide Obama with excuses to extend our presence in Afghanistan. Our country will benefit greatly if we withdraw on an expedited schedule. Sam Blankenship is a resident of Mount Vernon, Ind. Page 18
- 19. SUBJECT: OIL &GAS INDUSTRY (90%); WAR & CONFLICT (90%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (90%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); ARMED FORCES (90%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (77%); CRUDE OIL PIPELINES (77%); OIL & GAS PIPELINES (77%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (77%); US PRESIDENTS (75%); AIR FORCES (73%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (70%); FOREIGN POLICY (54%) ORGANIZATION: US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (56%) PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (92%); HAMAD KARZAI (56%) GEOGRAPHIC: DOVER, DE, USA (52%) INDIANA, USA (79%); DELAWARE, USA (79%) AFGHANISTAN (94%); ASIA (94%); UNITED STATES (94%); CENTRAL ASIA (94%); CHINA (93%); PAKISTAN (93%); TURKMENISTAN (93%); INDIA (93%); UZBEKISTAN (92%); KAZAKHSTAN (92%) LOAD-DATE: January 27, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2009 The Evansville Courier Co. All Rights Reserved Page 19 WAR IN AFGHANISTAN IS ALL ABOUT OIL AND SHOULD BE ENDED Evansville Courier & Press (Indiana) December 4, 2009 Friday
- 20. 9 of 214DOCUMENTS The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois) May 28, 2010 Friday Above all, 'do something' Leno uses feminist campaign example as means to make a difference BYLINE: By M.K. Guetersloh;mkguetersloh@pantagraph.com SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A3 LENGTH: 452 words NORMAL - Small efforts to improve the world around us may seem like a drop of water in an ocean, but just like that drop of water, the effort doesn't disappear. Mavis Nicholson Leno said she learned that lesson as she started her work to bring attention to the Taliban's treatment of Afghan women several years before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It also was the lesson she shared at the YWCA McLean County's 21st annual Women of Distinction Awards banquet Thursday night at Illinois State University's Bone Student Center. "No matter what you do, do something," said Leno, chairwoman of the Feminist Majority's Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls. "The idea that a tiny feminist organization from California can take on a huge international human rights issue seemed pretty ridiculous." Leno recounted her story of how she joined the Feminist Majority in the 1990s and quickly volunteered to help with their Afghan campaign. Leno said she won a small victory after questioning a Unocal executive during a shareholders meeting in Los Angeles about the oil company's relationship with the Taliban and women's rights. At the time, the oil company was training members of the Taliban to build a pipeline through Afghanistan. No one at the Unocal event knew she was married to comedian and Tonight Show host Jay Leno. They thought she was just another protester asking questions, she said. Three months after Leno's question, Unocal stopped the project. "That was most of the progress I had made for a year," Leno said. "Like most women, I beat myself up about what I didn't know." Leno said she couldn't figure out how to make the mainstream media pay attention to what was happening in Afghanistan. Then Leno realized she needed to stop looking at what she didn't know and to start capitalizing on what she did know. Soon after, she enlisted the help of her husband. Page 20
- 21. The couple createdand endowed a foundation to help Afghan women and held news conferences in Los Angeles and New York. They invited the entertainment media, which arrived in droves, and soon after the mainstream news media followed, she said. During her 20-minute keynote address, Leno also advocated for the United States to stay in Afghanistan until the Taliban is defeated. "It's a horrible thing to say that our men and women need to stay in harm's way," Leno said. "But we need to stay until the job is done. If Afghanistan's government collapses, then the Taliban will take over and in 10 or 12 years we will be back there fighting an entrenched Taliban." CUTLINE: PUB: The Pantagraph PUB DATE: 20100528 Section: News EDITION: Main QRKPAGE: 1 PAGE SLUG: A3 XMLFILE: 49709937.txt DOC NAME: A03 052810 Women of D CREATOR: SUBJECT: WOMEN (90%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (90%); STUDENTS & STUDENT LIFE (75%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (73%); SHAREHOLDERS (73%); TERRORISM (71%); TALKS & MEETINGS (71%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (71%); ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS (71%); ENDOWMENTS (70%); HUMAN RIGHTS (68%); SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS (66%); PRESS CONFERENCES (62%); TALIBAN (90%) ORGANIZATION: ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY (57%) PERSON: JAY LENO (74%) GEOGRAPHIC: LOS ANGELES, CA, USA (90%); NEW YORK, NY, USA (72%) CALIFORNIA, USA (93%); ILLINOIS, USA (79%); NEW YORK, USA (79%) AFGHANISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (93%) LOAD-DATE: June 10, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH GRAPHIC: /* //JCL004 EXEC JCL004,COND=(0,NE), // USER=<RPCODE>, // OWNER=I03 // //I1A<RPCODE> JOB (PR,33FB,0,99,0,,,,,0A0F00FA,0A0C00CQ,A4858,), // 'NEWSVIEW: <RPCODE>', // MSGCLASS=X, // CLASS=I /*ROUTE XEQ DCC /*JOBPARM S=ANY,PROCLIB=PROCIPOP /*ROUTE PRINT DCC //JOBLIB DD DSN=PI00.LPA00.EXECLIB,DISP=SHR // DD DSN=PI00.LPA99.EXECLIB,DISP=SHR //RJEIP Page 21 Above all, 'do something' Leno uses feminist campaign example as means to make a difference The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois) May 28, 2010 Friday
- 22. EXEC MDCRJEDK, //USER=<RPCODE>, // OWNER=I03 //SYSUT1 DD * PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2010 The Pantagraph Page 22 Above all, 'do something' Leno uses feminist campaign example as means to make a difference The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois) May 28, 2010 Friday
- 23. 10 of 214DOCUMENTS Business Recorder September 11, 2010 Saturday UGLY REALITIES OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' LENGTH: 3193 words On the eve of 9th anniversary of 9/11, the world is turning into hub of religious bigotry, hate crimes, terrorism, intolerance, mass killings, war tragedies and what not. The announcement of public burning of holy Quran by a church in Florida (The Dove World Outreach Centre) on 9th September 2010 has created world-wide uproar. The top US military commander in Afghanistan General David Petraeus has criticised plans by a Florida church saying that "it could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort". The announcement by Florida Church and reaction against it - Muslims just cannot tolerate desecration of their holy book - is bound to create more hate crimes all over the world. The perpetuation of terrorism since 2001, coupled with religious extremism and militancy, is now posing serious threat to international peace. In the name of fighting terrorism, certain forces are, in fact, colonising oil and mineral rich countries, conspiring to topple some "unwanted" governments and lending support to drug trade and mass acceptance of fascism in the name of reforming the world. The US intervention in Afghanistan is as disastrous as were its earlier actions in Cambodia, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Grenada, Panama, and elsewhere. The purpose behind all these interventions has been the same: prevention of egalitarian social change, bringing into power retrograde elements, leaving the economy in ruins, and pitilessly laying waste, many innocent lives. Purportedly, the invasion of Afghanistan was due to the reason that the Taliban were providing sanctuary to al Qaeda, who claimed responsibility of 9/11 shameless aggression. Nobody raised the question as to why Clinton or Bush administrations did not ever place Afghanistan on the official State Department list of states charged with sponsoring terrorism, despite the acknowledged presence of Osama bin Laden as a guest of the Taliban government. Obviously, such a "rogue state" designation would have made it impossible for any US oil or construction company to enter an agreement with Kabul for a pipeline to the Central Asian oil and gas fields. Very few people know that really compelling - though less advertised - reason for plunging deeper into Afghanistan was ownership of oil and gas reserves of Central Asia. A decade before 9/11, Time magazine (18 March 1991) reported that US policy elites were contemplating a military presence in Central Asia. The discovery of vast oil and gas reserves in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan provided the lure, while the dismemberment of the USSR removed the one major barrier against pursuing an aggressive interventionist policy in that part of the world. US oil companies acquired the rights to some 75 percent of these new reserves. A major problem was how to transport the oil and gas from the landlocked region. US officials opposed using the Russian pipeline or the most direct route across Page 23
- 24. Iran to thePersian Gulf. Instead, they and the corporate oil contractors explored a number of alternative pipeline routes, across Azerbaijan and Turkey to the Mediterranean or across China to the Pacific. The route favoured by UNOCAL, a US-based oil company, crossed Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian Ocean. The intensive negotiations that UNOCAL entered into with the Taliban regime remained unresolved by 1998, as an Argentine company placed a competing bid for the pipeline. Bush's war against the Taliban rekindled UNOCAL's hopes for getting a major chunk of business. Zalmay Khalilzad, Condoleezza Rice, Hamid Karzai, all had established link with UNOCAL. It is a matter of record that much before 9/11, the US and its Nato allies decided to invade Afghanistan. The decision to this effect was taken in Berlin during the joint meeting of Council of Ministers held in November 2000. It exposes the claims of US and coalition partners that 9/11 was the sole reason for invading Afghanistan. The actual cause was apprehension regarding Turkmenistan Gas Pipeline Project in which powerful corporate entities who in reality, rule US and other capitalist countries, had financial interests. It was not the existence of so-called al Qaeda in Afghanistan that forced US and its allies to invade Afghanistan but the "financial terrorism" of US and its blind allies was the main cause of action. Till the said time al Qaeda was a weapon in the hands of US policymakers to put pressure on Islamic States having enormous oil, gas and mineral wealth to toe its line and extend financial benefits uninterruptedly or face the onslaught of "fundamentalists'. It needs to be remembered that President Bush appointed former aide to the American oil company UNOCAL, Afghan-born Zalmay Khalilzad, as special envoy to Afghanistan nine days after the US-backed interim government of Hamid Karzai took office in Kabul. This appointment underscored the real economic and financial interests at stake in the US military intervention in Central Asia. Khalilzad was intimately involved in the long-running US efforts to obtain direct access to the oil and gas resources of the region, largely unexploited but believed to be the second largest in the world after the Persian Gulf. As an advisor for UNOCAL, Khalilzad drew up a risk analysis of a proposed gas pipeline from the former Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan across Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian Ocean. He participated in talks between the oil company and Taliban officials in 1997, which were aimed at implementing a 1995 agreement to build the pipeline across western Afghanistan. UNOCAL was the lead company in the formation of the Centgas consortium, whose purpose was to bring to market natural gas from the Dauletabad Field in south-eastern Turkmenistan, one of the world's largest gas reserves. The multi-billion project involved a 48-inch diameter pipeline from the Afghanistan-Turkmenistan border, passing near the cities of Herat and Kandahar, crossing into Pakistan near Quetta and linking with existing pipelines at Multan. An additional $600 million extension to India was also under consideration. Khalilzad also lobbied publicly for a more sympathetic US government policy towards the Taliban. Four years ago, in an op-ed article in the Washington Post, he defended the Taliban regime against accusations that it was a sponsor of terrorism, writing, 'The Taliban does not practice the anti-US style of fundamentalism practised by Iran.' 'We should... be willing to offer recognition and humanitarian assistance and to promote international economic reconstruction,' he declared. 'It is time for Page 24 UGLY REALITIES OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' Business Recorder September 11, 2010 Saturday
- 25. the United Statesto reengage' the Afghan regime. This 'reengagement' would, of course, have been enormously profitable to UNOCAL, which was otherwise unable to bring gas and oil to the market from landlocked Turkmenistan. Khalilzad only shifted his position on the Taliban after the Clinton administration fired cruise missiles at targets in Afghanistan in August 1998, claiming that terrorists under the direction of Afghan-based Osama bin Laden were responsible for bombing US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. One day after the attack, UNOCAL put Centgas on hold. Two months later it abandoned all plans for a trans-Afghan pipeline. The oil interests began to look towards a post-Taliban Afghanistan, and so did their representatives in the US national security establishment. Born in Mazar-e Sharif in 1951, Khalilzad hails from the old ruling elite of Afghanistan. His father was an aide to King Zahir Shah, who ruled the country until 1973. Khalilzad was a graduate student at the University of Chicago, an intellectual center for the American right-wing, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. He was a special advisor to the state department during the Reagan administration, lobbying successfully for accelerated US military aid to the Mujahideen, including hand-held Stinger anti-aircraft missiles which played a key role in the war. He later became under-secretary of defence in the administration of senior Bush, during the US war against Iraq, and then went to the Rand Corporation, a top US military think tank. After George W. Bush was installed as president by a 5-4 vote of the US Supreme Court, Khalilzad headed the Bush-Cheney transition team for the Defence Department and advised incoming Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Significantly, however, he was not named to a sub-cabinet position, which would have required senate confirmation and might have provoked uncomfortable questions about his role as an oil company advisor in Central Asia and intermediary with the Taliban. Instead, he was named to the National Security Council (NSC), where no confirmation vote was needed. At the NSC, Zalmay Khalilzad reported to Condoleezza Rice, then national security advisor [later became US Secretary of State] who also served as UNOCAL consultant on Central Asia. After serving in the first Bush administration from 1989 to 1992, Rice was placed on the board of directors of Chevron Corporation and served as its principal expert on Kazakhstan, where Chevron holds the largest concession of any of the international oil companies. The oil industry connections of Bush and Cheney were well known, but little was said in the media about the prominent role being played in Afghan policy by officials who advised the oil industry on Central Asia. One of the few commentaries in the America media about this aspect of the US military campaign appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on September 26, 2001. Staff writer Frank Viviano observed: 'The hidden stakes in the war against terrorism can be summed up in a single word: oil. The map of terrorist sanctuaries and targets in the Middle East and Central Asia is also, to an extraordinary degree, a map of the world's principal energy sources in the 21st century. It is inevitable that the war against terrorism will be seen by many as a war on behalf of America's Chevron, Exxon, and Arco; France's TotalFinaElf; British Petroleum; Royal Dutch Shell and other multinational giants, which have hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in the region.' This reality is Page 25 UGLY REALITIES OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' Business Recorder September 11, 2010 Saturday
- 26. well understood inofficial Washington, but the most important corporate-controlled media outlets - the television networks and major national daily newspapers - have maintained silence that amounts to deliberate politically motivated self-censorship. The sole exception was an article, which appeared December 15, 2001 in the New York Times business section, headlined, 'As the War Shifts Alliances, Oil Deals Follow.' The Times reported, 'The State Department is exploring the potential for post-Taliban energy projects in the region, which has more than 6 percent of the world's proven oil reserves and almost 40 percent of its gas reserves. The Times noted that during a visit in early December to Kazakhstan, "'Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said he was particularly impressed with the money that American oil companies were investing there. He estimated that $200 billion could flow into Kazakhstan during the next 5 to 10 years." Secretary of Energy, Spencer Abraham also pushed US oil investments in the region during a November visit to Russia, on which he was accompanied by David J. O'Reilly, chairman of ChevronTexaco. Former Defence Secretary Rumsfeld also played a role in the oil pipeline maneuvers. During a visit to Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, he assured officials of the oil-rich Caspian state that the administration would lift sanctions imposed in 1992 in the wake of the conflict with Armenia over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia aligned themselves with the US military thrust into Central Asia, offering the Pentagon transit rights and use of airfields. Rumsfeld's visit and his conciliatory remarks were the reward. Rumsfeld told President Haydar Aliyev that the administration had reached agreement with congressional leaders to waive the sanctions. The White House released a statement hailing the official opening of the first new pipeline by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, a joint venture of Russia, Kazakhstan, Oman, ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil and several other oil companies. The pipeline connects the huge Tengiz oilfield in north-western Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, where tankers are loaded for the world market. US companies put up $1 billion of the $2.65 billion construction cost. The Bush statement declared, 'The CPC project also advances my Administration's National Energy Policy by developing a network of multiple Caspian pipelines that also includes the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Supsa, and Baku-Novorossiysk oil pipelines and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline.' The pipeline consortium involved in the Baku-Ceyhan plan, led by the British oil company BP, is represented by the law firm of Baker & Botts. The principal attorney at this firm was James Baker III, Secretary of State under Bush's father. The subsequent invasion of Iraq by US and its allies using the myth of weapons of mass destruction [which proved to be a hoax] and appointment of Zalmay Khalilzad as US Ambassador proved beyond any doubt that the reality of 'war on drug' is nothing but quest for OIL. Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele [TIME, May 19, 2003] remarkably exposed the dark side of American oil policy from classified government documents and oil industry memos, involving a pair of Iraq's neighbours, Iran and Afghanistan. The aim of controlling Iranian oil forced Americans for 25 years to spend more than $20 billion in US taxpayers' money as military aid and subsidised weapons sales for the Shah's most undemocratic rule, its oppressive armed forces and ruthless intelligence apparatus SAVAK. These policies lead to take-over of Iran by anti-US forces in 1979. Resultantly for two decades, American oil companies were barred by the US Page 26 UGLY REALITIES OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' Business Recorder September 11, 2010 Saturday
- 27. government from doingbusiness with Iran. In Afghanistan the story was even more bizarre as in 1977 the CIA "sounded an alarm on the Soviets' faltering energy prospects in a secret 14-page memo titled: The Impending Soviet Oil Crisis." President Jimmy Carter, in the wake of Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, concluded that the Soviet Army was passing through Afghanistan to seize the Middle East oil fields and "any outside attempt to gain control of Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America..." Soon after Reagan took office the CIA began one of its largest, longest and most expensive covert operations, "supplying billions of dollars in arms to a collection of Afghan guerrillas who were fighting the Soviets". The arms shipments included Stinger missiles, the shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft weapons that were used with deadly accuracy against Soviet helicopters - these are now in circulation among terrorists who fight US and Nato forces in Afghanistan. Among the rebel recipients of US arms was Osama bin Laden, who is now considered as enemy no.1 in 'war on terrorism'. At the same time the USA was moving into the Persian Gulf militarily and supplying Afghan rebels, all based on a faulty CIA oil assessment, it was also secretly supporting Saddam Hussein - in 1982 when the state department removed Iraq from its list of countries supporting terrorism. The root of all this folly was the US government's officially sanctioned version of faltering Soviet oil production, which was at odds with reality. In fact, Russia today is the world's second largest [oil] producer, after Saudi Arabia. Instead of becoming a major buyer of Middle East oil, as the CIA had warned, Russia ships 3 million bbl. a day to other countries, including the US. As all this makes clear, the former Soviet Union was not running out of oil. Neither is the world. The one exception: the USA, which was the Saudi Arabia of the first half of the 20th century, is finally running out. As a result, thanks in part to American policy that put an emphasis on foreign intervention rather than domestic conservation, Americans are more dependent than ever on imported oil. The second myth that Taliban was not able to effectively curb poppy cultivation and drug trade is equally false. According to The Economist (August 16-22, 2003), the Taliban regime clamped down on poppy growing with an iron fist, and banned it completely in 2000. Production collapsed from its peak of over 4,500 tonnes in 1999 to 185 tonnes in 2001. However, the ban did not cover trade, and opiates kept on flowing into Central Asia - Mullah Omar and many others made billions after this ban as they had huge stockpiles with them (see details in Peter Gretchen's book Seed of Terrorism). After the downfall of the Taliban, poppy cultivation re-appeared with a vengeance, in spite of a fresh ban imposed by US-installed Hamid Karzai's government. According to UN estimates [United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime] production increased to over 8,000 tonnes in 2007. Afghanistan once again dominates world production of opium, with almost 80% of the total annual global yield. Obama administration like that of his predecessor is not interested in democracy in Afghanistan. On assuming power Obama promised more military operations in war-ravaged country. In fact, no US administration has ever engaged in any 'war on terrorism (sic). In reality, they have launched "oil and war bonanza" around Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan with multiple objectives: ensuring continuous enormous profits for war industry, control over oil and gas rich countries and containment of China by physical military presence in its nearby areas. The statement of Bush on September 8, 2008 declaring Pakistan "a major theatre" in Page 27 UGLY REALITIES OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' Business Recorder September 11, 2010 Saturday
- 28. 'war on terror"and Obama's Af-Pak Policy, followed by wanton attacks on civilians inside our territories, should be viewed in proper perspective: the purpose is to forewarn new democratic government in Islamabad not to deviate from the commitments given by ex-ruler Pervaiz Musharraf - with House of Saud acting as a guarantor - or results would be disastrous. Had Unites States been really serious in uprooting the causes of drug trade and terrorism, it could have played a useful role by acknowledging and supporting the efforts of Iran - whose policy on narcotics trafficking is in many ways more intelligent - and by cracking down on warlords and commanders. However, the American stance is diametrically opposite. Clinton, Bush, Obama et al have been levelling baseless allegations against Iran and Pakistan of supporting militants whereas CIA covertly keeps on aiding these elements. It unveils the hidden agenda of USA and its allies in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere to promote war industry, grab oil and gas resources, protect drug trade, use religious fundamentalism to threaten hostile States and enforce mass acceptance of its policies of fascism for its own self-interests and economic benefits of certain corporations in which the ruling elite has substantial interest. (The writers, tax lawyers, authors of many books and articles on narco-terrorism, are visiting Professors at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)). Copyright 2010 Business Recorder SUBJECT: TERRORISM (94%); RELIGION (92%); ARMED FORCES (89%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (89%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (88%); OIL & GAS EXPLORATION (88%); CONSPIRACY (78%); ANNIVERSARIES (78%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (78%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (76%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (73%); NATIONAL SECURITY (73%); FOREIGN POLICY (71%); CONSTRUCTION SECTOR PERFORMANCE (70%); CRUDE OIL & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (66%); WAR ON TERROR (90%); AL-QAEDA (89%); QURAN & ISLAMIC TEXTS (77%) ON07 Crimes; ON General News; GN Government News; GN12 National Security; ON20 Terrorism; ON21 Wars INDUSTRY: NAICS; N9261 Admin of Economic Programs; N92811 National Security; N928 National Security & International Affairs; N81 Other Services exc Public Admin; N92 Public Admin; N92613 Regulation & Admin of Utilities; N813 Religious Grantmaking Professional & Like Organizations; N81311 Religious Organizations PERSON: OSAMA BIN LADEN (53%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) FLORIDA, USA (94%); INDIAN OCEAN (79%) AFGHANISTAN (95%); UNITED STATES (94%); CENTRAL ASIA (93%); ASIA (93%); CAMBODIA (79%); TURKMENISTAN (79%); IRAN (79%); KAZAKHSTAN (79%); RUSSIA (79%); GULF STATES (79%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%) AF Afghanistan; US United States of America; XR Americas; XO Asia; XB North America; QH South Asia LOAD-DATE: September 10, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: A201009105A-21256-GNW PUBLICATION-TYPE: Other Page 28 UGLY REALITIES OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' Business Recorder September 11, 2010 Saturday
- 29. JOURNAL-CODE: WBRE Copyright 2010Financial Times Information All Rights Reserved Global News Wire Copyright 2010 Emmayzed Publications (PIT) Ltd, Source: The Financial Times Limited Page 29 UGLY REALITIES OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' Business Recorder September 11, 2010 Saturday
- 30. 11 of 214DOCUMENTS Business Recorder September 12, 2009 Saturday UGLY REALITY OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' BYLINE: HUZAIMA BUKHARI & DR IKRAMUL HAQ LENGTH: 3423 words Eight years after the wanton attack on New York's twin towers - masterly planned and executed to create a pretext to invade Afghanistan - majority believes that the United States and its allies have pushed the world into a frenzied quagmire. Friday was the eighth anniversary of 9/11: The perpetuation of terrorism since 2001 - coupled with mishandling of the entire issue by US and its allies - has been posing serious threat to international peace. In the name of fighting terrorism, so-called proponents of "peace", "democracy" and champions of human rights are colonising oil and mineral rich countries, conspiring to topple some "unwanted" governments and lending support to drug trade and mass acceptance of fascism in the name of reforming the world. The US intervention in Afghanistan is as disastrous as were its earlier actions in Cambodia, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Grenada, Panama, and elsewhere. The purpose behind all these interventions has been the same: prevention of egalitarian social change, bringing into power retrograde elements, leaving the economy in ruins, and pitilessly laying waste, many innocent lives. Purportedly, the invasion of Afghanistan was due to the reason that the Taliban were providing sanctuary to al Qaeda, who claimed responsibility of 9/11 shameless aggression. Nobody raised the question as to why Clinton or Bush administrations did not ever place Afghanistan on the official State Department list of states charged with sponsoring terrorism, despite the acknowledged presence of Osama bin Laden as a guest of the Taliban government. Obviously, such a "rogue state" designation would have made it impossible for any US oil or construction company to enter an agreement with Kabul for a pipeline to the Central Asian oil and gas fields. Very few people know that really compelling - though less advertised - reason for plunging deeper into Afghanistan was ownership of oil and gas reserves of Central Asia. A decade before 9/11, Time magazine (18 March 1991) reported that US policy elites were contemplating a military presence in Central Asia. The discovery of vast oil and gas reserves in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan provided the lure, while the dismemberment of the USSR removed the one major barrier against Page 30
- 31. pursuing an aggressiveinterventionist policy in that part of the world. US oil companies acquired the rights to some 75 percent of these new reserves. A major problem was how to transport the oil and gas from the landlocked region. US officials opposed using the Russian pipeline or the most direct route across Iran to the Persian Gulf. Instead, they and the corporate oil contractors explored a number of alternative pipeline routes, across Azerbaijan and Turkey to the Mediterranean or across China to the Pacific. The route favoured by UNOCAL, a US-based oil company, crossed Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian Ocean. The intensive negotiations that UNOCAL entered into with the Taliban regime remained unresolved by 1998, as an Argentine company placed a competing bid for the pipeline. Bush's war against the Taliban rekindled UNOCAL's hopes for getting a major chunk of business. Zalmay Khalilzad, Condoleezza Rice, Hamid Karzai, all had established link with UNOCAL. It is a matter of record that much before 9/11, the US and its Nato allies decided to invade Afghanistan. The decision to this effect was taken in Berlin during the joint meeting of Council of Ministers held in November 2000. It exposes the claims of US and coalition partners that 9/11 was the sole reason for invading Afghanistan. The actual cause was apprehension regarding Turkmenistan Gas Pipeline Project in which powerful corporate entities who in reality, rule US and other capitalist countries, had financial interests. It was not the existence of so-called al Qaeda in Afghanistan that forced US and its allies to invade Afghanistan but the "financial terrorism" of US and its blind allies was the main cause of action. Till the said time al Qaeda was a weapon in the hands of US policymakers to put pressure on Islamic States having enormous oil, gas and mineral wealth to toe its line and extend financial benefits uninterruptedly or face the onslaught of "fundamentalists'. It needs to be remembered that President Bush appointed former aide to the American oil company UNOCAL, Afghan-born Zalmay Khalilzad, as special envoy to Afghanistan nine days after the US-backed interim government of Hamid Karzai took office in Kabul. This appointment underscored the real economic and financial interests at stake in the US military intervention in Central Asia. Khalilzad was intimately involved in the long-running US efforts to obtain direct access to the oil and gas resources of the region, largely unexploited but believed to be the second largest in the world after the Persian Gulf. As an advisor for UNOCAL, Khalilzad drew up a risk analysis of a proposed gas pipeline from the former Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan across Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian Ocean. He participated in talks between the Oil Company and Taliban officials in 1997, which were aimed at implementing a 1995 agreement to build the pipeline across western Afghanistan. UNOCAL was the lead company in the formation of the Centgas consortium, whose purpose was to bring to market natural gas from the Dauletabad Field in south-eastern Turkmenistan, one of the world's largest gas reserves. The multi-billion project involved a 48-inch diameter pipeline from the Afghanistan-Turkmenistan border, passing near the cities of Herat and Kandahar, crossing into Pakistan near Quetta and linking with existing pipelines at Multan. Page 31 UGLY REALITY OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' Business Recorder September 12, 2009 Saturday
- 32. An additional $600million extension to India was also under consideration. Khalilzad also lobbied publicly for a more sympathetic US government policy towards the Taliban. Four years ago, in an op-ed article in the Washington Post, he defended the Taliban regime against accusations that it was a sponsor of terrorism, writing, 'The Taliban does not practice the anti-US style of fundamentalism practised by Iran.' 'We should be willing to offer recognition and humanitarian assistance and to promote international economic reconstruction,' he declared. 'It is time for the United States to re-engage' the Afghan regime. This 're-engagement' would, of course, have been enormously profitable to UNOCAL, which was otherwise unable to bring gas and oil to the market from landlocked Turkmenistan. Khalilzad only shifted his position on the Taliban after the Clinton administration fired cruise missiles at targets in Afghanistan in August 1998, claiming that terrorists under the direction of Afghan-based Osama bin Laden were responsible for bombing US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. One day after the attack, UNOCAL put Centgas on hold. Two months later it abandoned all plans for a trans-Afghan pipeline. The oil interests began to look towards a post-Taliban Afghanistan, and so did their representatives in the US national security establishment. Born in Mazar-e Sharif in 1951, Khalilzad hails from the old ruling elite of Afghanistan. His father was an aide to King Zahir Shah, who ruled the country until 1973. Khalilzad was a graduate student at the University of Chicago, an intellectual center for the American right-wing, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Khalilzad became an American citizen, while serving as a key link between US imperialism and the Islamic fundamentalist Mujahideen fighting the Soviet-backed regime in Kabul - the milieu out of which both the Taliban and bin Laden's al Qaeda group emerged. He was a special advisor to the State Department during the Reagan administration, lobbying successfully for accelerated US military aid to the Mujahideen, including hand-held Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, which played a key role in the war. He later became Under-secretary of Defence in the administration of senior Bush, during the US war against Iraq, and then went to the Rand Corporation, a top US military think tank. After George W. Bush was installed as president by a 5-4 vote of the US Supreme Court, Khalilzad headed the Bush-Cheney transition team for the Defence Department and advised incoming Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Significantly, however, he was not named to a sub-cabinet position, which would have required Senate confirmation and might have provoked uncomfortable questions about his role as an oil company advisor in Central Asia and intermediary with the Taliban. Instead, he was named to the National Security Council (NSC), where no confirmation vote was needed. At the NSC, Zalmay Khalilzad reported to Condoleezza Rice, then national security advisor [later became US Secretary of State] who also served as UNOCAL consultant on Central Asia. After serving in the first Bush administration from 1989 to 1992, Rice was placed on the board of directors of Chevron Corporation and served as its principal expert on Kazakhstan, where Chevron holds the largest concession of any of the international oil companies. Page 32 UGLY REALITY OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' Business Recorder September 12, 2009 Saturday
- 33. The oil industryconnections of Bush and Cheney were well known, but little was said in the media about the prominent role being played in Afghan policy by officials who advised the oil industry on Central Asia. One of the few commentaries in the America media about this aspect of the US military campaign appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on September 26, 2001. Staff writer Frank Viviano observed: 'The hidden stakes in the war against terrorism can be summed up in a single word: oil. The map of terrorist sanctuaries and targets in the Middle East and Central Asia is also, to an extraordinary degree, a map of the world's principal energy sources in the 21st century. It is inevitable that the war against terrorism will be seen by many as a war on behalf of America's Chevron, Exxon, and Arco; France's TotalFinaElf; British Petroleum; Royal Dutch Shell and other multinational giants, which have hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in the region.' This reality is well understood in official Washington, but the most important corporate-controlled media outlets - the television networks and major national daily newspapers - have maintained silence that amounts to deliberate politically motivated self-censorship. The sole exception was an article which appeared on December 15, 2001 in the New York Times business section, headlined, 'As the War Shifts Alliances, Oil Deals Follow.' The Times reported, 'The State Department is exploring the potential for post-Taliban energy projects in the region, which has more than 6 percent of the world's proven oil reserves and almost 40 percent of its gas reserves. The Times noted that during a visit in early December to Kazakhstan, "'Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said he was particularly impressed with the money that American oil companies were investing there. He estimated that $200 billion could flow into Kazakhstan during the next 5 to 10 years." Secretary of Energy, Spencer Abraham also pushed US oil investments in the region during a November visit to Russia, on which he was accompanied by David J. O'Reilly, chairman of ChevronTexaco. Former Defence Secretary Rumsfeld also played a role in the oil pipeline maneuvers. During a visit to Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, he assured officials of the oil-rich Caspian state that the administration would lift sanctions imposed in 1992 in the wake of the conflict with Armenia over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia aligned themselves with the US military thrust into Central Asia, offering the Pentagon transit rights and use of airfields. Rumsfeld's visit and his conciliatory remarks were the reward. Rumsfeld told President Haydar Aliyev that the administration had reached an agreement with congressional leaders to waive the sanctions. The White House released a statement hailing the official opening of the first new pipeline by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, a joint venture of Russia, Kazakhstan, Oman, ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil and several other oil companies. The pipeline connects the huge Tengiz oilfield in north-western Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, where tankers are loaded for the world market. US companies put up $1 billion of the $2.65 billion construction cost. The Bush statement declared, 'The CPC project also advances my Administration's National Energy Policy by developing a network of multiple Caspian pipelines Page 33 UGLY REALITY OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' Business Recorder September 12, 2009 Saturday
- 34. that also includesthe Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Supsa, and Baku-Novorossiysk oil pipelines and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline.' There was little US press coverage of this announcement. Nor did the media refer to the fact that the pipeline consortium involved in the Baku-Ceyhan plan, led by the British oil company BP, is represented by the law firm of Baker & Botts. The principal attorney at this firm was James Baker III, Secretary of State under Bush's father and chief spokesman for the 2000 Bush campaign during its successful effort to "shut down the Florida vote recount". The subsequent invasion of Iraq by US and its allies using the myth of weapons of mass destruction [which proved to be a hoax] and appointment of Zalmay Khalilzad as US Ambassador proved beyond any doubt that the reality of 'war on drug' is nothing but quest for oil. Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele [TIME, May 19, 2003] remarkably exposed the darker side of American oil policy from classified government documents and oil industry memos, involving a pair of Iraq's neighbours, Iran and Afghanistan. The aim of controlling Iranian oil forced Americans for 25 years to spend more than $20 billion in US taxpayers' money as military aid and subsidised weapons sales for the Shah's most undemocratic rule, its oppressive armed forces and ruthless intelligence apparatus SAVAK. These policies lead to take-over of Iran by anti-US forces in 1979. Resultantly for two decades, American oil companies were barred by the US government from doing business with Iran. In Afghanistan the story was even more bizarre as in 1977 the CIA "sounded an alarm on the Soviets' faltering energy prospects in a secret 14-page memo titled: The Impending Soviet Oil Crisis." President Jimmy Carter, in the wake of Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, concluded that the Soviet Army was passing through Afghanistan to seize the Middle East oil fields and "any outside attempt to gain control of Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America..." Soon after Reagan took office the CIA began one of its largest, longest and most expensive covert operations, "supplying billions of dollars in arms to a collection of Afghan guerrillas fighting the Soviets". The arms shipments included Stinger missiles, the shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft weapons that were used with deadly accuracy against Soviet helicopters - these are now in circulation among terrorists fighting US and Nato forces in Afghanistan. Among the rebel recipients of US arms was Osama bin Laden, who is now considered as Enemy No 1 in 'war on terrorism'. At the same time the US was moving into the Persian Gulf militarily and supplying Afghan rebels, all based on a faulty CIA oil assessment, it was also secretly supporting Saddam Hussein - in 1982 when the State Department removed Iraq from its list of countries supporting terrorism. The root of all this folly was the US government's officially sanctioned version of faltering Soviet oil production, which was at odds with reality. In fact, Russia today is the world's second largest [oil] producer, after Saudi Arabia. Instead of becoming a major buyer of Middle East oil, as the CIA had warned, Russia ships 3 million bbl. a day to other countries, including the US. As all this makes clear, the former Soviet Union was not running out of oil. Neither is the world. The one exception: the US, which was the Saudi Arabia of Page 34 UGLY REALITY OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' Business Recorder September 12, 2009 Saturday
- 35. the first halfof the 20th century, is finally running out. As a result, thanks in part to American policy that put an emphasis on foreign intervention rather than domestic conservation, Americans are more dependent than ever on imported oil. The second myth that Taliban was not able to effectively curb poppy cultivation and drug trade is equally false. According to The Economist (August 16-22, 2003), the Taliban regime clamped down on poppy growing with an iron fist, and banned it completely in 2000. Production collapsed from its peak of over 4,500 tonnes in 1999 to 185 tonnes in 2001. However, the ban did not cover trade, and opiates kept on flowing into Central Asia. After the downfall of the Taliban, poppy cultivation re-appeared with a vengeance, in spite of a fresh ban imposed by US-installed Hamid Karzai's government. According to UN estimates [United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime] production increased to over 8,000 tonnes in 2007. Afghanistan once again dominates world production of opium, with almost 80 percent of the total annual global yield. About 70-80% of Afghans depend on what they can grow. But Afghanistan lacks water and cultivable land. Even in the halcyon 1970s, less than 5% of the land was irrigated. The war halved that. Then during the seven-year-long drought in some places, most of the livestock died and staple crops failed. In the south and south-west of the country, water-tables are dangerously low. Even with the best possible governance, that part of Afghanistan is a poor proposition. In post-Taliban Afghanistan, drought, drugs and insecurity started to feed off each other. Three of the country's five big drug-producing provinces - Helmand, Uruzgan, and Kandhar - remained unsafe and parched. In today's Afghanistan, poppy cultivation is spreading to new areas, and with it insecurity. The nightmare is a new Colombia: a place where drug lords capture and wreck governments and the economy alike - the return of butcher likes Rashid Dostum in August 2009 elections proves the point. The drug trade in the post-Taliban Afghanistan is becoming institutionalised. Opium is now being processed into morphine and heroin inside Afghanistan. That means a lot more money for warlords and militia commanders on the ground, something made apparent by the switch-over to ever more expensive jeeps. Self-styled, US-hijacked, Nato-sponsored democracy (sic) in Afghanistan plays in the hands of more sophisticated narco-enriched criminals - these include members of parliament, warlords and militia commanders. Obama administration like that of his predecessor is not interested in democracy in Afghanistan. On assuming power Obama promised more military operations in war-ravaged country. In fact, no US administration has ever engaged in any 'war on terrorism (sic). In reality, they have launched "oil and war bonanza" around Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan with multiple objectives: ensuring continuous enormous profits for war industry, control over oil and gas rich countries and containment of China by physical military presence in its nearby areas. The statement of Bush on September 8, 2008 declaring Pakistan "a major theatre" in 'war on terror" and Obama's AfPak Policy, followed by wanton attacks on civilians inside our territories, should be viewed in proper perspective: the Page 35 UGLY REALITY OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' Business Recorder September 12, 2009 Saturday
- 36. purpose is toforewarn democratic government in Islamabad not to deviate from the commitments given by ex-ruler Musharraf - or results would be disastrous. Had Unites States been really serious in uprooting the causes of drug trade and terrorism, it could have played a useful role by acknowledging and supporting the efforts of Iran - whose policy on narcotics trafficking is in many ways more intelligent - and by cracking down on warlords and commanders. However, the American stance is diametrically opposite. Clinton, Bush, Obama et al have been levelling baseless allegations against Iran and of late Pakistan of supporting militants whereas CIA covertly keeps on aiding these elements. It unveils the hidden agenda of US and its allies in Afghanistan and elsewhere to promote war industry, grab oil and gas resources, protect drug trade, use religious fundamentalism to threaten undesirable States and enforce mass acceptance of its policies of fascism for its own self-interests and economic benefits of certain corporations in which the ruling elite has substantial interest. (The writers, tax lawyers, authors of many books and articles on narco-terrorism, are visiting Professors at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)). Copyright 2009 Business Recorder SUBJECT: TERRORISM (93%); OIL & GAS EXPLORATION (89%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (89%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (88%); CRUDE OIL & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (86%); CONSPIRACY (78%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (77%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (76%); HUMAN RIGHTS (76%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (75%); FOREIGN POLICY (73%); ANNIVERSARIES (72%); CONSTRUCTION SECTOR PERFORMANCE (72%); ARMED FORCES (50%); WAR ON TERROR (90%); TALIBAN (89%); AL-QAEDA (76%) ON General News; ON20 Terrorism ORGANIZATION: AL-QAEDA (55%) PERSON: OSAMA BIN LADEN (54%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) INDIAN OCEAN (92%); NEW YORK, USA (92%) AFGHANISTAN (95%); UNITED STATES (94%); ASIA (93%); CENTRAL ASIA (93%); TURKMENISTAN (79%); IRAN (79%); GULF STATES (79%); CAMBODIA (79%); AZERBAIJAN (79%); KAZAKHSTAN (79%); PAKISTAN (79%); RUSSIA (79%); TURKEY (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (79%) AF Afghanistan; US United States of America; XR Americas; XO Asia; XB North America; QH South Asia LOAD-DATE: September 11, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: A200909112B-1D739-GNW PUBLICATION-TYPE: Other JOURNAL-CODE: WBRE Copyright 2009 Financial Times Information All Rights Reserved Page 36 UGLY REALITY OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' Business Recorder September 12, 2009 Saturday
- 37. Global News Wire Copyright2009 Emmayzed Publications (PIT) Ltd, Source: The Financial Times Limited Page 37 UGLY REALITY OF 'WAR ON TERRORISM' Business Recorder September 12, 2009 Saturday
- 38. 12 of 214DOCUMENTS Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) October 30, 2010 Saturday Mavis Leno: Make a difference BYLINE: SANDYE VOIGHT TH staff writer * svoight@wcinet.com SECTION: A; Pg. 1 LENGTH: 447 words It kills her to say, "Stay the course" in Afghanistan. Mavis Leno, wife of comedian Jay Leno and head of the Feminist Majority's Campaign for Afghan Women & Girls, knows it's a bitter pill for Americans to keep sending troops into harm's way. "But, if we don't, we will be back there again in 10 years," she said Friday at the Grand River Center. The audience of 740 mostly women attended Salute to Women to lunch, shop, watch a fashion show and listen to guest speaker Leno. The event is presented by the Telegraph Herald and "her" magazine and sponsored by American Trust & Savings Bank. Leno wanted women to know that they can make a difference if they fight for something they believe in. "If you take on something, then never let go. Sink your teeth in it." She became a feminist at 7 when her father told her that girls weren't allowed to become jockeys and that once women didn't have the right to vote. She joined the Feminist Majority, in 1998, and was immediately taken with the plight of Afghan women. She took the audience back to those pre-Sept. 11 days, when the Taliban virtually buried Afghan women alive, hidden in burqas and cut off from work and society. The Taliban, she said, "had the world's worst case of girl cooties." "I thought, 'We have to tell the world about these women,'" she said. "I stood up and said, 'This is mine. I'm going to do it.' " She confronted Unocal, a California oil company that wanted to run a pipeline through Afghanistan. "Why would we fund a country with bitter oppression to women?" she asked at a shareholders' meeting. Three months later, Unocal withdrew and named the Feminist Majority among its reasons. "They didn't even know who I was," Leno said. "It showed me you don't have to do a spectacular thing where people hold up candles." Later, she and Jay gave $100,000 to fund programs to end gender apartheid in Afghanistan. She said single moms in America flooded Washington with their protests once they learned that Afghan women - many widowed by decades of war - were not allowed to work and take care of their families, except to beg in the streets. Leno lamented that America's original intentions got "sidetracked by Iraq." She wants to see American troops stay to keep the Taliban at bay. She wants to see more funding for schools and organizations led by women. "If we leave, it'll sink back to the Taliban, and we can't allow that to happen," she said. After her speech, women lined up to meet her. Among them was Carol Foht, of Dubuque, who said her nephew, Matt Jones, is a Marine stationed in Afghanistan. She said she couldn't wait to tell him how valuable his work is. "I want to tell him why he's there," she said. Page 38
- 39. SUBJECT: WOMEN (78%);WAR & CONFLICT (77%); SINGLE PARENTS (72%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (68%); SHAREHOLDERS (66%); SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS (66%); EDUCATION FUNDING (62%); FASHION SHOWS (55%) COMPANY: AMERICAN TRUST & SAVINGS BANK (70%) INDUSTRY: NAICS522120 SAVINGS INSTITUTIONS (70%); SIC6036 SAVINGS INSTITUTIONS, NOT FEDERALLY CHARTERED (70%) PERSON: JAY LENO (94%) GEOGRAPHIC: CALIFORNIA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (96%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); IRAQ (66%) LOAD-DATE: October 30, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2010 Woodward Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved Page 39 Mavis Leno: Make a difference Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) October 30, 2010 Saturday
- 40. 13 of 214DOCUMENTS The Business Insider May 30, 2011 Monday 8:00 AM EST How Do You Support Your Troops"Regular, Special or Super? BYLINE: Russ Baker LENGTH: 1858 words May 30, 2011 (The Business Insider delivered by Newstex) -- How do you support your troops? Regular, Special or Super? As we celebrate Memorial Day, it can be hard to remember that this is not principally intended as a day off from work for most of us, but as an occasion to honor dead soldiers who were once actual living persons, with many years of expected life ahead of them. While contemplating the reality of all these dead young people, we would do well to ponder why soldiers are currently dying in Afghanistan and Iraq. Those who oesupport the troops, i.e. support their being involved in those conflicts, should be able to explain, with vigor and simplicity, in just a few words, why it is necessary that they die"or risk dying. Most cant, and its not surprising that they are unfamiliar with some of the most revealing reports and analyses. First, theres the question of why the US (and its principal ally, Britain) invaded Iraq in the first place. Weve had a lot to say on that topic, such as on Britains motivation (oil), more on Britain here, and then George W. Bushs principal personal motivation (not oil!) Enough Iraq. On to the war that gets the attention these days, Afghanistan. For perspective, see the following, little-recalled BBC report from May 13, 2002"not long after the US invasion of Afghanistan and installation of Hamid Karzai in power: Afghanistan hopes to strike a deal later this month to build a $2bn pipeline through the country to take gas from energy-rich Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India. Afghan interim ruler Hamid Karzai is to hold talks with his Pakistani and Turkmenistan counterparts later this month on Afghanistans biggest foreign investment project, Mohammad Alim Razim, minister for Mines and Industries told Reuters. Page 40
- 41. oeThe work onthe project will start after an agreement is expected to be struck at the coming summit, Mr Razim said. The construction of the 850-kilometre pipeline had been previously discussed between Afghanistans former Taliban regime, US oil company Unocal and Bridas of Argentina. The project was abandoned after the US launched missile attacks on Afghanistan in 1999. US company preferred Mr Razim said US energy company Unocal was the oelead company among those that would build the pipeline, which would bring 30bn cubic meters of Turkmen gas to market annually. Unocal " which led a consortium of companies from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Japan and South Korea " has maintained the project is both economically and technically feasible once Afghan stability was secured. oeUnocal is not involved in any projects (including pipelines) in Afghanistan, nor do we have any plans to become involved, nor are we discussing any such projects, a spokesman told BBC News Online¦. Also worth reviewing is this inadequately discussed June, 2010 article from the New York Times: The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials. The previously unknown deposits " including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium " are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe. An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the oeSaudi Arabia of lithium, a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys. The vast scale of Afghanistans mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said. While it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war. oeThere is stunning potential here, Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, said in an interview on Saturday. oeThere are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant. Page 41 How Do You Support Your Troops"Regular, Special or Super? The Business Insider May 30, 2011 Monday 8:00 AM EST
- 42. The value ofthe newly discovered mineral deposits dwarfs the size of Afghanistans existing war-bedraggled economy, which is based largely on opium production and narcotics trafficking as well as aid from the United States and other industrialized countries. Afghanistans gross domestic product is only about $12 billion¦. ..American officials¦recognize that the mineral discoveries will almost certainly have a double-edged impact. Instead of bringing peace, the newfound mineral wealth could lead the Taliban to battle even more fiercely to regain control of the country¦. Endless fights could erupt between the central government in Kabul and provincial and tribal leaders in mineral-rich districts. Afghanistan has a national mining law, written with the help of advisers from the World Bank, but it has never faced a serious challenge. oeNo one has tested that law; no one knows how it will stand up in a fight between the central government and the provinces, observed Paul A. Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business and leader of the Pentagon team that discovered the deposits. At the same time, American officials fear resource-hungry China will try to dominate the development of Afghanistans mineral wealth, which could upset the United States, given its heavy investment in the region. After winning the bid for its Aynak copper mine in Logar Province, China clearly wants more, American officials said¦. The mineral deposits are scattered throughout the country, including in the southern and eastern regions along the border with Pakistan that have had some of the most intense combat in the American-led war against the Taliban insurgency¦.. While were at it, we might try and name places where large numbers of American troops have been deployed in recent years that do not have copious quantities of precious natural resources. We also might think about possible reasons why Pakistan, the United States principal ally, is not very enthusiastic in helping fight off the Taliban. Consider the oft-cited explanation for Pakistans ambivalence: its never-ending geopolitical struggle with India. And a less-cited subtext: Some Pakistanis suspect that the Pakistani quarrel with India is largely perpetuated by the leadership of the Pakistani military because it keeps the army brass well positioned and well paid in a contentious, very poor country. (Kind of how the US military-industrial complex loved the Cold War.) Heres how the Associated Press oh-so-briefly characterized this recently, buried in a longer article about Pakistani oeconspiracy theories: India and Pakistan have waged three wars since 1947 and exist in a state of semi-hostility. Left-wing critics accuse the army, which has ruled the country for much of its existence, of indoctrinating the country with mistrust of India to ensure that it keeps getting a large share of the countrys budget. Page 42 How Do You Support Your Troops"Regular, Special or Super? The Business Insider May 30, 2011 Monday 8:00 AM EST
- 43. Lets set asideAPs marginalizing of those critics, and focus on the substance. Pakistans insistence on parity with India has been a principal justification for it receiving massive American financial and military aid. Thus, in a sense, the US funds the continued domination of Pakistani politics by the countrys military"and indirectly its support of the Afghan Taliban"while the US fights the Taliban. Now lets turn to the third theater of war, Libya, where American troops are not (yet) in ground combat, but certainly at war. As weve noted previously, the original stated reason for entering that conflict has essentially been abandoned (not that it was ever believable). If youve forgotten the original reason, which is entirely understandable, it was oeprotecting Libyan civilians"(though see here for how we are not always that great at protecting civilians, particularly in Afghanistan.) Most people dont realize that the US has been deeply involved in creating the opposition that has oespontaneously risen up against Qaddafi, and theres (surprise surprise) an oil factor in play. Theres another factor, too, we dont hear being discussed. As the rest of the Arab world is swept up in turmoil and anger at US-backed dictators, a post-Qaddafi Libya looks awful nice as a place to base American troops"and if the US is the oerescuer of the Libyan revolution, it is well positioned to request those bases. Despite all of this, the obligatory talk (and not just on Memorial Day) is about how very, very proud we are of oeour troops, and their sacrifice. It is not in good taste to ask, however, what all this actually means. Though some do. Among the few is Andrew Bacevich, a retired career Army officer and professor of International Relations, who writes: ¦From the perspective of those who engineer Americas wars, the principal attribute of this relationship is that it obviates any need for accountability. For nearly a decade now, popular willingness to oesupport the troops has provided unlimited drawing rights on the United States Treasury. Since 9/11, in waging its various campaigns, overt and covert, the United States military has expended hundreds of billions of (mostly borrowed) dollars. By the time the last invoice gets paid, the total will be in the trillions. Is the money being well spent? Are we getting good value? Is it possible that some of the largesse showered on U.S. forces trying to pacify Kandahar could be better put to use in helping to rebuild Cleveland? Given the existing terms of the civil-military relationship, even to pose such questions is unseemly. For politicians sending soldiers into battle, generals presiding over long, drawn-out, inconclusive campaigns, and contractors reaping large profits as a consequence, this war-comes-first mentality is exceedingly agreeable. One wonders how many of those serving in the ranks are taken in by this fraud. The relationship between American people and their military"we love you; do whatever you want"seems to work for everyone. Everyone, that is, except soldiers themselves. They face the prospect of war without foreseeable end. Whats missing from that fine essay (and from most analyses) is a candid assessment of the true power of the American oil industry. It is worth on this occasion taking a few minutes to examine that industrys little-known history of Page 43 How Do You Support Your Troops"Regular, Special or Super? The Business Insider May 30, 2011 Monday 8:00 AM EST
- 44. muscling American presidents,here. Of course, all the suggested reading above, albeit in short installments, can seem just too darned taxing. Its a lot more fun to wave a flag and talk about oesupporting our troops. Even if we all know"very well indeed"that we do no such thing. GRAPHIC: http://cdn.wn.com/pd/ef/ab/251ebe1d9e313650eeca1451fae2_grande.jpg Read more posts on WhoWhatWhy » For the latest in politics, visit Politics. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » Newstex ID: BZIN-5352-104540335 SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (87%); WAR & CONFLICT (78%); TALIBAN (76%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (71%); NATURAL GAS & ELECTRIC UTILITIES (69%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (69%); TALKS & MEETINGS (68%); FOREIGN INVESTMENT (50%) COMPANY: U S OIL CO INC (63%) INDUSTRY: SIC5172 PETROLEUM & PETROLEUM PRODUCTS WHOLESALERS, EXCEPT BULK STATIONS & TERMINALS (63%) PERSON: HAMAD KARZAI (82%) GEOGRAPHIC: AFGHANISTAN (94%); TURKMENISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (94%); IRAQ (93%); PAKISTAN (92%); INDIA (79%); SAUDI ARABIA (79%); KOREA, REPUBLIC OF (79%); JAPAN (79%) LOAD-DATE: May 30, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. Page 44 How Do You Support Your Troops"Regular, Special or Super? The Business Insider May 30, 2011 Monday 8:00 AM EST
- 45. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright2011 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2011 The Business Insider Page 45 How Do You Support Your Troops"Regular, Special or Super? The Business Insider May 30, 2011 Monday 8:00 AM EST
- 46. 14 of 214DOCUMENTS The Nation (Pakistan) October 8, 2009 Thursday ARTICLE: Angels and demons SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 837 words By Dr Haider Mehdi Like Henry Ford of 1922 (Ford Motor Company, Detroit) who wanted to control every facet of his factory workers lives, the present American ambassador in Islamabad wishes to prevail on every aspect of Pakistans political life. It is obvious that the ambassador perceives that this country of brown people is fortunate to have her amidst them, a true representative of the most exceptionally virtuous nation on Earth, guiding and enlightening Pakistanis in all sorts of political and moral etiquettes: and yet this ungrateful nation complains of her political and professional conduct: recently on a minor infraction (as she perceives it) of writing a letter to the editor of a major newspaper in a futile attempt to influence its editorial policy. But the problem is that the ambassadors self-perception is far from accurate; it is simply deeply flawed. The public in this country does not accord such a heavenly attribute as the exceptionally virtuous nation to America nor does it welcome the growing political and military US presence here. Quite the contrary, the majority of Pakistanis consider the US a major threat to their country and to the entire regions peace and political stability. The fact of the matter is that most Pakistanis would like to see the US pack up its military-political establishment and completely stop its domestic and foreign policy intervention in their country. There are no doubts or questions about the public sentiment towards America. The ambassadors self-perception of the US role in Pakistan is simply not acceptable to the vast majority of this countrys citizens and it will not be workable here. The quicker the Americans understand this, the better it is for them: the less the political bloodshed. The ambassador would be well advised to stay in her own space and place. And it is absolutely certain that any transgression on her part will be met with massive public disapproval. Let us be even more candid and blunt in our analysis on the nature of the contemporary US-Pakistan alliance. Todays Pakistan is at peril; a pernicious state of existence. This alarming situation is because of the ever-expanding and massively profane American interference and intervention in its domestic and foreign affairs. The irony is that the incumbent leadership in Islamabad, instead of curbing the American mania, is in fact encouraging an insidious full-scale US political, military and socio-economic meddling in its affairs; Americans are being offered a free hand to do whatever pleases them. It is in this context that the ambassadors audacity in writing a letter to a newspaper Page 46
- 47. must be seenand examined. The said issue is not about the newspapers editorial flaw or the handling of the matter: that has turned out to be satisfactory. Neither is there an issue about the respected columnists professionalism or political judgment. We the Pakistani nation know why the US is here and why it is expanding its tentacles all over Pakistan and the entire region. We are aware of the precise nature of geopolitical control of the immense hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian Basin that the US has planned for decades and now is the process to consolidate through war and political-economic occupation. We are aware of George W Bushs premeditated war of energy imperialism unleashed against Afghanistan for future American control of Central Asian Islamic States. We are aware of the history of the US unbridled proxy war for the interests of Unocal, Enron and other American-British companies. We are aware of the American tactics: we know of Hamid Karzai, John J Maresca (first US ambassador to Afghanistan) and Zalmay Khalilzad (second American ambassador to Afghanistan): all of them being the former Unocal consultants. We are aware of the Musharraf-Karzai pipeline agreement of February 8, 2002, as an initial step in Afghanistans invasion and the plans for future energy control in this region. We are aware of the growing number of American bases in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bulgaria, Turkey and Kuwait: and of course in Pakistan now. We are aware that your war in Afghanistan and Pakistan is an evil and a wicked war disguised under the pretext of a so-called Global War on Extremism. We are fully aware of your intentions, plans and modus operandi. We are also aware that we live in an age of angels and demons: the demons masquerade as angels and angels denounced as demons. We know that we are being demonised at the alter of your vested interests. The most suitable response to the said act is for the Pakistani government to ask President Obama to recall the ambassador! After all, this is exactly what the American media would demand had an event remotely similar to this happened in the US: and justifiably so! The fact is that entire Pakistani public is fuming at your ardent keenness to so publicly humiliate and colonise this nation! Mind it: it is not Henry Fords Detroit of 1922! Go home, ambassador! The writer is a professor, political analyst and conflict-resolution expert. SUBJECT: EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (90%); FOREIGN RELATIONS (89%); FOREIGN POLICY (77%); POLITICS (77%); FACTORY WORKERS (73%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (52%) COMPANY: FORD MOTOR CO (95%) TICKER: FORDP (PAR) (95%); FDM (LSE) (95%); F (SWX) (95%); F (NYSE) (95%) INDUSTRY: NAICS336112 LIGHT TRUCK & UTILITY VEHICLE MANUFACTURING (95%); NAICS336111 AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURING (95%); SIC3711 MOTOR VEHICLES & PASSENGER CAR BODIES (95%) GEOGRAPHIC: DETROIT, MI, USA (92%) MICHIGAN, USA (92%) UNITED STATES (97%); Page 47 ARTICLE: Angels and demons The Nation (Pakistan) October 8, 2009 Thursday
- 48. PAKISTAN (95%) LOAD-DATE: October11, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: NAT Copyright 2009 Nawaiwaqt Group of News Papers All Rights Reserved Page 48 ARTICLE: Angels and demons The Nation (Pakistan) October 8, 2009 Thursday
- 49. 15 of 214DOCUMENTS The Public Record October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World War III BYLINE: David DeGraw LENGTH: 5817 words Oct. 21, 2010 (The Public Record delivered by Newstex) -- Editors Note: This is the third installment of David DeGraws new book, oeThe Road Through 2012: Revolution or World War III. Read the introduction here. Part I can be read here. Part II can be read here. To purchase a copy of the book visit AmpedStatus.com I: The CIA, BCCI & The Origins of Al Qaeda Now that we have an understanding of how the Global Banking Intelligence Complex ran operations through BCCI, lets look at how some of BCCIs key players kept operating after the bank was finally shut down. As discussed in the last chapter, during the 1980s and early 90s, the CIA worked in partnership with BCCI in what was, at the time, the agencys largest covert operation ever, pumping an estimated $10 billion into funding the Afghan Mujahideen. Through this operation, Osama bin Ladens al Qaeda network was formed. Bin Laden had accounts in BCCI and ran CIA/BCCI-funded camps. In ??Modern Jihad:Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks, investigative reporter Loretta Napoleoni described the origins of the al Qaeda network: oe[During the Afghan-Soviet war,] potential Arab warriors traveled to Pakistan where they resided in guesthouses. These hostels did not keep any records and not a single organization listed the names of the fighters, where they had gone to fight and if they had been injured or killed. The lack of vital information caused distress among relatives. At that time bin Laden was in charge of several guesthouses and was embarrassed by the hundreds of calls requesting information. Hence, he decided to keep track of whoever stayed at the hostels and that record came to be known as the Record of al-Qaeda. This is how al-Qaeda, which means the base or the scroll, was born. Throughout this time period, bin Ladens mentor was a man named Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. In oeAfghanistan 1979-1992: Americas Jihad, William Blum reported some background information on Hekmatyar: oeHis followers first gained attention by throwing acid in the faces of women Page 49
- 50. who refused towear the veil. CIA and State Department officials I have spoken with call him scary, [#x2dc]vicious, [#x2dc]a fascist,¦ [#x2dc]definite dictatorship material¦. His name was Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. He was the head of the Islamic Party and he hated the United States almost as much as he hated the Russians. His followers screamed [#x2dc]Death to America along with [#x2dc]Death to the Soviet Union¦ some of them had kidnapped the American ambassador in the capital city of Kabul, leading to his death in the rescue attempt¦ these same people shot down civilian airliners and planted bombs at the airport¦ anti-American mobs had burned and ransacked the US embassy in Islamabad and American cultural centers in two other Pakistani cities¦ their brother Islamic fundamentalists in next-door Iran seized the US Embassy in Teheran¦ and held 55 Americans hostage for over a year. Supporting acknowledged terrorists and enemies presented the US government with a huge public relations problem. So the White House and CIA went to work on the propaganda front. The United Sates Information Agency (USIA) launched the oeAfghan Media Project. The project was run by Joachim Maitre, a man who also worked with Oliver North to make TV ads attacking government officials who were against giving aid to the Contras during the BCCI-financed Iran-Contra Affair. Reporting in oeCovert Action: The Afghan Pipeline, Steve Galster revealed the hypocrisy of the US propaganda campaign: oeWidespread corruption also exists among the [Afghan] rebel leaders but has gone practically unnoticed in the United States thanks to CIA propaganda. The same kinds of things that tarnished the Contras image, such as killing civilians, drug smuggling and embezzlement are practiced by many Afghan rebels. Taking no prisoners, assassinating suspected government collaborators, destroying government-built schools and hospitals, killing [#x2dc]unpious civilians are just a few of the inhumane acts they have carried out. But the picture we receive of the rebels in the United States is of an uncorrupt, popular group of freedom-loving people who aspire toward a democratic society. In oeJihad International Inc., Eqbal Ahmad further exposed the propaganda effort: oeThey also invested in this Jihad the legitimacy of their enormous power, and the luster of their media-made glory. On one especially memorable occasion when Afghanistans hard-line Islamists visited the White House, President Ronald Reagan described them as the Muslim worlds [#x2dc]moral equivalent of our founding fathers. Similarly, the American and European media played up the war in Afghanistan as the greatest story of the eighties. Foreign correspondents combed the Hindu Kush for stories of [#x2dc]Mooj heroism. Competition for Jihad narrative was so great that in one instance a major network, CBS, paid handsomely to film a staged battle between Islam and Communism. As the western media carries great importance and authority in the third world, its Afghanistan war coverage made an enormous impact, especially on Muslim youth. As bin Laden himself would later say in his 1997 interview with CNN, oeI have benefited so greatly from the Jihad in Afghanistan that it would have been impossible for me to gain such benefit from any other chance? Thanks to CIA funding and weapons, delivered through BCCIs oeblack network with the help of Pakistans intelligence service the ISI, bin Laden and al Qaeda were off and running. In 1992, just after BCCI had been shut down in a global Page 50 The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World War III The Public Record October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST
- 51. sweep, the Afghan-Sovietwar finally came to an end. The war resulted in the death of 1.3 million Afghans, three million were disabled, and 5.5 million became refugees " in total, about half the population. When BCCI was shut down, most of its major players were allowed to walk away without being held accountable, due to the fact that BCCI was deeply entwined within the upper echelons of US intelligence. Elements of BCCI would then evolve into al Qaeda, as the Washington Post revealed in 2002: oeWilliam F. Wechsler, who monitored bin Ladens finances at the National Security Council during the last two years of the Clinton administration, told Congress in September that bin Laden initially rose to prominence for building [#x2dc]a financial architecture that supported the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan against the Russians. [#x2dc]Its this financial architecture that continued with him when he turned to terrorism, and its this financial architecture that is at the heart of how al Qaeda today gets its finances, he said. Much of that architecture, according to French, Pakistani and American investigators, is modeled on the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI)¦. In the 1980s it was used to launder drug money, harbor terrorist funds and buy illegal weapons. Its collapse in 1991 was a major global financial scandal. The CIA used BCCI to funnel millions of dollars to the fighters battling the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Bin Laden had accounts in the bank, U.S. officials said¦. The BCCI Model A 70-page French intelligence report, prepared for Parliament in October and obtained by The Washington Post, outlined some details of this network. [#x2dc]The financial network of bin Laden, as well as his network of investments, is similar to the network put in place in the 1980s by BCCI for its fraudulent operations, often with the same people (former directors and cadres of the bank and its affiliates, arms merchants oil merchants, Saudi investors), the report said. [#x2dc]The dominant trait of bin Ladens operations is that of a terrorist network backed up by a vast financial structure. A senior U.S. investigator said U.S. agencies were looking into these ties because [#x2dc]they just make so much sense, and so few people from BCCI ever went to jail. BCCI was the mother and father of terrorist financing operations. The report identifies dozens of companies and individuals who were involved with BCCI and were found to be dealing with bin Laden after the bank collapsed. Many went on to work in banks and charities identified by the United States and others as supporting al Qaeda. BCCIs Chief Operations Officer and the man the US Senate Intelligence Committee considered to be oethe most powerful banker in the Middle East, Khalid bin Mahfouz, was let off with a fine and would become a major al Qaeda funder. As the Washington Post report continued: Page 51 The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World War III The Public Record October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST
- 52. oeThe French reporthighlighted the role of Saudi banker Khalid bin Mahfouz, a former director of BCCI, whose sister is married to bin Laden. In 1995 bin Mahfouz paid a $225 million fine in a settlement with U.S. prosecutors for his role in the BCCI scandal and went on to serve as director of the National Commercial Bank, one of Saudi Arabias largest¦. Saudi officials, at the urging of the United States, audited his bank and found that millions of dollars were being funneled through the bank to charities controlled by bin Laden, U.S. officials and the French document said¦. U.S. intelligence officials said Washington pushed for the audit of bin Mahfouzs bank but was never allowed to question him. Saudi officials [#x2dc]werent willing to let us talk to him, said one U.S. source with direct knowledge of events, [#x2dc]and we asked at a very senior level. One vital point that most of the US mainstream media obscured when revealing bin Mahfouz as a key al Qaeda funder was his heavy ongoing involvement with top US officials and oil companies throughout BCCIs reign and after the banks collapse. One of the few outlets to pick up on this was the Boston Herald, who reported in December, 2001: oeTwo billionaire Saudi families scrutinized by authorities for possible financial ties to Osama bin Ladens terrorist network continue to engage in major oil deals with leading U.S. corporations. The bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi clans, who control three private Saudi Arabian oil companies, are partners with U. S. firms in a series of ambitious oil development and pipeline projects in central and south Asia, records show. Working through their companies " Delta (NYSE:DAL) Oil, Nimir Petroleum and Corral Petroleum " the Saudi families have formed international consortiums with U. S. oil giants Texaco, Unocal, Amerada Hess and Frontera Resources. (OOTC:FRTE) These business relationships persist despite evidence that members of the two Saudi families " headed by patriarchs Khalid bin Mahfouz and Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi " have had ties to Islamic charities and companies linked financially to bin Ladens al-Qaeda organization. So far, bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi¦ have been left untouched by the U. S. Treasury Department, which has frozen the assets of 150 individuals, companies and charities suspected of financing terrorism¦. II: oeThe Strategy of the Silk Route & 9/11 One of the worlds richest oil fields is on the eastern shore of the Caspian sea, just northeast of Afghanistan. The Caspian oil reserves are of top strategic importance in the quest to control the earths remaining oil supply. The U.S. government developed a policy called oeThe Strategy of the Silk Route. The strategy was designed to lock out Russia, China, and Iran from the oil in this region. This called for U.S. corporations to construct an oil pipeline running through Afghanistan. Since the mid 1990s, a consortium of US oil companies led by Unocal, which was later bought by Chevron, have been pursuing this goal. The plan was to build a Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline from Turkmenistans natural gas fields to Pakistan. Unocal partnered with Saudi Delta Page 52 The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World War III The Public Record October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST
- 53. Oil, which wasowned by al Qeada funders Khalid bin Mahfouz and Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi, and they formed Central Asia Gas Pipeline, Ltd. (CentGas). A feasibility study for the Central Asian pipeline project was performed by Enron. This study concluded that as long as the country was split among fighting warlords the pipeline could not be built. Stability was necessary for the $4.5 billion project and the US believed that the Taliban would impose the necessary order. U.S. intelligence and Pakistans ISI then continued the close relationship that they established through BCCI and agreed to funnel arms and funding to the Taliban in their war for control of Afghanistan. Until 1999, US taxpayers paid the entire annual salary of every single Taliban government official. The U.S., Saudi and Pakistani alliance established within BCCI reunited to facilitate the rise of the Taliban. The American oil interests at the heart of this pipeline deal took control of the White House on January 20, 2001, when George Bush Jr. became president. As previously mentioned, Enron was heavily involved in this oil deal. Enron CEO Ken Lay was an old Bush family friend and was Bush Jr.s biggest campaign contributor. Donald Rumsfeld, who became the Secretary of Defense, was a large stockholder in Enron. Thomas White, former vice-chairman of Enron, became the Secretary of the Army. Condoleezza Rice, a former Chevron board member, became National Security Advisor and then Secretary of State. A major benefactor of the CentGas deal was going to be Halliburton. (NYSE:HAL) Dick Cheney, who became Vice President, was Halliburtons CEO. Richard Armitage, who worked as a key lobbyist for Unocal, became Under Secretary of State. Hamid Karzai, who would later become Afghanistans Prime Minister, was a top Unocal adviser. Shortly after taking office, the Bush Administration was quickly losing faith in the Talibans ability to control Afghanistan and be a reliable partner in the pipeline deal. James Baker, who was also a key BCCI player, having served as Treasury Secretary, Bush Sr.s Secretary of State and Chief of Staff during BCCIs reign, was a leading player in developing the oeStrategy of the Silk Route. In April 2001, Baker and the Council on Foreign Relations demanded immediate action and publicly released a Task Force Report entitled, oeStrategic Energy Policy Challenges For The 21st Century, by the James A. Baker III Institute. They stressed the urgency of the pipeline project and openly called for the Bush Administration to oequickly facilitate higher exports of oil from the Caspian Basin region? and they reiterated the basic premise of the oeStrategy of the Silk Route, stating, oethe exports from oil discoveries in the Caspian Basin could be hastened if a secure, economical export route could be identified swiftly. That oeexport route, as previously planned, would need to run through Afghanistan and into Pakistan. The tangled web of conflicts of interests within the Bush Administration, oil industry, Taliban and al Qaeda were concisely summed up by investigative reporter Loretta Napoleoni: oeThe CentGas deal never came to fruition. The Talibans inability to commit to any agreement, coupled with public recognition of the exploitive nature of their regime, contributed to its failure. For years, the Taliban skilfully conducted simultaneous negotiations with two potential oil companies: Argentinean Bridas [later bought by BP] and Unocal/CentGas. Both companies showered the Taliban with gifts and money, flying their delegations to the US to win them over. On one occasion, a group of Taliban met high-ranking executives of Unocal in Texas. Parties, dinners and trips to the local Page 53 The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World War III The Public Record October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST
- 54. shopping malls wereorganized. At the same time, Zalmay Khalizad, who was working for Unocal, lobbied the Clinton administration to [#x2dc]engage with the Taliban. The press reported some of these [#x2dc]informal meetings between US officials and rulers of Afghanistan: [#x2dc]Senior Taliban leaders attended a conference in Washington in mid-1996 and US diplomats regularly traveled to Taliban headquarters, wrote the Guardian¦. [#x2dc]The United States wants good ties [with the Taliban] but cant openly seek them while women are oppressed, reported CNN. None the less, negotiations carried on more or less openly until 1998, when bin Ladens associates bombed US embassies in Africa. Clinton launched cruise missiles at bin Ladens supposed whereabouts in Afghanistan, an act that convinced the oil lobby that, for the moment, the pipeline deal could not go ahead¦. Corporate America continued to do business with people who supported Islamist insurgency. The oil industry, in particular, continues to be run by a very small group of American and Saudi families with close financial relations. Among them were the Bush family, the bin Laden family and Osama bin Ladens Saudi sponsors. The ties among these people go back a long way¦. Naturally, as soon as George W. Bush was elected president, Unocal and BP-Amoco, which had in the meantime bought Bridas, the Argentinean rival, started once again to lobby the administration, among whom were several of their former employees. Unocal knew that Bush was ready to back them and resumed the consortium negotiations. In January 2001, it began discussions with the Taliban, backed by members of the Bush administration among whom was Under Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who had previously worked as a lobbyist for Unocal. The Taliban, for their part, employed as their PR officer in the US Laila Helms, niece of Richard Helms, [BCCI player] former director of the CIA and former US ambassador to Iran. In March 2001, Helms succeeded in bringing Rahmatullah Hashami, Mullah Omars adviser, to Washington¦. As late as August 2001, meetings were held in Pakistan to discuss the pipeline business¦. While negotiations were underway, the US was secretly making plans to invade Afghanistan. The Bush Administration and its oil sponsors were losing patience with the Taliban; they wanted to get the Central Asian gas pipeline going as soon as possible. The [#x2dc]Strategy of the Silk Route had been resumed¦. Paradoxically, 11 September provided the Washington with a casus belli to invade Afghanistan and establish a pro American government in the country. When, a few weeks after the attack, the leaders of the two Pakistani Islamist parties negotiated with Mullah Omar and bin Laden for the latters extradition to Pakistan to stand trial for the 11 September attacks, the US refused the offer. Back in 1996, the Sudanese Minister of Defence, Major General Elfaith Erwa, had also offered to extradite Osama bin Laden, then resident in Sudan, to the US. American officials declined the offer at that time as well. [#x2dc]Just dont let him go to Somalia, they added¦. When Erwa disclosed that he was going to Afghanistan, the American answer was [#x2dc]let him go¦. In November 2001¦ Hamid Karzai was elected [Afghanistans] prime minister¦. Yet very few people remember that during the 1990s Karzai was involved in negotiations with the Taliban regime for the construction of a Central Asian gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through western Afghanistan to Pakistan. At that time he was a top adviser and lobbyist for Unocal¦ In the early 1990s, thanks to his [Karzai's] excellent contacts with the ISI, he moved to the US Page 54 The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World War III The Public Record October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST
- 55. where he cooperatedwith the CIA and the ISI in supporting the Talibans political adventure. President Bushs special envoy to the newly formed Afghanistan state is a man named Zalmay Khalilzad, another former employee of Unocal. In 1997, he produced a detailed analysis of the risks involved in the construction of the Central Asian gas pipeline. Khalilzad also worked as a lobbyist for Unocal and therefore knows Karzai very well. In the 1980s¦ President Reagan named Khalilzad special adviser to the State Department; it was thanks to his influence that the US accelerated the shipment of military aid to the Mujahedin. Yet another interesting conflict of interest: the Chairman of the 9/11 Commission investigation was Thomas Kean. Kean was also a key player in this pipeline deal as a director of Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) , which was in a joint venture called Delta Oil, with Khalid Bin Mahfouz and Mohammed Hussein al Amoudi. It is also important to mention that James Baker, who had a lead role in developing the oeStrategy of the Silk Route and BCCI operations, was hired by these same BCCI/Saudi/al Qaeda oil interests to defend them against lawsuits brought by families of 9/11 victims. As mentioned in the last chapter, George Bush Sr.s role in the BCCI Affair cannot be overstated. Even George Bush Jr. had oil companies that were funded by these same BCCI/Saudi/al Qaeda interests. To make matters even worse, the same person who played a pivotal role in covering-up and derailing investigations into BCCI at the Justice Department, was the person who was put in charge of the FBI on September 4, 2001, Robert Mueller " and he is still running the FBI under Obama. In summation, the CentGas oil consortium that connected all of these interests with Bush Jr.s administration are undeniably suspect, at best. All of these players and interests are so incestuous that the heated debate over whether or not 9/11 was an inside job is almost irrelevant when you understand the history behind it. Whether it was an attack by al Qaeda or a false flag covert intelligence operation to win public support and trillions of taxpayer dollars for the never-ending oeWar on Terror and control of Central Asian oil is essentially a non-issue. The main point, which cannot be legitimately argued, is that 9/11 would never have happened if it wasnt for an out-of-control intelligence apparatus, and we now know the people who were operating that intelligence apparatus. All of the players involved were part of the same banking intelligence network known as BCCI. Al Qaeda and 9/11 were a direct outgrowth and evolution of BCCI intelligence operations. It was the same people, continuing to do what they had been doing all along, except this time their target was on US soil. And this same out-of-control intelligence apparatus was the biggest beneficiary of 9/11, having had their funding budgets more than doubled since the attack. Knowing how uncontrollable the intelligence world was leading up to 9/11, lets look again at this report from the Washington Post: oeThe top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work¦. After nine years of unprecedented spending and growth, the result is that the system Page 55 The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World War III The Public Record October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST
- 56. put in placeto keep the United States safe is so massive that its effectiveness is impossible to determine¦. The U.S. intelligence budget is vast, publicly announced last year as $75 billion, 2 1/2 times the size it was on Sept. 10, 2001. But the figure doesnt include many military activities or domestic counterterrorism programs. III: The Road to World War III The war for a pipeline to extract oil from the Caspian Sea is far from over. China, a country US oil interests were determined to block out of the region, has been making moves to take control and has clearly established the upper hand. In a TomDispatch report entitled, oePipelineistans New Silk Road, Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar reports: oeFuture historians may well agree that the twenty-first century Silk Road first opened for business on December 14, 2009. That was the day a crucial stretch of pipeline officially went into operation linking the fabulously energy-rich state of Turkmenistan (via Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) to Xinjiang Province in Chinas far west¦. The bottom line is that, by 2013, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong will be cruising to ever more dizzying economic heights courtesy of natural gas supplied by the 1,833-kilometer-long Central Asia Pipeline, then projected to be operating at full capacity¦. When the Bush administrations armchair generals launched their Global War on Terror, this was not exactly what they had in mind. Meanwhile, in the New Great Game in Eurasia, China had the good sense not to¦ get bogged down in an infinite quagmire in Afghanistan. Instead, the Chinese simply made a direct commercial deal with Turkmenistan and, profiting from that countrys disagreements with Moscow, built itself a pipeline which will provide much of the natural gas it needs. No wonder the Obama administrations Eurasian energy czar Richard Morningstar was forced to admit at a congressional hearing that the U.S. simply cannot compete with China when it comes to Central Asias energy wealth. If only he had delivered the same message to the Pentagon¦. If China has so far proven masterly in the way it has played its cards in its Pipelineistan [#x2dc]war, the U.S. hand " bypass Russia, elbow out China, isolate Iran " may soon be called for what it is: a bluff. If you have wondered why so many US/NATO/private military troops have been deployed to the Af-Pak region, just consider that China, which shares a border with Pakistan and Afghanistan, has also begun moving troops into the region (it is also important to note that Iran is surrounded by Afghanistan and Iraq). As a New York Times report stated: oe[Pakistan] is handing over de facto control of the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region in the northwest corner of disputed Kashmir to China. The entire Pakistan-occupied western portion of Kashmir stretching from Gilgit in the north to Azad (Free) Kashmir in the south is closed to the world, in contrast to the media access that India permits in the eastern part, where it is combating a Pakistan-backed insurgency. But reports from a variety of Page 56 The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World War III The Public Record October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST
- 57. foreign intelligence sources¦reveal two important new developments in Gilgit-Baltistan: a simmering rebellion against Pakistani rule and the influx of an estimated 7,000 to 11,000 soldiers of the [Chinese] Peoples Liberation Army. China wants a grip on the region to assure unfettered road and rail access to the Gulf through Pakistan. It takes 16 to 25 days for Chinese oil tankers to reach the Gulf. When high-speed rail and road links through Gilgit and Baltistan are completed, China will be able to transport cargo from Eastern China to the new Chinese-built Pakistani naval bases at Gwadar, Pasni and Ormara, just east of the Gulf, within 48 hours. As the war in Afghanistan continues to escalate over the border into Pakistan, you can be assured that China, Russia and Iran will become more militarily involved in defense of their regions resources. Pakistan is already becoming increasingly hostile to an escalation of US drone and NATO strikes within its borders, and have even begun to openly aid the Taliban by cutting off key NATO supply lines. Pakistan has also recently deployed anti-aircraft missiles on its border with Afghanistan. Current intelligence leads one to conclude that the war will continue to expand further into Pakistan, which will lead to China and Iran becoming more involved in what is essentially a proxy war against US/NATO/private military forces. The bottom line, and one of the main themes of this book, is that we have entered a period of major wars over declining resources. The Af-Pak operations are only initial moves in an attempt to control the earths remaining oil supply. Any talks of troop withdrawals from the Af-Pak region and Iraq are psychological operations. US/NATO/private military contractors are still in the process of building the worlds largest military bases in this region, they are not going to abandon these newly constructed mega-bases. These bases are designed to be operational and, as oil continues to become more scarce, they will be used to militarily control the remaining supply throughout this region. Chris Martenson, a former Vice President at intelligence company SAIC, recently wrote the following in an analysis entitled, oeFuture Chaos: There Is No [#x2dc]Plan B: oeThe future is likely to be more chaotic than you probably think. This was the primary conclusion that I came to after attending the most recent Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas (ASPO) in Washington, DC in October, 2010¦. The impact of Peak Oil on markets, lifestyles, and even national solvency deserves our very highest attention¦. Rear Admiral Lawrence Rice¦ presented the findings of the 2010 Joint Operating Environment (a forward-looking document examining the trends, contexts, and implications for future joint force commanders in the US military), which spends 76 pages summarizing the key trends and threats of the world¦. Peak Oil dominates the discussion. Among the conclusions (on page 29), we find this: [#x2dc]By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 MBD. The Joint Operating Environment report goes on to reveal: Page 57 The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World War III The Public Record October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST
- 58. oeTo meet climbingglobal requirements, OPEC will have to increase its output from 30 MBD to at least 50 MBD. Significantly, no OPEC nation, except perhaps Saudi Arabia, is investing sufficient sums in new technologies and recovery methods to achieve such growth. Some, like Venezuela and Russia, are actually exhausting their fields to cash in on the bonanza created by rapidly rising oil prices¦. A severe energy crunch is inevitable without a massive expansion of production and refining capacity. While it is difficult to predict precisely what economic, political, and strategic effects such a shortfall might produce, it surely would reduce the prospects for growth in both the developing and developed worlds¦. Increasing OPEC output up to 50 MBD from the current level of 30 MBD is simply not possible, in fact its absurd to even consider that as a possibility. Once you disregard that, as the report states, oeA severe energy crunch is inevitable. To make matters even worse, we are much more likely to see a steady decline in output. So war with Pakistan, China, Russia and Iran, along with continued military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, is increasingly probable, and their planned strategy. Their strategy becomes all the more apparent when you consider the ramp up in military exercises and drills around China, which has included a series of massive 86,000-troop war games throughout the Korean Peninsula. Add in the recent record-setting $123 Billion in weapons sales to Gulf nations, with Saudi Arabia getting $67.8 Billion in weapons, which was the largest US arms deal ever. Israel also recently purchased 20 F-35 fighter jets for $2.5 billion, and has recently conducted their largest ever joint military exercises with the US. [See Moves Upon the Grand Chessboard for more information. In the next part of this series, we will take a close look at how Iraq fits into this picture.] Now that we have a basic understanding of how much effort has gone into controlling Middle East and Caspian oil, and as demand for oil increases as production decreases, we can easily see how this is going to become an increasingly dangerous and hostile situation. If we stay on this present course, the oeStrategy of the Silk Route leads us straight down the road to World War III. IV: War Racket: The Global Banking Intelligence Complex Business Plan One of the reactions a person may have after learning this information, is to believe that perhaps these wars to control the earths remaining oil supply are beneficial to the US population. It may even eventually be a clever propaganda strategy to paint these wars as preserving the American way of life and our standard of living by obtaining these vital resources. Coming to this belief would be tremendously naïve. As recent history has proved, US oil interests and the bankers behind them are global in nature and they dont have any loyalty to the American people. As their actions have clearly demonstrated, they use the oil, and the obscene profits obtained from it, for their own short-sighted personal gain, at the brutal expense of the overwhelming majority of humanity and at the extraordinary expense of the earths ecosystem. Americans are shielded from the enormous inhumanity of millions of maimed and dead bodies as a result of their addiction to power. If these wars continue to escalate, they will inevitably Page 58 The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World War III The Public Record October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST
- 59. lead to moreattacks on American soil. The profits from these wars are also a primary driving factor in having them in the first place, and is a major incentive to keep them going. Billions of taxpayer dollars are thrown around in the oefog of war, in what is called a oefree-fraud zone. The military companies and the bankers behind them reap huge profits in the process. So fighting these highly profitable wars, for highly profitable resources, is the ultimate win-win situation, and the deliberately chosen business model for the Global Banking Intelligence Complex. A point that clearly demonstrates the parasitic nature and pure insanity of this: the worlds #1 polluter and consumer of oil is the US/NATO/private military machine. So while they so desperately fight for oil, they are burning up significant amounts of it in the process. The fact that the average American never gets the information presented in this report via mainstream media proves how tightly controlled the corporate media is. It also clearly demonstrates the blatant fact that the Global Banking Cartel doesnt want American citizens to have even a basic understanding of geo-strategic interests and how power really functions. Above all, the American public must be kept in its place, as the cartel emphatically believes that they are the kings and we are the serfs, and it is none of our business how they conduct themselves. If you are not already a multi-millionaire or billionaire, you have now been marked for either servitude or slow death. That is a very harsh truth, but in the new world of declining resources, looted economies and environmental upheaval, this is the unfortunate reality of the situation. Until the American public can wake up to this new reality, turn off the television and fight back, our living standards will continue to decline at an increasing rate. ~~ The next part of this series will be posted in a few days. Stay tuned for oeThe Covert Origins of the Iraq War: BCCI, Kissinger Associates, SAIC, & Robert Gates. David DeGraw, a regular contributor to The Public Record, is an investigative journalist whose work has been featured in numerous publications and websites. He is the founder and editor of AmpedStatus.com, editorial director of MediaChannel.org and author of The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States. To be notified via email about further articles from this series, subscribe here. href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpubrecord.org%2Fspecial-to-the-public- Newstex ID: PBRC-5083-49955818 SUBJECT: RELIGION (93%); TERRORISM (93%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (91%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (90%); LAW ENFORCEMENT (90%); SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE FORCES (90%); INVESTIGATIONS (90%); POLITICS (90%); WAR & CONFLICT (90%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (90%); EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (65%); OIL SERVICES INDUSTRY (79%); INTERNATIONAL LAW (77%); INTELLIGENCE SERVICES (76%); ESPIONAGE (76%); COUNTERTERRORISM (76%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (75%); BANKING & FINANCE (75%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (74%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (73%); NATIONAL SECURITY (71%); KIDNAPPING & ABDUCTION (69%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (65%); LOBBYING (65%); SHOOTINGS (64%); LEGISLATORS (64%); FIRES (60%); POLITICAL PARTIES (60%); RIOTS (60%); AL-QAEDA (90%) Special to The Public Record;af-pak;Afghanistan; Page 59 The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World War III The Public Record October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST
- 60. Pakistan;war; GeoCodes; Asia;unrest; conflicts and war; crime; law and justice; politics; religion and belief; disaster and accident; economy; business and finance; North America; environmental issues; Europe; Africa; Events; Global; United States; Afghanistan; Pakistan; China; Iran; Russia; Turkmenistan; Iraq; Saudi Arabia; Hong Kong; Uzbekistan; India; Kazakhstan; law enforcement; crime; international law; islam; civil unrest; armed conflict; terrorism; conflict (general); war; man-made disaster; government; defense; espionage and intelligence; diplomacy; treaties and international organisations; election; national legislature; lobbying; United States of America; energy and resources; financial and business services; company information; finance (general); energy use and policy; Russia; Kazakhstan; Major Contracts; Somalia; Sudan; Middle East; Asia; Far East; Pacific Rim; Arabian Peninsula; Europe; Eastern Europe; Africa; Western Europe; rebellions and revolutions; terrorist attack; terrorism; anti-terror; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); investigation; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Islamic politics; banking and law; Intifada and jihad; public officials; government departments; national government; executive (government); armed forces; national security; alliances; energy resources; oil and gas; natural gas; banking; commercial contracts COMPANY: DELTA AIR LINES INC; FRONTERA RESOURCES CORP.; HALLIBURTON CO; HESS CORPORATION ORGANIZATION: AL-QAEDA (91%); CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (90%); FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (59%) TICKER: DAL (NYSE); FRTE (OOTC); HAL (NYSE); HES (NYSE) PERSON: CONDOLEEZZA RICE (59%); RONALD REAGAN (59%); DICK CHENEY (59%); GEORGE W BUSH (59%); OSAMA BIN LADEN (83%) THOMAS H KEAN; Richard Bruce Cheney; Ronald Wilson Reagan; Condoleezza Rice; Donald Henry Rumsfeld; George W. Bush GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) UNITED STATES (95%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); EUROPE (93%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (93%); PAKISTAN (93%); ASIA (92%); AFRICA (92%); KAZAKHSTAN (92%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); TURKMENISTAN (79%); UZBEKISTAN (79%); IRAQ (79%); SOMALIA (79%); SAUDI ARABIA (79%); CHINA (79%); WESTERN EUROPE (79%); SUDAN (79%); HONG KONG (79%); GULF STATES (79%); NORTH AMERICA (79%); EASTERN EUROPE (51%) LOAD-DATE: October 21, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other Page 60 The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World War III The Public Record October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST
- 61. guarantees will beoffered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2010 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2010 The Public Record Page 61 The Covert Origins of the Af-Pak War: The Road to World War III The Public Record October 21, 2010 Thursday 3:57 PM EST
- 62. 18 of 214DOCUMENTS CCPA Monitor July 2009 - August 2009 REAPING THE RESULTS OF IDEOLOGICAL FOLLY: Afghanistan troubles flow from perverse U.S. foreign policy BYLINE: Dobbin, Murray. (Murray Dobbin is the author of several best-selling books, a freelance writer and commentator, and a member of the CCPA's board of directors.) SECTION: Pg. 43 Vol. 16 No. 3 ISSN: 1198-497X LENGTH: 962 words The outpouring of Western anger and shock last spring over a new Afghan law that legalized marital rape demonstrates how out of touch Western countries are with the monster they have created in that benighted country. No one with intimate knowledge of the situation in Afghanistan is surprised that President Hamid Karzai would support such a law. After all, he wants to be re-elected in August and to do so he must support his base: the warlords who defeated the Taliban and for whom Islamic fundamentalism is an article of both faith and power. Both sides of the conflict are fundamentalist Islamic and heavily armed. There is nothing else. Indeed, while outrage pressed Karzai to say he'd withdraw the law, many doubt he'll follow through. In the meantime, he has taken one more step towards the logical conclusion of his presidency by choosing Mohammad Qasim Fahim as his vice-presidential running mate. A powerful Tajik former warlord, Fahim is on America's "most wanted" list of terrorists, and, according to Human Rights Watch, has "the blood of many Afghans on his hands." Virtually everything that now plagues Afghanistan is "blowback" - the CIA term for the unintended consequences of previous policies -from the U.S.-sponsored war against the Soviets in the 1990s. But so far there's no sign the Obama administration - or Stephen Harper's - understands what they are facing, or why. The Karzai government is corrupt because it could not possibly have been anything else. Karzai, after all, was handpicked by the U.S. to give a democratic facade to their occupation, then assisted in his effort to get elected president. But now the U.S. has given up completely on creating a Western-style democracy, and just wants a way out, so Karzai has become the problem, not the solution. It's hard to get a reliable puppet these days. Once you put one in place and teach him how to get reelected, he wants to stay. The neo-con geniuses behind the invasion of Afghanistan were strong on ideology, but utterly ignorant when it came to history and Afghan political culture. They Page 62
- 63. really thought itwould be easy, and that's why Karzai seemed a good bet. A former consultant for U.S. oil giant Unocal, Karzai was part of the late 1990s negotiations between the Taliban and Unocal for a gas pipeline through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India. The US. was negotiating with the Taliban until four months before 9-11. They thought a quick victory would put the pipeline back on the agenda. Karzai, however, had literally no political base among the competing tribes in the country. And it is the tribes that fill the "civil society" vacuum in Afghanistan. His support was American money and military force, and Afghan opium producers. Now that the Americans want him out, political support comes almost exclusively from the warlords and opium producers. But the root of corruption in Afghanistan is not Hamid Karzai. It is the determination of the U.S. to ensure that no future elected government will take democratic governance seriously. While fighting their so-called "war on terror" and its Islamic fundamentalist ideology, the Americans are even more determined to block the establishment of a government that would stand for the national interests of the country. That sort of government was entrenched in the articles of the secular constitution established in 1964. But the U.S. changed that constitution soon after the invasion, and it now states that Islam is supreme: that no laws can violate "the sacred religion of Islam." The new Political Parties Law also states that political parties cannot pursue policies that are "contrary to Islam," which meant that secular parties were effectively excluded from the 2005 parliamentary elections. The results were predictable: 133 of the 249 members elected to the House of the People had fought in the vicious internecine mujahideen war which virtually destroyed Kabul and fostered the creation of the Taliban. According to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, "80% of winning candidates in the provinces and more than 60% in Kabul have links to armed groups." The U.S.-sponsored mujahideen war against the Soviets eliminated thousands of former communist government officials. Communists they may have been, but they were also secularists who established a functioning national government with actual social programs, education budgets, human rights (including women's rights) and health care, as well as a professional army. Many of the secular figures in- volved ended up dead in the Cold War fury unleashed by the U.S. through its proxy fanatics. Civil society was effectively destroyed. Any state that followed would, by definition, be Islamic. Given the results of the 2005 election, the absence of any significant secular culture to draw on, and the need for some semblance of security, Karzai ended up appointing some of the most vicious warlords in the country to senior government posts. To call this a government at all is misleading. Dan Everts, the former NATO special representative in Afghanistan, believes that the U.S. consciously sabotaged genuinely democratic government. And when you set up government to fail, you get corruption because government is then seen as simply a way of accumulating personal wealth and power. The notion that 21,000 more US. troops, backed by social workers, community developers and police trainers, are going to change things is delusional. Corruption and Islamic authoritarianism are now effectively enshrined in Afghanistan's constitution and the culture, courtesy of U.S. foreign policy. Page 63 REAPING THE RESULTS OF IDEOLOGICAL FOLLY: Afghanistan troubles flow from perverse U.S. foreign policy CCPA Monitor July 2009 - August 2009
- 64. SIDEBAR "Virtually everything thatnow plagues Afghanistan is 'blowback' - a CIA term for the unintended consequences of previous policies - from the U.S.-sponsored war against the Soviets." SUBJECT: MUSLIMS & ISLAM (90%); PUBLIC POLICY (90%); RELIGION (90%); FOREIGN POLICY (90%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (90%); PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (89%); US PRESIDENTS (77%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (76%); FUNDAMENTALISM (75%); TERRORISM (75%); HUMAN RIGHTS (73%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (64%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (60%); OPIUM (50%) Foreign policy; Presidents; Corruption in government; Invasions PERSON: Karzai, Hamid GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (95%); AFGHANISTAN (95%); INDIA (79%); PAKISTAN (79%); CANADA (79%) United States--US; Afghanistan LOAD-DATE: July 29, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 55171 DOCUMENT-TYPE: News PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newsletter JOURNAL-CODE: CCPA Copyright 2009 ProQuest Information and Learning All Rights Reserved Copyright 2009 Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Page 64 REAPING THE RESULTS OF IDEOLOGICAL FOLLY: Afghanistan troubles flow from perverse U.S. foreign policy CCPA Monitor July 2009 - August 2009
- 65. 19 of 214DOCUMENTS Charleston Gazette (West Virginia) April 11, 2010, Sunday Afghan problems mount BYLINE: William Pfaff SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. P3C LENGTH: 939 words PARIS - Washington once again finds itself dangerously entangled with the hostile policies, nationalistic interests and supporters, and personal ambitions of a foreign figure whom it counted on to serve American interests. This time it is in Afghanistan, the latest in what, alas, must be described as America's quasi-imperial foreign military adventures. This is a country to which the United States, at stupendous cost, and with stupendous effort, is transporting the greater part of the huge logistical and war-fighting apparatus it has deployed over the last seven years in Iraq. It occurs at just the moment when Iraq's situation - which none (save the surviving admirers of George W. Bush) dare call victory - is threatening to come apart. Negotiations over the formation of a new government in Iraq have, for weeks now, been accompanied by bombings and suicide attacks, clearly political in nature, which imply the possibility of an eventual resumption of communal violence in that tragic country. Shiite political figures have conferred in Iran (where they believe they are safe from American eavesdropping) on the formation of a new government, which inevitably will be Shiite-dominated. Iraq under the Sunni tyrant Saddam Hussein, and his Baath Party, was invaded by the United States (at Israel's urging!) because it was considered a major threat to American interests and security (and in Israel's case, allegedly to its very existence). The thought that the invasion would eventually turn Iraq into a quasi-satellite of Shiite Iran seems the last thing anyone considered at the time. Nor is it clear today what is going to happen to the huge American military-base complexes, and the "enduring" U.S. troop commitments, grudgingly negotiated with the previous Maliki government in a status of forces agreement, supposedly so they could remain in a sovereign Iraq. It all has happened before - in every significant military intervention of the United States since the Korean War (which never was won by the U.S. - or by South Korea's Syngman Rhee; it merely has been suspended for the past half-century). Page 65
- 66. It happened inVietnam and Cambodia. The independent-minded leaders of those countries at the time of American intervention in Indochina in 1955 - the Catholic nationalist President Ngo Dinh Diem in Vietnam and the neutralist Prince Norodom Sihanouk in Cambodia - were both overturned by American-inspired military coups (and in Diem's case, killed). Their successors were American-appointed generals told to fight the Communists. All were eventually defeated (and the United States as well). It happened repeatedly in the Caribbean, where, before the rise of Fidel Castro, the U.S. put in place dictators friendly to American business interests, who then turned against Washington. The most recent was Gen. Manuel Noriega, a onetime CIA "asset." The United States had to go to war with Panama in 1989 to get Noriega out of Panama and into a Miami prison on fraud and drug-dealing charges. President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan last Thursday told his country's parliament that American and other Western governments, together with officials of the United Nations, were responsible for the widespread fraud that occurred in Afghanistan's presidential campaign and election last year, and indeed that they were continuing to undermine his government. A U.N.-led Electoral Complaints Commission had disqualified nearly a million votes cast for Karzai, thereby depriving him of an outright majority in last year's vote. This attack by Karzai on his former Western sponsors came four days after U.S. President Obama personally visited Kabul to urge a crackdown by the Karzai government on the corruption supposedly provoking the Taliban rebellion in Afghanistan. The Afghan uprising has by now led to insurrectionary episodes by Pakistani Taliban against the Pakistan army and government, and last weekend, an assault upon the U.S. Consulate in the northern Pakistan city of Peshawar. The attack employed a truck bomb and rockets, and killed several Pakistani security officials. Karzai told his parliament that the U.S.-led NATO military coalition now in his country - being enlarged by land, sea and air with every passing day - is close to finding itself looked upon in Afghanistan as an invasion force. That would lend even further support to the opinion held by many Afghans that the Taliban are fighting to save their country. He earlier had said that the United States has designs on Afghanistan's sovereignty, planning permanent military bases there and the use of Afghan territory for a pipeline route that would avoid the ex-Soviet states while carrying Central Asian energy to ships in the Arabian Sea. Such negotiations reportedly did take place before 2001, after the Soviet invasion ended and when the Taliban initially governed Afghanistan. The Taliban government was approached by the American Unocal company (now part of Chevron), and Karzai is plausibly reported as having been a consultant to Unocal. He says he was working in association with the U.S. government at that time to defeat the Taliban government. The obvious if unwelcome conclusion of this is that American security is better Page 66 Afghan problems mount Charleston Gazette (West Virginia) April 11, 2010, Sunday
- 67. found in anAmerican foreign policy of military disengagement from the affairs of other societies, leaving them, and their own leaders, to search for their own solutions to their own problems. The American nation within its borders can safely be said invulnerable to military or terrorist defeat. That cannot be said of its forces, or its national honor, committed elsewhere. Pfaff is a columnist for the International Herald Tribune. SUBJECT: MUSLIMS & ISLAM (90%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); KOREAN WAR (76%); MILITARY OPERATIONS (76%); COUPS (75%); HEADS OF STATE & GOVERNMENT (73%); ESPIONAGE (71%); APPOINTMENTS (68%); SUICIDE BOMBINGS (68%) PERSON: GEORGE W BUSH (56%); SADDAM HUSSEIN (55%); FIDEL CASTRO (50%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (99%); IRAQ (94%); CAMBODIA (92%); ISRAEL (92%); AFGHANISTAN (92%); IRAN (92%); VIETNAM (92%); NORTH KOREA (79%); CARIBBEAN ISLANDS (79%); SOUTH KOREA (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (92%); VIET NAM (92%); KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF (79%); KOREA, REPUBLIC OF (79%) LOAD-DATE: April 12, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2010 Charleston Newspapers Page 67 Afghan problems mount Charleston Gazette (West Virginia) April 11, 2010, Sunday
- 68. 20 of 214DOCUMENTS Boise Weekly (Idaho) September 29, 2010 - October 5, 2010 PIPELINE STILL A DREAM BYLINE: Rall, Ted SECTION: OPINION; Pg. 7 Vol. 19 No. 14 LENGTH: 1130 words ABSTRACT KARA-TEPE, AFGHANISTAN- There is no pipeline. There probably won't be one. Yet the pipeline-that-will-never-exist is one of the main reasons that hundreds of thousands of Afghans and 2,000 American soldiers are dead. Among my goals during my late-summer trip to Afghanistan was to find the construction site for the Trans-Afghanistan oil and gas pipeline (TAP). Also known as TurkmenistanAfghanistan-Pakistan, TAP would carry the world's largest new energy reserves, which are in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan's sections of the landlocked Caspian Sea, across Afghanistan to a deep-sea port in Pakistan. Some background: The last Bush-Taliban pipeline discussions took place on Aug. 2, 2001, in Islamabad between Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca, a former CIA employee, and Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan. The 9/1 1 attacks, planned in Pakistan and carried out by Pakistani-trained Saudis and Egyptians, provided the pretext for invading Afghanistan. Was TAP the only motivation? Certainly not: Afghanistan also offered a "dry run" invasion of a defenseless Muslim nation pre-Iraq, as well as a chance to exert geopolitical muscle-flexing at the expense of regional rivals Russia and Iran. But TAP was part of the calculus. "That's not an oil pipeline," I told my driver. "What we're looking for is big. I made a big circle with my arms. "BIIIGG." FULL TEXT Presidents and bankers, but no action on the ground KARA-TEPE, AFGHANISTAN- There is no pipeline. There probably won't be one. Yet the pipeline-that-will-never-exist is one of the main reasons that hundreds of thousands of Afghans and 2,000 American soldiers are dead. Among my goals during my late-summer trip to Afghanistan was to find the construction site for the Trans-Afghanistan oil and gas pipeline (TAP). Also known as TurkmenistanAfghanistan-Pakistan, TAP would carry the world's largest new energy reserves, which are in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan's sections of the landlocked Caspian Sea, across Afghanistan to a deep-sea port in Pakistan. Some background: The idea dates to the mid-1990s. Unocal, owner of the Union 76 gas station chain, led a consortium of oil companies that negotiated with the Taliban Page 68
- 69. government. Among theirconsultants was Zalmay Khalilzad, who later served as President George W. Bush's ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Nations. As you'd expect, political instability has been the primary obstacle preventing a New Silk Road of oil and gas to flow across Central and South Asia. The planned route for TAP follows Afghanistan's ring road from the northwestern city of Herat across soaring mountains and bleak deserts through Kandahar province, the heart of Taliban territory. Hundreds of warlords and regional commanders would have to be paid protection money. Unocal pulled out in 1998, citing the civil war between the Taliban and Northern Alliance. But logic can't kill a dream. In February 2001 the new Bush-Cheney administration invited Taliban representatives to Texas for new talks. When the Afghans insisted upon higher transit fees than the White House oilmen were prepared to offer, things turned ugly. "Either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold," a frustrated U.S. negotiator snapped at the Talibs on May 15, 2001, "or we bury you under a carpet of bombs." The last Bush-Taliban pipeline discussions took place on Aug. 2, 2001, in Islamabad between Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca, a former CIA employee, and Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan. The 9/1 1 attacks, planned in Pakistan and carried out by Pakistani-trained Saudis and Egyptians, provided the pretext for invading Afghanistan. Was TAP the only motivation? Certainly not: Afghanistan also offered a "dry run" invasion of a defenseless Muslim nation pre-Iraq, as well as a chance to exert geopolitical muscle-flexing at the expense of regional rivals Russia and Iran. But TAP was part of the calculus. Since 2002 the presidents of Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan have repeatedly met to talk about TAP. The Asian Development Bank has financed feasibility studies for the $8 billion deal. Politicians want the pipeline. Bankers want it, too. But has ground been broken? A number of mainstream news accounts said yes, that the 52 -inch pipe was already being laid along the highway that runs north from Herat to the Turkmen border. I wanted confirmation and photos. Something to shove in the faces of those neocons who dismiss TAP as a conspiracy theory. Unfortunately, all the journalists in Afghanistan are embedded with soldiers, running around the mountains near the Pakistani border in a war that is irrelevant to the Afghan people but looks good on the nightly news. They're too busy supporting the troops to do any real reporting. So, accompanied by fellow cartoonists Matt Bors and Steven Cloud, I set out up that road from Herat two weeks ago. My goal: the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline. It's a hot, dusty drive. There isn't much to see: desert, scrub, goatherds, adobe-style mudbrick villages. The Koshk District, the region's major population center, is so infested with Talibs that Afghan national policemen are afraid to drive through. I can tell you what you don't see: the Trans- Afghanistan Pipeline. There's no construction of any kind Page 69 PIPELINE STILL A DREAM Boise Weekly (Idaho) September 29, 2010 - October 5, 2010
- 70. alongside that highway. Westopped locals to ask them about TAP. Finally, one geezer brightened up. He'd seen it. Our Afghan driver got excited. He turned to us: "It was here! But the local people stole it." "They stole the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline?" "Yes! They used it to make a mosque. He is going to show us." I was happy. What a story! I took out my camera, ready to document the amazing tale of the Our Lady of TAP mosque, indirectly financed by American hubris. We followed the man down an alley and across a small garden. He walked us into what can only be described as a modest building. He gestured. "There it is," said his gesture. There, indeed it was: a dumpy little building, which I'll call a mosque though there was no way to identify it as a house of God, with pipes holding up the corners and serving as rafters. Small pipes. Very small pipes. Nine-inch pipes, maybe eight. "That's not an oil pipeline," I told my driver. "What we're looking for is big. I made a big circle with my arms. "BIIIGG." He pointed again. He smiled as if to say: Look harder. "This pipeline came from Turkmenistan," said my driver. "I was a boy when the Soviets built it. For oil." "No. This is a water pipe," I said. "Or maybe sewage. Besides, we're looking for something new. Not Soviet." Because it seemed rude not to, I snapped a few photos and tipped the old guy. It was like that scene in Spinal Tap when the mini-Stonehenge drops from the ceiling. I stifled a laugh as we got back into our car. SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (92%); ARMED FORCES (91%); OIL & GAS PIPELINES (90%); CRUDE OIL PIPELINES (90%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (90%); EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (90%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (90%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (89%); US PRESIDENTS (78%); OIL SPILLS (78%); DEVELOPMENT BANKS (73%); POLITICS (72%); GAS STATIONS (71%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (67%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS (50%) Military personnel; Casualties; Oil spills; Pipelines; Presidents; International relations-US PERSON: Bush, George W GEOGRAPHIC: BOISE, ID, USA (92%) CASPIAN SEA (93%); IDAHO, USA (92%) AFGHANISTAN (99%); IRAQ (94%); UNITED STATES (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); IRAN (93%); TURKMENISTAN (93%); ASIA (92%); KAZAKHSTAN (92%); RUSSIA (92%); SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA (79%); SOUTH ASIA (58%) Afghanistan LOAD-DATE: October 13, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH Page 70 PIPELINE STILL A DREAM Boise Weekly (Idaho) September 29, 2010 - October 5, 2010
- 71. ACC-NO: 58899 DOCUMENT-TYPE: Commentary PUBLICATION-TYPE:Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: BSWK Copyright 2010 ProQuest Information and Learning All Rights Reserved Copyright 2010 Boise Weekly Page 71 PIPELINE STILL A DREAM Boise Weekly (Idaho) September 29, 2010 - October 5, 2010
- 72. 21 of 214DOCUMENTS Registan.net October 20, 2010 Wednesday 11:58 AM EST Zalmay Khalilzad: The Worst Sort of Pedantic Scold BYLINE: Joshua Foust LENGTH: 824 words Oct. 20, 2010 (Registan.net delivered by Newstex) -- Zalmay Khalilzad, the former ambassador to Kabul, Baghdad, and the UN, writes in the New York Times: WHEN I visited Kabul a few weeks ago, President Hamid Karzai told me that the United States has yet to offer a credible strategy for how to resolve a critical issue: Pakistan's role in the war in Afghanistan. Not an auspicious start (note the name-dropping, the parachute punditry, the shallow use of an intermediary to frame his argument). Khalilzad goes on to argue that in order to convince the Pakistanis to become constructive partners in resolving the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. must oeoffer Islamabad a stark choice between positive incentives and negative consequences, as if we were an angry school teacher and Pakistan a miscreant child acting out for attention. Khalilzads idea that the U.S. should demand an immediate halt to Pakistans support and sheltering of the insurgency is great, except that the U.S. has been toothlessly demanding that since about 2001 or so, when we consented to the so-called oeAirlift of Evil and proved we wont (more accurately: cannot) take strong action to force their hand. While Khalilzad says a unilateral response to a Pakistani refusal to turn against its allies must involve preparing for a response"say to the closure of supply lines"his ideas of stockpiling and ramping up the NDN are shallow and unworkable in a practical way (the transit countries of the NDN, for example, will react against the large scale importation of weapons and war equipment through their territory). Khalilzads proposals to entice Pakistan into playing along are similarly shallow and unworkable: In exchange for demonstrable Pakistani cooperation, the United States should offer to mediate disputes between Pakistan and Afghanistan; help establish a trade corridor from Pakistan into Central Asia; and ensure that Pakistan's adversaries do not use Afghanistan's territory to support insurgents in Pakistani Baluchistan. Does he not realize that Pakistan stands a better chance of achieving all of Page 72
- 73. those things throughcontinued support to a winning insurgency than it does to a long and drawn out series of reconciliation talks? Theres no incentive for Pakistan to subordinate its dominant position within Afghan power-politics in exchange for a toothless U.S.-led effort; and since the U.S. lacks the means to cut out Pakistan from the process, we dont have any trump cards or credible threats to force their hands. Khalilzad also offers this: More fundamentally, the United States needs to demonstrate that, even after our troops depart Afghanistan, we are resolved to stay engaged in the region. To that end, the United States should provide long-term assistance to Pakistan focused on developing not only its security apparatus, but also its civil society, economy and democratic institutions. Im scratching my head to figure out how our billions of dollars in military assistance, combined with the hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked through Kerry-Lugar, do not do precisely that. Most of Khalilzads ideas are not ideas at all, but rather an advocacy for the continuation of the status quo. That is not in and of itself a bad thing, but his ideas for oetweaking the current state of affairs"more unilateral strikes on Pakistani territory, a general tone of oeforcing Pakistan to do something that is clearly against its interests, and so on"simply dont make any sense. The last nine years of U.S.-Pakistani relations have been variations on that same theme: forcing Pakistan to do things it is not otherwise inclined to do. The result is a strained relationship and deep, perhaps permanent opposition to the U.S. in domestic Pakistani politics. We are worse off because of it. Then again, given Zalmays habit of forcing himself on the region, first by meddling with Karzais early administration and later by conniving Benazir Bhutto into her ill-fated run on Pakistans prime ministership in 2007, and then by publicly trying to insert himself as a proconsul in the Afghan government, none of this is terribly surprising. What is so ridiculous and infuriating about this piece isnt Khalilzads ideas, but rather that a man with such a consistent record of failure, of putting his own personal enrichment ahead of any interests including the U.S. (shall we forget when he was shilling for Unocal and the Taliban while on Unocals payroll in the late 90s?), continues to have a platform and space to insert his toxic ideas into the mix. We are better off ignoring him, not soberly considering his tired old ideas once again. Previously: Zalmays shallow joke of a reading list. Zalmays wretched idea to become oeNational CEO of Afghanistan. Zalmay deliberately undermines President Obamas Afghanistan strategy. Zalmays power-hungry plans to rule Afghanistan. Zalmay tricks Bhutto into returning to Afghanistan. And much, much, much more. Newstex ID: REGI-0001-49901725 SUBJECT: WAR & CONFLICT (90%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (90%); ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (71%); RIOTS (68%) Afghanistan; Asia; GeoCodes; unrest; conflicts and war; North America; Pakistan; Afghanistan; Iraq; Global; United States of America; civil unrest; armed conflict; Asia; Middle East; rebellions and revolutions Page 73 Zalmay Khalilzad: The Worst Sort of Pedantic Scold Registan.net October 20, 2010 Wednesday 11:58 AM EST
- 74. ORGANIZATION: UNITED NATIONS(84%) PERSON: HAMAD KARZAI (58%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (92%); BAGHDAD, IRAQ (73%) UNITED STATES (98%); AFGHANISTAN (98%); PAKISTAN (95%); ASIA (93%); CENTRAL ASIA (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); IRAQ (79%); NORTH AMERICA (79%) LOAD-DATE: October 20, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2010 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2010 Registan.net Page 74 Zalmay Khalilzad: The Worst Sort of Pedantic Scold Registan.net October 20, 2010 Wednesday 11:58 AM EST
- 75. 22 of 214DOCUMENTS Atlantic Free Press December 9, 2009 Wednesday 1:00 AM EST The Audacity of Hype BYLINE: R.W. Behan LENGTH: 1355 words Dec. 9, 2009 (Atlantic Free Press delivered by Newstex) -- by Richard W. Behan President Obamas West Point speech was a brutal disappointment. Arguing to escalate the Afghan war, the President simply parroted the exaggerations, deceptions, and lies George Bush used so effectively in launching it. The similarity, mostly ignored by our mainstream media, was apparent to the foreign press. In Germany the Spiegel Online lamented, oeNever before has a speech by President Obama felt as false as his Tuesday address announcing Americas new strategy for Afghanistan. It seemed like a campaign speech combined with Bush rhetoric? Mr. Obamas overarching untruth was his claim the Afghan war was a direct retaliation for al Qaidas terrorism of 9/11. That was President Bushs assertion as well, but it is intractably false. The commitments to invade and occupy both Iraq and Afghanistan were made by the Bush Administration within weeks of taking office in January of 2001, many months before the terrorist attacks. 9/11 was not the genesis of our adventures in the Middle East, and it did not call for full scale military warfare. Other nations victimized by international terrorism have always relied on police action to apprehend the criminals, but the Bush Administration meant to overthrow regimes instead: only warfare would accomplish that. 9/11 provided the Bush Administration a spectacular alibi for warmaking, and a heaven-sent opportunity to disguise its long-planned scheme of premeditated, unprovoked military aggression. The opportunity was seized in a heartbeat: a oeWar on Terror"fraudulent beyond any conceivable doubt"was invented, and trumpeted incessantly for the rest of George Bushs tenure. Having spoken the overarching untruth, President Obama then repeated the corollary lies: oeWe do not seek to occupy other nations. We will not claim another nations resources. But Mr. Bushs premeditated wars were designed to do exactly those things, and they have been alarmingly successful. Page 75
- 76. The War inIraq We know of a National Security Council memorandum of February 3,2001 addressing ??actions regarding the capture of new and existing oil and gas fields in Iraq. We know Mr. Cheneys oeEnergy Task Force at the same time was scrutinizing maps of the Iraqi oil fields and lists of prospective foreign oil company oesuitors to collaborate with Saddam Husseins oil ministry. (Not a single major oil company from the U.S. or Britain was included.) We know the oeFuture of Iraq policy development program was underway in the State Department a full year before Iraq was invaded; among other things it designed the postwar deconstruction and privatization of Iraqs nationalized oil industry. So the evidence is compelling: we invaded Iraq to gain access to the countrys immense petroleum resources for American and British oil companies. On December 1, 2009, the day of Mr. Obamas Afghanistan speech, a New York Times story reported the wars success in doing so. The story begins: oeMore than six and a half years after the United States-led invasion that many believed was about oil, the major oil companies are finally gaining access to Iraqs petroleum reserves. It tells how British Petroleum (NYSE:BP) will soon be operating in the Rumaila oil field, among the largest on earth, which contains an estimated 17.8 billion barrels of oil. Exxon-Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Royal Dutch/Shell will be working in the West Qurna field"8.6 billion barrels. Californias Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) will be active in the Zubayr field, thought to contain 4.1 billion barrels. Before the end of the year development rights to ten more fields will be auctioned off to the oil companies. President Obama must have missed the story altogether. oeWe will not claim another nations resources, he said at West Point later in the day. The War in Afghanistan Waiting on President Bushs desk when he took office was an offer from the Taliban to surrender Osama bin Laden. It had been negotiated in the final days of the Clinton Administration, a result of the al Qaida attack on the U.S.S. Cole. The Bush Administration refused the offer three times in the nine months before the tragedy of 9/11, as it bargained with the Taliban for pipeline routes across Afghanistan"a project desperately sought by Americas Unocal Corporation. (Unocal has since been absorbed by Chevron/Texaco.) The Bush Administration offered a oecarpet of gold but threatened a oecarpet of bombs, and twice during this period the Administration telegraphed its intent to launch a military action in Afghanistan oebefore the middle of October, if the pipeline negotiations failed. They did fail, on August 2, 2001, at the final negotiating meeting in Islamabad. Six weeks later, on September 11, Osama bin Laden struck once more. The Taliban immediately sweetened the offer to surrender bin Laden: now they would also shut down his bases and training camps if the U.S. would forego a massive retaliatory bombing of Afghanistan. Still the Bush Administration refused, and on October 7, 2001, the carpet of bombs rained down"precisely as the Administration had promised long months before the Trade Towers fell. Soon the Bush Administration installed Hamid Karzai, previously a consultant to the Unocal Corporation, as the head of a provisional government. He signed a contract with President Musharraf of Pakistan for a pipeline across the two countries, and within a year the Bush Administration stood ready to finance its Page 76 The Audacity of Hype Atlantic Free Press December 9, 2009 Wednesday 1:00 AM EST
- 77. construction, through threefederal agencies. And an oil industry trade journal announced ??the United States was willing to police the pipeline infrastructure through permanent stationing of its troops in the region. But the immense pool of Iraqi crude"115 billion barrels"was the ace of trumps. Building and policing the Afghan pipeline was put on hold when Mr. Bush turned his attention to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. During the presidential campaign, candidate Obama criticized the Bush Administration severely for doing this. Iraq was a oedumb war. The important struggle was in Afghanistan, and success was mandatory. President Obama wasted little time in pursuing it. Earlier this year he sent 21,000 fresh troops to Afghanistan. Now hell send 30,000 more, bringing the total to 101,000 in the country. Unannounced and scarcely noticed has been a 40% increase in the number of paramilitary oecontractors in Afghanistan; 104,000 mercenaries are now deployed there. The United States has built and maintains 102 military bases in Afghanistan: 32 Camps; 37 Forward Operating Bases; 15 Fire Bases; 2 Compounds, one each in Gardez and Kabul; and 16 airfields. The bases blanket the pipeline routes. Beyond question the oepipeline infrastructure, when it is built, will be adequately oepoliced. How oepermanently? Mr. Obama pledged to start bringing the troops home in 2011, but Secretaries Clinton and Gates quickly assured the nation this might amount only to a oehandful of troops. It is not meant to be an exit strategy. Mr. Gates said a significant U.S. military presence might remain in Afghanistan for as much as four years or more, depending on oeconditions on the ground. 2013 and counting. Afghanistan will have been dominated by an American military presence for twelve years or more. Does that not constitute, Mr. President, an occupation? We have already ripped to shreds in Iraq the entire fabric of cultural, social, political, and economic institutions, for the huge and permanent advantage of Exxon/Mobil, British Petroleum, Royal Dutch/Shell, and Occidental Petroleum. Mission, finally, accomplished. We have also ripped apart Afghanistan, but the situation there has not yet stabilized"to provide a huge and permanent advantage to Chevron-Texaco. This mission of the Bush Administration has yet to be accomplished. President Obama intends to finish the job, it seems. Authors note. This essay is drawn largely from the authors 2008 electronic book, The Fraudulent War, which fully documents the story told above. The book in PDF format is available at no cost here: http://coldtype.net/Assets.08/pdfs/0308The%20Fraudulent%20War.pdf Newstex ID: ATFR-0001-40337054 Page 77 The Audacity of Hype Atlantic Free Press December 9, 2009 Wednesday 1:00 AM EST
- 78. SUBJECT: US PRESIDENTS(90%); TERRORISM (90%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (90%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (89%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (88%); CRUDE OIL & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (84%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (84%); IRAQ WAR (78%); ENERGY & UTILITY POLICY (75%); PUBLIC POLICY (73%); ALIBI (71%); FRAUD & FINANCIAL CRIME (71%); PRIVATIZATION (71%); FOREIGN POLICY (69%); NATIONAL SECURITY (69%); ENERGY DEPARTMENTS (66%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (66%); NATIONALIZATION (64%); WAR ON TERROR (77%) COMPANY: BP PLC; EXXON MOBIL CORP; OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP TICKER: BP (NYSE); XOM (NYSE); OXY (NYSE) PERSON: GEORGE W BUSH (94%); BARACK OBAMA (84%); SADDAM HUSSEIN (81%) Saddam Hussein; George W. Bush GEOGRAPHIC: IRAQ (96%); UNITED STATES (94%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); GERMANY (91%); MIDDLE EAST (79%) LOAD-DATE: December 9, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2009 Atlantic Free Press Page 78 The Audacity of Hype Atlantic Free Press December 9, 2009 Wednesday 1:00 AM EST
- 79. 23 of 214DOCUMENTS London Stock Exchange Aggregated Regulatory News Service (ARNS) December 9, 2010 Thursday 7:01 AM GMT Quorum Oil and Gas Directorate Change LENGTH: 771 words RNS Number : 6393X Quorum Oil and Gas Tech. Fund Ld 09 December 2010 Not for release, publication or distribution in, or into, the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan. +------------------------------+------------------------------+ | Press Release | 9 December 2010 | +------------------------------+------------------------------+ Quorum Oil and Gas Technology Fund Limited (the "Company") Directorate Change Quorum Oil and Gas Technology Fund Limited (LSE:OGT), an authorised closed-ended investment company incorporated in Guernsey, is pleased to announce the appointment with immediate effect of Mr. John Imle as a Non-Executive Director. John Imle, aged 70, educated as a petroleum engineer at Texas A&M, has over 45 years' experience in the global oil and gas industry, with particular emphasis on energy exploration and development projects in the developing world. He is currently president and CEO of the independent company Nations Petroleum Company, Ltd and a non-executive director of AED Oil Limited, an oil and gas, exploration and development company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Prior to joining Nations he practiced as an energy advisor based in London and California. Mr. Imle was president (2005-2006) of Vanco Energy Company, where he focused on several deepwater exploration projects offshore Africa and Ukraine. Previously, Mr. Imle was president and vice chairman of the international energy company, Page 79
- 80. Unocal Corporation cappinga 37-year career that took him through a series of technical, managerial and executive positions (mostly outside the USA), and served for ten years on the Unocal Board of Directors. For much of his time at Unocal, Mr. Imle was responsible for the Company's worldwide oil, gas and geothermal operations. He led Unocal's successful efforts in forming the Azerbaijan International Oil Consortium (AIOC) as well as the sponsoring of major projects in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, China and Myanmar. He was responsible for an initiative to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India through Afghanistan. Mr. Imle was a co-founder the Business-Humanitarian Forum, a Geneva-based non-profit that encourages greater cooperation between business and humanitarian groups. There are no matters to disclose under paragraphs 9.6.13 (2) to (6) of the Listing Rules in respect of John Imle's appointment. Christopher Hill, Chairman of Quorum Oil and Gas Technology Fund, said: "John is well known to the Company as he had served on our Investment Advisory Committee since mid 2008. We are delighted to welcome John to the Board and his considerable knowledge of the global oil and gas industry collated over his 45 year career will prove invaluable to the Company going forward. We look forward to his continued input." - Ends - For further information: +----------------------------------------+---------------------+ | Corporate Broker | | +----------------------------------------+---------------------+ | Numis Securities | | +----------------------------------------+---------------------+ | Nathan Brown, Corporate Broking | Tel: +44 (0) 20 | | | 7260 1275 | +----------------------------------------+---------------------+ | n.brown@numiscorp.com | | +----------------------------------------+---------------------+ Media enquiries: +----------------------------------------+------------------------+ | Abchurch | | +----------------------------------------+------------------------+ | Henry Harrison-Topham / Mark Dixon | Tel: +44 (0) 20 | | | 7398 7702 | +----------------------------------------+------------------------+ | henry.ht@abchurch-group.com | www.abchurch-group.com | +----------------------------------------+------------------------+ Page 80 Quorum Oil and Gas Directorate Change London Stock Exchange Aggregated Regulatory News Service (ARNS) December 9, 2010 Thursday 7:01 AM GMT
- 81. Notes to editors: QuorumOil and Gas Technology Fund Limited ("Q-OGT") is an authorised closed-ended investment company incorporated in Guernsey to provide expansion capital to companies which own and/or are developing proven proprietary technology which may have a potentially significant effect on the oil and gas industry. Q-OGT was admitted to the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange on 7 January 2008. Its stock market EPIC is OGT.L. Further information can be found at www.q-ogtfund.com. LOAD-DATE: December 9, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire Copyright 2010 London Stock Exchange All Rights Reserved Page 81 Quorum Oil and Gas Directorate Change London Stock Exchange Aggregated Regulatory News Service (ARNS) December 9, 2010 Thursday 7:01 AM GMT
- 82. 24 of 214DOCUMENTS The New American February 15, 2010 Monday LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SECTION: Pg. 5 Vol. 26 No. 4 ISSN: 0885-6540 LENGTH: 822 words ABSTRACT Closer to the truth is that we're in Afghanistan because of the U.S. oil barons' quest to control the world's petroleum supplies. Since 1995 when Unocal (now Chevron) officials entreated the Taliban for permission to construct a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan via Afghanistan, the U.S. motive has been clear - to control the economies of the industrial world by controlling the bountiful supplies of natural gas (and oil) from the Caspian area, which is landlocked and dependent primarily on Russian pipelines for transport of gas production out of the region. FULL TEXT Jettisoning Jesus' Birthday It seems that many people remain invincibly incredulous about the Nativity of Our Lord actually occurring on December 25. Nah, just couldn't be! A Letter to the Editor of January 1 8 argues that Christ's birth must have happened around September when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles took place. Here's the logic: Christ couldn't have been born in December because (1) the weather in December was intolerably cold for shepherds to be outside with their flocks, so the sheep were in pens and the shepherds were inside where they wouldn't have to be cold; (2) the inns in Jesus' era were full of people around September, not in December, because of a Jewish festival (the Festival of Booths); and (3) the assignment of Christmas Day on the 25th was simply an expethent way for the church to purify the Saturnalia of its wintry pagan baggage and for Christianity to gain pagan adherents. The old saying in logic class is that what is freely advanced is freely denied. Can all this be denied factually? First of all, Jews would not have flooded inns during the Festival of Booths because, as part of the religious aspects of the festival, they would have built small booths to reside in outside. To stay in an inn would have painted them as religious hypocrites. Of course, in December, when it's cold, it would be a different story. Second, we have none other than St. John Chrysostom, who probably even in his day (he was born in 347 A.D.) heard of such fables, who wondered how it could be reasonable for any sane person to conceive that a date of such magnitude - the Page 82
- 83. date when theIncarnate God came into the world, the date that even caused a revolutionary change in the way we count the years on the calendar - could ever have been flushed down the Orwellian memory hole? Would His own Mother forget her Son's birthday and not remember to even mention it in passing to His disciples? No, every Christian would memorialize that date and keep it with Holy Tradition without surcease. Third, and more to the point historiographically, Chrysostom tells us that the Priest Zacharias, being of the family of Abia (Lk ch. 1 ), performed his duties in the temple twice a year from the 8th to the 14th of the third month and from the 24th to the 30th of the seventh month Ti s ri (corresponding to September/October). It was at this time, September 24, that Zacharias' wife Elizabeth conceived St. John the Baptist, who was born nine months later on June 24. Three months prior to this (March 25). Our Lady conceived Our Lord, who had to have gone to term nine months following, which is December 25. This is infallibly described in the Bible and. thus, irrefutable. And as a final riposte, all of this is in perfect agreement with the work of Jewish scholar Shermanyahu Taiman, who has pinpointed the assigned times of temple duties for the 24 families of Aaron in his study of the Qumran. He agrees with the chronology, too. Q.E.D. PAT FLANAGAN. M.D. Waukesha, Wisconsin It's a Gusher The January 4, 2010 Inside Track items entitled 'Troop Surge Despite Only 100 alQaeda in Afghanistan" and "No Deadline for U.S. Exit From Afghanistan" reinforce the establishment myth that American troops are in Afghanistan to fight terrorism. Closer to the truth is that we're in Afghanistan because of the U.S. oil barons' quest to control the world's petroleum supplies. Since 1995 when Unocal (now Chevron) officials entreated the Taliban for permission to construct a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan via Afghanistan, the U.S. motive has been clear - to control the economies of the industrial world by controlling the bountiful supplies of natural gas (and oil) from the Caspian area, which is landlocked and dependent primarily on Russian pipelines for transport of gas production out of the region. The importance of an Afghan pipeline has been magnified recently with discovery of the giant South Yolotan gas field in Turkmenistan, which has vaulted diat country's estimated proved gas reserves from 12th to fourth largest in the world (Oil and Gas Journal, Dec. 21, 2009, pp. 18-21). ROBERT J. KENDRA Putnam, Connecticut Send your letters to: THE NEW AMERICAN, P.O. Box 8040, Appleton. WI 54912. Or e-mail: editorial@thenewamerican.com Due to volume received, not all letters can be answered. Letters may be edited for space and clarity. Page 83 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The New American February 15, 2010 Monday
- 84. SUBJECT: RELIGION (94%);LETTERS & COMMENTS (92%); CHRISTIANS & CHRISTIANITY (91%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (91%); JEWS & JUDAISM (90%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (90%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (90%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (90%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (90%); FESTIVALS (88%); HOLIDAYS & OBSERVANCES (78%); CHRISTMAS (78%); JEWISH HOLIDAYS & OBSERVANCES (76%); FAMILY (66%) Pipelines; Letters to the editor; Christianity; Cold; Jews; Festivals GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (94%); AFGHANISTAN (93%); PAKISTAN (92%); TURKMENISTAN (79%) LOAD-DATE: March 13, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 51311 DOCUMENT-TYPE: Letter PUBLICATION-TYPE: Magazine JOURNAL-CODE: NEAM Copyright 2010 ProQuest Information and Learning All Rights Reserved Copyright 2010 The New American Page 84 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The New American February 15, 2010 Monday
- 85. 25 of 214DOCUMENTS LiberalPro October 9, 2009 Friday 4:36 PM EST Can We Win in Afghanistan and is it Worth the Price? BYLINE: Timothy V. Gatto LENGTH: 1230 words Oct. 9, 2009 (LiberalPro delivered by Newstex) -- Does anyone really think that a continued U.S. and NATO presence will actually achieve anything significant in Afghanistan? Will an additional 40,000 soldiers defeat the Taliban or will it only lead to more American deaths? It seems that a continued presence in that war-torn nation will only bring grief and death while U.S. and NATO troops continue to try and reign in the Taliban, which can only be compared to the debacle in Vietnam, where trying to track down the Viet Cong and the NVA could only be compared to trying to herd thousands of cats. I believe that General McCrystal believes that the Taliban can be defeated but at what cost? We have yet to see a plan that will accomplish this. The situation in that mountainous land where the Taliban appear, kill a few soldiers and damage military equipment and then disappear is shockingly reminiscent of the situation in Vietnam. Peak US strength in Vietnam in April, 1969 was 543.400. We lost that war. We also tried to win "The hearts and minds of the people in that war and we never succeeded. Will we repeat the same behavior in Afghanistan and expect different results? The war is in its eighth year and we are losing ground. The majority of Americans don't support ramping up the war effort. We are in unprecedented times financially. The manufacturing base of the United States has been eroding for almost two decades. We have become a service economy; the only robust area of the manufacturing sector is oddly enough, the military weapons sector. Do our leaders expect this war will lead to a type of federal jobs program? Our military spending accounts for almost half of the military budget of the entire planet. We will spend just about a trillion dollars this year on our military. The defense industry is definitely not experiencing lean times. The problem with military spending is that once the money is spent, there is no return on our investment. Military equipment has a bad habit of getting used up in short order and it isn't usually recycled. When a tank or an airplane outlives its usefulness it goes on the scrap heap. Munitions are made to be destroyed. A cruise missile costs in the neighborhood of $569000. An F-18 costs $54.7 million. The unit cost of the Army's UH-60L Black Hawk is $5.9 million. The cost of a new M1A2 tank is approximately $4.3 million. War is an expensive business. Despite threatened cuts at the Pentagon, Boeing's (NYSE:BA) military business--including f-15 Strike Eagles, Patriot and Harpoon missiles, Apache Page 85
- 86. ,Longbow and Chinookhelicopters, P-8A Poseidon antisubmarine aircraft--is still in good shape. Last year it accounted for $32 billion, 53% of revenues, and $3.2 billion, or 82%, of operating profit. (Forbes September 2009). I could go on but I think I made my point. While most of this article has been about hardware, the human element cannot be ignored. We lost 58,000 soldiers in Vietnam. It stands to reason that the more soldiers we send to Afghanistan, the more casualties we will suffer. The civilian deaths in Iraq have been calculated to be from 300,000 to 1.3 million depending on who is reporting. The U.S. military does not keep a tally. Besides civilian deaths and military combat deaths, depleted uranium exposure, PTSD, and crippling injuries add to U.S. casualties. Just like Agent Orange in Vietnam, the military refuses to acknowledge the harmful effects of DU, such incidents as birth defects and crippling bone loss. Let's hear those comments saying depleted uranium is as safe as aspartame. We all know how safe that is. Since Rumsfeld pushed it through the FDA, citing flawed studies on monkeys in 1984 when he was President of Searle Pharmaceuticals, cancerous brain tumors increased by 800%, but that's probably just a coincidence, right? We all know that our government only works in the peoples best interests. Speaking of the American peoples best interests, ridding the Afghan nation of the Taliban means that we are fighting them over there so that we don't have to fight them over here. It's funny; I seem to have heard that phrase before. No matter, whatever. I also seem to remember that before we sent our military folks into Afghanistan, the Taliban offered Osama Bin Laden's head up on a platter if we formally charged him with crimes. Somehow that never came to pass and now we are desperately fighting not only al Qaeda, in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, but the Taliban. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these the very same Mujahedeen that we financed to fight Russia? Sure does get confusing, can't tell the players from one another over there. Maybe we should provide them with uniforms so we could tell them apart. Let me get everything straight so I don't criticize the Obama Administration unfairly. The reason that we are trying to eliminate the Taliban is because they don't treat women very well. I can understand that, they probably treat them as badly as the Saudi's (our number two military aid recipient) treat their women. The Taliban also interfere with the Afghan government's bribes and kickbacks for services and their blind eye towards opium production (90% of the planet's supply). I also remember something about a proposed oil pipeline. Let me mention Pepe Escobar's article from the Asia Times titled U.S. Growing Arc of Instability: "Most of all, the underlying logic remains divide and rule. As for the divide, Beijing would call it, without a trace of irony, "splittist". Split up Iraq - blocking China's access to Iraqi oil. Split up Pakistan - with an independent Balochistan preventing China from accessing the strategic port of Gwadar there. Split up Afghanistan - with an independent Pashtunistan allowing the building of the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline bypassing Russia. Al Qaeda, since they are no longer funded by the CIA, is our #1 enemy. Osama Bin Laden would get a sovereign nation from which to launch their attacks on America and the rest of the "free world if we send our troops home. All of this confusion has me wondering, as I'm sure it gives President Obama pause also. I'm curious as to whether or not the U.S or any other NATO member Page 86 Can We Win in Afghanistan and is it Worth the Price? LiberalPro October 9, 2009 Friday 4:36 PM EST
- 87. state has attemptedto negotiate with the Taliban since they offered up Bin Laden? The current leader of Afghanistan is no stranger to "the art of the deal In 1997, UNOCAL led an international consortium (OOTC:ICSM) - Centgas - that reached a memorandum of understanding to build a $2 billion, 1,275-kilometer-long, 1.5-meter-wide natural-gas pipeline from Daulatabad in southern Turkmenistan to Karachi, via the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar, crossing into Pakistan near Quetta. A $600 million extension to India was also being considered. The dealings with the Taliban were facilitated by the Clinton administration and the ISI. But the civil war in Afghanistan would simply not go away. UNOCAL had to pull out. In this geo-strategic grand design, the Taliban were the proverbial fly in the ointment. It would be in the best interests of all concerned to lay their cards out on the table. If I'm sensing things correctly, after a stalemate in Korea and a loss in Vietnam followed by a totally senseless war in Iraq, the American people are in no mood to bluff or be bluffed. Read Tim Gatto's new book "From Complicity to Contempt" available at most bookstores. Newstex ID: LIBP-0001-38685255 SUBJECT: ARMED FORCES (90%); DEFENSE SPENDING (89%); MILITARY HELICOPTERS (89%); WAR & CONFLICT (78%); MILITARY WEAPONS (78%); ARMIES (78%); VIETNAM WAR (77%); MOUNTAINS (73%); DEFENSE INDUSTRY (73%); EROSION (68%); GOVERNMENT BUDGETS (68%); MANUFACTURING OUTPUT (64%); RETURN ON INVESTMENT (50%); TALIBAN (90%); BUDGETS (69%) COMPANY: BOEING CO (51%) BOEING CO; INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM CORP ORGANIZATION: NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (91%) TICKER: BOE (LSE) (51%); BAB (BRU) (51%); BA (SWX) (51%); BA (NYSE) (51%) BA (NYSE); ICSM (OOTC) INDUSTRY: NAICS336414 GUIDED MISSILE & SPACE VEHICLE MANUFACTURING (51%); NAICS336412 AIRCRAFT ENGINE & ENGINE PARTS MANUFACTURING (51%); NAICS336411 AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING (51%); SIC3761 GUIDED MISSILES & SPACE VEHICLES (51%) GEOGRAPHIC: AFGHANISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (94%); VIETNAM (88%); VIET NAM (88%) LOAD-DATE: October 9, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained Page 87 Can We Win in Afghanistan and is it Worth the Price? LiberalPro October 9, 2009 Friday 4:36 PM EST
- 88. therein or linkedto from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2009 LiberalPro Page 88 Can We Win in Afghanistan and is it Worth the Price? LiberalPro October 9, 2009 Friday 4:36 PM EST
- 89. 27 of 214DOCUMENTS GlobalPost September 29, 2010 Wednesday 6:41 AM EST In Afghanistan, pipe dreams of peace BYLINE: Jean MacKenzie LENGTH: 1306 words Sep. 29, 2010 (GlobalPost delivered by Newstex) -- paging_filter KABUL, Afghanistan " Two rather startling developments have come out of Afghanistan over the past week, one almost overlooked by the international media, the other causing a small sensation. But together they represent at least a small glimmer of light in what has been a depressingly dark landscape. First in prominence was the surprise announcement by the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, that high-level Taliban leaders were seeking reconciliation with the Afghan government. The other shocker was the signing of a four-country framework agreement for a much-delayed natural gas pipeline from Turkemenistans Daulatabad gas fields, through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India. According to the agreement, construction will begin later this year and be completed by 2014. Both of these phenomena represent hopes of a better future for Afghanistan, and a speedier exit for the increasingly weary international troops. But for either to have even a remote chance of success, the cooperation of Afghanistans much larger neighbor, Pakistan, is badly needed. While causing a minor furor, Petraeus vague, seemingly off the cuff remarks to journalists touring a U.S.-run prison north of Kabul by themselves represent nothing new. According to media reports, Petraeus said, oethere are very high-level Taliban leaders who have sought to reach out to the highest levels of the Afghan government and, indeed, have done that. But he cautioned that the Afghan presidents conditions oeare very clear, very established, and supported by the United States, i.e., the necessity for the Taliban to lay down their arms and accept the constitution in order for negotiations to begin. This, say the Taliban, would be tantamount to surrender, something they do not give any signs of doing. They, in turn, demand the complete withdrawal of foreign troops as their sine qua non for talks. Page 89
- 90. So there doesnot seem to be any hope for an imminent sit-down between Taliban leader Mullah Omar and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. But the media-savvy Petraeus seldom speaks without thinking, and according to Afghan political commentator Janan Mosazai, his remarks could represent a major policy swing. oeOne of the major sticking points has been the stance of the U.S. administration and the generals toward negotiations with the Taliban, he said. oeIf this is shifting, it could signal a lot of changes in terms of dealing with the Taliban. Many people believe that the Taliban are in trouble, added Mosazai, and would be open to talks if they were offered a oefair and credible deal. But this has always foundered on the mutual intransigence of the major parties, the Taliban on the one hand, and the Afghan government, backed by the U.S. government, on the other. oeThe U.S. administration and the Afghan government have to be willing to be real partners to peace talks, Mosazai said. oe(The preconditions) represent the extremes and will have to be put aside. Petraeus announcement comes just as Karzai made public the composition of his oeHigh Peace Council, which will be empowered to begin formal outreach to the insurgents. The list includes many commanders from the war years, such as Haji Mohammad Mohaqeq, Abdul Rassoul Sayyaf and Berhanuddin Rabbani, whose anti-Taliban credentials may make negotiations difficult. The Peace Council was one of the key recommendations of Karzais much-vaunted Peace Jirga, held in early June. But even before the newly announced members sit down to begin work, key figures are already dooming them to failure. Many Afghans are reluctant to contemplate a return to power of the Taliban, and fear that negotiations will lead to compromises that could erode the gains, however shaky, that have been made over the past nine years. oeThe Afghan people have raised many questions about peace talks, said opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah, speaking at a press conference in early September. oeWhat kind of peace is this and with whom are we trying to reconcile? What does the government want? Petraeus remarks contained the answer to none of these questions. But perhaps the cautious optimism surrounding the gas pipeline could provide a clue. The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline has been in the works for close to 20 years, but has been constantly torpedoed by the war and chaos afflicting Afghanistan. The proposed route of the pipeline, through Helmand, Kandahar and Balochistan, would take it across some of the regions most unstable areas. The United States has long had a major role in promoting the pipeline; a U.S. company, UNOCAL, was in the running for the tender to build and service it in Page 90 In Afghanistan, pipe dreams of peace GlobalPost September 29, 2010 Wednesday 6:41 AM EST
- 91. the 1990s. ZalmayKhalilzad, the Afghan-born former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was an adviser to UNOCAL at the time, and reportedly pushed for the United States to make a deal with the Taliban in order to get it going. According to numerous reports, the U.S. government kept trying to get an agreement all through the Taliban period, despite mounting pressure from womens groups and other organizations outraged by the Talibans human rights record. After the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, talk of the pipeline died down, but never disappeared completely. Now, nine years on, the project is once again on the table. oeThis time they are serious, said Gen. Hillaluddin Hillal, who was deputy interior minster in the immediate post-Taliban period. oeIt all depends on Pakistan. If Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) uses the tools it has, then Pakistan can make this happen. The main question is, of course, the security of the pipeline, since it passes through some largely Taliban-controlled areas. But Afghans see the key in its eastern neighbor: it has been accepted wisdom in Afghanistan for years that Pakistans ISI is supporting the Taliban, in the hopes of securing a government in Kabul that would be inimical to Pakistans main enemy, India. If the ISI so decrees, they say, the pipeline will be safe. oePakistan can secure the pipeline, Hillal insisted. A highly placed source within the Afghan government, who spoke on condition of anonymity, agreed. oeThe ISI can put pressure on the Taliban to leave the pipeline alone, said the source. oeThis represents the best chance we have for regional stability. Afghan leaders also give ISI the power to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table. Sebghatullah Mojadeddi, speaker of the upper house of Parliament and named as head of the Peace Council, told reporters in early September that Pakistans sign-on was essential. oeISI has close relations with the leaders of the Taliban, so the (Peace) Council will only succeed if the ISI cooperates, he said. There are still formidable obstacles to both the pipeline and peace in Afghanistan. Pakistan remains focused on its fractious relationship with India, which could still scupper the agreement. India may also be reluctant to put its energy security in the hands of its long-time enemy; the pipeline could only reach India through Pakistan. But for the United States, the pipeline represents an attractive option: it leaves Iran, which also wants to build a natural gas pipeline to Pakistan, out in the cold, and it bypasses Russia. If insiders and observers are correct, the pipeline could help to push Pakistan into taking a constructive role in building peace in Afghanistan. oeRegional economic projects help improve security and can help bring political Page 91 In Afghanistan, pipe dreams of peace GlobalPost September 29, 2010 Wednesday 6:41 AM EST
- 92. stability to Afghanistanand Pakistan, said Mahmoud Saikal, a former deputy foreign minister. oeThe passage of this regional gas pipeline ¦ through Afghanistan would make Pakistan depend on long-term Afghan cooperation. Hopefully, Pakistani intelligence would think twice about making trouble for us. Newstex ID: GPST-5376-49201089 SUBJECT: JOURNALISM (77%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (76%); ARMED FORCES (76%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (74%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (74%); DISARMAMENT (71%); CONSTRUCTION (68%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (54%); RELIGION (50%); TALIBAN (90%) ORGANIZATION: NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (57%) PERSON: HAMAD KARZAI (52%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (93%) AFGHANISTAN (95%); UNITED STATES (94%); PAKISTAN (92%); INDIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: September 29, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2010 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2010 GlobalPost Page 92 In Afghanistan, pipe dreams of peace GlobalPost September 29, 2010 Wednesday 6:41 AM EST
- 93. 28 of 214DOCUMENTS Human Events Online August 5, 2009 Wednesday 6:12 PM EST Obama Birth Certificate Spotted In Bogus Moon Landing Footage BYLINE: Ann Coulter SECTION: IN THE NEWS LENGTH: 965 words HIGHLIGHT: Show me RNC Chairman Michael Steele saying "I believe the birthers" and I'll give 10 percent of my book profits to Air America... Tardy though they are, we welcome MSNBC to finally joining every major conservative news outlet -- including Fox News, The American Spectator, Human Events, National Review and Sweetness & Light -- in discrediting the idea that President Obama wasn't born in this country and, therefore, is ineligible to be president. Now the big question: Was Joe Biden born on this planet? Inasmuch as the "birther" movement was hatched in the station wagon of MSNBC's favorite left-wing fantasist, Larry Johnson, maybe the mainstream media can stop acting as if it's a creation of the Republican National Committee. Which party contains 99 percent of the people who believe (or believed): -- O.J. is innocent; -- Bush shirked his National Guard duty; -- Sarah Palin's infant child, Trig, was actually the child of her daughter; -- Justice Antonin Scalia threw the 2000 election to Bush so that his son could get a legal job with the Labor Department; -- The spectacularly guilty Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed; -- The Diebold Corp. secretly stole thousands of Kerry votes in 2004; -- Duke lacrosse players gang-raped a stripper; -- Bill Clinton did not have sex with "that woman"; -- Heterosexuals are just as likely to contract AIDS as gays; -- John Edwards didn't have an affair with Rielle Hunter; -- John Edwards' campaign aide Andrew Young is the father of Rielle Hunter's child. And as has been recently noted, a 2007 Rasmussen poll showed that 35 percent of Democrats believe Bush knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance, while 26 percent aren't sure ... Holy mackerel. Another favorite MSNBC guest, Janeane Garofalo, believes Enron's Ken Lay faked his own death. It's weird that Keith Olbermann didn't ask her about that when she was on his show a couple of months ago, given his sudden interest in stamping out conspiracy theories. Also trying to revive his failing TV show, MSNBC'S Chris Matthews has been denouncing the birthers on "Hardball" nightly and demanding that every elected Republican who appears on his show do the same. How many times has Matthews forced Democratic officeholders to denounce Al Sharpton for the Tawana Brawley hoax? Or for that matter, how many times has he forced Sharpton -- a frequent guest on his show -- to admit the case was a Page 93
- 94. fraud? Sharpton hasveto power over all Democratic presidential candidates. Even Al Gore, a former vice president of the United States, was required to kiss Sharpton's ring. If there ever comes a time when Republican presidential candidates have to get the blessing of the head of the birther movement to run, I'll say: I'm wrong -- Republicans do have as many conspiracy nuts as the Democrats. Not content with merely humoring their nuts, Democratic officeholders promote conspiracy theories themselves. In 2003, Democratic presidential candidate and future Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean approvingly cited the left-wing lunacy that Saudi Arabia had warned Bush in advance about the 9/11 attacks. He promised a caller to National Public Radio that, if elected, he would investigate. In the fall of 2004, Clinton's Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said she believed Bush was holding Osama bin Laden and planned to release him just before the election. (She later claimed she was joking -- a surprise to all three witnesses who heard her say it.) Sen. Barbara Boxer officially objected to the certification of Ohio's votes in the 2004 election -- on the Senate floor -- and demanded an investigation into the "Diebold stole Kerry votes" conspiracy theory. And, of course, a Democratic House and Senate actually used official government proceedings to investigate the original nut-job conspiracy theory, the "October Surprise," maintaining that Reagan struck a secret deal with the Iranians not to release the hostages until after the 1980 election. Now, the only October surprise will come under ObamaCare: Order an MRI in April and get it by ... October -- surprise! Rosie O'Donnell -- who has headlined many a Democratic fundraiser -- is a prominent 9/11 "truther." She believes the World Trade Center was blown up with explosives, not taken down by terrorists in airplanes. Most shockingly, the Democrats have a hand-in-glove relationship with Michael Moore, crackpot documentarian, whose "Fahrenheit 9/11" is chock-a-block with demented conspiracy theories, including: -- the 2000 election was stolen; -- the Bush family clandestinely spirited the bin Laden family out of the U.S. after the 9/11 attacks; and -- Bush went to war in Afghanistan, not to avenge the 9/11 terrorist attack, but to help the Unocal Corp. obtain a natural gas pipeline in Afghanistan. Terry McAuliffe, then chairman of the Democratic National Committee attended the glittering Washington, D.C., premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11" and emerged endorsing Moore's wacko Unocal conspiracy theory. "I believe it after seeing that," McAuliffe said. Show me RNC Chairman Michael Steele saying "I believe the birthers" and I'll give 10 percent of my book profits to Air America, raising their profits to -- let's see ... about 10 percent of my book profits. Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark proudly accepted Moore's endorsement in 2004, and Moore was an honored guest at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, sitting with former President Carter. What is the likelihood that a birther will be sitting with former President Bush at the 2012 Republican National Convention? Other Democrats who attended Moore's movie screening included Sens. Tom Daschle, Tom Harkin, Max Baucus, Ernest Hollings, Debbie Stabenow, Bill Nelson, and representatives Charles Rangel and Jim McDermott. Show me a half-dozen Republican senators attending a birther movie premiere, and I'll pretend to believe that Olbermann went to the Ivy League Cornell. SUBJECT: US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (89%); US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008 (89%); PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (89%); POLITICAL CANDIDATES (89%); POLITICAL PARTIES (89%); US REPUBLICAN PARTY (89%); US DEMOCRATIC PARTY (89%); VETO (78%); VOTERS & VOTING (77%); US PRESIDENTS (77%); CONSPIRACY (75%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (74%); POLLS & SURVEYS (72%); FRAUD & FINANCIAL CRIME (72%); LABOR DEPARTMENTS (67%); SEXUAL ASSAULT (66%); TERRORISM (63%); MOTOR VEHICLES (56%); AIDS & HIV (53%); LACROSSE (51%); CONSERVATIVE MEDIA (90%); INFANTS & TODDLERS (77%); Page 94 Obama Birth Certificate Spotted In Bogus Moon Landing Footage Human Events Online August 5, 2009 Wednesday 6:12 PM EST
- 95. CONSERVATISM (90%); LIBERALISM(78%) COMPANY: FOX ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC (92%); ENRON CREDITORS RECOVERY CORP (53%) ORGANIZATION: REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE (57%) INDUSTRY: NAICS515120 TELEVISION BROADCASTING (92%); SIC4833 TELEVISION BROADCASTING STATIONS (92%); SIC4911 ELECTRIC SERVICES (53%) PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (92%); JOHN EDWARDS (82%); MICHAEL STEELE (59%); JOE BIDEN (57%); SARAH PALIN (56%); ANTONIN SCALIA (56%); BILL CLINTON (55%); AL SHARPTON (51%); AL GORE (50%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (94%) LOAD-DATE: August 5, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Publication Copyright 2009 Eagle Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved Page 95 Obama Birth Certificate Spotted In Bogus Moon Landing Footage Human Events Online August 5, 2009 Wednesday 6:12 PM EST
- 96. 29 of 214DOCUMENTS Pacific Free Press November 28, 2009 Saturday 5:47 AM EST Obama Keeping Diplomacy Off the Afghanistan Table BYLINE: Sherwood Ross LENGTH: 1292 words Nov. 28, 2009 (Atlantic Free Press delivered by Newstex) -- Obama Never Considered Diplomacy in Afghanistan by Sherwood Ross After initially injecting 21,000 troops into Afghanistan allegedly to stave off imminent defeat, President Obama Tuesday will tell war-weary Americans why he seeks 35,000 more. If he gets them, the U.S. force there will exceed 100,000. Washington has been pressuring its NATO allies to pour in more fighters even though Europeans dont want any part of it. The New York Times reported Nov. 25th the U.S. is asking NATO for 10,000 more troops above the 45,000 already in place. That could bring total Allied forces to about 150,000. Toss in 70,000 private contractors and the total force soars to over 200,000. Yes, Afghanistan is shaping up as another Vietnam. Obama apparently never seriously considered ending the war diplomatically. Recall his blustering campaign rhetoric about defeating the Taliban; recall the public commitment last December of Defense Secretary Robert Gates to strengthen military bases in Afghanistan. Gates was the Bush official Obama continued in office. Even as polls show a majority of Americans want U.S. forces out of Afghanistan and that Americans do not believe the war is worth fighting, President Obama---a former editor at the CIA front Business International Corporation in 1983-84---embraces a position in line with the long-held CIA view the U.S. must control the Middle Easts energy resources. It was the CIA that overthrew Iran in 1953 after Tehran nationalized its oil production, depriving British Petroleum (NYSE:BP) of its lucrative swindle. Afghanistan is valued today for the oil and gas pipelines the U.S. wants built there, no matter what other reasons Obama gives. oeIn the late 1990s, writes Washington reporter Bill Blum in his oeAnti-Empire Report, oethe American oil company, Unocal, met with Taliban officials in Texas to discuss the pipelines¦ Unocals talks with the Taliban, conducted with the full knowledge of the Clinton administration¦continued as late as 2000 or 2001. Adds Paul Craig Roberts writing in the December Rock Creek Free Press of Washington, D.C., the U.S./U.K. military aggression in Afghanistan oehad to do with the natural gas deposits in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Roberts explains: Page 96
- 97. oeThe Americans wanteda pipeline that bypassed Russia and Iran and went through Afghanistan. To insure this, an invasion was necessary. The idiot American public could be told that the invasion was necessary because of 9/11 and to save them from [#x2dc]terrorism, and the utter fools would believe the lie. The war, Roberts continued, is to guard the pipeline route. oeIts about money, its about energy, its not about democracy. According to an AP dispatch of November 26th, oeThe president promised this week to [#x2dc]finish the job begun eight years ago¦but liberal Democrats already are lining up against it (escalation), in part because of the also-surging cost---up to $75 billion a year. Describing the war in workplace terminology makes it sound as if Obama is running a personnel agency that was dispatching workers to build some public works, not as though he is continuing President George Bushs illegal war. Apparently, only escalation in Afghanistan was considered by Obama. As The Washington Post reported last December, oestanding at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the United States is making a [#x2dc]sustained commitment to that country, one that will last [#x2dc]some protracted period of time. The story goes on to discuss $300 million in new construction at just one base, including a new power plant, electrical and water distribution systems, and housing for 1,500 personnel. Gates hardly would have made a oesustained commitment if Obama planned to withdraw. And every day the war goes on while Obama mulls his options is a day of victory for the hawks. In January, a Defense Department report stated oebuilding a fully competent and independent Afghan government will be a lengthy process that will last, at a minimum, decades, The Nation magazines Jonathan Schell reports (Nov. 30). So far from defeating the Taliban are Allied forces that US military contractors oeare forced to pay suspected insurgents to protect American supply routes, Aram Roston writes in the same issue. oeIt is an accepted fact of the military logistics operation in Afghanistan that the US government funds the very forces American troops are fighting. In fact, an American executive there told Roston, oeThe Army is basically paying the Taliban not to shoot at them. It is Department of Defense money. Nevertheless, the slick orator from Illinois continues U.S. aggression in the energy-rich Middle East. Obama clearly is no liberal, much less a progressive. He is a reactionary. He is advancing the militarist policies of the Bush-Cheney regime. He is defending the CIA. He is increasing the total Pentagon budget. He is expanding an illegal war into Pakistan. Once this is understood, the other pieces of Obama policy fall into place. Obama is continuing the illegal oeextraordinary rendition kidnappings authorized by President Bush. Obama rejects prosecuting CIA torture goons who broke the law and refuses to release photos of their grisly handiwork. Obama balks at signing a treaty to ban land mines that has been affirmed by 150 nations. Obama expands the Predator assassination attacks claiming hundreds of civilian lives. And so on, ad nauseam. The military-industrial complex will support Obamas escalation of these wars in order to cash in on those lucrative defense contracts valued at $700 billion a year while good jobs in other sectors of the U.S. economy, starved for investment capital, continue to shrink; while cities continue to decline; while handgun massacres become commonplace in our schools and offices; while Page 97 Obama Keeping Diplomacy Off the Afghanistan Table Pacific Free Press November 28, 2009 Saturday 5:47 AM EST
- 98. homeowners are forcedinto the streets; while start-ups cant get loans; and while Wall Street loots the Treasury. In short, Obama is propelling the once great USA toward Third World status. Whats more, in all the recent debate in Washington, who has heard a word of concern for the impact of escalation on the suffering civilian populations of Afghanistan and Pakistan? oeOur military demands ever more troops, Veterans Speaker Alliances founder Paul Cox said at an Oakland, Calif. rally last week with Barbara Lee, the only member of Congress to vote against the initial Afghan aggression. oeMeanwhile, our economy is in the toilet, health care costs are out of control, and we cant afford to educate our children. But somehow, theres always money for war. Rep. Lee called for putting oethis stage of American history"a stage characterized by open-ended war"to a close. Europeans---who are supporting a NATO organization that has no real purpose since the end of the Cold War---would agree with Lee. As the New York Times reported Nov. 25th: oeAmerica's European allies have remained noncommittal about sending additional troops to Afghanistan. France and Germany in particular have continued to limit their combat role, with both countries refusing to deploy troops in the south of the country, where Taliban forces are strongest. If the majority Democrats wont end it, Americans could embrace the Green Party, which has consistently called for pulling U.S. forces out of the Middle East, sharply reducing the Pentagon budget, and shifting spending to respond to true public needs. Right now, voting Green appears to be the way to let the peace dove out of its cage. Sherwood Ross is a Miami-based publicist who formerly worked at the Miami Herald, the City News Bureau of Chicago, the Chicago Daily News, and as a columnist for major wire services. Reach him at sherwoodross10@gmail.com Newstex ID: ATFR-5311-40056756 SUBJECT: ARMED FORCES (90%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (86%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (86%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (86%); US PRESIDENTS (78%); WAR & CONFLICT (78%); TALKS & MEETINGS (77%); DEFENSE DEPARTMENTS (76%); WRITERS & WRITING (70%); CRUDE OIL PIPELINES (69%); CRUDE OIL & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (69%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (69%); OIL & GAS PIPELINES (69%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (68%); POLLS & SURVEYS (68%); TERRORISM (60%); TALIBAN (89%) COMPANY: BP PLC (54%) BP PLC ORGANIZATION: NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (83%) TICKER: BP (NYSE) (54%); BP (LSE) (54%) BP (NYSE) INDUSTRY: NAICS447110 GASOLINE STATIONS WITH CONVENIENCE STORES (54%); NAICS324110 PETROLEUM REFINERIES (54%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (54%) PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (95%); ROBERT M GATES (69%) GEOGRAPHIC: TEHRAN, IRAN (54%); TEHRAN, IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (54%) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (99%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); IRAN (54%); Page 98 Obama Keeping Diplomacy Off the Afghanistan Table Pacific Free Press November 28, 2009 Saturday 5:47 AM EST
- 99. EUROPE (79%); TURKMENISTAN(79%); UZBEKISTAN (79%); UNITED KINGDOM (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (93%) LOAD-DATE: November 28, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2009 Pacific Free Press Page 99 Obama Keeping Diplomacy Off the Afghanistan Table Pacific Free Press November 28, 2009 Saturday 5:47 AM EST
- 100. 31 of 214DOCUMENTS Sunday Times (Islamabad) June 5, 2011 Sunday Time for white paper on Afghanistan LENGTH: 1384 words DATELINE: Pakistan Pakistan, June 05 -- Both the Indian as well as the Pakistani elites have yet to get over their feelings of inadequacy in confronting international challenges. This lack of self-confidence is what leads both to cling to outside players, rather than activate their own strengths. However, the reality is that either country has the size and capability to ensure that its own interests are protected, although of course, the local elites refuse to acknowledge this.An example is the way the Pakistan elite has swung into a reactive mode when confronted by daily accusations of complicity in the harbouring of Osama bin Laden since 2002. Rather than wring one's hands and plead innocence, what is needed is for the Pakistan establishment to come out with a comprehensive White Paper on Afghanistan, that would detail the way in which the CIA and other agencies used the Pakistan establishment for their own purposes. This columnist well remembers the 1990s, a period when US (and EU, and Chinese, and GCC) diplomats in Delhi ceaselessly urged Indian policymakers to concede to the demands being made by the jihadis battling Indian security forces in Kashmir. It was no secret that these elements were in even closer touch with US and EU diplomats in Delhi than they were with the intensely-monitored Pakistan mission. Not only diplomats but media-persons from the US and the EU routinely took the side of the jihadis in their reporting, as did outlets such as CNN and the BBC. It took 9/11 for that to change, some what. The Clinton administration followed the line of oil giant Unocal in seeing the Taliban as a friendly force capable of providing access to Central Asian petro-products via territory controlled by it. Senior US diplomats made several visits to cities in Pakistan and Afghanistan in order to liase with the Taliban, even as they lectured Delhi against giving assistance to the Northern Alliance, help that was meagre and intermittent, thanks to US-EU-GCC-China pressure on the side of the Taliban. Pakistan has a treasure trove of documents that show the manner in which the US and other countries helped the Taliban, including details of the cash and other payments made by the incoming Bush administration in the weeks preceding the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre by teams formed by "Al-Qaeda". What is needed is for these documents to get released in the form of annexures to a White Paper that would show the extent to which the US (and other countries) have been complicit in building up the Taliban.If Mullah Omar was enabled to take control of 85% of Afghanistan by 1996, the reasons for that did not stop in Pakistan, but extended to several other countries. There was a steady flow of cash and technical assistance to the Taliban from countries as diverse as Turkey, the UAE and China. None of these countries acted the way they did because of any pressure from Pakistan. They Page 100
- 101. were simply followingthe Unocal script of giving assistance to the Taliban in preference to the Northern Alliance. Indeed, Pakistan has numerous documents showing the way several of those still prominent in the US facilitated the Taliban. What is needed is for such information to enter the public domain, so that the world will understand that the Taliban was neither created by Pakistan nor majority sustained by it. Rather, the growth of the militia represented a collaborative effort that spanned the globe. Until Pakistan releases the facts that it has in its possession on the Afghanistan situation in the 1990s, the perception that it alone is responsible for the nightmare in that country will persist.The publication of a White Paper by Pakistan on the support to the Taliban during the Clinton administration and till 9/11 would be a crucial correction of the narrative that is being widely disseminated internationally, which is that Islamabad is solely responsible for the growth of the Taliban. Of course, this presumes that the Pakistan establishment will find the courage to confront the US side with the truth in such a manner. Let it be admitted that the Indian establishment would never dare to go down the route of transparency, if the same would entail annoying US policymakers with disclosures about their complicity in decisions that adversely affected both regional as well as international security. An example is the pathetic response of the Vajpayee government towards the hijackers of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi at the close of the last millennium.Thus far, the Indian side has refrained from exposing the numerous pressures for a soft line on extremists that come from the US and from other countries that in public take a hard line on international terrorism. The UAE allowed the hijacked aircraft to land in its territory and safely take off, only after it was privately requested to do so by the US administration of Bill Clinton, who may be described as the true parent of the Taliban for the manner in which his team created and sustained that militia. Whether it was the December 24,1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines flight 814 or events such as the interception of a North Korean vessel by India a decade ago that was carrying missile parts, but which was released after secret parleys with the US, there has been a pattern of Washington saying one thing in public and another in private, a behaviour pattern than needs to be made public by its victims. Just as Pakistan needs to make public the manner in which the Taliban was created and sustained by other powers, so too India needs to make known the way in which jihadis have been supported by the US and by other powers that claim to be fighting a War on Terror, but who are complicit in shielding perpetrators who do not directly challenge their own interests.Even the 2008 Mumbai attack attracted the attention that it did only because nationals of the US and Israel were directly targetted. Had those killed been merely Indian nationals, there would have been no international action and little uproar about the incident.It is time that elites in India and in Pakistan moved away from the Winston Churchill theorem that the native people of both countries lack the wisdom to understand the truth. For too long have the Indian and the Pakistani establishments concealed the facts from their own people. In the case of India, even the Henderson-Brooks report on the 1962 debacle with China is kept secret, as are numerous other tomes that show the incompetence and worse, culpabilty, of several policymakers in India in events that cost many lives. In the process of protecting themselves, the local elite also protect their foreign patrons, by keeping from their own people the truth. It is time that such veils got removed, and the facts got presented. A beginning can be made by transparency over the events in Afghanistan from 1993 to September 10, 2011. Both India and Pakistan can issue White Papers that give the facts about the policies followed by both countries towards that country during that period. India can further give details of the pressure applied in the 1990s by the US, the UK and other powers for it to go easy on the Taliban and on outfits backed by the Taliban. This Page 101 Time for white paper on Afghanistan Sunday Times (Islamabad) June 5, 2011 Sunday
- 102. columnist has hadthe privilege of knowing well the Prime Ministers of that period, and has been made personally aware of the gap between what certain countries professed in public and what they urged India to do in private.The people of India and Pakistan deserve to be told the truth. In view of the regional significance of Afghanistan and the centrality of the 1993-2001 period to what is taking place in that country now, there is need for a White Paper from both India and Pakistan that exposes the facts about Afghan policy during that period. Knowledge of the truth, and of errors made, is the best defense against future policy disasters. " Hammaam mai sab nanga hai". All are naked in the bath. The naked truth must be told, and now, during a time when a single country is being excoriated as the sole mischief-maker in the battle against extremism. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Sunday Times. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com SUBJECT: TALIBAN (89%); DIPLOMATIC SERVICES (87%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (78%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (75%); TERRORISM (75%); AL-QAEDA (75%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (75%); PUBLIC POLICY (72%); INCOME ASSISTANCE (67%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (64%); RELIGION (50%) PERSON: OSAMA BIN LADEN (57%) GEOGRAPHIC: DELHI, INDIA (88%) KASHMIR (79%) PAKISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (94%); AFGHANISTAN (92%); INDIA (88%); ASIA (79%); EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES (55%) LOAD-DATE: June 6, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2011 Sunday Times All Rights Reserved Page 102 Time for white paper on Afghanistan Sunday Times (Islamabad) June 5, 2011 Sunday
- 103. 32 of 214DOCUMENTS Columnists India/Pak May 14, 2010 Friday Time for white paper on Afghanistan LENGTH: 1383 words DATELINE: Islamabad Islamabad, May 14 -- Both the Indian as well as the Pakistani elites have yet to get over their feelings of inadequacy in confronting international challenges. This lack of self-confidence is what leads both to cling to outside players, rather than activate their own strengths. However, the reality is that either country has the size and capability to ensure that its own interests are protected, although of course, the local elites refuse to acknowledge this.An example is the way the Pakistan elite has swung into a reactive mode when confronted by daily accusations of complicity in the harbouring of Osama bin Laden since 2002. Rather than wring one's hands and plead innocence, what is needed is for the Pakistan establishment to come out with a comprehensive White Paper on Afghanistan, that would detail the way in which the CIA and other agencies used the Pakistan establishment for their own purposes. This columnist well remembers the 1990s, a period when US (and EU, and Chinese, and GCC) diplomats in Delhi ceaselessly urged Indian policymakers to concede to the demands being made by the jihadis battling Indian security forces in Kashmir. It was no secret that these elements were in even closer touch with US and EU diplomats in Delhi than they were with the intensely-monitored Pakistan mission. Not only diplomats but media-persons from the US and the EU routinely took the side of the jihadis in their reporting, as did outlets such as CNN and the BBC. It took 9/11 for that to change, some what. The Clinton administration followed the line of oil giant Unocal in seeing the Taliban as a friendly force capable of providing access to Central Asian petro-products via territory controlled by it. Senior US diplomats made several visits to cities in Pakistan and Afghanistan in order to liase with the Taliban, even as they lectured Delhi against giving assistance to the Northern Alliance, help that was meagre and intermittent, thanks to US-EU-GCC-China pressure on the side of the Taliban. Pakistan has a treasure trove of documents that show the manner in which the US and other countries helped the Taliban, including details of the cash and other payments made by the incoming Bush administration in the weeks preceding the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre by teams formed by "Al-Qaeda". What is needed is for these documents to get released in the form of annexures to a White Paper that would show the extent to which the US (and other countries) have been complicit in building up the Taliban.If Mullah Omar was enabled to take control of 85% of Afghanistan by 1996, the reasons for that did not stop in Pakistan, but extended to several other countries. There was a steady flow of cash and technical assistance to the Taliban from countries as diverse as Turkey, the UAE and China. None of these countries acted the way they did because of any pressure from Pakistan. They Page 103
- 104. were simply followingthe Unocal script of giving assistance to the Taliban in preference to the Northern Alliance. Indeed, Pakistan has numerous documents showing the way several of those still prominent in the US facilitated the Taliban. What is needed is for such information to enter the public domain, so that the world will understand that the Taliban was neither created by Pakistan nor majority sustained by it. Rather, the growth of the militia represented a collaborative effort that spanned the globe. Until Pakistan releases the facts that it has in its possession on the Afghanistan situation in the 1990s, the perception that it alone is responsible for the nightmare in that country will persist.The publication of a White Paper by Pakistan on the support to the Taliban during the Clinton administration and till 9/11 would be a crucial correction of the narrative that is being widely disseminated internationally, which is that Islamabad is solely responsible for the growth of the Taliban. Of course, this presumes that the Pakistan establishment will find the courage to confront the US side with the truth in such a manner. Let it be admitted that the Indian establishment would never dare to go down the route of transparency, if the same would entail annoying US policymakers with disclosures about their complicity in decisions that adversely affected both regional as well as international security. An example is the pathetic response of the Vajpayee government towards the hijackers of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi at the close of the last millennium.Thus far, the Indian side has refrained from exposing the numerous pressures for a soft line on extremists that come from the US and from other countries that in public take a hard line on international terrorism. The UAE allowed the hijacked aircraft to land in its territory and safely take off, only after it was privately requested to do so by the US administration of Bill Clinton, who may be described as the true parent of the Taliban for the manner in which his team created and sustained that militia. Whether it was the December 24,1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines flight 814 or events such as the interception of a North Korean vessel by India a decade ago that was carrying missile parts, but which was released after secret parleys with the US, there has been a pattern of Washington saying one thing in public and another in private, a behaviour pattern than needs to be made public by its victims. Just as Pakistan needs to make public the manner in which the Taliban was created and sustained by other powers, so too India needs to make known the way in which jihadis have been supported by the US and by other powers that claim to be fighting a War on Terror, but who are complicit in shielding perpetrators who do not directly challenge their own interests.Even the 2008 Mumbai attack attracted the attention that it did only because nationals of the US and Israel were directly targetted. Had those killed been merely Indian nationals, there would have been no international action and little uproar about the incident.It is time that elites in India and in Pakistan moved away from the Winston Churchill theorem that the native people of both countries lack the wisdom to understand the truth. For too long have the Indian and the Pakistani establishments concealed the facts from their own people. In the case of India, even the Henderson-Brooks report on the 1962 debacle with China is kept secret, as are numerous other tomes that show the incompetence and worse, culpabilty, of several policymakers in India in events that cost many lives. In the process of protecting themselves, the local elite also protect their foreign patrons, by keeping from their own people the truth. It is time that such veils got removed, and the facts got presented. A beginning can be made by transparency over the events in Afghanistan from 1993 to September 10, 2011. Both India and Pakistan can issue White Papers that give the facts about the policies followed by both countries towards that country during that period. India can further give details of the pressure applied in the 1990s by the US, the UK and other powers for it to go easy on the Taliban and on outfits backed by the Taliban. This Page 104 Time for white paper on Afghanistan Columnists India/Pak May 14, 2010 Friday
- 105. columnist has hadthe privilege of knowing well the Prime Ministers of that period, and has been made personally aware of the gap between what certain countries professed in public and what they urged India to do in private.The people of India and Pakistan deserve to be told the truth. In view of the regional significance of Afghanistan and the centrality of the 1993-2001 period to what is taking place in that country now, there is need for a White Paper from both India and Pakistan that exposes the facts about Afghan policy during that period. Knowledge of the truth, and of errors made, is the best defense against future policy disasters. " Hammaam mai sab nanga hai". All are naked in the bath. The naked truth must be told, and now, during a time when a single country is being excoriated as the sole mischief-maker in the battle against extremism Published by HT Syndication with permission from Columnists. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com SUBJECT: TALIBAN (89%); DIPLOMATIC SERVICES (87%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (78%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (75%); TERRORISM (75%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (75%); AL-QAEDA (75%); PUBLIC POLICY (72%); INCOME ASSISTANCE (67%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (64%); RELIGION (50%) PERSON: OSAMA BIN LADEN (57%) GEOGRAPHIC: DELHI, INDIA (88%) KASHMIR (79%) PAKISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (94%); AFGHANISTAN (92%); INDIA (92%); ASIA (79%); EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES (55%) LOAD-DATE: May 13, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2010 HT Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved Page 105 Time for white paper on Afghanistan Columnists India/Pak May 14, 2010 Friday
- 106. 35 of 214DOCUMENTS Tehelka November 1, 2010 Monday Will Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline remain a pipedream? LENGTH: 713 words DATELINE: India India, Nov. 1 -- It could, given that 11 year on, old issues have not been settled, even as new ones crop up BY Shantanu Guha Ray Delhi India's insistence on sorting out the pricing issue with Iran and Pakistan could indefinitely delay the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, 11 years after it was conceived. S Sundareshan, petroleum secretary, told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar in the Indian capital that New Delhi was optimistic of reviving the project but contentious pricing issues needed to be sorted out with both Iran and Pakistan. "Pricing is central to the project," he said. Market observers claim New Delhi is eager to revive the project that was hostage to a host of political issues including Iran's protest over India voting against it in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and serious security issues with Pakistan. India wants Iran to stick to the $3.20 per million British thermal units (MMBTU) price agreed in 2007. Later, the price went up to $4.93 per MMBTU and was again revised by Iran to $8.30. New Delhi is also opposing Tehran's insistence on reviewing the gas price every three years. "The pricing and security issues must be sorted out with some extra insurance costs because the project will pass through areas that are not stable," said energy expert Rajeev Sikri, adding that otherwise, the fate of the 11-year-old, 2,775km, $7.4 billion project would continue to hang in the balance. India, it is reliably learnt, is not keen for any lock-in period with both Iran and Pakistan if the costs are high. In its current status, Sikri feels the project could take another six to seven years to fructify. "It could actually be a delay of almost two decades, the worst in the history of all mega projects in India," he said. When conceptualized, the pipeline had several options: Gas could have come from Turkmenistan, Iran, Russia and even war-torn Iraq. Global hydrocarbon giants like Unocal were ready to bankroll the project despite high-voltage tensions associated with all projects passing through Pakistan. But continued delays hiked costs from $4 billion to the present $7.4 billion. Worse, four governments Page 106
- 107. changed at theCentre, Unocal backed out, Kabul snowballed into a global flashpoint and Washington had lingering tensions with Tehran over its nuclear power programme. Officials of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas say the answer now lies in getting the gas from Iran's giant South Pars offshore gas fields in the Persian Gulf by liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers hired from Japan or South Korea. "Global prices of the tankers, once hovering around $400 million, is now at a low of $250 million per piece. If the pipeline does not happen, a fleet of tankers is the best option," said a senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Transit risks in a volatile Pakistan remain a damper for financial institutions that had once agreed to fund the project. Despite New Delhi, Islamabad and Tehran taking stakes in the project, global institutions are not enthused about it. Similar is the case with major Indian banks. And New Delhi needs the gas badly, India, Asia's third largest economy, can produce only half the gas it needs to generate electricity. There are enough indications that demand could more than double to 400 million cubic metres a day by 2025 if the economy grows at the projected annual rate of 7 to 8 per cent. There are other tensions as well. "India is under severe pressure from the US not to do business with Iran in the energy sector. As a result, no one is giving a concrete answer to the project," said veteran defence analyst C Uday Bhaskar. Many agree. "The pipeline has fallen victim to geopolitics, especially to America's insistence that commercial transactions with Tehran amount to a violation of the several layers of sanctions the UN, US and the EU (European Union) have slammed on Iran. India's withdrawal under American pressure complicated the matter and seemed to jeopardize the entire project," said Pakistan's top daily, Dawn. No one, it seems, is ready to bell the cat. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Tehelka. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com SUBJECT: NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (89%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (89%); LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS (89%); NATURAL GAS PRICES (77%); OIL & GAS PRICES (77%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (76%); PROTESTS & DEMONSTRATIONS (76%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (76%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (76%); ENERGY DEPARTMENTS (76%); PLATFORMS & ISSUES (73%); NUCLEAR ENERGY (73%); DELAYS & POSTPONEMENTS (72%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (71%); BULK SHIPPING (57%) GEOGRAPHIC: NEW DELHI, INDIA (90%); DELHI, INDIA (74%); TEHRAN, IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (73%) INDIAN OCEAN (79%) INDIA (99%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (96%); PAKISTAN (94%); IRAQ (79%); TURKMENISTAN (79%); JAPAN (79%); AFGHANISTAN (78%); IRAN (73%); GULF STATES (58%) LOAD-DATE: November 6, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Magazine Page 107 Will Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline remain a pipedream? Tehelka November 1, 2010 Monday
- 108. Copyright 2010 Tehelka AllRights Reserved Page 108 Will Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline remain a pipedream? Tehelka November 1, 2010 Monday
- 109. 36 of 214DOCUMENTS Atlantic Free Press August 8, 2010 Sunday 12:52 PM EST Bradley Manning: An American Hero BYLINE: Stephen Lendman LENGTH: 2442 words Aug. 8, 2010 (Atlantic Free Press delivered by Newstex) -- by Stephen Lendman Manning, of course, is the courageous Army intelligence analyst turned whistleblower, who admitted leaking: -- "260,000 classified United States diplomatic cables and video of a (US) airstrike in Afghanistan that killed 97 civilians last year," and -- an "explosive (39 minute) video of an American helicopter attack in Baghdad that left 12 people dead, including two employees of the Reuters news agency" - "collateral murder" he felt obligated to expose. It got him in trouble. On June 7, the military in Iraq arrested him, saying: "The Department of Defense takes the management of classified information very seriously because it affects our national security, the lives of our soldiers, and our operations abroad." Defense Secretary Robert Gates called the leak "potentially dramatic and grievously harmful....The battlefield consequences of the release of these documents are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners, and may well damage our relationships and reputation in that part of the world. Intelligence sources and methods, as well as military tactics, techniques and procedures, will become known to our adversaries." Unmentioned was the following: -- our attack, invasion and occupation are illegal under US and international law; -- war crimes, including murder, torture, and targeted assassinations happen daily; -- civilian men, women, and children are willfully targeted; -- since October 2001, millions of Afghans have been killed, injured or displaced, their country perhaps the most hellish anyway, devastated by decades Page 109
- 110. of war, deeppoverty, depravation, and unimaginable human suffering, mostly caused by America; -- the same holds for Iraq, Pakistan, and nations where Washington wages proxy wars; and -- our presence and imperial aims cause harm, not Manning or WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, exposing truths the public has a right and need to know. They deserve praise, not prosecutions, compliments, not condemnation, and accolades, not accusations. They're heros, risking personal harm to disclose disturbing truths, what government and media reports suppress, sanitize and distort, letting warlords plunder lawlessly so war profiteers can cash in, Americans the worse off for it. In his August 4 Anti-Empire Report (www.killinghope.org), author William Blum asked: "So please tell me again: What's the war about?" Lies, of course, about 9/11 and leaders repeating them, Obama for one last August 17 saying: "But we must never forget this is not a war of choice. This is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which Al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans." On July 28, 2010, he lied again, saying: "the region from which the 9/11 attacks were waged and other attacks against the United States and our friends and allies have been planned." Rubbish according to Blum, saying: "Never mind that out of the tens of thousands of people the United States and its NATO front have killed in Afghanistan not one has been identified as having had anything to do with the events of September 11, 2001." "The only 'war of necessity' that draws the United States to Afghanistan is the need for protected oil and gas pipelines from the Caspian Sea area, (and) establishment of military bases (there), making it easier to watch and pressure next-door Iran (besides being a land-based aircraft carrier to target Russia and China). What more could any respectable imperialist nation desire? Oh, did I mention that the military-industrial-security- intelligence complex and its shareholders" will profit handsomely. In 1996, America helped the Taliban gain power, funneling military aid through Pakistan's ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence). Oil was the hidden agenda, Taliban representatives visiting Unocal in Houston in December 1997 to negotiate a trans-Afghan pipeline from the oil rich Caspian area. It was nearly agreed, the kicker being America's refusal to extend recognition, a small courtesy to avoid war, occupation, and a deepening unwinnable quagmire. On December 14, 1997, London's Daily Telegraph reported: "the US government, which in the past has branded the Taliban's policies against women and children 'despicable,' appears anxious to please the fundamentalists to clinch the lucrative pipeline contract." Page 110 Bradley Manning: An American Hero Atlantic Free Press August 8, 2010 Sunday 12:52 PM EST
- 111. On December 4,1997, a BBC correspondent said "the proposal to build a pipeline across Afghanistan is part of an international scramble to profit from developing the rich energy resources of the Caspian Sea." By recognizing the Taliban government, it would have been built and today's quagmire avoided. Perhaps America's graveyard also, no invader ever occupying Afghanistan successfully, not the Soviets or British, the UK government suffering its greatest ever slaughter and defeat in 1842, losing 16,000 soldiers and civilians, except one man, historians believing Afghans let him live to recount the horror. As a result, Britain withdrew all its personnel and left, a lesson now forgotten, about 9,500 UK troops deployed with Americans and other NATO forces. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai was a former Unocal adviser when pipeline negotiations took place. He was also a CIA asset. Unocal claimed it abandoned the pipeline project. Secret talks, however, continued up to a few months before 9/11, Taliban representatives visiting the State Department, CIA, and National Security Council. They even had a Queens, New York diplomatic office, and US officials visited Taliban ones in Islamabad. The French newspaper Le Figaro also quoted Arab specialist Antoine Sfeir, saying CIA operatives met with bin Laden (a CIA asset in the 1980s) and maintained contact with him until his training camp was attacked in 1998. America's fine line between enemies and friends is their willingness or reluctance to obey - do what we say or we'll boycott or bomb you, a threat with teeth, revealed by Manning and WikiLeaks. Revealing Disturbing Truths Is Risky Held initially in Kuwait, a July 29 Baghdad Pentagon press release said: "US Army officials transferred PFC Bradley Manning from the Theater Field Confinement Facility in Kuwait to the Marine Corps Base Quantico Brig in Quantico, Virginia, on July 29. (He) remains in pretrial confinement pending an Article 32 investigation (like a grand jury or preliminary hearing) into the charges preferred against him on July 5." "The criminal investigation remains open....findings and recommendations (will determine) whether to recommend (if) the case (will) be referred to trial by court-martial." For sure, that's what's planned, the Pentagon and Obama administration to throw the book at him or worse unless somehow their plans are derailed. On August 2, Congressman Mike Rogers (R. MI) told Michigan radio station WHMI that Manning should be executed, saying: "He release(d) this information to a third party who they say will make the determination that there's nothing harmful in it, while we know for a fact that there will be people that will likely be killed because of this information being disclosed. That's pretty serious. If they don't charge him with treason, they ought to charge him with murder." Asked if he should be punished by death, Rogers said: "Yes, and I would support it 100 percent." Page 111 Bradley Manning: An American Hero Atlantic Free Press August 8, 2010 Sunday 12:52 PM EST
- 112. Federal Charges AgainstManning In early July, the Pentagon charged him with four noncriminal offenses, and eight violations of federal criminal law, including one count of violating the 1917 Espionage Act, accessed through the following link: http://www.boingboing.net/ 2010/07/06/us-will-press- crimin.html#more Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) charges included: -- eight violations of federal criminal law, including unauthorized computer access and transmitting classified information to an unauthorized third party; and -- four noncriminal Army regulations violations, governing the handling of classified information and computers. If convicted on all charges, he faces up to 52 years in prison. The Bradley Manning Support Network Access it for information about Manning through the following link: http://www.bradleymanning.org/ Its purpose is to: -- "Harness the outrage felt by millions (viewing) the 'Collateral Murder' video into a coordinated defense of Manning; -- Raise awareness" about his arrest, charges and likely court-martial; -- "Coordinate" efforts to support him; -- "Collect funds (for a) high-quality" defense; -- "Provide supporters with accurate, updated information as the" pretrial hearing and likely trial progress; and -- "Provide prisoner support for (him) throughout his imprisonment." Connected with Assange, he's more vulnerable, a 2008 classified Counterintelligence Center report placing WikiLeaks on "the list of enemies threatening the security of the United States," discussing ways to destroy its reputation and effectiveness, saying: "Web sites such as WikiLeaks.org have trust as their most important center of gravity by protecting the anonymity and identity of the insider, leaker, or whistleblower. Successful identification, prosecution, termination of employment, and exposure of persons leaking the information by the governments and businesses affected by information posted to WikiLeaks.org would damage and potentially destroy this center of gravity and deter others from taking similar actions." Page 112 Bradley Manning: An American Hero Atlantic Free Press August 8, 2010 Sunday 12:52 PM EST
- 113. With Manning incustody and facing trial, score one for the Pentagon, expected to exploit his case to the fullest to set an example and deter others. He'll likely be convicted and imprisoned, not executed as Congressman Rogers wants. Law Professor Francis Boyle "believe(s) a treason charge wo(n't) stick (because) Congress has not declared war." The best outcome for military resisters he helped defend was to "get them off of prison time, out of the military, or else minimum time served." He and others also got Amnesty International to designate Capt. Dr. Huett Vaughn, Staff Sgt. Mejia, and Lt. Ehren Watada Prisoners of Conscience (POC). Watada was the first commissioned officer refusing to deploy to Iraq, saying: "as an officer of honor and integrity, (he could not participate in a war that was) manifestly illegal....morally wrong (and) a horrible breach of American law." As a result, he faced court-martial, a possible dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and seven years in prison, but got off thanks to Boyle and others. Before his Article 32 hearing, he publicly called the war illegal. Not wanting that revealed in testimony, the presiding judge declared a mistrial. He'd lost control, knew Watada was right, and had to suppress the truth to avoid an acquittal possibility on constitutional grounds. Afghanistan is also illegal, Boyle explaining that Congress never declared war. The UN Security never authorized it under Article 51, and the Taliban never "attacked the United States or authorized or approved such an attack." In public testimony, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and CIA's then Deputy Director John McLaughlin admitted finding no link between the Taliban and 9/11. Nonetheless, the Bush administration preemptively attacked in violation of US and international law. Obama is a war criminal pursuing and escalating it, expanding it cross border into Pakistan, and continuing the Iraq conflict and occupation. American forces may refuse to serve, citing US and international law, including Army Field Manual (FM) 27 - 10, incorporating the Nuremberg Principles, Judgment and Charter and The Law of Land Warfare (1956). FM's paragraph 498 states that any person, military or civilian, who commits a crime under international law is responsible for it and may be punished. Paragraph 499 defines a war crime. Paragraph 500 refers to a conspiracy, attempts to commit it and complicity with respect to international crimes. Paragraph 509 denies the defense of superior orders in the commission of a crime, and paragraph 510 denies the defense of an "act of state" to absolve them. These provisions apply to all US military and civilian personnel, including top commanders, the Secretary of Defense, his subordinates, and the President and Vice President. Boyle calls resisting lawlessness "our Nuremberg moment." Those refusing them and exposing crimes should be praised, not prosecuted. Manning provided evidence and may denounce the war's illegality, perhaps using it as a defense. He found crimes, needing to be exposed, acting honorably and heroically doing it as did WikiLeaks by publishing them anonymously. Page 113 Bradley Manning: An American Hero Atlantic Free Press August 8, 2010 Sunday 12:52 PM EST
- 114. In edited chatlogs posted by Wired.com, Manning admitted "want(ing) people to see the truth....regardless of who they are....because without information, you cannot make informed decisions...." He never considered selling it to foreign powers or anyone, saying: "information should be free....it belongs in the public domain....if it's out in the open....it should be a public good," exposing crimes and corruption to generate "worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms." That's honor, not espionage or treason, Manning saying: "Everywhere there's a US post, there's a diplomatic scandal (to) be revealed. World-wide anarchy in CVS (NYSE:CVS) format. It's Climategate with a global scope, and breathtaking depth. It's beautiful and horrifying. (The documents describe) almost criminal political back dealings. (They belong) in the public domain, and not on some server stored in a dark corner in Washington, DC (or the Pentagon. Our government is involved in) incredible things, awful things." He exposed cold-blooded civilian murders, the public unaware that Pentagon rules-of-engagement (ROEs) target them like combatants in every warfare theater. Waging permanent wars of aggression, America acts lawlessly and recklessly. The public has a right to know. Manning and Assange are heros, deserving plaudits for their courage. A Final Note On Sunday, August 8, a public rally will be held outside the Quantico, VA Marine base, supporting Manning. War criminals remain free uncharged. Manning, an American hero, faces 52 years in prison for exposing their crimes. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www. progressiveradionetwork.com/ the-progressive-news-hour/ Newstex ID: ATFR-0001-47697341 SUBJECT: ARMIES (90%); INTELLIGENCE SERVICES (90%); ARMED FORCES (90%); MILITARY OPERATIONS (90%); WAR & CONFLICT (89%); DEFENSE DEPARTMENTS (78%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (78%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (78%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (77%); WAR CRIMES (76%); NATIONAL SECURITY (73%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (71%); ARRESTS (69%); MURDER (57%); WIKILEAKS CONTROVERSIES (78%); TALIBAN (77%); AL-QAEDA (60%) COMPANY: CVS CORP TICKER: CVS (NYSE) PERSON: ROBERT M GATES (56%); BARACK OBAMA (51%); JULIAN ASSANGE (53%) Mike Rogers GEOGRAPHIC: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (72%) UNITED STATES (96%); AFGHANISTAN (93%); IRAQ Page 114 Bradley Manning: An American Hero Atlantic Free Press August 8, 2010 Sunday 12:52 PM EST
- 115. (92%); PAKISTAN (79%) LOAD-DATE:August 8, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2010 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2010 Atlantic Free Press Page 115 Bradley Manning: An American Hero Atlantic Free Press August 8, 2010 Sunday 12:52 PM EST
- 116. 37 of 214DOCUMENTS Ventura County Star (California) October 21, 2009 Wednesday SECTION: OPINION LENGTH: 582 words Make Pakistan priority President Barack Obama's decision on whether to escalate the Afghanistan war is a complex, no-win situation. Supporting the Afghan government means propping up a corrupt president whose own brother, Walid Karzai, is one of the largest dope dealers in the country. Our troops there face a hostile population because of the indiscriminate bombing of civilians living amongst the Taliban. Gen. Stanley McChrystal's edict of winning hearts and minds is too little too late. Our reason for being there was to extract Osama bin Laden. He hasn't been found, so why are we still there after eight years? Is it possible that we remain in order to secure a planned easement for a strategic oil and gas pipeline from the Central Asian basin through to the Indian subcontinent? Hamid Karzai worked as a consultant to Unocal before his presidential installation in Kabul. His mentor, Zhalmay Khalilzad, also has ties to U.S. oil interests and was special envoy to Afghanistan even during the Bill Clinton years. He later became the first U.S. ambassador to Iraq under Bush. Karzai himself worked for the Taliban government in the 1990s. Northern Afghanistan has many natural gas deposits as well as copper reserves. Are we there to extract these, or are we there to help the Afghan people? Tens of billions of dollars later tells me it's not about helping the people. A more urgent need for this mission is to eventually stabilize Pakistan. Should the Talibs control that country, they would have 100 nukes, and war with India, Israel or the U.S. is not impossible. - Richard Reiss, Westlake Village GOP not all bad Re: Ed Jones' Oct. 14 commentary, "Today's Republican Party is the party of no": Jones' title was long enough, but it should have been longer, i.e. "...party of no more abuse of taxpayers by free spending politicians." Page 116
- 117. Ed cited Republicanopposition to President Barack Obama's stimulus plan, but only 16 percent of that money has been spent, so it is unlikely that it has had any meaningful effect on the economy, and may actually hurt us in the long run. It's more likely that Bush's bank stabilization effort did the trick. Japan in the 1990s tried a decade of yearly stimulus programs and only stabilized their economy when they finally admitted bank failures. Jones talked about the opposition to Sonia Sotomayer's Supreme Court appointment, but he failed to mention identical Democratic opposition to former President George W. Bush's two appointments. Jones talked about opposition to healthcare, where tort reform is likely the only way to stabilize costs, but the Democrats are beholden to the lawyer groups that benefit greatly from outrageous court settlements, so the only element of fiscal reality is off the table. Everything else on the table will just increase costs for those who pay taxes or insurance premiums. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi bragged three years ago that the first 100 hours of a Democratic Congress would reshape the nation. Well, that was over 26,000 hours ago, and the nation is now seriously in need of adult supervision. I consider myself a conservative independent, and for the first time in my life, I contributed to the Republican Party as the only hope for the nation, although they are badly in need of a leader like Ronald Reagan. Jones usually produces higher quality articles, but this time he seemed to select a poor title and then tried unsuccessfully to fill in the blanks. I expect better of him. - Tom Reilly, Thousand Oaks SUBJECT: US PRESIDENTS (90%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008 (89%); POLITICAL PARTIES (89%); US REPUBLICAN PARTY (88%); POLITICS (78%); US ECONOMIC STIMULUS PLAN 2008-2009 (78%); US DEMOCRATIC PARTY (78%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (75%); STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVES (74%); SUPREME COURTS (73%); SETTLEMENT & COMPROMISE (73%); CRUDE OIL & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (69%); OIL & GAS PIPELINES (69%); EASEMENTS & RIGHTS OF WAY (69%); CRUDE OIL PIPELINES (69%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (69%); EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (67%); BANK FAILURES (64%); BANKING & FINANCE (60%); LAW COURTS & TRIBUNALS (60%); TORT REFORM (52%); TORTS (60%); TALIBAN (90%) PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (92%); HAMAD KARZAI (70%); STANLEY A MCCHRYSTAL (57%); BILL CLINTON (55%); GEORGE W BUSH (51%); OSAMA BIN LADEN (57%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) CALIFORNIA, USA (79%) AFGHANISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (93%); PAKISTAN (93%); ASIA (79%); IRAQ (79%); ISRAEL (79%) LOAD-DATE: October 21, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Page 117 Ventura County Star (California) October 21, 2009 Wednesday
- 118. Copyright 2009 VenturaCounty Star All Rights Reserved Page 118 Ventura County Star (California) October 21, 2009 Wednesday
- 119. 38 of 214DOCUMENTS Toledo Blade (Ohio) December 11, 2009 Friday City Final Edition READERS' FORUM BYLINE: Blade SECTION: PAGES OF OPINION; Pg. A12 LENGTH: 1233 words Latta uses 'Democrat' as a slur Congressional Republicans use "Democrat Party" to refer to the Democratic Party. My congressman, Rep. Robert Latta, uses it in his newsletters to constituents. When I first read that ungrammatical term with two nouns ("Democrat" and "Party") rather than an adjective modifying a noun (Democratic Party), I thought Mr. Latta missed elementary English lessons or that he hired uneducated staff writers. Then I realized he was consciously using this term as a slur. This disrespect is offensive. I am a Democrat. Mr. Latta is purposely offending me and all his Democratic constituents. Such behavior is unbecoming of a congressman. He needs to apologize and cease using the slur. This slur was started deliberately by Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. McCarthy's witch hunts on American writers, artists, composers, and military leaders stirred up a frenzy of hate, destroying many careers. His despicable character assassinations stopped soon after U.S. Army attorney Joseph Welch demanded, during a televised U.S. Senate hearing, "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" In 1954, the Senate censured McCarthy, ending four years of political intimidation. Current Republicans have resurrected McCarthy's slur. No Democrat is using a similar term. It not only shows Republicans' lack of decency and respect for others, but it equates Republicans with Joseph McCarthy, alienates the majority of constituents, and shows Republicans as illiterate. Coordinated slurs like this one must cease. Have current Republicans, like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and Mr. Latta no decency? Sarah Maxwell Archbold, Ohio We fat people are a drain on society Page 119
- 120. Fat people areselfish and their defenders are pathetic. I weigh 400 pounds and I disgust myself. Let me tell you why. I gorge myself on food while others starve. I test the diabetes gods while a wonderful little girl who is a friend of my 11-year-old daughter has just recently been diagnosed with diabetes. Great kid from a great family. Not deserving of this. But I am. Most fat people cause their own problems. It is our lack of self-control. Society has allowed a politically correct mentality to ruin reality. Let's be honest. We fat people are a drain on society. A great way to fix health care is to quit enabling self-inflicted health issues like obesity. If you cause it, you should pay for it. Jason Craig Perrysburg Red-light runners should pay fines Why has the city of Toledo not collected the $3.7 million in outstanding fines from those who have gotten traffic citations from the red-light cameras since January, 2007? These people most likely have a driver's license. Why have they not received letters informing them that their license will be suspended if they do not pay? There is no excuse for people getting away without paying these citations. I realize that the violations don't appear on a person's driving record at this point but maybe those who don't pay should be reported to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. If the citations are not enforced, then the cameras are not worth the time, effort, or expense. Rebecca Swinney South Park Lane 'Whining' whiner should think again I take issue with the writer of the letter headlined "Deficit whining is nothing but a ploy." It's an example of the type of letters and articles that I'm seeing more and more of lately that lack any type of critical thinking. The writer never deals with whether we have a deficit and whether a $12 trillion national debt (and growing) is a problem. Instead, this writer states that deficits started with George W. Bush and no one was yelling then. Did the Bush administration contribute to the deficit? Yes, and if the writer didn't hear anyone yelling about the deficit and the war during the Bush years, I don't know where she was. In an attempt to discredit anyone who is concerned with our quickly growing debt, the writer makes reference to the tea parties and Karl Rove's despicable tactics but offers no examples. Next, the writer throws in a little bit of class warfare with some mumblings about the elitist rich. Having slammed Mr. Bush, Mr. Rove, and the tea partiers, this writer dusts off her hands and no longer feels the need to be concerned with the deficit. Problem Page 120 READERS' FORUM Toledo Blade (Ohio) December 11, 2009 Friday
- 121. solved. Marek R. Moldawsky Maumee IRSthe latest to mistreat natives It looks like the federal government has found a new way of stealing more tribal lands: Send in the IRS. Don't they get it? These lands belong to First Nation peoples. They are held in trust by the U.S. government. Ooops, my bad, I forgot, the feds can choose who can be native or not. I wonder how well other nations would tolerate the IRS coming into their countries, seizing properties, and selling them off to whoever? I don't think they would be tolerant of that kind of move. When will the U.S. stop treating native people as objects and start treating us as people? Stop the thievery. Bruce Whalen Fredonia Avenue Fund-raisers take most for selves At this time of year, I am sick and tired of having the fund-raising companies for the charities constantly calling. I have found a way to come back without a guilty conscience. The fund-raisers now charge the charities 85 percent to 90 percent commission. So I ask the callers if they are a fund-raising organization, and when they answer yes, which they are required to do under law, I tell them: "I am sorry, but I refuse to contribute money through your organization where you keep 85 percent of the take and the organization involved gets only 15 percent. I don't care to have the majority of my donation go toward your operation." Rollin T. MacDonald Lakeside, Ohio Pipeline at heart of the Afghan war The urgency to occupy Afghanistan does not have its roots in terrorism. The Taliban harboring known international terrorists may be the reason we are given, but it is not the primary reason our troops are there. Surely the Soviets didn't try to conquer it on the ground on the basis of fighting terrorists, so why are we there now? For the same reason as the Soviets: Afghanistan lies along a planned route for a natural gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea region to Karachi, Pakistan. Its purpose is to service the eastern markets. One thing stands in the way: International laws require a Page 121 READERS' FORUM Toledo Blade (Ohio) December 11, 2009 Friday
- 122. sovereign government inAfghanistan for the deal to go through. This was noted during a congressional subcommittee with representatives from Unocal (now Chevron) back in 1998. This is where the Taliban come into play. After the Mujahideen had driven out the Soviets (with money, arms, and training from the United States), the Taliban were the closest thing to a legitimate government. As late as August, 2000, the United States was engaged in talks with the Taliban, willing to recognize them as the official government so that the pipeline plan could move forward. The Taliban changed its mind and refused the deal. The solution was to install a government that would accept the proposed pipeline. All this information was found in government archives that were made public. Did I mention that the current Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, was a Unocal consultant? No wonder the U.S. government used terrorism as the reason to invade and occupy Afghanistan. If it explained the main reason why our troops are over there, Americans never would have approved it. Tony Geis Brott Road SUBJECT: POLITICAL PARTIES (92%); POLITICS (90%); US DEMOCRATIC PARTY (90%); US REPUBLICAN PARTY (90%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (90%); LETTERS & COMMENTS (90%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); FINES & PENALTIES (83%); DRIVER BEHAVIOR (74%); MUSIC COMPOSITION (71%); WRITERS & WRITING (71%); ARMIES (70%); OBESITY (63%); VEHICULAR OFFENSES (62%); DIABETES (62%); LICENSES & PERMITS (60%) PERSON: ROBERT E LATTA (93%); JOHN BOEHNER (54%); MITCH MCCONNELL (54%) GEOGRAPHIC: OHIO, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (93%) LOAD-DATE: December 23, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2009 The Blade All Rights Reserved Page 122 READERS' FORUM Toledo Blade (Ohio) December 11, 2009 Friday
- 123. 39 of 214DOCUMENTS Rupee News October 7, 2009 Wednesday 12:29 AM EST Clinton admits to US support for Bin Laden & creation of Taliban BYLINE: aliphbay@aol.com (Rupee News) LENGTH: 4969 words Oct. 7, 2009 (Rupee News delivered by Newstex) -- The Taliban was a construct of the CIA and was armed by the CIA¦.Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher It seemed like a great idea, back in the 80s to" embolden" and train and equip" Taliban, mujahidin, jihadists against the Soviet Union, which had invaded Afghanistan. And with our help, and with the Pakistani support" this group" including, at that time, Bin Laden, defeated the Soviet Union. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Oct. 7th, 2009 During the House Committee on Foreign Affairs discussion recently. Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher named the Clinton administration, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for creating the Taliban. oeLet me repeat that: The Clinton administration, along with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, created the Taliban? Rohrabacher If this seems strange to you then look closely at the picture and you will see Congressman Rohrabacher on the right dressed in Taliban garb. Mr. Karzais elder brother was a Taliban and both used to live in Quetta Pakistan. Part of his family still lives there. Mr. Hamid Kiimself is a self-professed Taliban who was proposed as the UN Ambassador of the Taliban government. During this days as a Conoco representative Mr. Karzai reportedly received lots of money from Enron and Conocoto get the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline off the ground. Dana Rohrabacher is Congressman for 46th congressional district. The 46th district includes the whole of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, andAvalon on the island of Catalina. Also included are parts of Long Beach, San Pedro, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, and Westminster. Rohrabacher has accepted money from Jack Abramoff. He is pictured here with the Taliban. Page 123
- 124. Noticias de Rupia| Nouvelles de Roupie | Rupiennachrichten | ???????? ?????? | ??"?-??-? | Roepienieuws | Rupi Nyheter | ?????"??????????????? | Notizie di Rupia | PAKISTAN LEDGER | ?????????? ?????| RUPEE NEWS| November 30th, 2007 | Moin Ansari | ????&Oelig;?? ???????'?&Oelig; | ????? ?????&Oelig;? | Here is Secretary os state Hillary Clinton admitting that Osama Bin Laden was trained and supported by the US. Clinton: While at the same time realizing that theres a lot of other moving parts to this. And the United States, to some extent, has to acknowledge, being among the creators of the problem we are now dealing with. It seemed like a great idea, back in the 80s to" embolden" and train and equip" Taliban, mujahidin, jihadists against the Soviet Union, which had invaded Afghanistan. And with our help, and with the Pakistani support" this group" including, at that time, Bin Laden, defeated the Soviet Union. Drove them out of Afghanistan, eventually. Saw the fall of the government that they had installed. And the rest we know. They eventually took over. But when we accomplished our primary mission of seeing the Soviet Union thrown out of Afghanistan, we withdrew. And we left the problems of a well-equipped, fundamentalist, ideological and religious group that had been battle hardened to the Afghans and the Pakistanis. So, I think its understandable that people are saying, sort of, oeWell, whats your real commitment? What are you trying to accomplish? Do you understand the historical context and the regional geostrategic context? So, I think its important to pose it as you do. Lets look at it in the broader question. Its not about do we put more troops in or not? Do we do this on economic development or not? You have to look at it in that broader context. WASHINGTON, Oct. Hillary Clinton Interview Full Transcript. Katie Couric Interviews Secretary of State Clinton about Afghanistan and the Road Ahead By Katie Couric http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/06/eveningnews/main5367884.shtml The story of the CIA supporting the Taliban has been reportedly all over the press and is consecrated in many book. Sy Hersch as well as George Crieldiscussed the CIA connection at length The Talibaanwere a construct of the CIA! See Congressional records and visits to Texas ranches. oeIn the 1980s, the CIA provided some $5 billion in military aid for Islamic fundamentalist rebels fighting the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan, but scaled down operations after Moscow pulled out in 1989. However, Selig Harrison of the DC-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars recently told a conference in London that the CIA created the Taliban oemonster by providing some $3 billion for the ultra-fundamentalist militia in their 1994-6 drive to power. Times of India, March 7, 2001 This picture shows the Afghans in the White House with President Reagan. Other Reagan-Afghan pictures used to be ubiqutous on the internet but have now vanished. The Taliban was a construct of the CIA and was armed by the CIA, ISI and the Saudis as a counter to a resurgent Russian-backed communist party andan antidote to the civil war in Afghanistan. Pakistan supported the Taliban in conjunction with the CIA who were arming it right up till 2000. The Taliban were visiting Governor Bushs ranch in Texas. CNN CROSSFIRE: Aired September 10, 2002 " 19:00 ET Have U.S. Efforts in Afghanistan Been Successful if bin Laden is Alive?; Will Page 124 Clinton admits to US support for Bin Laden & creation of Taliban Rupee News October 7, 2009 Wednesday 12:29 AM EST
- 125. Fingerprints Stop TerroristsFrom Entering the Country? MCDERMOTT: It certainly is an improvement for the women of Afghanistan. But youve got to remember that of American policy, we put the Taliban there. We gave the money to the.. CARLSON: I beg your pardon? MCDERMOTT: ¦ Pakistanis. CARLSON: Youre breaking news here, Congressman. I dont think this has ever been reported before in the United States. MCDERMOTT: Oh, yes, it has been. We funded the Taliban through the Pakistanis, and all that money " we could have cut off that money and stopped what was going on. We knew what was going on there. http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0209/10/cf.00.html I need to point out the fact that Pakistani pleas for sanity in Afghanistan were ignored in 2001. Those who want to understand the irked Pakistani must know that the in 2001 the US installed a non-Pashtun, anti-Pakistan government in Kabul. The must also know that NATO allows the puppet Karzai government to continue to bark at Pakistan. http://www.house.gov/international_relations/fc071200.pdf U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE"WASHINGTON : 68-482 CC 2000 GLOBAL TERRORISM: SOUTH ASIA-THE NEW LOCUS HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: "HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION, JULY 12, 2000, Serial No. 106-173 oethe United States has been part and parcel to supporting the Taliban all along and still is The Pakistanis also know that despite being cold war allies for 50 years, Pakistan was threatened with annihilation in 2001. They also remember that $450 million paid for F-16s was never returned. Neither were the planes ever delivered. It is a matter of historical record that Pakistan never got the money back and did not get the planes either. The delivery of Soya beans does not make up for paid-for but undelivered F-16s. Pakistanis also remember that the world and Afghanistan abandoned 2 million refugees in Pakistan. The Pakistanis also note that the world does not support the liberation of Kashmir. Afghanistan and US interests prior to 9-11 It has been widely broadcast that the U.S. helped arm and train Afghans and extremists to repel the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It is ironic that these same people would turn their skills and arms against the United States. However, it is beyond deceptive to present this as our sole connection or interest in Afghanistan. The Clinton administration had been working with the Taliban from 1994 forward. Why? Because some companies (particularly UNOCAL and Saudi owned Delta) wanted oeto build a pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan through Afghanistan. ¦ oeso Page 125 Clinton admits to US support for Bin Laden & creation of Taliban Rupee News October 7, 2009 Wednesday 12:29 AM EST
- 126. that the vastuntapped oil and gas reserves in the Central Asian and Caspian region could be transported to markets in South Asia, South-East Asia, Far East and the Pacific 17. This is supported by Jon Flanders (2001, 18) article. While official relations were purportedly broken off in 1998, relations with the Taliban were maintained through the State Department (Ahmad) and through the Pakistan Military Intelligence ISI by the CIA. 19 According to Jon Flanders (2001), U.S. interest in the pipeline restarted in 2000, but was still not moving forward when Bush was elected. With Bush came Cheney (CEO of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) ) and Halliburton had investments in Turkmenistan for oeintegrated drilling services with an estimated value of $30 million for the total package. 20 It should not be surprising given the oil interests of the President, his kin, and his appointees, that Bush placed Afghanistan on the top of his action list. In July 2001, Colin Powell gave the Taliban $43 million for oehumanitarian aid (Madsen, 2002, 21). According to a BBC report by George Arney (9/18/01), the US was planning military action in Afghanistan prior to 9/11. oeNaiz Naik, a former Pakistan Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid-July that military action would go ahead by the middle of October. 22 OpEd informed people all over the world cannot fathom how the American administration can seriously claim to be pursuing oeal Qaida-connected terrorists, when they know that oeal Qaida, the terrorist organization never existed. Thanks to revelations by British MP Robin Cook in the Guardian, (http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1523838,00.html ), and French intelligence agent Pierre-Henry Bunel at the Wayne Madsen Report, (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=BUN20051120&articleId=1291) people know that when the United States needed a new enemy, after the demise of the Soviet empire, they decided to call oethe base (an international computer data base in Saudi Arabia of Afghan fighters), designated as oeal Qaida [an email address], an international terrorist network. oeBin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al-Qaida, literally oethe database, was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited andtrained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians. - Robin Cook oeThe truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida. And any informedintelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the [#x2dc]devil only in order to drive the [#x2dc]TV watcher to accept a unified internationalleadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US and the lobbyists for the US war on terrorism are only interested in making money. " Pierre-Henry Bunel oeElements associated with al Qaida has become the new official catch-all phrase, used as often as possible, to incite terror among the American people and to justify new attacks by American forces and American-supported militia groups. We are going into Pakistan in force, to train new Pakistanis to fight Page 126 Clinton admits to US support for Bin Laden & creation of Taliban Rupee News October 7, 2009 Wednesday 12:29 AM EST
- 127. other Pakistanis thatwe had trained too well in the past. How will we separate the oefriendly al Qaida from the unfriendly ones, when we bundle the whole bunch together under the rubric oeal Qaida? Why are Islamists like Ayman al Zawahiri considered al Q., after they provided the US Islamic fighters in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia, as well other Islamic recruits who served US interests in Chechnya? (http://www.bestcyrano.org/THOMASPAINE/?p=143) The Islamic mercenaries were fighting for us when the embassies were bombed in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, even after bin Laden and Zawahiriannounced the establishment of oeThe International Islamic Front for Holy War Against Jews andCrusaders, (an umbrella organization linking Islamic extremists in scores of countries around the world, the bin Laden group that was renamed Al Qaida). The militant group, now called al Qaeda was the instant answer to the 9/11 attacks, even though it was never what it was alleged to be, the ultimate terrorist bogeyman. The conjunction of US and al Qaida interests all over the Muslim world should warn thinking individuals, whenever attacks happen to occur in just the places that the neoconwar planners would most like to invade. It is more than reasonable to question where al Qaida ends and the secret world of their CIA trainers begins. Was it other trained al Qaida agents who pre-planted the demolitions that brought the towers down, obtained US security codes, timed the attacks into ongoing war games and stood down fighter cover, or was that part of the act of war the CIAs domain? Questioning further along that line, was Pakistans ISI (secret service) still acting as the CIAs surrogate, when ISIhead General Mahmud Ahmad allegedly had Sheik Omar wire Mohammed Atta $100,000? According to Chossudovsky: oeThe FBI had information on the money trail. They knew exactly who was financing the terrorists. Less than two weeks later, the findings of the FBI were confirmed by Agence France Presse (AFP) andthe Times of India, quoting an official Indian intelligence report (which had been dispatched to Washington). According to these two reports, the money used to finance the 9-11 attacks had allegedly been oewired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan, by Ahmad Umar Sheikh, at the instance of [ISIChief] General Mahmoud [Ahmad]. 10 According to the AFP (quoting the intelligence source): oeThe evidence we have supplied to the U.S. is of a much wider range and depth than just one piece of paper linking a rogue general to some misplaced act of terrorism. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20020620&articleId=371 The name oeSheikh Omar should set off alarms to those who are paying attention. He was the one who Bhutto fingered on the David Frost interview on 2nd November 2007 (2:15), oeOmar Sheikh, the man who murdered Osama bin Laden. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnychOXj9Tg Omar is mentioned in connection with a man that Bhutto feared might be involved in threats against her. Page 127 Clinton admits to US support for Bin Laden & creation of Taliban Rupee News October 7, 2009 Wednesday 12:29 AM EST
- 128. President Musharraf, inhis book In the Line of Fire stated that the Sheikh was originally recruited by British intelligence agency, MI6 to go to the Balkans. Here is another shadowy figure linked to al Qaida, Western intelligence agencies andthe US program, organized by Bill Clinton, to bring radical Islamist Jihadis to the war in Yugoslavia. They fought on the US side, in a war prosecuted by the United States, as an Islamic paramilitary force. The Grassy knoll by peter Chamberlin To put salt on open wounds, the US signed a Nuclear deal with arch-rival-India, not the major Non-NATO ally (Pakistan). Many Pakistanis wonder why $30 Billion were offered to Turkey to support war in Iraq, while Pakistan only received 1 billion to Pakistan for fighting Al-Qaeda and the Talibaan. You need to look at the situation with sanity and calm. Selective amnesia is the favorite tactic those who have an agenda. President Ayub Khan in 1966 said is best in his best selling book Pakistanis need oeFriends no Masters. Inconveniently, invading Afghanistan was not ObL " at least not directly. First, regardless of the brutality of the Taleban inside Afghanistan, the U.S. was friendly with the Taleban. Through the Clinton administration, and into George W. Bush administration, the U.S. supported the Taleban government. In fact, Colin Powell gave the Taleban government $43 million in the summer of 2001 to facilitate progress on a pipeline through Afghanistan. That was the carrot. The stick was " do it or we will invade by October. Wow! Time lines from the Bush administration. The short story is that Hamid Karzai, former UNOCAL advisor in Afghanistan, became the head of the new Afghan government. The pipeline project moved forward, and the Bush administration jumped off to the next big energy target for control " Iraq. But Afghanistan would not, and did not, go away. Now the people of Afghanistan want Karzai out for corruption and failure.OpEdNews October 24th, 2008 Pakistanis desire want and cherish American friendship however Pakistanis are not the oelittle brown brothers who can do the bidding of anyone. Pakistan is a 150 million strong nuclear state anda crucial pivot on the war on terror. President Musharraf said it quite bluntly, oeno one can do more and the West will go down on their knees and fail if Pakistan without the help of the ISI andthe Pakistan army. Those who deal with Pakistan need to learn some manners and some appreciation of the sacrifice of 1000 Pakistani soldiers who died fighting the war on terror. Pakistanis are sick and tired of lectures on oedo more. In the 1980s, the CIA provided some $5 billion in military aid for Islamic fundamentalist rebels fighting the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan, but scaled down operations after Moscow pulled out in 1989. However, Selig Harrison of the DC-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars recently told a conference in London that the CIA created the Taliban oemonster by providing some $3 billion for the ultra-fundamentalist militia in their 1994-6 drive to power, US AfPak policy review results mimic Chinese demads given to Hillary Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived. ~Abraham Lincoln In 1821 Solutions to oeObamas VietnamKabul: The Final Spring Offensive? End of NATO?Afghanistan: The writing is on the wall. Can Obama read it?UK Brig. Smith: oeWere not going to win this [Afghan] war Page 128 Clinton admits to US support for Bin Laden & creation of Taliban Rupee News October 7, 2009 Wednesday 12:29 AM EST
- 129. Failure and Defeatin Afghanistan: Inevitable Frustration & misdirected Payback for ally PakistanUS Charge of the Light Brigade into Pakistan is a US failure and has to stop Pakistans do more list for the USAIslamic Emirate of Afghanistan & Swat run by Taliban Huge Migraine for India Facing the Khyber poltergeist & Ganges hobgoblinNATO war: UK 1880 defeats in Afghanistan oeCharge of the Light Brigade in Afghanistan AGAIN: Unfortunately the lessons of the unmitigated disaster of oeAucklands Folly, (First Anglo-Afghan War 1838"42) have not been taught to the Oxbridge students. Bin Laden used Reagans USSR strategy to Destroy US Capitalism?Cambodiazation of the Afghan warRescueing the Pashtuns of Afghania from Afghanistan Unite! Erase the Durand LineSolution: Fixing oeAfPak expedites the inevitable union between Pakistan & Afghanistan America has to rethink India policyUS again offers peanuts in aid. Reject and negotiate up Hands off Pakistan is the slogan on the Pakistan news media Selective amnesia of Americans. Pakistan is the most mistreated friend of America. The post Benazir era must be differentPakistan-China-Russia:- An historic realignmentPakistan responds to Pentagon demands. Review Pakistan USA relationshipAssault on Sovereignty. Pakistan says no to 11 new us demandsPakistani Cheese for Western whineKissinger threatened Zulfiqar Ali BhuttoPakistan first: The devastating affects of appeasing India and kowtowing to the USAPerhaps Mr. Kissinger living in the 70s should face the new realities. Waving goodbye to American Hegemony.Trilaterals triangulating in PakistanPutting blame on Pakistan wont help the war on terror.Joe Biden wants to triple the aid to Pakistan but it may be too little too late. Hands off Pakistan is the slogan on the Pakistan news media Brookings finally realizes that Pakistan is not being taken over by the extremists Pakistanis cannot do more. If anyone can find others who can do more, please use them! Every time something bad happens, anti-Pakistan elements come out of the woodwork. Here is a response to the talking heads. The Murdocized news media jumps on any small happening in Pakistan blows it all out of proportion. For example, there were 400 terrorist attacks in India, and were either not reported at all, or reported on page 38. To win the war on terror. America needs to make a U Turn in our thinking deconsructing the wrong paradigm. The American State Department should learn some manners. Posting General Hood in Islamabad was a horirble mistake. Pushing Pakistans wrong buttons. To eliminate the terror, a massive Marshall program needs to be instituted for Pakistan. The pennies given right now, about $650 million for the next five years"and half of it stays in the USA. Pakistani infrastructure needs: Build Pakistan up as a bulwark against American enemies. The discussion of Pakistan Nukes withotu discusisng Indian or Israeli weapons, fuels Anti-Americanism. About the inane discussion of taking out Pakistans Nuclear weapons.. The discussion of Taking out Pakistani Nuclear weapons. should be put in the round file. The Democrats dont get it Discussion of taking out Pakistani nukes: The White House should immediately repudiate this aggression and arrest Anti-Americansim A propoer aid program for Pakistan, along with an FTA and access to European markets will reduce the poverty and reduce the issues. Wish List from Pakistan to Santa AmericaPerpetual Mimetic warfare cannot solve the issues.The Worst Islamphobes. in the world have blood on their hands. They create terror. Rebutting Cohen. He is an Indian agent!Where are the Pakistani nukes? They are hidden. The US Think Tank industry Page 129 Clinton admits to US support for Bin Laden & creation of Taliban Rupee News October 7, 2009 Wednesday 12:29 AM EST
- 130. is very biased.On deconstructing the wrong paradigm. Why the US Think Tank industry is wrong!Another prophecy of doom for Pakistan. Blah Blah Blah!Pakistanis want to hear oeThank You for the USPakistanis to USA: We want oeFriends Not MastersAmerica: Say Thank YouPakistan US Relations should be normal not transactionalResponse to Congressman Hoyer on Pakistan On inadequate US Aid to Pakistan¦.Pakistanis are not stupid and have their nukes hiddenWhere in the world is Osama Bin LadenThe CIA Connection??.The Benzair Bhutto Assassination was preplanned, the Zia model with a twist. The continued CIA involvement in Pakistan. The Great Game continues. When the Elephants dance the grass gets stamped upon¦Pakistanis suffer. The purpose of this assignation is to destabilize Pakistan and find a reason to secure the Nukes APPENDIX A March 4, 2002 The Enron Corporation gave the Taliban millions of dollars in a no-holds-barred bid to strike a deal for an energy pipeline in Afghanistan " wile the Taliban were already sheltering terror kingpin Osama Bin Laden! Enron executives even met with Taliban officials in Texas, where they were given the red-carpet treatment and promised a fortune if the deal went through. Thats the bombshell finding of an exclusive ENQUIRER investigation into the collapse of the company that ripped off Americans for millions of dollars. The ENQUIRER has also uncovered that some of the Enron money wound up supporting Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terrorist network! oeEnron would do business with the devil if it would make the company money! said a member of a Congressional committee investigating the companys collapse. And Atul Davda, who worked as a senior director for Enrons InternationalDivision until the companys collapse, confirmed to The ENQUIRER: oeEnron had intimate contact with Taliban officials. Building the pipeline was one of the corporations prime objectives. As The ENQUIRER revealed two weeks ago, Enron secretly employed CIA agents to carry out its dealings overseas. And a CIA insider disclosed : oeEnron was wooing the Taliban and was willing to make the Taliban a partner in the operation of a pipeline through Afghanistan. oeEnron proposed to pay the Taliban large sums of money in a [#x2dc]tax on every cubic foot of gas and oil shipped through the pipeline. Enron shelled out more than $400 million for a feasibility study on the pipeline and oea large portion of that cost was payoffs to the Taliban, said the CIA source. Shockingly, Enrons wooing of the Taliban continued even after Al Qaeda agents bombed two American embassies in Africa in 1998, andthe U.S. retaliated with missile attacks on suspected Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and Sudan. oeThe U.S. was shooting missiles into Afghanistan, and it was clear that the Taliban were enabling Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, terrorist expert Jeffrey Steinberg, editor of the Executive Intelligence Review, told The ENQUIRER. Page 130 Clinton admits to US support for Bin Laden & creation of Taliban Rupee News October 7, 2009 Wednesday 12:29 AM EST
- 131. oeNonetheless the oilcompanies continued to work behind the scenes to complete the pipeline deal. The pipeline project was originally proposed by Unocal Corporation. And an FBI source told The ENQUIRER : oeEnron and Unocal dumped hundreds of millions of dollars into Afghanistan and the Taliban. The pipeline would relieve our dependence on Saudi Arabia " and Enron would make billions. oeWhen Clinton was bombing Bin Laden camps in Afghanistan in 1998, Enron was making payoffs to Taliban and Bin Laden operatives to keep the pipeline project alive. And theres no way that anyone could NOT have known of the Taliban and Bin Laden connection at that time, especially Enron who had CIA agents on its payroll! Said an Enron company source, oeAfter the Taliban came to power in 1996, Tliban leaders were invited to Sugar Land, Texas, by Unocal and Enron executives. oeThe Talibans mullahs were given the royal treatment for four days in 1997! The visit was aimed at getting Taliban cooperation to build the pipeline, which would carry vast gas and oil deposits from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Enron had exclusive contracts with the former Russian republics, according to another former Enron employee. The pipeline was to travel through Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian Ocean. When contacted by The ENQUIRER, U.S. State Departments press officer for South Asian Affairs, Len Scensny, confirmed that a Taliban delegation visited Sugar Land, Teas, in 1997 to discuss business with oil companies. Three days after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Unocal announced it had withdrawn from the Afghanistan pipeline project. But the CIA insider said Enron and its CEO Kenneth Lay held on, waiting for the Taliban to give up Bin Laden as the Bush administration was demanding. oeEnron figured the Taliban wanted to stick to their deal, that they wanted riches the same way Enron did. oeWhat Enron and Ken Lay didnt understand is that it was Bin Laden who was calling the shots, not Enrons Taliban friends. oeNow Enron and the Taliban are both goners! APPENDIX B http://jbonline.terra.com.br/editorias/pais/papel/2008/06/28/pais20080628021.html I will only translate short excerpts from Alfredo Ruy Barbosas text:The now famous Bin Laden was trained by the CIA, his group was named oewarriors of freedom, because it was helping America in the war against the communist government of Afghanistan. During that period, Ronald Reagan was the president and Bush Sr. was the vice-president. Once, Reagan called those fighters (Bin Ladens) the oewarriors of freedom and that they were the oemoral equivalent of Page 131 Clinton admits to US support for Bin Laden & creation of Taliban Rupee News October 7, 2009 Wednesday 12:29 AM EST
- 132. the founding fathersof America (sic.) As improbable as it may seem, in an old film (Rambo 3), the Afghan muslims were called the oegood guys. At the beginning of the Afghan war Hamid Kazai was the director of UNOCOL, later he was oeelected president of the country. Zalmay Khalilzad also worked for UNOCOL and he was appointed as ambassador of that country. Before 9/11, Saddam was considered a oefriend and oeally of America; the United States backed the use of chemical weapons by Saddam against the Iranians and Curds. Dick Chenney was CEO of Halliburton and Condolezza Rice was the director of CHEVRON between 1991 and 2001. Be careful, oeLula. A few hours ago (July 05) I witnessed the live interview of Ms. Rice, it was shown at BLOOMBERG NEWS, in Judy Woodruffs programme. Ill quote merely three words which were uttered by Ms. Rice: oe??WOMANS in politics¦.. (sic.) APPENDIX C Not so very long ago Mr. Bush mentioned something about the American CHILDRENS! (sic.) Was Ms. Rice Georges private English tutor?! Armando Rozário " Cabo Frio " BRAZIL " July 05, 2008 Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG), globalresearch.ca, 23 January 2002 According to Afghan, Iranian, and Turkish government sources, Hamid Karzai, the interim Prime Minister of Afghanistan, was a top adviser to the El Segundo, California-based UNOCAL Corporation which was negotiating with the Taliban to construct a Central Asia Gas (CentGas) pipeline from Turkmenistan through western Afghanistan to Pakistan. Karzai, the leader of the southern Afghan Pashtun Durrani tribe, was a member of the mujaheddin that fought the Soviets during the 1980s. He was a top contact for the CIA and maintained close relations with CIA Director William Casey, Vice President George Bush, and their Pakistani Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) Service interlocutors. Later, Karzai and a number of his brothers moved to the United States under the auspices of the CIA. Karzai continued to serve the agencys interests, as well as those of the Bush Family and their oil friends in negotiating the CentGas deal, according to Middle East and South Asian sources. The oewar on terrorism, focused primarily on a fictional global insurgency named oeal Qaida, that, in fact, fought for American interests in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Croatia and Chechnya is an exercise in hypocrisy. The more oeevidence that is provided to us, to prove the al Qaida connection to every act of terrorism, the more evident it becomes that the war is a fraud, based on a cover-up of a treasonous attack, intended to whitewash history and to paint America as a heroic nation, dedicated to bringing freedom and democracy to all people. The United States claim to be promoting democracy, while it exports state terrorism, has demolished the hopes of all those who still believe in American oegood will, all over the world. Posted in Afghanistan CA, Current Affairs, Pak CA, US CA, US Int Rel. Tagged: Clinton admits that it created Taliban, Clinton admits to US support for Bin Page 132 Clinton admits to US support for Bin Laden & creation of Taliban Rupee News October 7, 2009 Wednesday 12:29 AM EST
- 133. Laden Newstex ID: RPNW-5065-38599464 SUBJECT:RELIGION (94%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (91%); WAR & CONFLICT (90%); TERRORISM (90%); SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE FORCES (90%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (90%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (90%); US REPUBLICAN PARTY (90%); LAW ENFORCEMENT (90%); INVESTIGATIONS (90%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (89%); WAR CRIMES (79%); LEGISLATORS (78%); INTELLIGENCE SERVICES (78%); COUNTERTERRORISM (78%); ESPIONAGE (78%); FOREIGN RELATIONS (75%); EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (75%); FOREIGN POLICY (75%); RIOTS (74%); INTERNATIONAL LAW (74%); HEADS OF STATE & GOVERNMENT (65%); AL-QAEDA (78%); TALIBAN (92%) Afghanistan CA; Current Affairs; Pak CA; US CA; US Int Rel.; Clinton admits that it created Taliban; Clinton admits to US support for Bin Laden; AFP; ISI; CRG; Asia; GeoCodes; unrest; conflicts and war; crime; law and justice; politics; religion and belief; disaster and accident; Europe; North America; economy; business and finance; Africa; Events; Global; United States; Pakistan; Afghanistan; India; Saudi Arabia; Turkmenistan; Russia; Iraq; Uzbekistan; Vietnam; Turkey; China; law enforcement; crime; international law; civil unrest; armed conflict; terrorism; war; weaponry; islam; man-made disaster; government; espionage and intelligence; national legislature; treaties and international organisations; diplomacy; nuclear policy; defense; United States of America; Russia; United Kingdom; Turkey; Macedonia; Kosovo; France; business (general); company information; finance (general); Major Contracts; Sudan; Tanzania; Kenya; Middle East; Asia; Europe; Arabian Peninsula; Eastern Europe; Western Europe; Africa; New York; Texas; rebellions and revolutions; religious conflict; Islamic politics; banking and law; Intifada and jihad; terrorism; anti-terror; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); investigation; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); war crime; terrorist attack; public officials; heads of state; national government; government departments; think tank; lower house; alliances; armed forces; commercial contracts COMPANY: ENRON CREDITORS RECOVERY CORP (54%) HALLIBURTON CO ORGANIZATION: CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (90%); FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (59%); UNITED NATIONS (55%) TICKER: HAL (NYSE) INDUSTRY: SIC4911 ELECTRIC SERVICES (54%) PERSON: HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (96%); DANA ROHRABACHER (96%); BILL CLINTON (93%); GEORGE W BUSH (59%); JOE BIDEN (59%); OSAMA BIN LADEN (95%) Dana Rohrabacher; Joseph Biden; William Jefferson Clinton; Hillary Rodham Clinton; George W. Bush GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, USA (79%); TEXAS, USA (79%) AFGHANISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (94%); EUROPE (94%); SAUDI ARABIA (93%); RUSSIA (92%); TURKEY (92%); ASIA (92%); AFRICA (92%); TURKMENISTAN (92%); NORTH AMERICA (79%); CHINA (79%); UZBEKISTAN (79%); FRANCE (79%); SUDAN (79%); KENYA (79%); TANZANIA (79%); GULF STATES (79%); IRAQ (79%); MACEDONIA (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); EASTERN EUROPE (59%); WESTERN EUROPE (79%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (92%); MACEDONIA, THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF (79%); UNITED KINGDOM (79%); TANZANIA, UNITED REPUBLIC OF (79%) LOAD-DATE: October 7, 2009 Page 133 Clinton admits to US support for Bin Laden & creation of Taliban Rupee News October 7, 2009 Wednesday 12:29 AM EST
- 134. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: Theviews expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2009 Rupee News Page 134 Clinton admits to US support for Bin Laden & creation of Taliban Rupee News October 7, 2009 Wednesday 12:29 AM EST
- 135. 40 of 214DOCUMENTS Intelligence Online November 12, 2009 Zalmay Khalilzad SECTION: CORPORATE INTELLIGENCE/CORRIDORS OF POWER LENGTH: 74 words Zalmay Khalilzad, former American ambassador in Iraq and Afghanistan, has set up a strategic consultancy company of his own named Khalilzad Associates. Before joining the National Security |Council under George W. Bush in 2001, Khalilzad worked briefly as a consultant for Unocal (bought out by Chevron) on the huge project for a Trans-Afghanistan gas to India (IOL 444). However, the American intervention in Afghanistan put a halt to the project. SUBJECT: CONSULTING SERVICES (90%); NATIONAL SECURITY (88%) PERSON: GEORGE W BUSH (91%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (92%); AFGHANISTAN (92%); INDIA (92%); IRAQ (90%) UNITED STATES LOAD-DATE: November 26, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newsletter JOURNAL-CODE: INT Copyright 2009 Indigo Publications All Rights Reserved Page 135
- 136. 41 of 214DOCUMENTS The Toronto Star August 27, 2009 Thursday Enough of the Afghanistan war 'racket' SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A24 LENGTH: 222 words War 'deteriorating' in Afghanistan, U.S. says, Aug. 24 Two-time Congressional Medal of Honour winner, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Smedley D. Butler states in his 1935 book, "War is a racket. It always has been. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." Instead of investigating the possibility 9/11 was used as an excuse to invade Third World countries in order to support a petroleum-consuming lifestyle harmful to the planet, we buy into the concept stated by our politicians that we are spreading democracy or keeping Canada safe. We fail to see the hypocrisy of allowing a genocide to proceed in Rwanda, then put a maximum effort into Afghanistan, where Halliburton and Unocal, both U.S. corporations, had serious "interests" since 1998. Yes, the Taliban are a nasty bunch, and yes, the Canadians are helping make life a little better around Kandahar, but our politicians make no mention about the TAPI pipeline planned to go directly through Kandahar, and American wishes to have NATO guard pipelines in the future. The absolute lunacy of spending close to $20 billion to help prepare Afghanistan to receive a pipeline, at a time when we desperately need money to develop alternate energy sources, lies hidden under emotional rhetoric designed to support this war. Graeme Gardiner, Sidney, B.C. SUBJECT: EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); WAR & CONFLICT (79%); AWARDS & PRIZES (78%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (78%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (70%); TALIBAN (79%) ORGANIZATION: NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (55%) GEOGRAPHIC: AFGHANISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (93%); RWANDA (79%); CANADA (69%) LOAD-DATE: August 27, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH DOCUMENT-TYPE: COLUMN Page 136
- 137. PUBLICATION-TYPE: NEWSPAPER Copyright 2009Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd. Page 137 Enough of the Afghanistan war 'racket' The Toronto Star August 27, 2009 Thursday
- 138. 42 of 214DOCUMENTS New Internationalist October 1, 2009 Our terrorists: Islamic fundamentalist militants are the enemies of Israel and Western governments, right? Think again; Islam in power BYLINE: Ahmed, Nafeez Mosaddeq SECTION: Pg. 17(4) No. 426 ISSN: 0305-9529 LENGTH: 2462 words Once upon a time, the CIA trained, financed and supported Osama bin Laden and his mujahidin networks in Afghanistan to repel the Sovietinvasion of Afghanistan. After the end of the Cold War, bin Laden turned against the West and we no longer had any use for him. His persistent terrorist attacks against us for more than a decade, culminating in 9/11, provoked our own response, in the form of the 'war on terror.' This is the official narrative. And it's false. Not only did Western intelligence services continue to foster Islamist extremist and terrorist groups connected to al-Qaeda after the Cold War; they continued to do so even after 9/11. Graham Fuller, the former Deputy Director of the CIA's National Council on Intelligence, alluded to the strategy in 1999. 'The policy of guiding the evolution of Islam and of helping them against our adversaries worked marvellously well in Afghanistan against the Red Army.The same doctrines can still be used to destabilize what remains of Russian power, and especially to counter the Chinese influence in Central Asia.' Throughout the 1990s, US intelligence sponsorship of Islamist extremist networks was linked to destabilizing Russian and Chinese influence in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Central Asia, the Caucasus and North Africa--which contain the world's largest energy reserves after the Middle East. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Afghanistan--Big Oil and the Taliban In 1997 a US diplomat commented: "The Taliban will probably develop like the Saudis ... There will be Aramco [consortium of oil companies controlling Saudi oil], pipelines, an emir, no parliament and lotsof sharia law. We can live with that.' Continued US sponsorship of the al-Qaeda-Taliban nexus in Afghanistan was confirmed as late as 2000. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on South Asia, Dana Rohrabacher--former White House Special Page 138
- 139. Assistant to PresidentReagan and now Senior Member of the House International Relations Committee--declared: 'This administration has a covert policy that has empowered the Taliban and enabled this brutal movement to hold on to power.' The assumption was that 'the Taliban would bring stability to Afghanistan and permit the building of oil pipelines from Central Asia through Afghanistan to Pakistan'. US companies involved in the project included Unocal and Enron. As early as May 1996, Unocal had officially announced plans to build a pipeline to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan through western Afghanistan. US officials held several meetings with the Taliban from 2000 to the summer of 2001, in an effort to get the Taliban to agree to a joint federal government with their local enemies, the Northern Alliance. In exchange, they promised the Taliban financial aid and international legitimacy. But eventually US policymakers concluded that the Taliban would never bring the stability needed for the pipeline project. According to Pakistani Foreign Minister NiazNaik, who was present at the meetings, US officials threatened the Taliban with military action if they failed to comply with the federalization plan. Even a date for threatened military action--October 2001--was proposed. The Taliban rejected the plan. So months before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a war on Afghanistan was already on the table. Jean-Charles Brisard, a former French intelligence officer, thus speculates that 9/11 may have been a pre-emptive attack by al-Qaeda to head off the declared US military invasion of Afghanistan. There is still keen interest in the pipeline. 'Since the US-led offensive that ousted the Taliban from power,' reported Forbes in 2005,'the project has been revived and drawn strong US support' as it would allow the Central Asian republics to export energy to Western markets 'without relying on Russian routes'. Then-US Ambassador to Turkmenistan Ann Jacobsen noted that: "We are seriously looking at the project, and it is quite possible that American companies will join it.' The problem remains that the southern section of the proposed pipeline runs through territory still de facto controlled fay Taliban forces. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Chechnya--Jihad in the Caucasus The US flirtation with the al-Qaeda-Taliban nexus in Afghanistan was only part of wider US plan to secure key energy resources. Chechnya is one victim of this strategy. The encroachment of US-sponsored mujahidin operatives linked to Osama bin Laden transformed the character of the Chechen resistance movement by the late 1990s. Al-Qaeda's hardline Islamist ideology was empowered, at the expense of Chechnya's populist Sufi culture and traditions. Back in 1991, CIA veteran Richard Secord, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, landed in Baku to set up a front company that would fly hundreds of al-Qaeda mujahidin from Afghanistan into Azerbaijan. By 1993, 2,000 mujahidin were recruited, converting Baku into a base for regional jihadi operations, which quickly extended into Dagestan and Chechnya. US intelligence remained deeply involved until the end of the 1990s. According to Yossef Bodanksy, then Director of the US Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, US Government officials participated in a formal meeting in Azerbaijan in December 1999 in which specific programmes for Page 139 Our terrorists: Islamic fundamentalist militants are the enemies of Israel and Western governments, right? Think again; Islam in power New Internationalist October 1, 2009
- 140. the training andequipping of mujahidin from the Caucasus, Central/South Asia and the Arab world werediscussed and agreed upon'. This, he said, culminated in 'Washington's tacit encouragement of both Muslim allies (mainly Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia) and US "private security companies" ... to assist the Chechens and their Islamist allies to surge in the spring of 2000 and sustain the ensuing jihad for a long time.' The US saw the sponsorship of 'Islamist jihad in the Caucasus' as a way to 'deprive Russia of a viable pipeline route through spiralling violence and terrorism'. Algeria--state terrorism in disguise Covert operations were deployed in the same period in Algeria, where the army cancelled national democratic elections in 1992 that would have brought the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) to power in a landslide victory. Not long after the coup, hundreds of civilians were being mysteriously massacred by an unknown terrorist group, identified bythe Algerian junta as a radical offshoot of the FIS--calling itself the Armed Islamic Group (GIA). The GIA was formed largely of Algerianveterans of bin Laden's mujahidin forces in Afghanistan, who had returned in the late 1980s. To date, the total death toll from the massacres by the GIA is an estimated 150,000 civilians. Yet in the late 1990s, evidence emerged from dissident Algerian Government and intelligence sources that the GIA atrocities were in fact perpetrated by the state. 'Yussuf-Joseph', a career secret agent inAlgeria's securite militaire for 14 years, defected to Britain in 1997. He told the Guardian newspaper: "The GIA is a pure product of [the Algerian] secret service. I used to read all the secret telexes. I know that the GIA has been infiltrated and manipulated by the Government. The FIS aren't doing the massacres,' Joseph's testimony has beencorroborated by numerous defectors from the Algerian secret services. Secret British Foreign Office documents--revealed for the first time during the 2000 London trial of an alleged Algerian terrorist--referred to the 'manipulation of the GIA' by the Algerian Government as acover to carry out their own operations'. Currently, the militant Algerian splinter group, the al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, plays a predominant role in regionalterrorist violence. Yet in a series of extensive analyses for the Review of African Political Economy, social anthropologist Jeremy Keenan of Britain's University of East Anglia has unearthed the role played by Western intelligence agencies, He documents an increasing amountof evidence to suggest that the alleged spread of terrorist activities across much of the Sahelian Sahara, has indeed been an elaborate deception on the part of US and Algerian military intelligence services'. Keenan argues that an al-Qaeda hostage-taking of European tourists in early 2003 'was initiated and orchestrated by elements within the Algerian military establishment'--an operation condoned by the US'--and that al-Qaeda leader Ammar Saifi (also known as 'the Maghreb's bin Laden) 'was "turned" by the Algerian security forces in January 2003', [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Corroborating Keenan's findings, a Pentagon adviser told US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh that the Algerian operation was partof a new Pentagon covert operations programme, originally proposed in August 2002 by the Defense Science Board as the 'Proactive, Pre-emptive Operations Group'. The covert Page 140 Our terrorists: Islamic fundamentalist militants are the enemies of Israel and Western governments, right? Think again; Islam in power New Internationalist October 1, 2009
- 141. programme would aimto 'stimulate reactions' among al-Qaeda terrotists by duping them into undertaking operations through US military penetration of terrorist groups and recruitment of locals to conduct 'combat operations, or even terrorist activities'. The capture of Ammar Sain was a pilot for the new programme. Western interest is easily explained. Algeria has the fifth-largest reserves of natural gas in the world, and is the second-largest gasexporter. It ranks fourteenth for oil reserves, with official estimates at 9.2 billion barrels. Approximately 90 per cent of Algeria's crude oil exports go to Western Europe and Algeria's major trading partners are Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the US. Energy hegemony is a key priority. On the pretext of fighting al-Qaeda in North Africa, the US has pushed through a regional counter-terrorism architecture that has evolved into the $500 million Trans-Sahara Counter terrorism Initiative, in which Algeria plays a pivotal role. The initiative coincides with the inauguration of a $6 billion World Bank project, the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline. Israel and Hamas--an ambiguous affair Israel has played a very similar game to the US and Britain in itsambiguous relationship to the Palestinian organization, Hamas. US Government and intelligence sources confirm that Israel provided directand indirect financial aid to Hamas in the late 1970s as a counterbalance to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). According to Israeli military affairs experts Ze'ev Schiff and Ehud Ya'ari, at thetime of the first intifadah the Palestinian Fatah organization 'suspected the Israelis of a plot first to let Hamas gather strength and then to unleash it against the PLO, turning the uprising into a civil war ... many Israeli staff officers believed that the rise of fundamentalism in Gaza could be exploited to weaken the power of the PLO.' Israeli support for Hamas reportedly continued even after the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993--during the period of some of the worst suicide bombings. Even the late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat said in 2001 that Hamas 'continued to benefit from permits and authorizations, while we have been limited, even [for permits] to build a tomato factory ... Some collaborationists of Israel are involved in these [terrorist] attacks.' Indeed, there are indications that the Israeli assassination of Hamas leader Abu Hanoud in November 2001 was a ploy to provoke more terror bombings. Three months earlier, the Israeli Insider reported Ariel Sharon's plan for an all-out attack on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to desttoy permanently its infrastructure, noting that the plan would only 'be launched immediately following the next high-casualty suicide bombing'--which was later provoked by Israel's extrajudicial killing of Hanoud. As Israeli military security analyst Alex Fishman noted in Ha'aretz: 'Whoever gave a green light to this act of liquidation knew full well that he was thereby shattering in one blow the "gentleman's agreement" between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority [under which] Hamaswas to avoid in the near future suicide bombings inside the Green Line ... This understanding was, however, shattered by the assassination the day before yesterday--and whoever decided upon the liquidation of Abu knew in advance that that would be the price.' Elements of the Israeli far-right, including senior cabinet officials, Page 141 Our terrorists: Islamic fundamentalist militants are the enemies of Israel and Western governments, right? Think again; Islam in power New Internationalist October 1, 2009
- 142. recognized that theplan to destroy the PA would facilitate the rise of Hamas. In an Israeli Cabinet meeting in December 2001, one minister declared: 'Between Hamas and Arafat, I prefer Hamas.' He addedthat Arafat is a 'terrorist in a diplomat's suit, while Hamas can behit unmercifully ... there won't be any international protests'. Ties with terror Islamist terrorism cannot be understood without acknowledging the extent to which its networks are being used by Western military intelligence services, both to control strategic energy resources and to counter their geopolitical rivals. Even now, nearly a decade after 9/11, covert sponsorship of al-Qaeda networks continues. In recent dispatches for the New Yorker, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh cites US Government and intelligence officials' confirmation that the CIAand the Pentagon have tunnelled millions of dollars via Saudi Arabiato al-Qaeda affiliated Sunni-extremist groups, across the Middle East and Central Asia. The policy, which Hersh says began in 2003, has spilled over into regions like Iraq and Lebanon, fuelling Sunni-Shi'a sectarian conflict. The programme is part of a drive to counter Iranian Shi'a influence in the region. In early 2008, a US Presidential Finding to Congresscorroborated Hersh's reporting, affirming CIA funding worth $400 million to diverse anti-Shi'a extremist and terrorist groups. This was not contested by any Democratic members of the House. Now, President Obama has retained Bush's Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, as his own.Yet Gates was the architect of the covert strategy against Iran. To date, Obama has given no indication that this strategy will change, The history outlined here throws into doubt our entire understanding of the 'war on terror'. How can we fight a war against an enemy that our own governments are covertly financing for short-sighted geopolitical interests? If the 'war on terror' is to end, it won't be won by fighting the next futile oil war. It will be won at home by holding the secretive structures of government to account and prosecuting officials for aiding and abetting terrorism--whether knowingly or by criminal negligence. Ultimately, only this will rein in the 'security' agencies that foster the 'enemy' we are supposed to be fighting. Nafeez Mosnddeq Ahmed is Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Development. His latest book is The London Bombings: An Independent Inquiry (Duckworth, 2006). A longer version of this article, complete with footnotes, will appear on the NI website www.newint.org SUBJECT: TERRORISM (94%); RELIGION (94%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (94%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (91%); COLD WAR (90%); CRUDE OIL PIPELINES (90%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (90%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (90%); INTELLIGENCE SERVICES (90%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (90%); FUNDAMENTALISM (90%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (88%); FOREIGN RELATIONS (86%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (86%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (86%); ARMIES (78%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (78%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (78%); PUBLIC POLICY (74%); NATIONAL SECURITY (73%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (70%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (70%); TALKS & MEETINGS (69%); US PRESIDENTS (66%); HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCE (59%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (59%); BULK SHIPPING (50%); AL-QAEDA (90%); TALIBAN (89%); WAR ON TERROR (78%) Page 142 Our terrorists: Islamic fundamentalist militants are the enemies of Israel and Western governments, right? Think again; Islam in power New Internationalist October 1, 2009
- 143. General; United Statesforeign relations Military aspects; Petroleum pipelines Military aspects; Islamic militants Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; State sponsored terrorism Economic aspects; Military intelligence Management; Geopolitics Military aspects COMPANY: ENRON CREDITORS RECOVERY CORP (51%) ORGANIZATION: AL-QAEDA (57%) INDUSTRY: SIC4911 ELECTRIC SERVICES (51%) SOSC Social sciences; SIC: 4612 Crude petroleum pipelines; NAICS: 48611 Pipeline Transportation of Crude Oil; NAICS: 92811 National Security PRODUCT: 4612000 (Crude Oil Pipelines); 9104810 (Military Intelligence) PERSON: RONALD REAGAN (53%); DANA ROHRABACHER (53%); OSAMA BIN LADEN (94%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (94%); ASIA (94%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); CENTRAL ASIA (93%); PAKISTAN (93%); SAUDI ARABIA (92%); RUSSIA (92%); ISRAEL (92%); CAUCASIAN STATES (79%); EUROPE (79%); TURKMENISTAN (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); SOUTH ASIA (58%); EASTERN EUROPE (55%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (92%); SOUTHERN ASIA (78%) United States; Afghanistan EVENT: Military aspects; EVENT: Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; EVENT: Economic aspects; EVENT: Management LOAD-DATE: December 1, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 210653338 PUBLICATION-TYPE: Magazine JOURNAL-CODE: 0JQP ASAP Copyright 2009 Gale Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved ASAP Copyright 2009 New Internationalist Magazine Page 143 Our terrorists: Islamic fundamentalist militants are the enemies of Israel and Western governments, right? Think again; Islam in power New Internationalist October 1, 2009
- 144. 43 of 214DOCUMENTS Times Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia) May 26, 2010 Wednesday Final Edition Another soldier is dead -- and for what? BYLINE: Graeme Gardiner, Times Colonist SECTION: COMMENT; Pg. A11 LENGTH: 210 words Another Canadian soldier has died in Afghanistan. Why? The Afghans were doing fine back in 1978-79 with the first step up from a feudal society via an indigenous socialist movement. Covert American aid to Islamic fundamentalists, designed to draw the Soviets into the Afghan trap, put an end to these reforms. The West did not care about the Taliban while they were being courted by the Unocal Corp., with the aid of the American government, for a pipeline right of way. Operational planning for the 9/11 attack took place in Germany and the United States by a group of mostly Saudi nationals. Not one Afghan had any input into this attack. Afghanistan is not "terror central." All terrorists need for an attack is a safe house anywhere in the world. The Toronto 18 conspiracy occurred after we joined the U.S. in Afghanistan. We are now less safe because we are in Afghanistan. Don Newman stated in a CBC.ca article on May 18: "But with the U.S. now pouring troops into the fight and asking us to stay on -- a request that has important ramifications for trade and access to Washington -- we should at least be trying to figure out all the consequences of leaving, before we actually do so." Another Canadian soldier has died in Afghanistan. Why? Graeme Gardiner Sidney SUBJECT: TERRORISM (90%); POLITICAL PARTIES (90%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (77%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (75%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (73%); FUNDAMENTALISM (72%); RELIGION (72%); EASEMENTS & RIGHTS OF WAY (70%); TALIBAN (78%) GEOGRAPHIC: TORONTO, ON, CANADA (58%) BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA (73%); ONTARIO, CANADA (58%) AFGHANISTAN (96%); UNITED STATES (95%); CANADA (93%); SAUDI ARABIA (70%); GERMANY (55%) Page 144
- 145. LOAD-DATE: May 26,2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH DOCUMENT-TYPE: Letter PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2010 Times Colonist, a division of Canwest MediaWorks Publication Inc. All Rights Reserved Page 145 Another soldier is dead -- and for what? Times Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia) May 26, 2010 Wednesday
- 146. 44 of 214DOCUMENTS Boise Weekly (Idaho) September 23, 2009 - September 29, 2009 THE IMPOTENT DICTATOR BYLINE: Rall, Ted. Ted Roll is author of the books To Afghanistan and Back and Silk Road to Ruin. SECTION: Pg. 6 Vol. 18 No. 13 LENGTH: 1131 words ABSTRACT Americans are finally waking up. Afghanistan, most people finally understand, is not "the good war" but the stupid one. We can't win. Even worse, there's nothing to win. The historical parallels aren't perfect - they never are - but it's hard not to think of the cost of propping up the corrupt Diem regime and its successors in South Vietnam when you see [Hamid Karzai] prancing around in Kabul, never an arm's length away from U.S. Special Forces commandos. You see, Karzai's own troops can't be trusted not to kill him. Looking at Karzai's resume, it's hard to imagine what George W. Bush and his "pet Afghan" Zalmay Khalilzad were thinking when they appointed Karzai as the U.S. puppet "interim president" of occupied Afghanistan in late 2001. Granted, all three were oilmen - Karzai and Khalilzad had both worked as consultants for the energy corporation Unocal, which tried to build an oil-gas pipeline across Afghanistan in the '90s. On Oct. 9, 2004, Karzai "won" his first "democratic election." As before, Karzai's goons stacked the deck. Unsympathetic elections officials were kidnapped. The United Nations concluded that "fraud had occurred, particularly ballot-box stuffing" in the 2004 election. The United Nations "noted that some estimates have said that 10 percent to 15 percent of the 11.5 million registered voters, in Afghanistan and among Afghan refugees abroad, may be registered more than once," reported the Times at the time. The three-member committee that counted the ballots were all appointed by Karzai. FULL TEXT How many more must die for Karzai? NEW YORK- "For five years, Mt Karzai was my president," Ashraf Ghani, an opposition candidate, bemoaned after widespread reports that incumbent Hamid Karzai had used fraud on a massive scale to steal the election. "Now how many Afghans will consider him their president?" Not many. In a country where civil war is a national pastime, this is not good. But Ghani is asking the wrong question. The real question is how many Americans Page 146
- 147. will continue tosee Karzai as viable and be willing to pay the price of propping him up? California Sen. Diane Feinstein used to support Karzai. "Afghanistan is our beachhead on our war on terror. We cannot lose it, or we lose our war on terror," she said in 2002. What a difference seven years makes. "I do not believe we can build a democratic state in Afghanistan," she said last week. Americans are finally waking up. Afghanistan, most people finally understand, is not "the good war" but the stupid one. We can't win. Even worse, there's nothing to win. The historical parallels aren't perfect - they never are - but it's hard not to think of the cost of propping up the corrupt Diem regime and its successors in South Vietnam when you see Hamid Karzai prancing around in Kabul, never an arm's length away from U.S. Special Forces commandos. You see, Karzai's own troops can't be trusted not to kill him. There were at least 800 fake polling sites on Afghanistan's election day - places that "existed only on paper," reported The New York Times. "We think that about 15 percent of the polling sites never opened on Election Day," the paper quoted a "senior Western diplomat. " "But they still managed to report thousands of ballots for Karzai," the Times story stated. "Mr. Karzai's supporters also took over approximately 800 [additional] legitimate polling centers and used them to fraudulently report tens of thousands of additional ballots for Mr. Karzai." Actually, make that hundreds of thousands. In "Kandahar ... preliminary results indicate that more than 350,000 ballots have been turned in to be counted. But Western officials estimated that only about 25,000 people actually voted there," the story states. "Pro-Karzai ballots may exceed the people who actually voted by a factor of 10." The truth is, there's nothing new here. Ashraf Ghani may have been the only Afghan to have ever considered Karzai legitimate. To most Afghans, Karzai has always been a curious "impotent dictator," propped up by U.S. military force but with insufficient funding to exert his power outside the capital of Kabul. In the provinces, tribal warlords fight the Taliban for control. Looking at Karzai's resume, it's hard to imagine what George W. Bush and his "pet Afghan" Zalmay Khalilzad were thinking when they appointed Karzai as the U.S. puppet "interim president" of occupied Afghanistan in late 2001. Granted, all three were oilmen - Karzai and Khalilzad had both worked as consultants for the energy corporation Unocal, which tried to build an oil-gas pipeline across Afghanistan in the '90s. But Karzai lacked both integrity - as a Taliban official in 1997, Karzai was caught embezzling government funds and forced to flee the country - and support. Karzai's drive to consolidate power since 2001 has been marked by trickery, intimidation, ballot stuffing and systemic corruption. One "election" has followed another. But none have been conducted legitimately. Perhaps democracy was too much to hope for in a nation whose infrastructure had been degraded to the 14th century. There was no census, no house addresses, no mail service. How could a fair election be held? Page 147 THE IMPOTENT DICTATOR Boise Weekly (Idaho) September 23, 2009 - September 29, 2009
- 148. Karzai didn't eventry. At a June 2002 loya Jirga (grand assembly) to choose the new head of state, Karzai got his U.S. masters to lean on his main rival, former king Mohammed Zahir Shah. Zahir Shah withdrew, as did 70 of his delegates. They did the same to ex-president Burhanuddin Rabbani. "Voting for the loya jirga has been plagued by violence and vote-buying," said U.N. envoy to Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi at the time. "There were attempts at manipulation, violence, unfortunately. Money was used, threats were used." On Oct. 9, 2004, Karzai "won" his first "democratic election." As before, Karzai's goons stacked the deck. Unsympathetic elections officials were kidnapped. The United Nations concluded that "fraud had occurred, particularly ballot-box stuffing" in the 2004 election. The United Nations "noted that some estimates have said that 10 percent to 15 percent of the 11.5 million registered voters, in Afghanistan and among Afghan refugees abroad, may be registered more than once," reported the Times at the time. The three-member committee that counted the ballots were all appointed by Karzai. Those who can't win, cheat. Without the United States, Karzai would never have won power. He certainly wouldn't have kept it. Meanwhile, the Times reported May 18, 2009, that Khalilzad "could assume a powerful, unelected position inside the Afghan government under a plan he is discussing with Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, according to senior American and Afghan officials." Bush's corrupt oilmen are still looting Afghanistan. The question for Americans is: why should anyone die to help them? SUBJECT: ELECTIONS (91%); UNITED NATIONS INSTITUTIONS (90%); POLITICAL CANDIDATES (90%); TERRORISM (90%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (90%); RESUMES & CURRICULA VITAE (90%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (90%); HEADS OF STATE & GOVERNMENT (90%); VOTERS & VOTING (90%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (90%); ELECTION AUTHORITIES (89%); ARMED FORCES (86%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (79%); WAR & CONFLICT (77%); REFUGEES (76%); KIDNAPPING & ABDUCTION (74%) Presidents; War; Terrorism; Foreign policy; Voter fraud; Democracy PERSON: Karzai, Hamid GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (94%); BOISE, ID, USA (92%) IDAHO, USA (92%); CALIFORNIA, USA (79%) AFGHANISTAN (99%); UNITED STATES (95%); VIETNAM (86%) Afghanistan; United States--US LOAD-DATE: October 13, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 58899 DOCUMENT-TYPE: Commentary PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: BSWK Page 148 THE IMPOTENT DICTATOR Boise Weekly (Idaho) September 23, 2009 - September 29, 2009
- 149. Copyright 2009 ProQuestInformation and Learning All Rights Reserved Copyright 2009 Boise Weekly Page 149 THE IMPOTENT DICTATOR Boise Weekly (Idaho) September 23, 2009 - September 29, 2009
- 150. 45 of 214DOCUMENTS The Financial Daily December 2, 2010 Damage has been done big time. LENGTH: 499 words Karachi: The latest sets of documents released by Wikileaks have brought much disgrace to the US administration, which willingly or negligently let sensitive documents land in the hands of Wikileaks. The documents released mostly pertain to the countries where either the regime is not liked by the US or it has little control over. The documents have little to say about India and Israel, the two blue-eyed boys of the US administration. The US regret on release of documents is just not acceptable because of the colossal damaged caused to the countries and the citizens of those countries. Since the documents have been released to 'media favourites' one is forced to draw the inference that the documents have been released with the consent of the US administration. If not, the questions which come to minds are: Is wikileaks stronger than the superpower? What are the motives of owners of Wikileaks? Does the release aim at weakening the Muslims further through fragmentation? Ironically the response of the Muslim countries has been conspicuous by its absence, either they chose to keep quiet to avoid disclosure of their 'misdeeds' or are simply the hostages of Zionist media. Italso shows that Zionists have been using rulers of Muslim countries to fulfill their ulterior motives as they used Iraq and Saudi Aria toweaken Iran, used Saddam Hussain and Osama bin Laden to pave way forattacks on Iraq and Afghanistan and installed Hamid Karzai (an employee of oil company Unocal owned by George Bush and his associates) asPresident of Afghanistan to facilitate presence of the US forces in Afghanistan for undertaking cross border attacks on China, Iran and Pakistan. There is no need to confirm or deny the validity of the released documents but vigilance must certainly be enhanced. There is a need toprotect the Muslim countries from Zionist attacks be it the attack of Fortune 500 companies to take control of the resources or the internal disturbances caused in the name of restoration of democracy, protecting human rights, and ushering in economic revolution. These documents specifically maligned Presidents Asif Zardari and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif by attributing a few quotes to Middle Eastern rulers. While opposition leaders, who have stayed in Saudi Arabia for a while preferred to remain silent, President Zardari, categorically denounced the move and termed it an attempt to spoil relationshipbetween the two brotherly countries. Still, it would have been better had the clarification come from the Saudi government. There is also a lesson for the political leaders of Pakistan to maintain distance with the representatives of the US governments because whatever they say can be used against them. At times when these representatives come to Page 150
- 151. Pakistan they behavelike viceroys of the superpower and instruct Pakistan government to do certain things and abstain from some others. Pakistani leadership should protect sovereignty of the country rather than begging a few petty gains. . SUBJECT: MUSLIMS & ISLAM (90%); HOSTAGE TAKING (73%); HUMAN RIGHTS (72%); SEPARATISM & SECESSION (70%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (69%); RELIGION (67%); WIKILEAKS CONTROVERSIES (90%) General INDUSTRY: INTL Business, international PRODUCT: WikiLeaks (Online service) PERSON: ASIF ALI ZARDARI (81%); HAMAD KARZAI (54%); GEORGE W BUSH (54%); SADDAM HUSSEIN (54%); NAWAZ SHARIF (52%); OSAMA BIN LADEN (54%) GEOGRAPHIC: KARACHI,PAKISTAN (91%) PAKISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (94%); SAUDI ARABIA (93%); AFGHANISTAN (92%); ISRAEL (92%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (92%); IRAQ (92%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); CHINA (79%) LOAD-DATE: December 9, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 243806812 PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire JOURNAL-CODE: 3JPL ASAP Copyright 2010 Gale Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved ASAP Copyright 2010 Plus Media Solutions Page 151 Damage has been done big time. The Financial Daily December 2, 2010
- 152. 48 of 214DOCUMENTS The Forester September 10, 2009 War comes down to money matters SECTION: Pg. 15 LENGTH: 102 words The letter from Roger Horsfield in The Forester on August 20 and the information about Unocal oil and gas confirms why we are in Afghanistan - money and wealth - which all wars have been about for centuries. The same reason why we invaded Iraq. It blows sky high the reasons given by Gordon Brown et al that our troops are dying to protect our country from the Taliban or to give the Afghans democracy. This is why France, Germany and other Nato countries have sent token forces not men to die in Helmand Province. I think I might send a copy of Roger's letter to Gordon Brown and ask for comments. Alan Mowatt Bream SUBJECT: Features; General; Letters GEOGRAPHIC: AFGHANISTAN (94%); IRAQ (91%); FRANCE (67%); GERMANY (67%) LOAD-DATE: September 11, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: 35 Copyright 2009 Northcliffe Media Limited All Rights Reserved Page 152
- 153. 49 of 214DOCUMENTS Asia Pulse October 25, 2010 Monday 10:48 AM EST GAZPROM MAY JOIN TURKMEN PIPELINE PROJECT TO PUMP GAS TO INDIA SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 299 words DATELINE: MOSCOW Oct 25 Russian gas major Gazprom may join the consortium that is working on the US$7 billion trans-Afghanistan gas pipeline TAPI to pump Turkmen natural gas to India, a top Russian official has said. "We are discussing new projects, including Gazprom's possible participation in the TAPI pipeline project," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti. Sechin, who looks after energy sector in Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's cabinet, is currently accompanying President Dmitry Medvedev on the official visit to Turkmenistan. "Gazprom could participate in a consortium to build the trans-Afghanistan (TAPI) gas pipeline for the transfer of Turkmen gas to Pakistan and India," Sechin said told reporters after discussions with Turkmen officials. Earlier, reports have said that the governments of India, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan are giving final touches to agreements for the 1,043-mile gas pipeline to deliver natural gas from the Dauletabad field in Turkmenistan, which holds more than 40 trillion cubic feet of gas. The TAPI project was promoted by a consortium of several foreign companies led by the US UNOCAL in mid-1990s, after the fall of Najibullah regime in Kabul and establishment of Taliban rule in the areas from where the pipeline was to pass. After the fall of Taliban in 2001, Washington has backed the project as an alternative to Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline. In 2005, the Asian Development Bank carried out the project studies. Turkmenistan and Afghanistan have signed an agreement on the construction of the pipeline in August. Earlier, Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Eklil Ahmad Hakimi had said that all the four sides have signed a memorandum of understanding on the USD 7 billion project, which is to be operationalised in December. (PTI) Page 153
- 154. SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION(94%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (92%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (90%); HEADS OF STATE & GOVERNMENT (90%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (90%); ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS (78%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (78%); PRIME MINISTERS (76%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (76%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (74%); NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION (73%); DEVELOPMENT BANKS (72%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (68%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS (50%) Finance Wire COMPANY: OAO GAZPROM (93%); ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (66%); OAO GAZPROM NEFT (92%) ORGANIZATION: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (54%) TICKER: OGZD (LSE) (93%); ATB (ASX) (66%); GAZ (LSE) (92%) INDUSTRY: NAICS486210 PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS (93%); NAICS221210 NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION (93%); NAICS213112 SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FOR OIL & GAS OPERATIONS (93%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (93%); SIC4923 NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION (93%); SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (93%); NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (66%); SIC6081 BRANCHES & AGENCIES OF FOREIGN BANKS (66%) Energy; Petroleum PERSON: DMITRY MEDVEDEV (57%); VLADIMIR PUTIN (57%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%); MOSCOW, RUSSIAN FEDERATION (59%) TURKMENISTAN (99%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (95%); INDIA (95%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); ASIA (93%); PAKISTAN (93%); UNITED STATES (92%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%) India Afghanistan Turkmenistan LOAD-DATE: October 25, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire Copyright 2010 Asia Pulse Pty Limited All Rights Reserved Page 154 GAZPROM MAY JOIN TURKMEN PIPELINE PROJECT TO PUMP GAS TO INDIA Asia Pulse October 25, 2010 Monday 10:48 AM EST
- 155. 50 of 214DOCUMENTS Times Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia) August 26, 2009 Wednesday Final Edition Afghan war and 'rackets' BYLINE: Graeme Gardiner, Times Colonist SECTION: COMMENT; Pg. A11 LENGTH: 271 words A two-time Congressional Medal of Honor winner, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Smedley D. Butler, wrote in his 1935 book: "War is a racket. It always has been. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." He continued: "A racket is best described as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes." Instead of investigating the possibility 9/11 was used as an excuse to invade Third World countries in order to support a petroleum-consuming lifestyle harmful to the planet, we buy into the concept put forward by our politicians that we are spreading democracy or keeping Canada safe. We fail to see the hypocrisy of allowing genocide to proceed in Rwanda, then putting a maximum effort into Afghanistan, where Halliburton and Unocal, both American corporations, have had serious interests since 1998. Yes, the Taliban are a nasty bunch and yes, the Canadians are helping make life a little better around Kandahar, but, our politicians make no mention of a CTV.ca report in June 2008 by Josh Vissar about the trans-Afghanistan pipeline planned to go directly through Kandahar, and American wishes to have NATO guard pipelines in the future. The absolute lunacy of spending close to $20 billion to help prepare Afghanistan to receive a pipeline at a time when we desperately need money to develop alternate energies lies hidden under emotional rhetoric designed to support this war. Graeme Gardiner Sidney SUBJECT: WAR & CONFLICT (78%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (78%); INVESTIGATIONS (69%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (68%); TALIBAN (78%) Page 155
- 156. ORGANIZATION: NORTH ATLANTICTREATY ORGANIZATION (54%) GEOGRAPHIC: BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA (54%) AFGHANISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (94%); CANADA (86%); RWANDA (79%) LOAD-DATE: August 26, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH GRAPHIC: Photo: Finbarr O'Reilly, Reuters; Canadian soldiers move through a grape field during a battle against Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan. A letter-writer describes the war as "a racket" designed to further the interests of U.S. corporations. ; DOCUMENT-TYPE: Letter PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2009 Times Colonist, a division of Canwest MediaWorks Publication Inc. All Rights Reserved Page 156 Afghan war and 'rackets' Times Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia) August 26, 2009 Wednesday
- 157. 51 of 214DOCUMENTS The Times of Central Asia December 17, 2010 Friday Will TAPI pipeline make a mint for partners? SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 356 words Turkmenistan ASHGABAT, DEC 17 Asia Pulse - If and its a big ifthe Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline moves from being a figment of inter-governmental imagination to being an actuality of pipe full of actual gas, Kabul stands to make a mint. Turkmenistan stands to make a lot of money too, but not as much as it would like. In 2008, Ashgabat was looking for $457 per ton of gas. Sources quoted by The Economic Times, an Indian business paper, however, suggested on December 13 that Ashgabat would sell gas for TAPI at a rate of $272 per thousand cubic meters (tcm). (By contrast, the rate Turkmenistan agreed for China was only $195 per tcm.) Delhi should expect to pay $362 per tcm by the time charges and transit fees to Afghanistan and Pakistan are factored in, however. Turkmenistan wants to sell 33 billion cubic of meters of gas to India and Pakistan. Afghanistan wants to rake in transit fees ranging from a $1 billion to $1.4 billion annually. Pakistan and India want to keep gas prices for their ever growing number of consumers low and 33 billion cubic meters should just about do it. But is the promise of $1.4 billion in transit fees enough to bring stability to southern Afghanistan, the persistently volatile area, through which the pipeline must pass? Some Afghan observers say it might be. Others say the TAPI is just another flammable item in an explosive region. The situation in southern Afghanistan is no more stable now as it was when Bridas and UNOCAL were duking it out for control of the pipeline,Candace Rondeaux, International Crisis Groups senior analyst in Kabul, told EurasiaNet. Internally, of course, no one can say for certain how to stabilize Nimroz, Helmand, and Kandahar enough that work could begin on such an enterprise. Underlying this project is the hope that it will act as a unifier of interests. But economic success in this case depends very much on political success in the south and while the U.S. refuses to understand the strategic importance of enhancing enfranchisement as a whole in South Asia it is unlikely that a project as ambitious in scale as TAPI will succeed,she added. Page 157
- 158. SUBJECT: OIL &GAS PRICES (78%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (93%); DELHI, INDIA (58%) INDIA (94%); TURKMENISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); ASIA (93%); AFGHANISTAN (93%); SOUTHERN ASIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: December 17, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Publication JOURNAL-CODE: TCA Copyright 2010 The Times of Central Asia All Rights Reserved Page 158 Will TAPI pipeline make a mint for partners? The Times of Central Asia December 17, 2010 Friday
- 159. 54 of 214DOCUMENTS Congressional Documents and Publications July 5, 2011 Wolf, King Ask Federal Prisons To Remove "Nation Of Islam" Materials; Request Immediate Audit of All Other Texts Available in U.S. Prisons; Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) News Release SECTION: U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DOCUMENTS LENGTH: 1058 words Washington, D.C. - In an effort to combat the growing threat of radicalization in U.S. prisons, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Rep. Peter King (R-NY) today asked the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to remove inflammatory written, audio and video materials produced by the "Nation of Islam" and Louis Farrakhan in BOP facilities and to conduct a comprehensive audit of all other Islamic texts and sermons made available to inmates, including a review of procedures for vetting such materials. In a letter to BOP Acting Director Thomas Kane, Wolf and King cited a memo prepared by the House Homeland Security Committee which King chairs that documents numerous anti-American materials available to prisoners including videos titled "Conspiracy of the US Government" and "Which One Will You Choose: The Flag of Islam or the Flag of America?" The Homeland Security Committee also identified multiple questionable statements made by Farrakhan and other anti-American propaganda being distributed in prisons. In one video Farrakhan reportedly states "I hasten to tell you that the precious lives that were lost in the World Trade Center was a cover, a cover for a war that had been planned to bring a pipeline through Afghanistan to bring oil from that region, oil owned by Unocal, of which Dick Cheney is a stock holder." In their letter, Wolf and King also highlight an incident that occurred last month in which two radicalized converts were arrested for attempting a "Fort Hood-style assault" on a military facility in Seattle, Washington. According to ABC News, "both suspects were believed to have met in prison and to have converted to Islam in prison." King convened a hearing earlier this year on the threat of radicalization in U.S. prisons. "It defies common sense that any inmate, let alone convicted al Qaeda terrorists, would be able to receive anti-American and anti-Semitic propaganda Page 159
- 160. from the Bureauof Prisons," said King. "It is imperative that BOP not only remove all materials produced by the 'Nation of Islam' and Louis Farrakhan but ensure that all other Islamic texts provided to inmates are vetted." Wolf is chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on Commerce-Justice-Science responsible for funding the BOP. "I want to thank Chairman King for his work on this critical issue," Wolf said. "As chairman of the subcommittee that funds the Justice Department, I am committed to conducting thorough oversight of BOP to ensure that our prisons are not breeding grounds for terrorism." The full text of Wolf and King's letter is available below. Dear Acting Director Kane: On June 15, the House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing titled, "The Threat of Muslim-American Radicalization in U.S. Prisons," as part of its oversight of the federal response to domestic radicalization. Chairman King's hearings have been critical to understanding the evolving threat of terrorism to Americans. As you know, prisons -- both in the U.S. and abroad -- have been a fertile breeding ground for violent ideology leading to radicalization. As former Bureau of Prisons (BOP) director Harley Lappin testified, "Inmates are particularly vulnerable to recruitment by terrorists," and "[BOP] must guard against the spread of terrorism and extremist ideologies." Over the last several years, we have witnessed repeated attempts by former prisoners who converted to Islam in U.S. prisons attempting to commit terrorist attacks. Just last month, two radicalized converts were arrested for attempting a "Fort Hood-style assault" on a military facility in Seattle, Washington. According to ABC News, "both suspects were believed to have met in prison and to have converted to Islam in prison." In 2004, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Justice Department released a report that concluded that "The BOP's selection process [for Muslim chaplains, literature and videos] needs improvement to further protect the BOP from hiring religious services providers that could pose security threats." Specifically, the report noted that "Inmates can be radicalized in many ways, including through the delivery of anti-U.S. sermons, exposure to other radical inmates, or the distribution of extremist literature." The report included a series of recommendations to protect BOP inmates from radicalization, specifically calling on BOP to "conduct an inventory of chapel books and videos and re-screen them to confirm that they are permissible." That is why we were deeply concerned to learn from the Homeland Security Committee hearing memorandum that seven years after the OIG report: "At the direction of the Justice Department, [BOP] plays sermons by Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam in prison chapel services. Staff obtained a list of the titles of the Nation of Islam sermons played in Federal prisons and reviewed several. In one, Farrakhan states, 'I hasten to tell you that the precious lives that were lost in the World Trade Center was a cover, a cover for a war that had been planned to bring a pipeline through Afghanistan to bring oil from that region, oil owned by Unocal, of which Dick Cheney is a stock holder.' "Nation of Islam video titles include: Page 160 Wolf, King Ask Federal Prisons To Remove "Nation Of Islam" Materials; Request Immediate Audit of All Other Texts Available in U.S. Prisons; Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) News Release Congressional Documents and Publications July 5, 2011
- 161. * Bible Truthor Altered by the White Man? * Conspiracy of the International Bankers * Conspiracy of the US Government * Controversy with Jews * Which One Will You Choose, the Flag of Islam or the Flag of America?" It is absolutely unacceptable that BOP would provide convicted al Qaeda terrorists held at ADX Florence -- or any other inmates -- with anti-American and anti-Semitic propaganda. We ask you to immediately remove all written, audio and video materials produced by the "Nation of Islam" and Louis Farrakhan from all BOP facilities. We also request that you launch an immediate and comprehensive audit of all other Islamic texts and sermons made available to inmates in BOP facilities, including a review of your procedures for vetting such materials. We look forward to your prompt response to these requests. It is imperative that BOP stay vigilant about the continued effort to distribute anti-American paraphernalia in any of its facilities. Sincerely, Frank R. Wolf Peter King Chairman Chairman Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee Homeland Security Committee Appropriations Committee Read this original document at: http://wolf.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=34andsectiontree=6,34anditemid=1764 SUBJECT: MUSLIMS & ISLAM (92%); RELIGION (91%); PRISONS (91%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (90%); US REPUBLICAN PARTY (90%); AUDITS (90%); TERRORISM (89%); NATIONAL SECURITY (89%); QURAN & ISLAMIC TEXTS (89%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (78%); MUSLIM AMERICANS (77%); PUBLIC FINANCE (77%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (76%); AL-QAEDA (76%); APPROPRIATIONS (74%); LAW ENFORCEMENT (74%); JUSTICE DEPARTMENTS (73%); ARRESTS (64%) COMPANY: AMERICAN BROADCASTING COS INC (66%) ORGANIZATION: NATION OF ISLAM (91%); US DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (83%); BUREAU OF PRISONS (58%) PERSON: FRANK R WOLF (97%); PETER T KING (84%); DICK CHENEY (54%) GEOGRAPHIC: SEATTLE, WA, USA (79%) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, USA (92%); NEW YORK, USA (92%); WASHINGTON, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (98%); AFGHANISTAN (79%) LOAD-DATE: July 6, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH Page 161 Wolf, King Ask Federal Prisons To Remove "Nation Of Islam" Materials; Request Immediate Audit of All Other Texts Available in U.S. Prisons; Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) News Release Congressional Documents and Publications July 5, 2011
- 162. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Report JOURNAL-CODE: COSHM Copyright2011 Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc. Page 162 Wolf, King Ask Federal Prisons To Remove "Nation Of Islam" Materials; Request Immediate Audit of All Other Texts Available in U.S. Prisons; Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) News Release Congressional Documents and Publications July 5, 2011
- 163. 57 of 214DOCUMENTS Irish Examiner February 1, 2010 Monday US unlikely to abandon war zones in its own self-interest SECTION: OPINION LENGTH: 388 words Mr Forde criticises Mr Lannon's "anti-American views" saying, among other things, that Irish involvement does not compromise our neutrality, that the US will completely withdraw from Iraq within a year and that a deadline has been established for its withdrawal from Afghanistan. I cannot see how Ireland's neutrality is not under threat if it takes part, even indirectly, in the illegal war against Iraq and supports NATO in the war in Afghanistan. Further, I am very sceptical about the US completely withdrawing from Iraq when it has established, or is establishing, 14 military bases and the largest US embassy compound in the world there. In any case, when the US has vital strategic and economic interests in a country or a region it tends to get there and stay there for a long time. In Iraq there are huge oil reserves. The US also needs military bases in Iraq to influence Iran and Syria. As there are vital US strategic and economic interests in the region that encompasses Afghanistan, and indeed in Afghanistan itself, I can't see the US leaving that country soon either. What the US needs in Afghanistan is a compliant government, whether the existing one or a Taliban regime, that will "invite" it to stay. Mr Forde challenges Mr Lannon to say if he supports the internecine and inter-tribal strife in Iraq and Afghanistan or the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan? Well, we know the attitude of the senior US commander in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal, because he has raised the prospect of a negotiated peace with the Taliban. British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband also wants to bring the Taliban into the "political process". Of course associating with the Taliban isn't a new policy for the US and Britain. The Taliban was created by Saudi Arabia and the Pakistan intelligence service with the approval of the CIA and with the usual lackey support of the Page 163
- 164. British government forUS foreign policy. The US ally, Saudi Arabia, financed the Taliban's march on Kabul. The US supported the Taliban because it needed them to stabilise Afghanistan so that the American company Unocal, supported by Enron, could build a gas pipeline through Afghanistan to the coast of Pakistan. Finally, being opposed to US foreign policy is not anti-Americanism. It is what it is. Brian Abbott 'Glencairn' Bishopstown Road Cork SUBJECT: EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); FOREIGN RELATIONS (89%); FOREIGN POLICY (89%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (89%); WAR & CONFLICT (76%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (74%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (73%); OIL & GAS EXPLORATION (73%); IRAQ WAR (72%); EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (70%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (68%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (68%); INTELLIGENCE SERVICES (62%) COMPANY: ENRON CREDITORS RECOVERY CORP (52%) ORGANIZATION: NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (57%) INDUSTRY: SIC4911 ELECTRIC SERVICES (52%) PERSON: STANLEY A MCCHRYSTAL (54%); DAVID MILIBAND (53%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) AFGHANISTAN (95%); UNITED STATES (95%); IRAQ (94%); IRELAND (92%); PAKISTAN (92%); UNITED KINGDOM (92%); SAUDI ARABIA (92%); IRAN (79%); SYRIA (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%) LOAD-DATE: February 1, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2010 Thomas Crosbie Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved Page 164 US unlikely to abandon war zones in its own self-interest Irish Examiner February 1, 2010 Monday
- 165. 58 of 214DOCUMENTS Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) December 26, 2010 Sunday Beware the true cost of moralizing BYLINE: JOHN FREIVALDS for the TH SECTION: A; Pg. 15 LENGTH: 580 words A couple of months ago, Mavis Leno, wife of the comedian Jay Leno, was in town to talk about her campaign to bring attention to the plight of woman under the Taliban in Afghanistan. She first came into the national spotlight on this issue in 1999 when she donated $100,000 to a foundation set up to help Afghan women. Her generosity has now led to almost a half-trillion dollars spent to try and eliminate the Taliban - with no end in sight. Until that time, the Taliban, while primitive by any standard, were accepted by the U.S. government and many U.S. corporations. In fact, they were feted around Houston, as Unocal wanted their help to build a gas pipeline across Afghanistan. But Mavis Leno's efforts helped chase away any efforts to work with the Taliban. We know the rest of the story as bin Laden then appeared with his cash and used Afghanistan and as training ground to do harm to the U.S. using U.S. airliners. The sad part of this story is that throughout this country's history every attempt to claim and enforce superiority over another has had unintended and costly consequences. Take your pick. Vietnam. Iraq. And now Afghanistan, rated as the secondmost-corrupt country on Earth. Not that we have so much to crow about and export to the rest of the world: huge deficits, unequal income distribution, corruption of Wall Street and Washington, the blood and gore and degradation of women by Hollywood, 50 percent divorce rate, 10 percent unemployment, a crumbling infrastructure and kids who don't learn. My favorite example of our moral superiority is that football's New Orleans Saints are extolled as a sign of the city's resurgence after Katrina while a full-service hospital still does not exist there. Then we have the Pentagon. It's really nothing more than another bureaucracy in Washington, where I grew up and many of my classmates went to work, putting our patriotic and brave solders in harm's way using the pretext that the Taliban are a threat and need to be droned to death. Each drone costs $7 million or thereabouts. We have the biggest military budget anywhere, while our enemies try to attack us via UPS packages, underpants and shoe bombers on commercial airlines - and come not from Afghanistan but Pakistan, Nigeria, Yemen and Saudi Arabia (where women don't have any rights, either). But the threat posed by the now-discredited Taliban makes it easier for the Pentagon to keep its budget up. Remember, it was Revolutionary War hero Patrick Henry, often quoted by the current tea party, who, in addition to saying, "Give me liberty or give me death," also said, "Nationalism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." Finally, all this moralizing about what is going on in other countries diverts us from the issue of Page 165
- 166. unemployment and thedeaths caused by cancer, which recently claimed my wife. To raise money and awareness about cancer, Americans are reduced to having bake sales and 10K runs and wearing pink while we wastefully spend money on weapons we don't need. But thanks to the moralizing of people like Mavis Leno, who insists that if we don't clean out the Taliban now we will have to go in later, money that could be spent to save American lives here, is being spent uselessly a bloated Pentagon. Be careful what you moralize for. It will be more costly than you think. Freivalds, a Dubuque resident of Latvian descent, is managing director of JFA Marketing, an international communications firm. His e-mail address is john@jfamarketing.com SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT BUDGETS (76%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (75%); POLITICAL CORRUPTION (75%); DEFENSE SPENDING (71%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (69%); AIRLINES (67%); HISTORY (66%); AMERICAN FOOTBALL (63%); SPORTS (63%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (54%) PERSON: JAY LENO (92%) GEOGRAPHIC: EARTH (55%) UNITED STATES (94%); AFGHANISTAN (93%); NIGERIA (79%); PAKISTAN (79%); IRAQ (79%); SAUDI ARABIA (71%) LOAD-DATE: January 3, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2010 Woodward Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved Page 166 Beware the true cost of moralizing Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) December 26, 2010 Sunday
- 167. 59 of 214DOCUMENTS Daily the Pak Banker December 20, 2009 Sunday Pakistan: Govt lacks resolve to materialise gas import projects LENGTH: 636 words DATELINE: Pakistan Pakistan, Dec. 20 -- A resolve and commitment like that of China is needed to meet the local energy demand to run the engine of economy and to light up homes of people.The 21-month-old PPP government is only befooling the masses by first giving deadlines for controlling power outages and then extending the deadlines for reasons only known to the people sitting in power corridors. Ironically, now the government has also started gas load-shedding under the gas load management policy.The Chinese government made the 7,000-kilometre (4,350-mile) gas pipeline within two years to transport natural gas produced in Turkmenistan to major Chinese cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.One of the two pipelines which make up the project is complete and the other line is expected to be operational next year. The pipelines will eventually import up to 40 billion cubic metres of gas a year when the project reaches full capacity in 2012-13.Unlike Chinese commitment and resolve, Pakistani officials and energy gurus, sitting in the secretariat, have only been politicking over the two overseas pipelines - the IPI and TAP (now TAPI), since the 1990s while some of the countries which entered into negotiations with these gas-rich countries like Iran and CARs have not only materialised the deals but also running their industries on this cheaper source of energy.In 2008, experts confirmed that just one of Turkmenistan's fields, in the South Yolotan region, held the fifth largest gas reserves in the world, estimated at between 4 and 14 trillion cubic metres. To put this into context, the European Union currently consumes close to 500 million cubic metres of gas annually.The $7 billion (a re-estimated project cost), 3,000-kilometre pipeline venture, after originating from Iran's southern port city of Asalouyeh and traversing through the rugged and restive provinces of Balochistan and Sindh in Pakistan, would see its final destination in New Delhi and Mumbai in India.On October 21, 1995, Turkmen President Murad Niazov signed an agreement with Unocal and its Saudi partner Delta Oil Company in New York to build a gas pipeline to Pakistan through Afghanistan.An oil import lobby is also reported to be behind delay in these multi-billion projects for importing gas from Iran and Turkmenistan, but the policymakers never count these hurdles while deciding the future of nation keeping the national interests supreme.Besides importing gas, the oil and gas exploration at the local level is also at the lower ebb and no significant contributions have been added in the public gas utilities for soaring demand of the gas for domestic and industrial consumption.One example for not expediting the exploration activities in the country is work at Kohlu field in Balochitan. Of the 22 TCF gas reserves at Page 167
- 168. Kohlu field, accordingto preliminary estimates, more than 15.4 TCF reserves are described as recoverable. At $5 per million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) the total value of 15.3 TCF translates into about $80 billion or around Rs6800 billion. Based on the current gas demand in the market, these reserves are believed to be sufficient to meet the energy requirements for several decades. Last source of importing LNG from Qatar is again in the dark as no development has been made to make the project a success. It seems that again this cheaper source of energy is a dream for the industry to run round-the-clock not only is competitive but also viable option for energy demand.With energy shortage, the government should start it at war footing otherwise, achieving a double-digit growth in industrial sector would remain only a dream. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Daily Pak Banker. For more information on news feed please contact Sarabjit Jagirdar at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com SUBJECT: OIL & GAS EXPORTS & IMPORTS (90%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (90%); IMPORT TRADE (90%); OIL & GAS PRICES (90%); ENERGY DEMAND (90%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (89%); OIL & GAS EXPLORATION (89%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (89%); UTILITIES INDUSTRY (78%); LOBBYING (78%); PUBLIC POLICY (78%); NATURAL GAS & ELECTRIC UTILITIES (78%); PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS (77%); OIL & GAS EXTRACTION (76%); MINING & EXTRACTION SECTOR PERFORMANCE (76%); CRUDE OIL & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (76%); POWER FAILURES (73%); INTERNATIONAL TRADE (73%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (71%); OIL EXPLORATION (65%); PETROLEUM EXPORTS & IMPORTS (76%) COMPANY: DELTA OIL CO INC (63%) INDUSTRY: SIC5171 PETROLEUM BULK STATIONS & TERMINALS (63%) GEOGRAPHIC: NEW DELHI, INDIA (79%); SHANGHAI, CHINA (79%); MUMBAI, INDIA (69%); GUANGZHOU, CHINA (58%) NEW YORK, USA (79%); EAST CHINA (79%); SOUTH CHINA (79%); GUANGDONG, CHINA (58%) CHINA (94%); TURKMENISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); IRAN (93%); INDIA (92%); AFGHANISTAN (79%); UNITED STATES (79%); HONG KONG (79%); EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES (53%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (93%) LOAD-DATE: December 23, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2009 Right Vision News All Rights Reserved Page 168 Pakistan: Govt lacks resolve to materialise gas import projects Daily the Pak Banker December 20, 2009 Sunday
- 169. 60 of 214DOCUMENTS BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring June 16, 2010 Wednesday Afghan daily urges leadership to expedite mineral wealth extraction LENGTH: 394 words Text of editorial in Pashto headlined "Afghanistan will not remain helpless if enemy and its incompetent sons leave" published by Afghan newspaper Weesa on 15 June The New York Times has published a report that there are untapped minerals worth 1,000bn dollars in Afghanistan. This is the view of American geologists rather than that of any politician. They have predicted that Afghanistan is rich in copper, iron, niobium and precious metals like lithium. These geologists believe that if only the lithium is extracted and processed, Afghanistan could become the Saudi Arabia of lithium. The fact is that our beloved country is very rich in precious and valuable underground resources. Its incompetent sons should strengthen national unity and utilize the country's natural resources rather than causing prejudice and fighting one another. Furthermore, regional countries, in particular our neighbouring ones, have fuelled violence for centuries in our country. Every side has been an enemy that has extended the hand of friendship and has, in a cowardly fashion, attacked Afghanistan in the name of slogans of sympathy and assistance. Anyway, let us not comment on the past. Afghans should be proud of their country and become self-confident. They can earn dignity by sincerely serving the country rather than spying for foreigners. The international community should stop their political experiments in our country. The experts who believe that our country is rich in natural resources should assist Afghans in extracting them. They too should demand some privileges for assisting the Afghans in extracting these resources, in line with international principles and laws. But they should stop this so-called series of aid and support efforts that has benefited only a few individuals rather the nation. The Afghan nation will now test the intention and sincerity of the international community, America in particular, to see how much it can cooperate in the fundamental economic reconstruction of Afghanistan. We also request our senior officials to expedite the process of exploiting the country's natural resources such as the Ainak copper mine, so that our dignified people no longer beg others for assistance. We hope that the issue of exploiting mines will not suffer the fate of the projects of Unocal and Bridas. Source: Weesa, Kabul, in Pashto 15 Jun 10, p 2 Page 169
- 170. SUBJECT: GEOLOGY &GEOPHYSICS (90%); PUBLISHING (90%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); COPPER MINING (76%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (72%); INTERNATIONAL LAW (69%); POSTWAR RECONSTRUCTION (65%); NATURAL RESOURCES (90%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) AFGHANISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (93%); SAUDI ARABIA (79%); ASIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: June 16, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Transcript Copyright 2010 British Broadcasting Corporation All Rights Reserved Page 170 Afghan daily urges leadership to expedite mineral wealth extraction BBC Monitoring South Asia - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring June 16, 2010 Wednesday
- 171. 61 of 214DOCUMENTS The Roanoke Times (Virginia) November 16, 2010 Tuesday Metro Edition The high cost of moralizing BYLINE: John Freivalds SECTION: Editorial; Pg. A17 LENGTH: 584 words Not too long ago, Mavis Leno, wife of comedian Jay Leno, was in Northern Virginia to talk about her campaign to bring U.S. attention to the plight of woman under the Taliban in Afghanistan. She called it "gender apartheid." Leno first came into the national spotlight on this issue when she donated $100,000 in 1999 to a foundation set up to help Afghan women. Her generosity has now led to almost half a trillion dollars spent to try to eliminate the Taliban, with no end in sight. Up until that time, the Taliban, while primitive by any standard, was accepted by the U.S. government and many U.S. corporations. In fact, members were feted around Houston as Unocal wanted their help to build a gas pipeline across Afghanistan. But Leno's efforts helped chase away any efforts to work with the Taliban. We know the rest of the story as Osama bin Laden then appeared with his cash and used Afghanistan as a terror training ground and to plot the 9/11 attacks. The sad part of this story is that throughout this country's history, every attempt to claim and enforce superiority over another has had unintended and costly sequences. Take your pick: Vietnam, Iraq and, now, Afghanistan, rated as the second most corrupt country on Earth. Sorry, Virginia Military Institute, Afghanistan will be the same 100 years from now as it is now. Not that we have so much to crow about and export to the rest of the world: huge deficits; unequal income distribution; corruption of Wall Street and Washington, D.C.; the blood and gore and degradation of women by Hollywood; 50 percent divorce rate; 10 percent unemployment; a crumbling infrastructure; levees that are washed away, bridges that collapse and pipelines that explode; and kids who don't learn. My favorite example of our moral superiority is that the New Orleans Saints are extolled as a sign of that city's resurgence after Katrina while a full-service hospital still does not exist in that city. Then we have the Pentagon. It uses the pretext that the Taliban, in their pajama uniforms and flip-flops, are a threat and need to be droned to death. Each drone costs $7 million or thereabouts. Leno reinforces our military presence there. We have the biggest military budget on Earth, while our enemies try to attack us via UPS packages, underpants and shoe bombers flying commercial airlines. They come not from Afghanistan, but from Pakistan, Nigeria, Yemen and Saudi Arabia -- where women don't have any rights either. But the threat posed by the now discredited Taliban makes it easier for the Pentagon to keep its budget up. Remember, it was revolutionary war hero Patrick Henry, often quoted by the current tea party, who Page 171
- 172. in addition tosaying "Give me liberty or give me death" also said "Nationalism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." Finally, all this moralizing about what is going on in other countries diverts us from the issue of unemployment and the deaths of tens of thousands caused by cancer. To raise money and awareness about cancer, Americans are reduced to having bake sales and 10k runs and wearing pink while we wastefully spend money on weapons we don't need. But thanks to the moralizing of people like Leno -- who insists "that if we don't clean out the Taliban now, we will have to go in later" -- money that could be spent to save American lives here is being spent uselessly on a bloated Pentagon. So be careful what you moralize for; it will be more costly than you think. Freivalds runs a communications firm in Lexington. SUBJECT: EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (78%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (77%); DEFENSE SPENDING (76%); GOVERNMENT BUDGETS (76%); POLITICAL CORRUPTION (74%); TERRORISM (73%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (73%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (69%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (69%); HISTORY (66%); ARMED FORCES (65%); AIRLINES (50%); TALIBAN (90%) ORGANIZATION: VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE (54%) PERSON: JAY LENO (93%); OSAMA BIN LADEN (56%) GEOGRAPHIC: VIRGINIA, USA (93%); DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, USA (79%) AFGHANISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (93%); NIGERIA (79%); PAKISTAN (79%); IRAQ (79%); SAUDI ARABIA (70%) LOAD-DATE: November 16, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2010 The Roanoke Times All Rights Reserved Page 172 The high cost of moralizing The Roanoke Times (Virginia) November 16, 2010 Tuesday
- 173. 62 of 214DOCUMENTS Friday Times of Pakistan (Lahore, Pakistan) November 14, 2010 Afghanistan: Climbing costs. LENGTH: 750 words General Patraeus, the Commander in Afghanistan appears to have mastered the art of making philosophic statements due to his educationaldistinction. With his scholarly disposition, he knows the history ofAf- Pak, unlike most of his colleagues. No wonder he has been counseling very discreet use of force so as to ensure that civilian casualties by way of 'co-lateral damage' or otherwise are strictly avoided. Till about 2007, the foreign troops, generally, could not care less as to how many locals were killed in their attacks. Apparently such callousness was prompted by the naive bad-guy syndrome as well as ignorance of the local history. Unfortunately such disregard for human life was not limited to the foreign forces, generally, the Bush Administration and its neo-con also exuded venom. History of the area highlights that the asymmetry of power betweenthe locals, particularly, Pashtuns, has never deterred them from challenging foreign occupation. It is this unusual grit, despite the paucity of material resources, that has always prevailed in times of trial. The British Empire learnt their lesson after the Second Afghan war which cost them the lives of 16000 troops. The lone survivor, Dr Bryden, lived on to tell the tales of horror about the 'enemy' capacityand bravado in punishing the transgressors. Despite their ambitions Sparked by the 'Great Game', they settled down to a realistic relation-ship with the Afghan Monarch after the Third Afghan War. The Russians learnt a historic lesson in 1980s when they were madeto leave Afghanistan by the local Mujahideen duly supported by Pakistan, US and Saudi Arabia. Their original sin of landing forces in Afghanistan in 1979 to bolster the local Communist regime founded by Tarakai ended up as a terrible fiasco. It not only lost them Billions of$ and many men, the fall-out hastened the disintegration of the Soviet Empire which was founded, generally, on the debris of Post- World War 11 Europe. Gorbachev has categorically admitted that the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was a serious mistake. The US attacked Afghanistan under the Taliban regime post-9/11 on the basis of a battle-cry alleging that OBL had arranged the tragic event with consequential losses caused by death/destruction. Bush Administration inferred that the Taliban regime had to be changed as they asked for some evidence which could link the 'suspect' OBL to the 9/11. Riding a wave of sympathy and, perhaps in his cowboy-style duly supported by lack of knowledge/experience, he clubbed the UN to damn the 'usual suspect' in a hurry. The Taliban had also indicated that if OBL was guilty, he shall behanded over to an authority specially set up by the UN for the purpose of trying him under the International Law etc. Bush rode roughshodand enlisted the support of Russia and even Pakistan etc for enforcing a regime-change. Page 173
- 174. He personally knewKarzai and Khalilzad, both UNOCAL employees of Afghan origin. The Taliban fought bravely as usual despite the atrocities committed by the Northern warlords like Dostum and horrendous bombing of the country without an air-force till the Taliban left Kabulto retreat to the mountains. Few tears were shed in Kabul etc as theTaliban had become very controversial due to their extremist ideology. The regime imposed by the US after the Bonn Conference turned out to be a mirage soon. Thanks to corruption, by foreign/local beneficiaries, insecurity, lawlessness, unemployment etc soon brought the country close to a famine-condition in 2004. This was the time that the Taliban started helping their people with food-supplies. Moreover, theNorthern Warlords had started growing massive quantities of opium tomake hey while the sun was shining. In 2005, the Taliban also encouraged the Pashtuns to follow suit to keep the wolf of starvation away.They provided security to the drug-trade till the product was finally sold to foreign consumers, mainly through Russia with handsome returns. This won them tremendous goodwill/ money. The foreign forces would look the other way. Now serious allegations of the US/UK troops' complicity are in the air. The wheel has now come full circle. As the Taliban raise the ante, the US gets deeper into the hole. Already the number of soldiers killed etc have transcended the total for the last year. The Drone attacks in Pakistan are not winning friends for the US. It is time for the US and Pakistan to learn from the phrase 'once bitten twice shy' which Gen Petraeus is trying to trail. SUBJECT: WAR & CONFLICT (89%); ARMED FORCES (78%); HISTORY (77%); WORLD WAR II (71%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (70%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (59%) General INDUSTRY: GENI General interest; NEWS News, opinion and commentary GEOGRAPHIC: AFGHANISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (93%); PAKISTAN (93%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (92%); SAUDI ARABIA (79%); EUROPE (79%); UNITED KINGDOM (79%) Pakistan; Afghanistan LOAD-DATE: November 30, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 243049057 PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: 3VKZ ASAP Copyright 2010 Gale Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved ASAP Copyright 2010 Plus Media Solutions Page 174 Afghanistan: Climbing costs. Friday Times of Pakistan (Lahore, Pakistan) November 14, 2010
- 175. 63 of 214DOCUMENTS Trend Daily Economic News September 23, 2009 Wednesday 12:31 PM GMT +4 Obama administration to support Turkmenistan in diversifying energy resources market SECTION: POWER ENGINEERING LENGTH: 703 words Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Sept. 23 /, H.Hasanov/ The U.S. administration is ready to support and assist Turkmenistan in diversifying energy resources regarding the American companies' experience in applying "know-how", said Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State. U.S. wants to see Turkmenistan among the leaders in the issue of energy security and energy supplies, said the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the meeting with Turkmen President Gurbangulu Berdimuhamedov on Sept. 22, the Turkmenistan-4 TV channel reported. The US Department of State reported that Clinton noted the important role of supplies from Central Asia, especially from Turkmenistan, in providing natural gas to the European Nabucco pipeline project. Turkmenistan is one of the key energy players in the Caspian region and in previous years, it was associated with the United States in a series of major energy projects, for various reasons they have remained on paper. The most famous of them is the story of a consortium led by American PSG. The Trans-Caspian gas pipeline failed, because the Turkmen leadership could not agree on financing. In addition, Ashgabat refused to allocate half-pipeline under the Azerbaijani gas, discovered in the Shah Deniz field, arguing that the project was originally initiated exclusively for the Turkmen fuel. Another project in Pakistan broke down due to deteriorating of the situation in the transit areas - in Afghanistan, the American Unocal also was forced to step aside after the U.S. began military action against the Taliban. At present, the U.S. companies like Chevron, ConocoPhilips, Marathon, and Midland Oil & Gas are interested in the Turkmen market, which is developing its part of the Caspian Sea shelf. Berdimuhamedov reaffirmed Turkmenistan's willingness to cooperate actively with the U.S. companies on the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea for oil extraction and refining and other fields. During her recent visit to Ashgabat, U.S Energy Ministry Department for Russia and Eurasia Deputy Director Meryll Burpoe said American companies are interested in participating in pipeline projects from Turkmenistan to Europe, Pakistan and Page 175
- 176. India. "Their participation willdepend on the Turkmenistan Government, as well as Turkmen energy concerns. Furthermore, US companies would like to work in any direction of oil and gas field in Turkmenistan, no matter investment projects, construction of facilities or service to Turkmen concerns," Burpoe said. So far, Russia used to purchase a lion share of Turkmen gas. However, gas supplies were creased due to an accident in the Central Asia - Center gas pipeline. Export did not resume after rehabilitation of communication, because Gasprom offered to reconsider the long-term contract on purchase to decrease volumes or prices. Talks are underway. In New York, Clinton, referring to Berdimuhamedov emphasized Turkmenistan's initiative to adopt the UN Resolution "A reliable and stable transit of energy resources and its role in sustainable development and international cooperation." The U.S. foreign minister emphasized the U.S. willingness to cooperate with Turkmenistan "at a higher level". In this regard, it was proposed to hold regular inter-state consultations in Ashgabat and Washington. Berdimuhamedov, in turn, said that by arriving in America to participate in the 64th UN General Assembly, whose deputy chairman is Turkmenistan, intends to use his time here as an opportunity for further expansion of business cooperation with the United States - one of its largest and most prestigious partners Noting the international significance of the issue of pipeline safety, Berdimuhamedov said that the next step is to offer to establish a working group under the auspices of the UN, whose main goal will be to develop a comprehensive international legal instrument aimed at creating an effective system of security of energy supplies to the world markets. "Turkmenistan, with its enormous hydrocarbon resources, supports diversification of its supplies on the world markets, which means creating a diverse pipeline of infrastructure," said the Turkmen leader. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at: capital@trend.az SUBJECT: US PRESIDENTS (90%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (90%); TRENDS (90%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (90%); US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008 (90%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (90%); ENERGY & UTILITY POLICY (89%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (89%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (89%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (88%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (88%); ENERGY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS (78%); ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS (78%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (78%); FOREIGN RELATIONS (77%); NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (74%); ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (74%); ENERGY DEPARTMENTS (73%); TALKS & MEETINGS (72%); TELEVISION INDUSTRY (55%); TALIBAN (70%) COMPANY: CONOCOPHILLIPS (91%) TICKER: COP (NYSE) (91%); COP (SWX) (91%) INDUSTRY: NAICS324110 PETROLEUM REFINERIES (91%); NAICS221210 NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION (91%); NAICS211112 NATURAL GAS LIQUID EXTRACTION (91%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (91%); SIC4925 MIXED, MANUFACTURED, OR Page 176 Obama administration to support Turkmenistan in diversifying energy resources market Trend Daily Economic News September 23, 2009 Wednesday 12:31 PM GMT +4
- 177. LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GASPRODUCTION &/OR DISTRIBUTION (91%); SIC2911 PETROLEUM REFINERIES (91%); SIC1382 OIL & GAS FIELD EXPLORATION SERVICES (91%); SIC1321 NATURAL GAS LIQUIDS (91%); SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (91%) PERSON: HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (92%); BARACK OBAMA (91%) GEOGRAPHIC: CASPIAN SEA (92%); NEW YORK, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (99%); TURKMENISTAN (98%); PAKISTAN (92%); ASIA (92%); RUSSIA (92%); CENTRAL ASIA (92%); AZERBAIJAN (79%); AFGHANISTAN (79%); EUROPE (79%); INDIA (79%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (92%) LOAD-DATE: October 2, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Publication Copyright 2009 Trend News Agency All Rights Reserved Page 177 Obama administration to support Turkmenistan in diversifying energy resources market Trend Daily Economic News September 23, 2009 Wednesday 12:31 PM GMT +4
- 178. 64 of 214DOCUMENTS Trend Oil & Gas - Azerbaijan September 23, 2009 Wednesday 12:31 PM GMT +4 Obama administration to support Turkmenistan in diversifying energy resources market SECTION: ENERGY NEWS LENGTH: 703 words Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Sept. 23 /, H.Hasanov/ The U.S. administration is ready to support and assist Turkmenistan in diversifying energy resources regarding the American companies' experience in applying "know-how", said Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State. U.S. wants to see Turkmenistan among the leaders in the issue of energy security and energy supplies, said the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the meeting with Turkmen President Gurbangulu Berdimuhamedov on Sept. 22, the Turkmenistan-4 TV channel reported. The US Department of State reported that Clinton noted the important role of supplies from Central Asia, especially from Turkmenistan, in providing natural gas to the European Nabucco pipeline project. Turkmenistan is one of the key energy players in the Caspian region and in previous years, it was associated with the United States in a series of major energy projects, for various reasons they have remained on paper. The most famous of them is the story of a consortium led by American PSG. The Trans-Caspian gas pipeline failed, because the Turkmen leadership could not agree on financing. In addition, Ashgabat refused to allocate half-pipeline under the Azerbaijani gas, discovered in the Shah Deniz field, arguing that the project was originally initiated exclusively for the Turkmen fuel. Another project in Pakistan broke down due to deteriorating of the situation in the transit areas - in Afghanistan, the American Unocal also was forced to step aside after the U.S. began military action against the Taliban. At present, the U.S. companies like Chevron, ConocoPhilips, Marathon, and Midland Oil & Gas are interested in the Turkmen market, which is developing its part of the Caspian Sea shelf. Berdimuhamedov reaffirmed Turkmenistan's willingness to cooperate actively with the U.S. companies on the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea for oil extraction and refining and other fields. During her recent visit to Ashgabat, U.S Energy Ministry Department for Russia and Eurasia Deputy Director Meryll Burpoe said American companies are interested in participating in pipeline projects from Turkmenistan to Europe, Pakistan and Page 178
- 179. India. "Their participation willdepend on the Turkmenistan Government, as well as Turkmen energy concerns. Furthermore, US companies would like to work in any direction of oil and gas field in Turkmenistan, no matter investment projects, construction of facilities or service to Turkmen concerns," Burpoe said. So far, Russia used to purchase a lion share of Turkmen gas. However, gas supplies were creased due to an accident in the Central Asia - Center gas pipeline. Export did not resume after rehabilitation of communication, because Gasprom offered to reconsider the long-term contract on purchase to decrease volumes or prices. Talks are underway. In New York, Clinton, referring to Berdimuhamedov emphasized Turkmenistan's initiative to adopt the UN Resolution "A reliable and stable transit of energy resources and its role in sustainable development and international cooperation." The U.S. foreign minister emphasized the U.S. willingness to cooperate with Turkmenistan "at a higher level". In this regard, it was proposed to hold regular inter-state consultations in Ashgabat and Washington. Berdimuhamedov, in turn, said that by arriving in America to participate in the 64th UN General Assembly, whose deputy chairman is Turkmenistan, intends to use his time here as an opportunity for further expansion of business cooperation with the United States - one of its largest and most prestigious partners Noting the international significance of the issue of pipeline safety, Berdimuhamedov said that the next step is to offer to establish a working group under the auspices of the UN, whose main goal will be to develop a comprehensive international legal instrument aimed at creating an effective system of security of energy supplies to the world markets. "Turkmenistan, with its enormous hydrocarbon resources, supports diversification of its supplies on the world markets, which means creating a diverse pipeline of infrastructure," said the Turkmen leader. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at: capital@trend.az SUBJECT: US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008 (90%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (90%); TRENDS (90%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (90%); US PRESIDENTS (90%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (90%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (89%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (89%); ENERGY & UTILITY POLICY (89%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (88%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (88%); ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS (78%); ENERGY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS (78%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (78%); FOREIGN RELATIONS (77%); NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (74%); ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (74%); ENERGY DEPARTMENTS (73%); TALKS & MEETINGS (72%); TALIBAN (70%); TELEVISION INDUSTRY (55%) COMPANY: CONOCOPHILLIPS (91%) TICKER: COP (SWX) (91%); COP (NYSE) (91%) INDUSTRY: NAICS324110 PETROLEUM REFINERIES (91%); NAICS221210 NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION (91%); NAICS211112 NATURAL GAS LIQUID EXTRACTION (91%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (91%); SIC4925 MIXED, MANUFACTURED, OR Page 179 Obama administration to support Turkmenistan in diversifying energy resources market Trend Oil & Gas - Azerbaijan September 23, 2009 Wednesday 12:31 PM GMT +4
- 180. LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GASPRODUCTION &/OR DISTRIBUTION (91%); SIC2911 PETROLEUM REFINERIES (91%); SIC1382 OIL & GAS FIELD EXPLORATION SERVICES (91%); SIC1321 NATURAL GAS LIQUIDS (91%); SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (91%) PERSON: HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (92%); BARACK OBAMA (91%) GEOGRAPHIC: CASPIAN SEA (92%); NEW YORK, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (99%); TURKMENISTAN (98%); PAKISTAN (92%); CENTRAL ASIA (92%); AZERBAIJAN (92%); ASIA (92%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (92%); EUROPE (79%); AFGHANISTAN (79%); INDIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: March 4, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Publication Copyright 2009 Trend News Agency All Rights Reserved Page 180 Obama administration to support Turkmenistan in diversifying energy resources market Trend Oil & Gas - Azerbaijan September 23, 2009 Wednesday 12:31 PM GMT +4
- 181. 65 of 214DOCUMENTS Pakistan Observer October 21, 2010 Thursday Afghanistan: Climbing costs SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 752 words DATELINE: _ October 21, 2010 I M Mohsin General Patraeus, the Commander in Afghanistan appears to have mastered the art of making philosophic statements due to his educational distinction. With his scholarly disposition, he knows the history of Af- Pak, unlike most of his colleagues. No wonder he has been counselling very discreet use of force so as to ensure that civilian casualties by way of co-lateral damage or otherwise are strictly avoided. Till about 2007, the foreign troops, generally, could not care less as to how many locals were killed in their attacks. Apparently such callousness was prompted by the naive bad-guy syndrome as well as ignorance of the local history. Unfortunately such disregard for human life was not limited to the foreign forces, generally, the Bush Administration and its neo-con also exuded venom. History of the area highlights that the asymmetry of power between the locals, particularly, Pashtuns, has never deterred them from challenging foreign occupation. It is this unusual grit, despite the paucity of material resources, that has always prevailed in times of trial. The British Empire learnt their lesson after the Second Afghan war which cost them the lives of 16000 troops. The lone survivor, Dr Bryden, lived on to tell the tales of horror about the enemy capacity and bravado in punishing the transgressors. Despite their ambitions Sparked by the Great Game, they settled down to a realistic relation-ship with the Afghan Monarch after the Third Afghan War. The Russians learnt a historic lesson in 1980s when they were made to leave Afghanistan by the local Mujahideen duly supported by Pakistan, US and Saudi Arabia. Their original sin of landing forces in Afghanistan in 1979 to bolster the local Communist regime founded by Tarakai ended up as a terrible fiasco. It not only lost them Billions of $ and many men, the fall-out hastened the disintegration of the Soviet Empire which was founded, generally, on the debris of Post- World War 11 Europe. Gorbachev has categorically admitted that the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was a serious mistake. The US attacked Afghanistan under the Taliban regime post-9/11 on the basis of a battle-cry alleging that OBL had arranged the tragic event with consequential losses caused by death/destruction. Bush Administration inferred that the Taliban regime had to be changed as they asked for some evidence which could link the suspect OBL to the 9/11. Riding a wave of sympathy and, perhaps in his cowboy-style duly Page 181
- 182. supported by lackof knowledge/experience, he clubbed the UN to damn the usual suspect in a hurry. The Taliban had also indicated that if OBL was guilty, he shall be handed over to an authority specially set up by the UN for the purpose of trying him under the International Law etc. Bush rode roughshod and enlisted the support of Russia and even Pakistan etc for enforcing a regime-change. He personally knew Karzai and Khalilzad, both UNOCAL employees of Afghan origin. The Taliban fought bravely as usual despite the atrocities committed by the Northern warlords like Dostum and horrendous bombing of the country without an air-force till the Taliban left Kabul to retreat to the mountains. Few tears were shed in Kabul etc as the Taliban had become very controversial due to their extremist ideology. The regime imposed by the US after the Bonn Conference turned out to be a mirage soon. Thanks to corruption, by foreign/local beneficiaries, insecurity, lawlessness, unemployment etc soon brought the country close to a famine-condition in 2004. This was the time that the Taliban started helping their people with food-supplies. Moreover, the Northern Warlords had started growing massive quantities of opium to make hey while the sun was shining. In 2005, the Taliban also encouraged the Pashtuns to follow suit to keep the wolf of starvation away. They provided security to the drug-trade till the product was finally sold to foreign consumers, mainly through Russia with handsome returns. This won them tremendous goodwill/ money. The foreign forces would look the other way. Now serious allegations of the US/UK troops complicity are in the air. The wheel has now come full circle. As the Taliban raise the ante, the US gets deeper into the hole. Already the number of soldiers killed etc have transcended the total for the last year. The Drone attacks in Pakistan are not winning friends for the US. It is time for the US and Pakistan to learn from the phrase once bitten twice shy which Gen Petraeus is trying to trail. SUBJECT: WAR & CONFLICT (89%); ARMED FORCES (78%); HISTORY (77%); WORLD WAR II (71%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (70%) GEOGRAPHIC: AFGHANISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (93%); PAKISTAN (92%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (92%); SAUDI ARABIA (79%); EUROPE (79%) LOAD-DATE: October 21, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: POB Copyright 2010 Pakistan Observer All Rights Reserved Page 182 Afghanistan: Climbing costs Pakistan Observer October 21, 2010 Thursday
- 183. 66 of 214DOCUMENTS Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania) October 1, 2009 Thursday FIFTH Edition Afghanistan has never been the 'good and necessary' war; it's about control of oil BYLINE: Gary Olson Special to The Morning Call - Freelance SECTION: News; Pg. A14 LENGTH: 522 words U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal's recent upbeat assessment that the war in Afghanistan "can still be won" is eerily reminiscent of Gen. William Westmoreland's "light at the end of the tunnel" comments from Vietnam and the early rosy reports from Iraq. Currently there are 68,000 U.S. soldiers and marines in Afghanistan. There have been 190 American fatalities this year, the highest total in nearly eight years. This year's Pentagon budget for Afghanistan is $65 billion and total costs now exceed $228 billion. Just as the U.S. war on Iraq had nothing to do with the stated reasons, so is it the case with U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. This was told to the American people on multiple fabrications, including defeating al-Qaida, building democracy, stopping heroin, fighting terrorism and liberating Afghan women. Not one of these reasons is remotely close to the truth. The 2001 U.S. invasion and occupation of Afghanistan has never been the "good and necessary war" defended by President Obama. Although you rarely read it in the mainstream U.S. media, Washington's motive is control of oil. In this case it's not Afghan reserves but Central Asian oil and gas. A planned $7.6 billion, 1,050-mile oil pipeline running from Turkmenistan to India is called TAPI for Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India. Turkmenistan has the third largest natural gas reserves in the world and Afghanistan is the crucial transit corridor. Asia Times journalist Pepe Escobar reveals that TAPI's origins goes back to the mid-1990s "[W]hen the Taliban were wined and dined by California-based Unocal -- and the Clinton machine." According to insider accounts, negotiations broke down because the Taliban were demanding too much in transfer fees. (Recall that the Taliban, al-Qaida, and Osama bin Laden were created by the CIA). This pipeline would bisect Afghanistan's volatile Kandahar province. It also would permit bypassing Iran, one of Washington's key geopolitical objectives. For this to occur, a reliable client regime needs to be established in Kabul, hence the U.S. invasion, occupation, likely escalation. It's the primary reason Page 183
- 184. why U.S. soldiersare dying there. But I suppose the more honest slogan "Enduring Coffins for Profits and Pipeline" doesn't have quite the same pseudo-patriotic call to national sacrifice touted in "Operation Enduring Freedom." Adding additional U.S. troops will at best produce a stalemate and a steeply escalating casualty rate. As longtime Afghanistan analyst Tariq Ali puts it, "To sum up the situation in Afghanistan. It's a mess. The U.S. can never win that war, and the main reason is that Afghans don't like being occupied. Afghans kicked out the British in the 19th century, the Russians in the 20th century, and now they're fighting against the U.S. and its NATO allies." It's my sense that Afghanistan, not health care, will be the make or break issue for the Obama presidency. The outcome hinges on whether the American public will exert enough pressure to force a U.S. withdrawal from this looming foreign policy disaster. Gary Olson is chairman of the Political Science Department at Moravian College. SUBJECT: WAR & CONFLICT (90%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (90%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (89%); ARMED FORCES (89%); TERRORISM (88%); US PRESIDENTS (79%); IRAQ WAR (78%); JOURNALISM (77%); CRUDE OIL PIPELINES (71%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (71%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (71%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (56%); DEFENSE SPENDING (56%); HEROIN (54%); AL-QAEDA (89%); TALIBAN (89%); WAR ON TERROR (78%) OPINION; WAR; AFGHANISTAN; OIL; CONTROL; RHETORIC; PRESIDENT ORGANIZATION: AL-QAEDA (56%) PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (55%); STANLEY A MCCHRYSTAL (91%); OSAMA BIN LADEN (53%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) CALIFORNIA, USA (79%) AFGHANISTAN (97%); UNITED STATES (96%); IRAQ (93%); TURKMENISTAN (93%); ASIA (92%); INDIA (92%); PAKISTAN (79%); IRAN (79%); CENTRAL ASIA (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%) LOAD-DATE: October 2, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH GRAPHIC: Gary Olson;Photo By Unknown DOCUMENT-TYPE: Editorial PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2009 The Morning Call, Inc. All Rights Reserved Page 184 Afghanistan has never been the 'good and necessary' war; it's about control of oil Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania) October 1, 2009 Thursday
- 185. 67 of 214DOCUMENTS Newcastle Herald (Australia) June 21, 2010 Monday First Edition Why are we cleaning up US sins of the past; OPINION & ANALYSIS BYLINE: Peter Barrack SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 9 LENGTH: 493 words ANZUS is useless, writes Peter Barrack. SINCE the recent deaths of two Australian servicemen in Afghanistan, many have been asking "why are we there?" I believe it is because of a questionable intent to clean up the sins of the past. To expunge the consequences of a culpable and negligent intervention perpetrated on Afghanistan by the US for more than 30 years. We are hearing that this war is nine years old, that it started in 2001, but that ignores the two decades prior. And that denies us the capacity to understand the deceptive justification propagated by politicians as to why Australian troops are in Afghanistan. Whether the war is deemed to have been won or lost after the US pulls out, and that will be difficult to tell, the Taliban will remain. It is possible that Afghanistan will follow the same "victory" path as Iraq, that is, spiral into conflict between religious factions and tribal warlords with a destabilising disputed presidential election, corruption and ongoing terrorism. The Taliban emerged victorious from the infighting that erupted between dissident warlords that fought the jihad that overthrew the Soviet occupation. They grew in numbers and strength through the transfer of young Islamic fundamentalists trained in Pakistan schools funded by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the US and Osama bin Laden. New York Times correspondent Stephen Kinzer, in his book Overthrow, says the Taliban also owes a great deal to the US. "Its militants had learned the art of war during the 1980s in camps funded by the CIA," he writes. "Many others became radicalised in the pro-fundamentalist climate that the CIA encouraged during that period." The Taliban entered Kabul on September 27, 1996, and became the governing authority in Afghanistan. It went on a well-documented rampage of terror, including withdrawing rights from women and rendering brutal punishment. Kinzer writes: "US officials were not just muted about, but even dismissive of, the social and judicial excesses that were the hallmark of the Taliban rule." Robin Raphel, assistant secretary of state, on a visit to Kabul in 1996, said she hoped to facilitate US business: "If the US doesn't deal with the Taliban, economic opportunities shall be missed." Unocal, the giant US oil company, needed to negotiate with the Taliban to build a $US2 billion pipeline. The state department managed the negotiations. So "why are we there?" I don't believe anyone would want to see the Taliban imposed upon the Afghan people; however, we are there because of the ANZUS Treaty and the Alliance. The ANZUS Treaty is Page 185
- 186. useless in termsof Australian security. It provides no reciprocal obligations by the US. The long-term obligation for Australia to avoid another Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan is to review our foreign policy, to more reflect our position and objectives relevant to our national needs and regional changes. Peter Barrack is a former secretary of the Newcastle Trades Hall Council. SUBJECT: RELIGION (90%); FUNDAMENTALISM (88%); TERRORISM (78%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (78%); FOREIGN POLICY (77%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (74%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (74%); ELECTIONS (70%); FOREIGN RELATIONS (66%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (65%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (64%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (60%) Politics/Foreign Relations; Defence/Overseas Duty GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (92%) UNITED STATES (96%); AFGHANISTAN (96%); AUSTRALIA (94%); IRAQ (92%); PAKISTAN (92%); SAUDI ARABIA (79%) Afghanistan; Australia LOAD-DATE: June 20, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2010 Newcastle Newspapers Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved Page 186 Why are we cleaning up US sins of the past; OPINION & ANALYSIS Newcastle Herald (Australia) June 21, 2010 Monday
- 187. 69 of 214DOCUMENTS The Associated Press December 11, 2010 Saturday 02:17 PM GMT Agreement reached on Afghan-Pakistan gas pipeline BYLINE: By ALEXANDER VERSHININ and PETER LEONARD, Associated Press SECTION: BUSINESS NEWS LENGTH: 686 words DATELINE: ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan The leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan on Saturday agreed to move forward with a complicated and risky plan to build a natural gas pipeline across rugged territory plagued by war and terrorism. The pipeline, which would terminate in India, would bring huge amounts of gas to underdeveloped regions and could earn impoverished Afghanistan hundreds of millions of dollars in transit fees. The route for the 1,700-kilometer (1,050-mile) TAPI pipeline from gas-rich Turkmenistan would cross Afghanistan's Kandahar Province, where the Taliban and international forces are locked in battle, as well as some of Pakistan's unruly tribal areas. Concerns about security for the pipeline itself and for the workers who construct it have cast doubt on the project's near-term feasibility, but proponents say it would calm the chaotic region. "Along with commercial and economic benefits, this project will also yield a stabilizing influence on the region and beyond" Turkmen President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov said after the leaders signed a document supporting the project. "Afghanistan will live up to its obligations in ensuring the pipeline's construction and safety," said Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whose undertrained army struggles against the resurgent Taliban. The project has also won vocal support from the United States, which is strongly opposed to India and Pakistan drawing supplies from Iran through another proposed gas pipeline. Contents of the document signed by Karzai, Berdymukhamedov, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian petroleum minister Murli Deora were not immediately made public. But the apparent next step will be to secure financial backing and firm bids from energy companies, which could prove an uphill struggle for a project so fraught with potential risks. "This will not be an easy project to complete it is mandatory that we guarantee Page 187
- 188. the security ofthe pipeline and the quality of construction work," Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda told reporters in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat. Kuroda said his bank would offer its backing to the pipeline, but gave no specific details on how it would do so. Turkmenistan, which is believed to hold the world's fourth-largest gas reserves, is eager to find new markets for its potentially gargantuan energy exports amid flagging interest from Russia, its traditional client. Plans to build a pipeline transporting the former Soviet nation's gas to Western Europe to date remain hazy ambitions. Berdymukhamedov said the pipeline would deliver up to 33 billion cubic meters of gas annually, welcome relief for energy-parched nations along the route. According to a preliminary breakdown, India and Pakistan would each get about 42 percent of the gas and Afghanistan the remainder. Attempts to build a pipeline through Afghanistan date back to the mid-1990s, when the U.S.-led consortium Unocal was locked in fierce competition with Argentina's Bridas to win a deal to construct and run the route. But as the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan, those ambitions were shelved and remained so during the next decade's war. Turkmen officials estimate that construction of the pipeline could generate around 12,000 jobs in Afghanistan and earn it several hundred millions dollars annually in transit fees. Turkmenistan has sought to broaden its client base after Russia sharply cut back its imports from the Central Asian nation. A 1,800-kilometer (1,080-mile) pipeline to China began pumping natural gas late last year. The scale of those commitments have elicited doubt among some energy experts that Turkmenistan will be able to fill the TAPI pipeline. Berdymukhamedov insisted Saturday that recent surveys by Turkmen specialists at the vast South Yolotan field, from which much of the gas is expected to be drawn, appear to suggest reserves may be even larger than previously believed. An independent British auditing company reported in 2008 that the field may hold up to 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, but Berdymukhamedov said the figure may be closer to 22 trillion cubic meters. Leonard reported from Almaty, Kazakhstan SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (92%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (91%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (90%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (90%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (78%); NATURAL GAS & ELECTRIC UTILITIES (78%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (78%); DEVELOPMENT BANKS (77%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (77%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (75%); ENERGY EXPORTS & IMPORTS (73%); ENERGY DEPARTMENTS (73%); TERRORISM (72%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS (66%); TALIBAN (90%) AS Page 188 Agreement reached on Afghan-Pakistan gas pipeline The Associated Press December 11, 2010 Saturday 02:17 PM GMT
- 189. Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pipeline COMPANY:ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (64%); BRIDAS CORP (50%) TICKER: ATB (ASX) (64%) INDUSTRY: NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (64%); SIC6081 BRANCHES & AGENCIES OF FOREIGN BANKS (64%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (50%); SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (50%) PERSON: HAMAD KARZAI (68%); ASIF ALI ZARDARI (54%) GEOGRAPHIC: AFGHANISTAN (95%); TURKMENISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); INDIA (94%); UNITED STATES (92%); EUROPE (79%); WESTERN EUROPE (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%); ARGENTINA (79%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (79%); ASIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: December 12, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire Copyright 2010 Associated Press All Rights Reserved Page 189 Agreement reached on Afghan-Pakistan gas pipeline The Associated Press December 11, 2010 Saturday 02:17 PM GMT
- 190. 71 of 214DOCUMENTS Associated Press Online December 11, 2010 Saturday 11:38 AM GMT Agreement sought on Afghan-Pakistan gas pipeline BYLINE: By ALEXANDER VERSHININ and PETER LEONARD, Associated Press SECTION: BUSINESS NEWS LENGTH: 610 words DATELINE: ASHGABAT Turkmenistan The leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan were in the capital of gas-rich Turkmenistan Saturday to push forward on ambitions to build a pipeline across their countries. The pipeline, which would terminate in India, would bring huge amounts of gas to underdeveloped regions and could earn impoverished Afghanistan hundreds of millions of dollars in transit fees. But it would cross both Taliban-intensive stretches of Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan's unruly tribal areas. The leaders, along with Turkmenistan's president and India's oil minister are expected to sign a document expressing support for the project. The next step would likely be to seek proposals and bids from energy companies. Efforts to get the pipeline called TAPI after the countries involved under way have intensified in recent months as Afghanistan seeks ways to kick-start its economy, while Pakistan and India explore how to slake their energy thirst. The project has also won vocal support from the United States, which is strongly opposed to India and Pakistan drawing supplies from Iran through another proposed gas pipeline. Turkmenistan, which is believed to hold the world's fourth-largest gas reserves, is eager to find new markets for its potentially gargantuan energy exports amid flagging interest from Russia, its traditional client. Plans to build a pipeline transporting the former Soviet nation's gas to Western Europe to date remain hazy ambitions. The visit by Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari comes after months of technical consultations. India is expected be represented at Saturday's signing by petroleum minister Murli Deora. The TAPI pipeline would stretch some 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from Turkmenistan's Dovletabad field to the Indian township of Fazilka, just over the border with Pakistan. Its cost is estimated at about $8 billion. Page 190
- 191. Sections of thepipeline's intended path across deep Taliban country in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province and then into Pakistan's restive tribal areas. That raises concern among experts about its near-term feasibility. "The issue is not only security in the sense that you can't actually guarantee the safety of the pipeline, but actual construction is going to be difficult as well," said Maria Kuusisto, an Asia analyst at Eurasia Group. With the capacity to deliver more than 30 billion cubic meters of gas annually, TAPI would come as welcome relief for energy-parched nations along the route. According to a preliminary breakdown, India and Pakistan would each stand to receive around 38 million cubic meters of gas out of the 90 million cubic meters shipped daily. Afghanistan would get the remainder. Attempts to build a pipeline through Afghanistan date back to the mid-1990s, when the U.S.-led consortium Unocal was locked in fierce competition with Argentina's Bridas to win a deal to construct and run the route. But as the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan, those ambitions were shelved and remained so during the next decade's war. Turkmen President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov has vigorously trumpeted TAPI, which presents an opportunity for to kburnish Turkmenistan's credentials as a bulwark of stability in the region. Turkmen officials estimate that construction of the pipeline could generate around 12,000 jobs in Afghanistan and earn it several hundred millions dollars annually in transit fees. Turkmenistan has sought to broaden its client base after Russia sharply cut back its imports from the Central Asian nation. A 1,800-kilometer (1,080-mile) pipeline to China began pumping natural gas late last year. Leonard contributed to this report from Almaty, Kazakhstan. SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (93%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (90%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (89%); ENERGY DEPARTMENTS (78%); OIL & GAS EXPLORATION (78%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (78%); NATURAL GAS & ELECTRIC UTILITIES (78%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (78%); ENERGY EXPORTS & IMPORTS (73%); TALIBAN (78%) AS Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pipeline COMPANY: BRIDAS CORP (50%) INDUSTRY: NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (50%); SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (50%) PERSON: ASIF ALI ZARDARI (54%); HAMAD KARZAI (54%) GEOGRAPHIC: AFGHANISTAN (95%); INDIA (95%); TURKMENISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (92%); ASIA (92%); EUROPE (79%); WESTERN EUROPE (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%); ARGENTINA (79%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (79%) Turkmenistan; Pakistan; Afghanistan; India Asia Page 191 Agreement sought on Afghan-Pakistan gas pipeline Associated Press Online December 11, 2010 Saturday 11:38 AM GMT
- 192. LOAD-DATE: December 12,2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire Copyright 2010 Associated Press All Rights Reserved Page 192 Agreement sought on Afghan-Pakistan gas pipeline Associated Press Online December 11, 2010 Saturday 11:38 AM GMT
- 193. 73 of 214DOCUMENTS Trend Capital. English February 23, 2011 Wednesday American companies continue to discuss participation in TAPI project BYLINE: Hasanov, H SECTION: BACK TO HOME PAGE / ECONOMY / ENERGY NEWS LENGTH: 519 words DATELINE: Turkmenistan, Ashgabat U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake, who recently toured Central Asia, spoke at a press conference in Ashgabat on the issue of U.S. companies' taking part in implementing the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project, the U.S. State Department reported. "Those discussions are still underway. We're still in very early stage in the process," he said regarding the American companies' participation in building the TAPI project. "We think that this project would not only benefit Turkmenistan but would have very important benefits for Afghanistan and would serve all of our larger interests in promoting greater regional integration between Central Asia and South Asia," he said. Blake added that security is one of the several issues that remain to be discussed as talks go forward on the TAPI project. "I know an equally important one is how to arrange commercial financing for such a project," he said. "We think that good progress has been made, but certainly many difficult issues remain to be solved and the United States is committed to doing what we can to encourage this project and to facilitate discussions with our own companies and perhaps others to help this project to come to fruition," Blake said. Experts believe the ongoing escalation of tensions in Afghanistan is a serious obstacle to the implementation of the TAPI pipeline. The project was supposed to be implemented in the early nineties, when the operator was the American company Unocal leading an international consortium. The idea came to naught after the Taliban loudly declared itself the leader of the major transit country - Afghanistan - where a significant part of the pipe would be laid. However, the project was again included in the agenda when India joined the project proposal in 2008. The project became more cost-effective with the Page 193
- 194. increased sales market.But the political risks have not diminished. To ensure energy transit security, Turkmenistan has recently voiced an initiative to adopt a U.N. convention to ensure reliable and stable energy transit, which was supported by the structure. In addition, Ashgabat announced its readiness to conduct peace talks under the auspices of the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Afghanistan. "It is really important for Afghanistan," U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said in Ashgabat within the framework of his regional tour of Central Asia in April. He stressed that the U.N. stands for the TAPI pipeline. Penspen has developed a feasibility study on the project. Its design capacity is 33 billion cubic meters of gas a year. The length of TAPI could reach 1,680 kilometers, with a design capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. The route is planned from the Turkmen Dovletabat fields through Herat and Kandahar (Afghanistan), via the districts of Quetta (Pakistan), to Fazlaka on the India-Pakistan border. Ashgabat hopes to include South Yoloten-Osman in addition to the Dovletabad fields in the project. Its reserves, according to recent data, are estimated at 21 trillion cubic meters of gas, and will serve as the resource base for TAPI. SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (87%); TALKS & MEETINGS (78%); PRESS CONFERENCES (78%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (77%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (77%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (77%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (77%); TALIBAN (72%); PEACE PROCESS (50%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (96%); TURKMENISTAN (95%); ASIA (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); INDIA (94%); CENTRAL ASIA (94%); AFGHANISTAN (92%); SOUTHERN ASIA (78%) LOAD-DATE: February 25, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 115410 DOCUMENT-TYPE: News PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: TDCP Copyright 2011 ProQuest Information and Learning All Rights Reserved Copyright 2011 Trend News Agency Page 194 American companies continue to discuss participation in TAPI project Trend Capital. English February 23, 2011 Wednesday
- 195. 74 of 214DOCUMENTS The New Editor July 31, 2009 Friday 7:02 PM EST The Sandbox Left is Killing the Democratic Party BYLINE: tpelia@yahoo.com (Tom Elia) LENGTH: 921 words Jul. 31, 2009 (The New Editor delivered by Newstex) -- By Tom Elia & David Rogers (Versions of this column originally appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the Manchester Union Leader.) One of us was sitting in his favorite Austin bar near the University of Texas the day President Reagan died. A group in their 20's and 30's came in, fists pumping in the air -- like they were at a ballgame -- shouting, "Reagan's dead! Reagan's dead!" with an enthusiasm one would expect to be reserved for the demise of Hitler. The Sandbox Left strikes again. Some don't think the Sandbox Left matters -- that they are a tiny fringe element that no one listens to and that has no influence. We respectfully disagree with that assertion. The "Sandbox Left" not only describes the immature rantings of leftist radicals like Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky, but many of the "mainstream" leaders of the Democratic Party as well. The recent use of irresponsibly demagogic rhetoric, we believe, is evidence that the Democratic Party's leadership views this "fringe" group as sizable enough to court -- and they're actively playing to it. Let's examine some recent statements from prominent Democrats: Former Vice-President and 2000 Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore recently called some of his critics "digital Brownshirts" and also referred to "Bush Gulag" when discussing Abu Graib prison in his two most recent speeches. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) too referred to Abu Graib, saying, "Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management -- US management." This came after Kennedy called the war in Iraq a "fraud" conceived in Texas, and accused President Bush of "bribery" in order to secure the support of foreign leaders. Former Vermont Governor and leading Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean seemed to endorse radical left-wing conspiracy theories on National Public Radio when he said there was "an interesting theory" that the President was told about the Sept. 11 attacks in advance by the Saudi Arabian government. After viewing Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," National Democratic Chairman Terry MacAuliffe was asked by National Review Online if he believed Moore's assertion that the war in Afghanistan was fought -- not in an effort to eliminate the Taliban and al Qaeda -- but to assure that the Unocal Corporation could build a natural gas pipeline across Afghanistan for the financial benefit of Vice President Dick Cheney. McAuliffe answered, "I believe it after seeing that." Page 195
- 196. In an op-edpiece in the Charleston Post and Courier, Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-SC) openly hinted around the edges that the war in Iraq was part of a Jewish conspiracy. "With Iraq no threat, why invade a sovereign country? The answer: President Bush policy to secure Israel," Hollings wrote. "Led by Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and Charles Krauthammer, for years there has been a domino school of thought that the way to guarantee Israel's security is to spread democracy in the area." (We would like to respectfully dispense a piece of political advice to Sen. Hollings: When one is called "Fritz," it might behoove one to refrain from espousing Jewish conspiracy theories -- but maybe that's just us.) Sadly, this national phenomenon also exists at some local and state levels as well. In Texas state politics, the press spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party called a Supreme Court Justice a "Nazi" and the state party chair later refused to repudiate the comment. These examples are emblematic of the Democratic Party's leadership in 2004. Playing to a crowd that swallows this rhetoric is not healthy for the Democratic Party in the long-term -- nor is it good for America. In isolated liberal enclaves, it may be possible to engage in this irresponsible behavior without consequences. In Texas -- where the Democratic Party is 0-for-29 in statewide offices -- and the larger United States, it is not. Demagoguery of this kind may comfort hard-core radicals that are a part of the Democratic base, and it may allow the party to remain in control of towns like Austin, Ann Arbor, and Berkeley, but in the long term, it will keep the party trapped in a hopeless minority. Rhetoric of this type is so irresponsible that nothing the Democrats do will allow them to become a majority -- while people who engage in such speech are the public face of their party. There was a time when the Republicans had a similar problem with irresponsible people on the right-wing being the face of their party -- John Birchers, isolationists, and old-fashioned racists. But responsible Republicans and leading conservatives like William F. Buckley ran those people out of the party and the movement. There are a few Sandbox dwellers left on the Right, but the fringe Right is tiny and powerless compared with the Sandbox Left, which is neither. Today, the Democratic Party must follow the lead of William F. Buckley. For the good of their party -- and the country -- they must remove consideration of the Sandbox Left from their political calculations, and demand that their side grow up and abandon ridiculous conspiracy theories and irresponsible historical comparisons. The process will be painful and time-consuming. But if they don't engage, Democrats (and real, responsible liberals) are heading for a very long dry spell -- not unlike the one the GOP endured after Herbert Hoover's administration -- led by those selling the rhetorical equivalent of shiny silver pails and big yellow rubber spoons. Newstex ID: TNE-0001-36896878 SUBJECT: POLITICAL PARTIES (92%); POLITICS (90%); US DEMOCRATIC PARTY (90%); US PRESIDENTS (89%); IRAQ WAR (89%); PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (89%); POLITICAL CANDIDATES (86%); US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (86%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (85%); LEGISLATORS (77%); TERRORISM (76%); ELECTIONS (76%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (76%); RIOTS (74%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (72%); CONSPIRACY (71%); FRAUD & FINANCIAL CRIME (69%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (67%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (67%); LAW COURTS & TRIBUNALS (65%); SUPREME COURTS (65%); BRIBERY (62%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (50%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (50%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (50%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (50%); TALIBAN (67%); AL-QAEDA (67%) Politics; GeoCodes; politics; unrest; conflicts and war; crime; law and justice; Global; Page 196 The Sandbox Left is Killing the Democratic Party The New Editor July 31, 2009 Friday 7:02 PM EST
- 197. United States; civilunrest; national legislature; parties and movements; government; election; law and the judiciary (system of justice); Middle East; Arabian Peninsula; Texas; rebellions and revolutions; supreme court; national elections COMPANY: NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO INC (52%) ORGANIZATION: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS (58%) INDUSTRY: NAICS515111 RADIO NETWORKS (52%); SIC4832 RADIO BROADCASTING STATIONS (52%) PERSON: RONALD REAGAN (72%); AL GORE (54%); TED KENNEDY (54%); SADDAM HUSSEIN (53%); GEORGE W BUSH (53%); DICK CHENEY (50%) GEOGRAPHIC: AUSTIN, TX, USA (92%) TEXAS, USA (94%); MASSACHUSETTS, USA (79%); VERMONT, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (94%); AFGHANISTAN (92%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); SAUDI ARABIA (79%); IRAQ (79%); GULF STATES (53%) LOAD-DATE: July 31, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2009 The New Editor Page 197 The Sandbox Left is Killing the Democratic Party The New Editor July 31, 2009 Friday 7:02 PM EST
- 198. 77 of 214DOCUMENTS Trend Capital. English December 11, 2010 Saturday Will Turkmen gas transit bring peace to Afghanistan? BYLINE: Hasanov, H LENGTH: 628 words DATELINE: Turkmenistan, Ashgabat The ongoing escalation of tensions in Afghanistan is serious obstacle to the implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, on which Ashgabat will host the intergovernmental negotiations on Saturday. The project was supposed to be implemented since early nineties, when the operator was the American company Unocal leading an international consortium. The idea came to naught after the Taliban loudly declared itself in the transit country- Afghanistan, where a significant part of the pipe would be laid. But, the project was again included in the agenda, especially when India joined it in 2008. The projects become more cost-effective with the increase of the sale markets. However, political risks have not diminished, given the sabotage occurred in Pakistan and the relations of Islamabad and New Delhi that are not so "perfect". To ensure the energy transit security, Turkmenistan has recently voiced the initiative to adopt a UN Convention to ensure reliable and stable transit of energy, which was supported by the structure. In addition, Ashgabat announced its readiness to conduct peace talks under the auspices of the UN Stabilization Mission in Afghanistan. "It is really important for Afghanistan," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in Ashgabat within the framework of his regional tour of Central Asia in April 2010. He stressed that the UN stands for the TAPI gas pipeline. "I hope that this project will also supported by other countries in the region," Ki-moon said. Today, his wish has acquired a certain reality. Today, the TAPI project participant countries voice political support to the project and discuss the intergovernmental agreement on it in Ashgabat. Recently the U.S. Department of State expressed its support to the project. The proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline is a good example of how Turkmenistan's resources could benefit other countries in the region - especially Afghanistan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of South and Central Asian Affairs at the U.S. State Department Susan Elliott said earlier. Page 198
- 199. "While many challengesremain, important steps are being taken, and we are encouraged by this progress. It is important to remember that pipelines are long-term projects with long-term horizons, and that the immense effort involved will produce long-term benefits for Turkmenistan and the region," she said. Elliott said this project, if realized, would provide revenue and jobs for Afghanistan at a critical time in its economic development. TAPI would also provide clean fuel to the growing economies of Pakistan and India. "TAPI's route may serve as a stabilizing corridor, linking neighbors together in economic growth and prosperity. The road ahead is long for this project, but the benefits could be tremendous and are certainly worthy of the diligence demonstrated by these four countries so far," she added. In turn, Turkmen experts say that Ashgabat, ensuring long-term energy supplies to new markets, follows the strategy of "mutually beneficial terms of cooperation and optimal balance of interests". The length of the TAPI could reach 1,680 kilometers, with a design capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. The route is planned from the Turkmen Dovletabat fields through Herat and Kandahar (Afghanistan), via the districts of Quetta (Pakistan), to Fazlaka on the India-Pakistan border. According to Penspen previously prepared feasibility, the pipeline capacity can reach more than 30 billion cubic meters of gas a year, cost - $3.3 billion. It was reported that potential buyers - India and Pakistan are ready to buy much more gas. Therefore, the prices can be reconsidered. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at capital@trend.az SUBJECT: INTERGOVERNMENTAL TALKS (90%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (90%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (90%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (89%); ECONOMIC CONDITIONS (88%); EMERGING MARKETS (78%); ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (77%); TALKS & MEETINGS (77%); ECONOMIC GROWTH (74%); PEACE PROCESS (73%); TREATIES & AGREEMENTS (73%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (73%); ECONOMIC NEWS (69%) GEOGRAPHIC: NEW DELHI, INDIA (79%) TURKMENISTAN (97%); INDIA (95%); PAKISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (94%); CENTRAL ASIA (92%); ASIA (92%); AFGHANISTAN (90%); SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: December 13, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 115410 DOCUMENT-TYPE: News PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: TDCP Copyright 2010 ProQuest Information and Learning All Rights Reserved Copyright 2010 Trend News Agency Page 199 Will Turkmen gas transit bring peace to Afghanistan? Trend Capital. English December 11, 2010 Saturday
- 200. 79 of 214DOCUMENTS It's Getting Hot In Here January 30, 2010 Saturday 7:36 PM EST Funk the Warming Takes DC Fossil Hawks by Storm BYLINE: sam daly LENGTH: 558 words Jan. 30, 2010 (It's Getting Hot In Here delivered by Newstex) -- Friday, DC Students for a Democratic Society and DC Rising Tide led a direct action parade against the Fossil Hawks. The War on Terror and the Corporate War on the Earth are one in the same. The same corporations that lead the world in CO2 pollution are the main lobbying force behind the Resource Terror Wars on Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Palestine. The Fossil Hawks are growing ever wealthier off the war while military recruiters feast on 50% youth unemployment like vultures. oeYoung people are turning up the pressure because we are not convinced by Obamas promises to draw back from war and support a clean energy-driven economic recovery, says Brian Menifee, Howard University student activist. video from dc.indymedia.org Stay tuned for more footage from the parade, including our Green Jobs Not War action at the Armed Forces Recruiting Center. From the press release¦ @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } WASHINGTON DC " Young anti-war and environmental organizers are mobilizing in response to the failure of the UN Copenhagen climate talks, escalation of the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the crisis of 50% youth unemployment. oeYoung people are turning up the pressure because we are not convinced by Obamas promises to draw back from war and support a clean energy-driven economic recovery, says Brian Menifee, Howard University student activist. Funk the Warming participants will parade and dance with a mobile sound system behind a banner reading, oeStudent Power for Climate Justice, Down with the Page 200
- 201. Fossil Hawks. Organizershave choreographed a diverse sequence of rowdy non-violent actions targeting corporate and military sites on K Street. oeWere dropping beats, not bombs to show that youth have the power and creativity to build a peaceful green economic recovery, explains GWU student activist, Drew Sherlock. Chevron and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) will be targeted for their involvement in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and their contribution to global warming. Halliburton provides military logistics, oilfield services, and builds power plants. Chevron owns Unocal, the company that planned the trans-Afghanistan pipeline in the 1990s. Sam Daly from DC Rising Tide: oePiping Central Asian gas and oil through Afghanistan and controlling Iraqi oilfields are the true motivations behind the US occupations. Resource wars abuse the earth and exploit the young people who inevitably fight them. Military recruitment is flourishing thanks to mass youth unemployment and the $20 billion recruiting budget. Meanwhile, the Green Jobs training program is pinching its meager $500 million stimulus funding. Brian Menifee: oeCollege tuition hikes are out of control and too many of our peers cant afford school or find a job other than war. We want green jobs and education not these resource wars that are killing our future. Students from American University, George Mason University, UMD College Park, Howard U, GWU, Arne Arundel Community College, and local high schools will make-up the groundswell of the parade. DC Students for a Democratic Society, an education justice network, and DC Rising Tide, a direct action climate justice collective, are coordinating the event Filed under: , , , , , , , , Newstex ID: IGHH-5249-41647979 SUBJECT: STUDENTS & STUDENT LIFE (90%); TERRORISM (90%); GLOBAL WARMING (90%); EMERGING MARKETS (89%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (89%); MILITARY RECRUITING (89%); ECONOMIC RECOVERY (89%); ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION (88%); OIL SERVICES INDUSTRY (85%); HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES (78%); TUITION FEES (78%); LOBBYING (78%); WAR & CONFLICT (77%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (77%); IRAQ WAR (77%); ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES (76%); RENEWABLE ENERGY (74%); POWER PLANTS (74%); ENERGY & UTILITY CONSTRUCTION (74%); RIOTS (74%); ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS (74%); POWER & COMMUNICATION SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION (61%); WAR ON TERROR (90%); UNEMPLOYED PERSONS (90%); STUDENT ACTIVISM (90%); BUDGETS (78%) Campuses; Climate Generation; Copenhagen 2009; Direct Action; Oil; Youth Leaders; global warming; green jobs; mountain top removal; Afghanistan; caterpillar; chevron; corporate power; fossil hawks; iraq; lockheed martin; monsanto; mountaintop; pakistan; palestine; pepco; shell; student power; war on terror; washington DC; Asia; GeoCodes; unrest; conflicts and war; Europe; weather; education; North America; environmental issues; Afghanistan; Pakistan; Iraq; Palestine; Global; United States; Denmark; civil unrest; war; armed conflict; global change; teaching and learning; global warming; United States of America; Middle East; Arabian Peninsula; District of Columbia; rebellions and revolutions; students COMPANY: HALLIBURTON CO (65%) HALLIBURTON CO ORGANIZATION: UNITED NATIONS (55%) TICKER: HAL (NYSE) (65%) HAL (NYSE) Page 201 Funk the Warming Takes DC Fossil Hawks by Storm It's Getting Hot In Here January 30, 2010 Saturday 7:36 PM EST
- 202. INDUSTRY: NAICS541330 ENGINEERINGSERVICES (65%); NAICS213112 SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FOR OIL & GAS OPERATIONS (65%); NAICS213111 DRILLING OIL & GAS WELLS (65%); SIC1389 OIL & GAS FIELD SERVICES, NEC (65%) GEOGRAPHIC: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (87%) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, USA (97%); EARTH (92%) UNITED STATES (97%); IRAQ (95%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); PALESTINIAN TERRITORY (93%); ASIA (92%); DENMARK (87%); EUROPE (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); CENTRAL ASIA (79%); NORTH AMERICA (79%); GULF STATES (77%); PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, OCCUPIED (93%) LOAD-DATE: January 30, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2010 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2010 It's Getting Hot In Here Page 202 Funk the Warming Takes DC Fossil Hawks by Storm It's Getting Hot In Here January 30, 2010 Saturday 7:36 PM EST
- 203. 81 of 214DOCUMENTS USNEWS.com July 5, 2011 Tuesday Farrakhan's Hate Sermons to Prisoners Slammed BYLINE: Paul Bedard SECTION: POLITICS & POLICY; Washington Whispers; Blog Vol. No. LENGTH: 414 words Hate sermons from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan like "Bible Truth or Altered by the White Man" and another in which he claims 9/11 was meant to hide oil profits to former Vice President Dick Cheney are being blasted by two prominent House leaders who want Farrakhan's words banned from federal prisons. Worried that prisoners are being radicalized and even turned into terrorists by Farrakhan, Reps. Peter King and Frank Wolf today asked U.S. Bureau of Prisons Acting Director Thomas Kane to remove Nation of Islam material from prisons and to audit all other Islamic texts and sermons made available to inmates. King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has been focused on the threat of Islamic radicalization in U.S. prisons. "It defies common sense that any inmate, let alone convicted al Qaeda terrorists, would be able to receive anti-American and anti-Semitic propaganda from the Bureau of Prisons," said King. Wolf, who chairs the appropriations subcommittee that funds federal prisons, added, "I am committed to conducting thorough oversight of BOP to ensure that our prisons are not breeding grounds for terrorism." King's committee has looked into anti-American themes in Farrakhan's sermons and messages to prisoners and found very disturbing evidence that the panel feels will lead to radicalizing inmates. In one video Farrakhan reportedly states, "I hasten to tell you that the precious lives that were lost in the World Trade Center was a cover, a cover for a war that had been planned to bring a pipeline through Afghanistan to bring oil from that region, oil owned by Unocal, of which Dick Cheney is a stock holder." Among the Nation of Islam video titles offered to inmates are "Conspiracy of the International Bankers," "Conspiracy of the U.S. Government," "Controversy with Jews," and "Which One Will You Choose, the Flag of Islam or the Flag of America?" Write King and Wolf in the letter just provided to Whispers, "We ask you to immediately remove all written, audio and video materials produced by the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan from all BOP facilities. We also request that you launch an immediate and comprehensive audit of all other Islamic texts and Page 203
- 204. sermons made availableto inmates in BOP facilities, including a review of your procedures for vetting such materials." See their letter here. --See the month's best editorial cartoons. --Check out ourgallery of Whispers political caricatures. --Seewho's been visiting the White House. SUBJECT: RELIGION (93%); PRISONS (92%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (91%); TERRORISM (91%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (89%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (89%); QURAN & ISLAMIC TEXTS (89%); JEWS & JUDAISM (78%); AL-QAEDA (78%); APPROPRIATIONS (77%); PUBLIC FINANCE (76%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (76%); AUDITS (75%); NATIONAL SECURITY (73%); VIDEO INDUSTRY (70%) ORGANIZATION: NATION OF ISLAM (91%); BUREAU OF PRISONS (83%); AL-QAEDA (56%); US DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (56%) PERSON: DICK CHENEY (84%); FRANK R WOLF (71%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (94%); AFGHANISTAN (79%) LOAD-DATE: July 6, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Publication Copyright 2011 U.S. News & World Report All Rights Reserved Page 204 Farrakhan's Hate Sermons to Prisoners Slammed USNEWS.com July 5, 2011 Tuesday
- 205. 82 of 214DOCUMENTS The New Editor July 31, 2009 Friday 7:02 PM EST Media Coverage of Ridiculous 'Birther' Movement is Revealing BYLINE: tpelia@yahoo.com (Tom Elia) LENGTH: 624 words Jul. 31, 2009 (The New Editor delivered by Newstex) -- The ridiculous and unproven belief of those in the 'birther' movement that President Obama wasn't born in the US speaks for itself, and this recent poll is nothing less than embarrassing. A blogger from Firedoglake even compiled video footage of some elected Republican officials dodging questions over whether they believe the issue has merit. And they rightly deserve the ridicule they are receiving. Media outlets and left-leaning blogs have been giving wide coverage of the belief in this myth -- as they rightly should. MSNBC, for example, has been covering this story, running the Firedoglake video as well. There has been much gnashing of teeth at MSNBC over this apparent lunacy. However, what makes the coverage of this conspiracy by MSNBC and some of the rest of the media really interesting is the apparent double standard in covering other pieces of lunacy -- like the '911 Truther' movement. Back in 2007 a Rasmussen poll found: Democrats in America are evenly divided on the question of whether George W. Bush knew about the 9/11 terrorist attacks in advance. Thirty-five percent (35%) of Democrats believe he did know, 39% say he did not know, and 26% are not sure.Not only did that poll not get widespread distribution, but the actions of elected Democratic officials in seemingly hyping the '911 Truther' movement was routinely ignored by large segments of the media. For example, in a 2004 op-ed I co-wrote with David Rogers, we noted: Former Vermont Governor and leading Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean seemed to endorse radical left-wing conspiracy theories on National Public Radio when he said there was "an interesting theory" that the President was told about the Sept. 11 attacks in advance by the Saudi Arabian government.In the same piece Rogers and I also noted that, like Dean, then-Democratic National chair Terry McAuliffe was also advancing conspiracy theories: After viewing Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, National Democratic Chairman Terry MacAuliffe was asked by National Review Online if he believed Moore's assertion that the war in Afghanistan was fought -- not in an effort to eliminate the Taliban and al Qaeda -- but to assure that the Unocal Corporation could build a natural gas pipeline across Afghanistan for the financial benefit of Vice President Dick Cheney. McAuliffe answered, "I believe it after seeing that."But the evidence just doesn't end just there. Page 205
- 206. There are separatevideos from 2007 of three prominent Democrats pandering to 911 conspiracy theorists who believe that George Bush 'knew' about the 911 attacks before they happened. All three of the videos show these prominent Democrats 'feigning' knowledge of the theories, rather than denouncing them outright. These Democrats include 2004 Democratic Party presidential nominee John Kerry, 2004 Democratic vice-presidential nominee John Edwards, and once again, Howard Dean, this time when he was the National Democratic Chairman. While MSNBC's anchors and commentary news show hosts have shown obvious disgust with elected Republicans for playing games with ridiculous conspiracy theories, they have showed no such predilection for criticism of Democrats doing the same kind of thing. In fact, Howard Dean even guest-hosted Keith Olbermann's show on MSNBC this past week. Apparently at MSNBC, if you pander to left-wing conspiracy theorists you get a guest-anchor chair, but pandering to right-wing conspiracy theorists gets you condemnation. Which begs the question: Why is one form of lunacy highlighted and condemned, while another form of lunacy is virtually ignored? The answer to that question would seem rather obvious. Newstex ID: TNE-0001-36896877 SUBJECT: TERRORISM (90%); POLITICAL PARTIES (90%); US DEMOCRATIC PARTY (90%); US PRESIDENTS (89%); CONSPIRACY (88%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (87%); US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (77%); US REPUBLICAN PARTY (77%); BLOGS & MESSAGE BOARDS (77%); POLITICS (77%); ELECTIONS (77%); POLLS & SURVEYS (77%); PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (77%); POLITICAL CANDIDATES (76%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (76%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (71%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (50%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (50%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (50%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (50%); LIBERAL MEDIA (77%); TALIBAN (71%); AL-QAEDA (66%) Media; GeoCodes; politics; disaster and accident; crime; law and justice; Global; election; man-made disaster; crime; Middle East; national elections; terrorist attack; terrorism COMPANY: NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO INC (53%) INDUSTRY: NAICS515111 RADIO NETWORKS (53%); SIC4832 RADIO BROADCASTING STATIONS (53%) PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (91%); GEORGE W BUSH (83%); DICK CHENEY (51%) GEOGRAPHIC: VERMONT, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (93%); AFGHANISTAN (92%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); SAUDI ARABIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: July 31, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees Page 206 Media Coverage of Ridiculous 'Birther' Movement is Revealing The New Editor July 31, 2009 Friday 7:02 PM EST
- 207. about the accuracy,completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2009 The New Editor Page 207 Media Coverage of Ridiculous 'Birther' Movement is Revealing The New Editor July 31, 2009 Friday 7:02 PM EST
- 208. 83 of 214DOCUMENTS Jalopnik November 10, 2009 Tuesday 2:20 PM EST Have the Taliban Abandoned Toyotas for American Pickup Trucks? [Pickup Trucks] LENGTH: 547 words Nov. 10, 2009 (Gawker Media delivered by Newstex) -- If youre a militiaman rolling in hostile terrain, your best vehicle choice is the Toyota pickup. A minuscule clue in the latest issue of The New Yorker suggests that all that is about to change. Like the AK-47 assault rifle and the RPG"7 bazooka, the Toyota pickup truck has become an icon of irregular armies worldwide. When mounted with an anti-aircraft cannon or a rocket laucher on its bed, it is called a technical and technicals have helped militas wage and win war against armies equipped with mechanized divisions. There was even a conflict in 1987 called the Toyota War, in which Chads Toyota-equipped troops defeated Muammar al-Gaddafis Libyan army. The practice is not local to Africa. In Afghanistan, it was an influx of Toyota pickups from Pakistans ISI spy agency which transformed the Taliban from a Kandahar militia to a force which took over most of Afghanistan with remarkable speed, defeating established mujahideen commanders with decades of experience. This has nothing to do with good guys, bad guys or tribal affiliations and all to do with the Toyota pickups extreme reliability on hostile terrain. You have no doubt seen the famous Top Gear episode where a Toyota Hilux is subjected to every manner of destructive testing short of a thermonuclear explosion yet it keeps on ticking"but you may not have seen this image from 2002, where US Special Forces soldiers ride in a quad cab Toyota identical to the ones used by their Taliban foes: But all that may be about to change. The only clue is a few pixels of an illustration which accompanies Seymour Hershs latest piece for The New Yorker, where he reports on the safety of Pakistans nuclear arsenal"or its lack thereof. It was created by the acclaimed French illustrator Guy Billout and if you lean in close, the truck you see the Page 208
- 209. Taliban soldiers ridingin is rather striking: Its not a Toyota. Its a quad cab Dodge"a Dakota to my untrained eye, but it could be a Ram as well. This might be an inconsequential detail if the magazine in question was not The New Yorker, famous for their fact checking team. And the truck is definitely not some sort of generic placeholder pickup: it has a Dodge grille. Cooperation between American companies and the Taliban would not be without historical precedent. Back in 1995 before they conquered Kabul and became host to Al-Qaeda, Unocal executive Marty Miller was involved in negotiations with the Taliban leadership for a natural gas pipeline which was to run from Turkmenistan to Pakistan, straight through Taliban territory. While the deal eventually fell through, Miller visited Kandahar several times and at one point even had Taliban leaders flown to Houston for Christmas, of all holidays. Perhaps Toyota, with its humbling losses and its exit from Formula One, has gone over the hill"while Chrysler has found itself a particularly lucrative market for trucks, where demand for new vehicles is guaranteed not by rebates but by American firepower. And nobody likes to stick with a loser. Least of all the Taliban. Photo Credit: SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images, TERENCE WHITE/AFP/Getty Images, Paula Bronstein/Getty Images, Guy Billout, EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images, U.S. Air Force Newstex ID: GAWK-0007-39598661 SUBJECT: MOTOR VEHICLES (93%); PICKUP TRUCKS (91%); PARAMILITARY & MILITIA (90%); ARMIES (90%); ARMED FORCES (89%); MILITARY WEAPONS (77%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (67%); NUCLEAR WEAPONS (67%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (65%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (50%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (50%); AL-QAEDA (67%); TALIBAN (90%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) UNITED STATES (93%); AFGHANISTAN (93%); PAKISTAN (79%); TURKMENISTAN (79%); LIBYA (76%); LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA (76%) LOAD-DATE: November 10, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, Page 209 Have the Taliban Abandoned Toyotas for American Pickup Trucks? [Pickup Trucks] Jalopnik November 10, 2009 Tuesday 2:20 PM EST
- 210. neither Newstex norits re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2009 Jalopnik Page 210 Have the Taliban Abandoned Toyotas for American Pickup Trucks? [Pickup Trucks] Jalopnik November 10, 2009 Tuesday 2:20 PM EST
- 211. 84 of 214DOCUMENTS BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring September 28, 2010 Tuesday Taleban article says Afghan nation looking forward to group's victory LENGTH: 876 words Excerpt from article by Sayed Sa'id entitled "In honour of 6 Mizan [28 September]" by Afghan Taleban Voice of Jihad website on 27 September In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. The disintegration of the Warsaw Block as a result of the decade-long sacred struggle of the oppressed but courageous Afghan nation and the collapse of the puppet Kabul regime in April 1992, once again revived the hope of independence, security, progress and Islamic rule among the people. Unfortunately, contrary to the hopes and aspirations of the Afghan Muslim and mojahed nation, some power-hungry elements and groups, at the behest of neighbours and outsiders, started bloody fighting with each other which turned the beautiful city of Kabul to ruins and martyred 60,000 compatriots in this city alone. Destroying public installations, looting and plundering of national and private property and violation of national honours and Islamic values, became a daily occurrence throughout the country. It was these events that forced the newly-returned refugees to once again leave the country. True mojahedin made every effort in order to bring peace among the warring sides end the above misfortunes, but unfortunately failed. That's why they left the scene and decided to engage in normal everyday life activities. The Afghan nation was suffering from endless insecurity and hopelessness and was hoping for a true saviour through the grace of Almighty God. Fortunately, in the month of Sonbola 1373 [August/September 1994] a national uprising took place in the guise of the Islamic Movement of Taleban with the unprecedented bravery and prudence of Mullah Mohammad Omar Mojahed in Sangesar area in Maywand District of Kandahar Province, in order to put an end to the above-mentioned suffering and oppression. In a brief period of time, this movement ended insecurity from the west to the east of the country. On 6 Mizan 1375 [28 September 1996] with God's assistance and the nation's support, it captured Kabul, the country's capital. With the capture of Kabul, all sinister objectives and filthy plans of the enemies of the country and Islam on the top of which was the certain partition of the beloved country of Afghanistan were foiled. Finally the Taleban put an end to the rule of warlords and the remnants of the communist regime, feudalism, anarchy and immorality over 95 per cent of the territory of Afghanistan, and established a national Islamic system, which was the manifestation of aspirations of the oppressed people in the country, in particular of the widows, orphans and the martyrs. Page 211
- 212. [Passages omitted: Briefdescription of who the Taleban are, the Taleban government, their policy on science and technology, dealings with Unocal and Bridas oil companies, their view of women's rights, relations with Pakistan and the international community] To dear Taleban: Oh mojahed, although you are fighting against the crusader imperialism of the 21 century with empty hands, you are equipped with the sacred weapon of faith and belief. The soul of millions of innocent martyrs, the aspirations of the widows and orphans and in general the oppressed but heroic Afghan nation are awaiting your victory. They beg Almighty God to shine the bright sun of Islamic law and hoist its white banner once again on the roof of the world, because they are still thinking about your achievements of the past golden era (protection of territorial integrity, complete Islamic law, national sovereignty, Islamic traditions and national honours) and desire that these happen again. However, be careful that the enemies have put traps in the way of achieving these goals to, God forbid, separate the nation and make them unhappy with you and your sacred struggle. This is because they cannot tolerate your shining in the political map of the world. You have to be careful about the dangers ahead and you have to foil the enemy conspiracies. You have to be committed to national Islamic values and you have to strengthen and accelerate efforts to achieve your sacred goals. The Taleban are coming again: From the day that America and its allies started their aggression against Afghanistan, the Afghans have not stood silent, but have confronted the aggression under the leadership of the Islamic Emirate from the start. Over the past nine years, in addition to inflicting hundreds of billions of dollars of damage on the savage imperialism, they have killed thousands of their soldiers and have sent them to hell. Since the start of the crusader war-mongering coalition's aggression against Afghanistan, those who are aware of the history of Afghanistan - both domestic and foreign - were of the opinion that the Afghan nation throughout its history have not only protected its country from the ill intentions of the invaders but have also contributed to the demise of the international expansionist forces and imperialist monsters. In other words, it has the honour of defeating Genghis, Gurgin, the British and the Russian great empires. Therefore, the American war-mongering and dark-minded officials will under no circumstances be able to make this courageous and pious nation captive without destroying and disgracing themselves. Source: Voice of Jihad website, in Pashto 27 Sep 10 SUBJECT: RELIGION (90%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (90%); HUMAN RIGHTS (76%); PUBLIC POLICY (71%); WOMEN (69%); WAR & CONFLICT (67%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (60%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (50%); SCIENCE POLICY (50%); TALIBAN (90%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (94%) AFGHANISTAN (96%); PAKISTAN (79%); ASIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: September 28, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH Page 212 Taleban article says Afghan nation looking forward to group's victory BBC Monitoring South Asia - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring September 28, 2010 Tuesday
- 213. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Transcript Copyright 2010British Broadcasting Corporation All Rights Reserved Page 213 Taleban article says Afghan nation looking forward to group's victory BBC Monitoring South Asia - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring September 28, 2010 Tuesday
- 214. 85 of 214DOCUMENTS Platts Oilgram News July 30, 2009 Thursday Pakistan's oil minister in US to promote E&P BYLINE: Starr Spencer SECTION: ASIA PACIFIC; Pg. 3 Vol. 87 No. 148 LENGTH: 520 words Houston Pakistan's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources will offer 53 onshore blocks in the country's latest oil and gas licensing round and hopes to attract some new players to the country, Oil Minister Asim Hussain said late July 28. Hussain expects many global majors and national oil companies to bid on the blocks, which are spread throughout the country, including BP, Petronas, Italy's Eni, Australia's BHP Billiton, Hungary's MOL and Austria's OMV, he told Platts in an interview following the Houston leg of a road show that also takes in London and Calgary this week. Pakistan is particularly focused on attracting US and Canadian companies in this licensing round, Hussain added. "Exploration and production companies are seeing that you have to go to hard places to find oil," he said. "It has been difficult, but Pakistan is improving." Hussain noted that US troops were "sitting right next door to us" in Afghanistan, but he added that "we haven't seen any attacks on any oil and gas facilities in the country." Earlier this year, Afghanistan also launched a bid round to initiate hydrocarbon exploration in its own northern region (ON 4/28). The average size of the blocks being offered in Pakistan's current licensing round is a substantial 7,000 sq km, the minister said. The blocks span territory as varied as the high-risk, high-cost West Balochistan, Pashin and Potowar basins in the country's southwest, to the lower-risk, low-cost Lower Indus Basin in the southeast, and the Punjab and Suleman basins in the north. Bids are due by the end of August, although Hussain said he expected this could be extended by two weeks since US companies have asked for more time to study the seismic data and work up their offers. If the extension is granted, awards would be expected in late September. Hussain said the Petroleum Ministry's two-day Houston road show had generated a lot of activity and discussions between US oil companies and Pakistani energy officials. "I think now [Western companies] are pretty safe" to operate in Pakistan, he added. "They want to work with us, they want to come as service Page 214
- 215. companies or takepart in exploration." Several US-based companies have operated in Pakistan's E&P sector in years past, including Texaco, Mobil, Amoco, Unocal and Union Texas before they disappeared in mergers, as well as Occidental Petroleum. All of these except Amoco, which merged with BP, pulled out when tensions arose after the September 2001 terrorist attacks and the US sent troops to fight in Afghanistan. Currently only US service companies such as Schlumberger operate there. Chevron has downstream operations in Pakistan. Pakistan's petroleum officials opted not to include offshore blocks in the current round, but would like to do so in the future, said Hussain. BP and Eni are "very active" offshore, he said, adding Pakistan has even had a few wells drilled in deep waters. The country's current production totals about 67,000 b/d of oil and 3.9 Bcf/d of natural gas. But much more is needed to meet demand, said the minister. "Our need is double that amount," he said. Starr Spencer SUBJECT: CRUDE OIL & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (90%); OIL & GAS EXPLORATION & EXTRACTION (90%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (90%); OIL & GAS EXTRACTION (90%); ENERGY DEPARTMENTS (90%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (90%); OIL & GAS EXPLORATION (78%); MERGERS (76%); INTERVIEWS (72%); WAR & CONFLICT (68%); ARMED FORCES (68%); TERRORISM (67%) COMPANY: ENI SPA (91%); BHP BILLITON LTD (90%); BHP BILLITON PLC (83%); OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP (51%) TICKER: ENI (BIT) (91%); E (NYSE) (91%); BHP (NYSE) (90%); BHP (ASX) (90%); BLT (LSE) (83%); BIBLT (JSE) (83%); BBL (NYSE) (83%); OXY (NYSE) (51%) INDUSTRY: NAICS324110 PETROLEUM REFINERIES (91%); NAICS213112 SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FOR OIL & GAS OPERATIONS (91%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (91%); SIC2911 PETROLEUM REFINERIES (91%); SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (91%); NAICS212210 IRON ORE MINING (90%); NAICS212112 BITUMINOUS COAL UNDERGROUND MINING (90%); SIC1222 BITUMINOUS COAL UNDERGROUND MINING (90%); SIC1011 IRON ORES (90%); NAICS325181 ALKALIES & CHLORINE MANUFACTURING (51%); NAICS325131 INORGANIC DYE & PIGMENT MANUFACTURING (51%); SIC2816 INORGANIC PIGMENTS (51%); SIC2812 ALKALIES & CHLORINE (51%) GEOGRAPHIC: HOUSTON, TX, USA (93%); LONDON, ENGLAND (57%) TEXAS, USA (93%); ALBERTA, CANADA (57%) PAKISTAN (94%); AFGHANISTAN (93%); UNITED STATES (93%); AUSTRALIA (92%); ASIA (79%); CANADA (79%); HUNGARY (79%); ITALY (67%); AUSTRIA (58%) LOAD-DATE: August 27, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Magazine JOURNAL-CODE: PN Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. http://www.mcgrawhill.com Page 215 Pakistan's oil minister in US to promote E&P Platts Oilgram News July 30, 2009 Thursday
- 216. All Rights Reserved Page216 Pakistan's oil minister in US to promote E&P Platts Oilgram News July 30, 2009 Thursday
- 217. 86 of 214DOCUMENTS DAILY the POST December 21, 2010 Economic significance of TAPI. LENGTH: 680 words LAHORE: With the signing of the framework agreement at the ministerial level and the key document of TAPI at the level of the heads of states, during the Ashkhabad Summit on December 11, 2010, one can hope that this long awaited project would be completed now. The 1,700-km-long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI), natural gas pipeline project was primarily conceived as TAP (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan) in 1990s. However, owing to major differences with the Taliban regime, Unocal, the US led consortium, failed toundertake construction work on the project. As per the framework agreement, the envisaged route of the gas pipeline is from Turkmen city of Dauletabad gas fields to Fazilaka Indiavia Herat-Kandahar (Afghanistan) and Quetta, Pakistan. The designated capacity of the gas is expected to be 33 billion cubic meter per year with estimated cost of $8 billion. According to initial estimates,"India and Pakistan would each stand to receive around 38 million cubic meters of gas (42% each) out of the 90 million cubic meters shipped daily," with the rest going to Afghanistan. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has already promised "financing atechno-economic feasibility study that covered pipeline routing, preliminary design, cost estimates, and rapid environmental impact assessment, and to assess volume-price sensitivity." Indian participation in the project was indeed sponsored by the ADB. The technical assistance by the designers of the ADB also includes construction of underground reservoirs for the storage of natural gas in Pakistan in sufficient quantity for meeting the emergency requirements of the consumer countries. This would enhance the significance of Pakistan as a storage spot. The project is significant, because it is the first formal effort for linking the energy rich Central Asia with the energy deficient South Asia. Moreover, the project would provide an outlet to the landlocked Central Asian Republics (CARs) through a shortest possible route with the rest of the world. At regional level, the project would lead towards a regional integration between the South and Central Asia. Pakistan, indeed, provides the shortest access to CARs for export and transportation of their natural resources via the Arabian Sea as well as the overland route. Another significance of the project would be that a huge number ofhuman resources would be committed during the construction of the pipeline and even thereafter on various miscellaneous duties, thus substantially reducing Page 217
- 218. unemployment in thesecountries. Apart from this optimistic aspect, for the countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan, the project would bring a huge amount of transit fee, as the pipeline covers huge stretches through the Pak-Afghan territories. Since the pipeline has to pass through some dangerous areas of Afghanistan, still under the occupation of Taliban and warlords, therefore, the safety and security of the project in those areas would remain as a point of concern during as well as after the construction of the pipeline. President Karzai, however, promised that, "Afghanistan will live up to its obligations in ensuring the pipeline's construction and safety." In this regard, the ongoing efforts of Hamid Karzai for the reconciliation and re-integration of Taliban and warlords needsfurther impetus. Besides, the countries directly involved in the Afghan affairs, the US and Nato countries and India, have the primary responsibility tobring stability in that country. Of course, the other regional countries do have a role to play for the stability of Afghanistan, the wayPakistan is assisting the Karzai administration in the reconciliation with Taliban. The much-awaited Ashkhabad Summit is indeed a welcoming step for the economic well being of South Asia. As pointed out by Turkmen President Berdymukhamedov, "Along with commercial and economic benefits, this project will also yield a stabilising influence on the region andbeyond," and therefore, let us make TAPI as the symbol of peace, stability, and economic prosperity of South and Central Asia. SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (91%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (90%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (90%); DEVELOPMENT BANKS (90%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (90%); ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (78%); HEADS OF STATE & GOVERNMENT (78%); INFRASTRUCTURE (77%); OIL & GAS STORAGE FACILITIES (76%); NATURAL RESOURCES (76%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (71%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (71%); ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH (70%); AQUIFERS & WATERSHEDS (70%); ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES (65%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS (64%); AUTOMOTIVE EXPORTS & IMPORTS (61%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (59%) General; Pipelines; Gas pipeline construction COMPANY: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (68%) ORGANIZATION: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (55%) TICKER: ATB (ASX) (68%) INDUSTRY: NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (68%); SIC6081 BRANCHES & AGENCIES OF FOREIGN BANKS (68%) NEWS News, opinion and commentary; SIC: 1623 Water, sewer, and utility lines; NAICS: 23491 Water, Sewer, and Pipeline Construction PRODUCT: 1623141 (Gas Pipelines Construction) GEOGRAPHIC: INDIAN OCEAN (79%) ASIA (94%); TURKMENISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); CENTRAL ASIA (93%); INDIA (93%); AFGHANISTAN (90%); SOUTHERN ASIA (79%); SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA (79%) Afghanistan; Pakistan; India LOAD-DATE: December 23, 2010 Page 218 Economic significance of TAPI. DAILY the POST December 21, 2010
- 219. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 244998109 PUBLICATION-TYPE:Newswire JOURNAL-CODE: 3JPO ASAP Copyright 2010 Gale Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved ASAP Copyright 2010 Plus Media Solutions Page 219 Economic significance of TAPI. DAILY the POST December 21, 2010
- 220. 89 of 214DOCUMENTS The Nation (Pakistan) June 22, 2010 Tuesday ARTICLE: The missing FC personnel SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 709 words By: S M Hali The American administrations demand to commence operations in North Waziristan has risen to a feverish pitch. After having tried every trick in the book to get Pakistan armys support to attack North Waziristan, a new strategy appears to be in place. Recently, more that 60 FC personnel went missing in the border areas of Mohmand Agency and Bajaur, which was orchestrated to have been conducted by the Afghan Taliban. The AFP, quoting a local official, said that out of 60 soldiers stationed at the check post, 34 are still missing. Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, however, rejected the reports and categorically stated that they had nothing to do with the kidnapping of Pakistani troops since their fighters were engaged in battling the US-led occupation forces inside Afghanistan. However, the mystery was partially solved the next day, when General David Petraeus in a Senate hearing stated that the US has presented evidence to Pakistan that the Haqqani network, based in North Waziristan, had launched deadly attacks on the Bagram air base and Kabul. The general reiterated that the US has repeatedly called on Pakistan to crackdown on the Haqqani network, but Pakistan has still not launched an operation against the group. So your guess is as good as mine! Now let us examine some of Pakistans constraints towards launching an attack on North Waziristan. Pakistan Army, which has safely conducted operations in Swat and South Waziristan, has not yet consolidated its position in the two theatres of war to withdraw troops from there and launch a fresh operation in North Waziristan. Despite US assurances that Pakistan need not fear from India, the arms build up of Pakistans erstwhile hostile neighbour, its belligerent posture and Pakistan-centric new Cold-Start doctrine point to the contrary. Moreover, the US is not likely to depart completely from the region, as fresh information indicates. On June 8, New York Times report titled Raw story quoting NATO officials and Republican Dennis Kucinich, a leading opponent of the war, revealed that an ongoing investigation poised to prove that private security companies are using American money to bribe the Taliban to fuel combat and thus enhance demand for their services. In this context, NYT interviewed a NATO official in Kabul who believed that millions of dollars were making their way to the Taliban. But the disclosure of massive Lithium deposits in Afghanistan changed the equation drastically. Apparently, the US had this information since 2001. David DeGraws June 19 Op-Ed entitled The US war addiction: funding enemies to maintain trillion dollar racket discloses that until 9/11 the US oil Page 220
- 221. companies, with thehelp of the Bush administration, were desperately trying to work out a deal with the Taliban in order to build an oil pipeline through Afghanistan; one of the worlds richest oil fields is on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea just north of Afghanistan. And the Caspian oil reserves are of top strategic importance in the quest to control the earths remaining oil supply. For this purpose, the US administration developed a policy called The Strategy of the Silk Route. This policy was designed to lock out Russia, China and Iran from the oil in this region. This required US corporations to construct an oil pipeline running through Afghanistan. Since the mid 1990s, a consortium of US companies led by Unocal had been pursuing this goal, while a feasibility study of the Central Asian pipeline project was performed by Enron, concluding that the $4.5 billion project would require control of Afghanistan and Balochistan to reach the Indian Ocean. Thus, Pakistan is being pushed into the war solely to serve US interests by launching an attack on North Wazir-istan. Pakistan must weigh its options carefully and confront the US on the basis of the information disclosing its hidden agenda, now revealed by its own mandarins. Taking aid from the US and spurning their request is a difficult proposition but Pakistan must take decisions which merit respect of its sovereignty and interests. Meanwhile, Pakistans security agencies must be wary of more kidnappings and attacks on its personnel to up the ante. The writer is a political and defence analyst. SUBJECT: ARMED FORCES (89%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (87%); US REPUBLICAN PARTY (78%); ARMIES (76%); INVESTIGATIONS (75%); KIDNAPPING & ABDUCTION (71%); SECURITY GUARD SERVICES (69%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (68%); INVESTIGATION & SECURITY SERVICES (61%); CRUDE OIL PIPELINES (60%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (60%) PERSON: DENNIS KUCINICH (53%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (92%) CASPIAN SEA (79%) UNITED STATES (95%); AFGHANISTAN (95%); PAKISTAN (94%); INDIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: June 24, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: NAT Copyright 2010 Nawaiwaqt Group of News Papers All Rights Reserved Page 221 ARTICLE: The missing FC personnel The Nation (Pakistan) June 22, 2010 Tuesday
- 222. 92 of 214DOCUMENTS The Toronto Star December 23, 2010 Thursday Canada's 'enduring' Afghan role SECTION: OPINION; Pg. A23 LENGTH: 644 words On Dec. 11, President Hamid Karzai signed formal agreements for a natural gas pipeline to be built through Afghanistan. Leaders of Turkmenistan, Pakistan and India signed, too. Three weeks earlier, at the NATO summit in Lisbon, Afghanistan became an "enduring partner" of NATO. Neither event captured much attention here, yet both have consequences for Canada's role in Afghanistan. The proposed pipeline is named TAPI after the initials of the four participating countries (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India). It's the same pipeline the U.S. company Unocal wanted to build in the 1990s. The TAPI countries have been meeting regularly since 2002 and they've made an apparent breakthrough with this agreement. The route for the pipeline extends 1,700 kilometres from a gas field in Turkmenistan along the highway through Helmand and Kandahar provinces in Afghanistan, to Pakistan and India. Turkmenistan has immense reserves of natural gas. Pakistan and India have acute energy shortages. With the route passing through areas of ongoing insurgency, who will provide security? In the past, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and NATO officials have said they would consider a request to protect pipelines, if asked. As an "enduring partner" of NATO, Afghanistan could request assistance for decades. Over time, the Afghan police and army are expected to assume responsibility for security in their country; the Afghan government plans to allocate 5,000 to 7,000 troops for pipeline security. Some Canadian troops will stay on as trainers until 2014. But training whom and for what? Afghanistan is tribal. The south is Pashtun country, and most of the Taliban are Pashtun. The Afghan National Army is heavily northern. Few soldiers come from the south. Will Canadians be training one side in a civil war? U.S./NATO countries are aware of difficulties with pipeline security, but supportive of the project nonetheless. The Asian Development Bank is the facilitating institution. Canada, the United States and several other NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan are active members of this bank. They're all in the petroleum game, too. The same countries are deciding where to focus militarily and how to support the pipeline project. The U.S. has been pushing hard for the TAPI pipeline - and against an alternative pipeline from Iran. Afghanistan is a key piece of a big geopolitical game in Asia and the TAPI pipeline is part of it. Turkmenistan has the world's Page 222
- 223. fourth largest reservesof natural gas. The U.S. wants some of that gas to flow to the south. Existing pipelines take Turkmen gas to Russia (and on to Europe) and to China (as far as Shanghai). TAPI will link Central Asia with South Asia, influencing the regional balance of power. TAPI countries say the next step is to find a global energy company to run the project. They want to complete it by 2014, a magic date for Ottawa, too. But Canadians relied on 2009, then 2011. Is 2014 really the end-date? The U.S. is building several military bases, suggesting it plans to stay for years. During construction and after, the pipeline provides a reason for an ongoing NATO presence, facilitated by Afghanistan becoming an "enduring partner." The stated reasons for Canadian involvement in Afghanistan keep evolving, but they ignore geopolitics - the quest for power that drives countries to war. What is Canada's role? In supporting Afghanistan's partnership with NATO, and a pipeline that's likely to need security for decades, have our leaders simply said: "Ready, aye ready?" If so, our commitment to Afghanistan may be enduring, whether Canadians want it or not. John Foster is a Canadian energy economist who has worked for the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, BP and Petro-Canada. He is the author of "Afghanistan, the TAPI Pipeline, and Energy Geopolitics" in the Journal of Energy Security. SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (91%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (90%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (90%); ARMIES (90%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (90%); ARMED FORCES (89%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (78%); DEFENSE DEPARTMENTS (77%); CIVIL WAR (72%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (72%); DEVELOPMENT BANKS (71%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (66%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS (50%); TALIBAN (78%) COMPANY: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (64%); GLOBAL ENERGY CO LTD (60%) ORGANIZATION: NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (94%) TICKER: ATB (ASX) (64%) INDUSTRY: NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (64%); SIC6081 BRANCHES & AGENCIES OF FOREIGN BANKS (64%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (60%); SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (60%) PERSON: HAMAD KARZAI (91%); PETER MACKAY (55%) GEOGRAPHIC: SHANGHAI, CHINA (79%) EAST CHINA (75%) TURKMENISTAN (95%); ASIA (94%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (94%); INDIA (94%); CANADA (92%); CENTRAL ASIA (79%); CHINA (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%); NORTH AMERICA (79%); EUROPE (79%); SOUTHERN ASIA (58%) LOAD-DATE: December 23, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH DOCUMENT-TYPE: COLUMN Page 223 Canada's 'enduring' Afghan role The Toronto Star December 23, 2010 Thursday
- 224. PUBLICATION-TYPE: NEWSPAPER Copyright 2010Toronto Star Newspapers Limited Page 224 Canada's 'enduring' Afghan role The Toronto Star December 23, 2010 Thursday
- 225. 93 of 214DOCUMENTS Contra Costa Times (California) November 10, 2010 Wednesday Tri-Valley Herald Nov. 10 Letters to the editor BYLINE: Letters to the editor Tri-Valley Herald SECTION: LETTERS; Opinion LENGTH: 545 words Belated thank you AS I was getting ready to go visit a few friends who I served in the USMC with I pulled out a few of my old pictures. I came across this picture of me reading the Herald. I can't quite read the date, but it was around October 1969. I was sitting outside our makeshift quarters at the 3rd Marine Division compound just outside Quang Tri, Vietnam. I entered the USMC right out of high school. I graduated from Livermore High School in 1967. I served in Vietnam in 1969. At that time, the Livermore Herald sent the local paper to servicemen in Vietnam for free. In those days I would sometimes get four or five papers at a time and then wait until the next mail call for a few more. We did not have calls from home or any Internet access. These papers were our only link to home besides the few letters we would get. I always looked forward to getting the news from home. I am a bit late, but I wanted to say thank you for sending me the papers way back then in 1969! At least the Livermore Herald did not forget us. William E. Nay (Bill) USMC Retired Petaluma Why would I care? A FEW years ago, I got a phone call at home call from Rep. Jerry McNerney's office. McNerney represented my district, and I had voted for him. A staffer informed me that a telecon would begin a few minutes; McNerney would answer questions from his constituents. Did I have a question for the congressman? "Yes," I said, but he'll never answer it. I'll never even be allowed to ask it." I was assured by the minion that I would. "OK, here's my question. Nobody could ever conquer Afghanistan. Not Alexander the Great, not the Russians, not anyone else. What makes Jerry McNerney think we can, and what on earth are we doing there, killing mostly Afghan women and children, and our own American kids? I want the congressman to explain exactly why we're there." (In case the readers Page 225
- 226. don't know, it'sto build a pipeline for Unocal; 9/11 was used as a pretext to invade.) I was told to stay on the line to ask my question. "Ain't gonna happen, this question won't reach him," I said. Again, I was assured it would. Of course, I was right; after several minutes of softball, McNerney's Q-and-A ended without including my question. So, here is my new question: why would I give a rat's you-know-what who eventually wins -- McNerney or David Harmer? Carl H. Dellanno Lathrop Campaign spending I JUST finished reading an article by columnist Tammerlin Drummond vilifying Meg Whitman for spending $141 million as apposed to Jerry Brown's $20-plus million. The focus of the story was about all the "good and worthy" things Whitman could have done with the money instead of political "attack ads" against Brown. Let's see if I understand the logic correctly; Whitman, using her own money for campaign ads, is wrong. Brown, using major campaign contributions from unions and other special interest groups for political attack ads, is right and just? Certainly none of this money could have been used for any of the causes Drummond mentions in her column? One topic left unmentioned by Drummond is known as "payback." The bill will soon come due for Brown from these "interest groups," and I think it's safe to assume it will not revolve around any worthy causes, other than their own. Mitch Fidziura Pleasanton SUBJECT: LETTERS & COMMENTS (93%); VIETNAM WAR (76%); CHILDREN (75%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (71%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (70%); CAMPAIGN FINANCE (64%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (51%) PERSON: JERRY MCNERNEY (84%); MARGARET C WHITMAN (50%) GEOGRAPHIC: SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA, USA (88%) CALIFORNIA, USA (88%) UNITED STATES (88%); AFGHANISTAN (86%); VIET NAM (72%) LOAD-DATE: November 10, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH GRAPHIC: PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2010 Contra Costa Newspapers All Rights Reserved Page 226 Tri-Valley Herald Nov. 10 Letters to the editor Contra Costa Times (California) November 10, 2010 Wednesday
- 227. 94 of 214DOCUMENTS Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News May 5, 2011 Thursday Date of signing agreement on Turkmen gas sale for TAPI project announced BYLINE: H.Hasanov, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan SECTION: BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL NEWS LENGTH: 711 words May 05--ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan -- A contract on the Turkmen gas sales for Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) transnational gas pipeline project is expected to be signed by August, and official Turkmen source said The talks on the cost of fuel are actively conducted between the seller -- Turkmenistan and potential buyers -- Pakistan and India. Recently, Delhi hosted a regular meeting of the technical working group of the project. Following this, the Turkmen Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry issued a message that the meeting "discussed and agreed open questions, forming the basis of the upcoming draft agreement for the natural gas sales." Simultaneously, India hosted a meeting of the TAPI Steering Committee, which was attended by the countries' top managers and representatives of the Asian Development Bank. The event mulled the construction questions. "The participation of experienced building contractors will ensure the necessary high rate of the gas pipeline construction, much of which will be laid on the complex, in terms of climatic conditions in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India," the Turkmen sector agencies state. The background documents for the negotiations on the project are the interstate and framework agreements signed in Ashgabat in December 2010. This 1735-km gas pipeline is planned to supply 33 billion cubic meters of Turkmen natural gas from the Dovletabad deposit annually. The South Yolotan-Osman deposit could also serve as a raw materials base for the project. According to the latest estimates, it has more than 21 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves. According to the project's feasibility study, the TAPI gas pipeline will pass through Afghanistan's Herat and Kandahar Provinces and Pakistan's Quetta District. Its final destination will be the Indian town of Fazilka on the border between Pakistan and India. Ashgabat hopes to include South Yoloten-Osman in addition to the Dovletabad Page 227
- 228. fields in theproject. Its reserves, according to recent data, are estimated at 21 trillion cubic meters of gas, and will serve as the resource base for TAPI. At this stage, the parties to this project shall also agree on the security of transit and settle the question of funding. Experts believe the ongoing escalation of tensions in Afghanistan is a serious obstacle to the implementation of the TAPI pipeline. The project was supposed to be implemented in the early nineties, when the operator was the American company Unocal leading an international consortium. The idea came to naught after the Taliban loudly declared itself the leader of the major transit country -- Afghanistan -- where a significant part of the pipe would be laid. However, the project was again included in the agenda when India joined the project proposal in 2008. The project became more cost-effective with the increased sales market. But the political risks have not diminished. To ensure energy transit security, Turkmenistan has recently voiced an initiative to adopt a U.N. convention to ensure reliable and stable energy transit, which was supported by the structure. In addition, Ashgabat announced its readiness to conduct peace talks under the auspices of the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Afghanistan. Kabul assured that Afghanistan will be able to take on security issues of the TAPI project. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake, who toured Central Asia in early 2011, spoke on the issue of U.S. companies' taking part in implementing the TAPI pipeline project. "Those discussions are still underway. We're still in very early stage in the process," he said regarding the American companies' participation in building the TAPI project. "We think that this project would not only benefit Turkmenistan but would have very important benefits for Afghanistan and would serve all of our larger interests in promoting greater regional integration between Central Asia and South Asia," he said. To see more of the Trend News Agency, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://en.trend.az/. Copyright (c) 2011, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (91%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (90%); CONSTRUCTION (90%); TALKS & MEETINGS (90%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (90%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (89%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (78%); OIL & GAS PRICES (78%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (78%); NATURAL RESOURCES (78%); CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTING (77%); DEVELOPMENT BANKS (77%); NATURAL GAS MARKETS (74%); TALIBAN (73%); INFRASTRUCTURE (73%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (73%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS (67%) COMPANY: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (69%) ORGANIZATION: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (56%) Page 228 Date of signing agreement on Turkmen gas sale for TAPI project announced Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan May 5, 2011 Thursday
- 229. TICKER: ATB (ASX)(69%) INDUSTRY: NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (69%); SIC6081 BRANCHES & AGENCIES OF FOREIGN BANKS (69%) General GEOGRAPHIC: DELHI, INDIA (73%) TURKMENISTAN (99%); INDIA (96%); PAKISTAN (94%); AFGHANISTAN (93%); UNITED STATES (79%); AZERBAIJAN (79%); ASIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: May 4, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 20110505-1AZ-Date-of-signing-agreement-on-Turkmen-gas-sale-for-TAPI-project-announced-0505-2 PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: 1AZ Copyright 2011 Page 229 Date of signing agreement on Turkmen gas sale for TAPI project announced Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan May 5, 2011 Thursday
- 230. 95 of 214DOCUMENTS Trend Oil & Gas - Azerbaijan May 4, 2011 Wednesday 7:20 PM GMT +4 Date of signing agreement on Turkmen gas sale for TAPI project announced SECTION: ENERGY NEWS LENGTH: 657 words Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, May 4 / Trend H.Hasanov / A contract on the Turkmen gas sales for Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) transnational gas pipeline project is expected to be signed by August, and official Turkmen source said The talks on the cost of fuel are actively conducted between the seller - Turkmenistan and potential buyers - Pakistan and India. Recently, Delhi hosted a regular meeting of the technical working group of the project. Following this, the Turkmen Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry issued a message that the meeting "discussed and agreed open questions, forming the basis of the upcoming draft agreement for the natural gas sales." Simultaneously, India hosted a meeting of the TAPI Steering Committee, which was attended by the countries' top managers and representatives of the Asian Development Bank. The event mulled the construction questions. "The participation of experienced building contractors will ensure the necessary high rate of the gas pipeline construction, much of which will be laid on the complex, in terms of climatic conditions in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India," the Turkmen sector agencies state. The background documents for the negotiations on the project are the interstate and framework agreements signed in Ashgabat in December 2010. This 1735-km gas pipeline is planned to supply 33 billion cubic meters of Turkmen natural gas from the Dovletabad deposit annually. The South Yolotan-Osman deposit could also serve as a raw materials base for the project. According to the latest estimates, it has more than 21 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves. According to the project's feasibility study, the TAPI gas pipeline will pass through Afghanistan's Herat and Kandahar Provinces and Pakistan's Quetta District. Its final destination will be the Indian town of Fazilka on the border between Pakistan and India. Ashgabat hopes to include South Yoloten-Osman in addition to the Dovletabad Page 230
- 231. fields in theproject. Its reserves, according to recent data, are estimated at 21 trillion cubic meters of gas, and will serve as the resource base for TAPI. At this stage, the parties to this project shall also agree on the security of transit and settle the question of funding. Experts believe the ongoing escalation of tensions in Afghanistan is a serious obstacle to the implementation of the TAPI pipeline. The project was supposed to be implemented in the early nineties, when the operator was the American company Unocal leading an international consortium. The idea came to naught after the Taliban loudly declared itself the leader of the major transit country - Afghanistan - where a significant part of the pipe would be laid. However, the project was again included in the agenda when India joined the project proposal in 2008. The project became more cost-effective with the increased sales market. But the political risks have not diminished. To ensure energy transit security, Turkmenistan has recently voiced an initiative to adopt a U.N. convention to ensure reliable and stable energy transit, which was supported by the structure. In addition, Ashgabat announced its readiness to conduct peace talks under the auspices of the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Afghanistan. Kabul assured that Afghanistan will be able to take on security issues of the TAPI project. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake, who toured Central Asia in early 2011, spoke on the issue of U.S. companies' taking part in implementing the TAPI pipeline project. "Those discussions are still underway. We're still in very early stage in the process," he said regarding the American companies' participation in building the TAPI project. "We think that this project would not only benefit Turkmenistan but would have very important benefits for Afghanistan and would serve all of our larger interests in promoting greater regional integration between Central Asia and South Asia," he said. SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (91%); CONSTRUCTION (90%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (90%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (90%); TALKS & MEETINGS (90%); TRENDS (89%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (89%); NATURAL RESOURCES (78%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (78%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (78%); OIL & GAS PRICES (78%); DEVELOPMENT BANKS (77%); CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTING (77%); NATURAL GAS MARKETS (74%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (73%); TALIBAN (73%); INFRASTRUCTURE (73%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS (67%) COMPANY: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (69%) TICKER: ATB (ASX) (69%) INDUSTRY: NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (69%); SIC6081 BRANCHES & AGENCIES OF FOREIGN BANKS (69%) GEOGRAPHIC: DELHI, INDIA (73%) TURKMENISTAN (99%); INDIA (96%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (79%); AZERBAIJAN (79%); ASIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: May 31, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Publication Page 231 Date of signing agreement on Turkmen gas sale for TAPI project announced Trend Oil & Gas - Azerbaijan May 4, 2011 Wednesday 7:20 PM GMT +4
- 232. Copyright 2011 TrendNews Agency All Rights Reserved Page 232 Date of signing agreement on Turkmen gas sale for TAPI project announced Trend Oil & Gas - Azerbaijan May 4, 2011 Wednesday 7:20 PM GMT +4
- 233. 97 of 214DOCUMENTS The Nation (Pakistan) December 26, 2009 Saturday ARTICLE: A periodic paranoia SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 1034 words By: I. M. MOHSIN The US used to be a very likeable country till the neo-cons took over in 2001. Its democracy defined by its due process and, somewhat conditional, equal opportunity for all held out a great appeal for the freedom-loving human beings. Despite the democratic dimension, dangerous lobbies mostly dominated its political system with boisterous backing of Mammon. Accordingly a US administration, generally, has to heed horrendous vested interests while deciding its policy. The latter are represented by what President Eisenhower in the 1960s pinpointed as the Military Industrial Complex as well as special-interest groups like the Zionists. Being an advanced society, it has established quality think tanks which tend to set up intellectual international standards. However, for some such serious pursuit can mean a sick mindset. Seth Cropsey, a former navy official and a senior fellow of the Hudson Institute/DC, has written a tedious treatise entitled Will There Always Be Pakistan in the Foreign Policy Magazine on December 11, 2009. After making impolitic remarks, he ends up by exploiting a political remark of Mr Zardari on the death of Bibi Shaheed. He wrote: "President Zardari had quoted some rioters as saying Pakistan na khappay (Pakistan does not exist), and had tried to quiet the crowd, telling them that Pakistan khappay (Pakistan does exist). He was right...for the moment." Obviously, it was an emotional outburst from some people just to show their loyalty towards Ms Bhutto which their leader deflected. I would have ignored the messy column, but I am reminded of the fact that such running down of Pakistan is done quite frequently by biased braggarts in the US who may hardly know the ground realities. Similarly, after Pakistan successfully became a nuclear state, de facto only, as a counterweight to India's similar explosion, the US imposed sanctions against her. It is a fact that the US then was using our good offices to influence Taliban in Kabul mainly for promoting the interests of UNOCAL. Therefore, the relations between the US and Pakistan had become tense. Moreover, when I visited the US in the last quarter of 1999 for a five-month stay, every now and then, I was being rung up by worried Pakistani expatriates asking me if everything was fine in Pakistan. This was due to a spate of rumours about its 'disintegration' spread by Seth-like elements. This appears to have been the pattern since 9/11 and normally such a weapon is used to undermine Pakistan for some ulterior motive. Surely, we are vulnerable as we do not have a reputable system of governance, nor have we had leadership with integrity. Page 233
- 234. Hence, it iseasy to bully Pakistan. Eric Margollis wrote in Khaleej Times: "Pakistan has been ruled since its creation in 1947 by either callous feudal landlords, who bought and sold politicians like bags of Basmati rice, or by generals. Zardari's days as Washington's man in Islamabad appear numbered. Most Pakistanis believe Washington is bent on tearing apart their unstable nation to seize its nuclear weapons. Such is the advice being given to the US by Israel." However, I believe that President Obama is well aware of the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan due to his statesmanship. As the US is stuck in Afghanistan that is raising many demons including the fatigue-syndrome, the former realises the role Pakistan can play. Despite the mutual bickering about their relations over the years, it was Pakistan that hosted the jihad courting Muslims from all over the world with help from Saudi Arabia and CIA during the Afghan War. It was this overpowering combination which brought down the Soviet Union. The rightwing loonies have been hectoring Obama to carry the war into Pakistan on the pretext of finishing the 'safe havens' established for Al-Qaeda. Undoubtedly, Obama is much too shrewd a politician as not to know what is cooking. According to Margollis: "One is immediately reminded of the Vietnam War when the Pentagon, unable to defeat North Vietnamese army and Viet Cong forces, urged invasion of Cambodia." Responding to nave demands by some elements in the US to take the war to Pakistan's FATA/PATA areas he warns: "Any US attack on Pakistan would be a catastrophic mistake. The Bush administration officials who foolishly advocate attacking Pakistan are playing with fire." Besides President Obama, his administration officials, like Biden, Ms Clinton, Gates, and General Jones have sober views on the ongoing war and the possible way out of the quagmire. Even commanders like Admiral Mullen, Generals Petraeus and McChrystal recognise the importance of Pakistan's position in this crisis. The commanders are clearly conscious of the fact that Pakistan cannot go the whole hog on her western border in the face of Indian hostility. Pakistanis feel that India has become rather pretentious following the Indo-US nuclear agreement. In addition, as the movement against Indian occupation of Kashmir soars, like a dozen 'insurgencies' by the low-caste Hindus in South/East India, the latter tries to malign Pakistan. Recently, Admiral Mullen said: "Too many people eagerly and easily criticise Pakistan for what they haven't done, and when I go to Swat and look at what they did there...it is pretty extraordinary," so he "advises patience and humility" vis--vis Pakistan. Jeff Gates, the author of Guilt by Association stresses: "Ordinary Americans need the assistance of Islamabad now more than any time in the past six decades." In this context, Pakistan has offered to act without compromising her sovereignty a la "do more" mantra. The way Pakistanis are bravely facing the odds would make any nation proud. It is induced by their faith that the time, mode, and place of death are destined. Look at the police who have to face death daily and without being properly equipped they deal with it despite the prevailing mess in their lives. If we can put up such a fight while being in the gutter governance-wise, how the world would change when we can claim, like Burke did for contemporary England: "The people are the masters." An illusion as yet, thanks to power and pelf pastime of the fluky! The writer is a former secretary interior. Page 234 ARTICLE: A periodic paranoia The Nation (Pakistan) December 26, 2009 Saturday
- 235. SUBJECT: POLITICS (89%);US PRESIDENTS (78%); FOREIGN POLICY (71%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (70%); DEFENSE INDUSTRY (70%); RIOTS (51%) ORGANIZATION: HUDSON INSTITUTE (56%) PERSON: ASIF ALI ZARDARI (55%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (95%); PAKISTAN (94%); INDIA (79%); AFGHANISTAN (72%) LOAD-DATE: December 30, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: NAT Copyright 2009 Nawaiwaqt Group of News Papers All Rights Reserved Page 235 ARTICLE: A periodic paranoia The Nation (Pakistan) December 26, 2009 Saturday
- 236. 98 of 214DOCUMENTS Pak Banker December 20, 2009 Pakistan: Govt lacks resolve to materialise gas import projects SECTION: Pg. n/a LENGTH: 721 words An oil import lobby is also reported to be behind delay in these multi-billion projects for importing gas from Iran and Turkmenistan, but the policymakers never count these hurdles while deciding the future of nation keeping the national interests supreme. Besides importing gas, the oil and gas exploration at the local level is also at the lower ebb and no significant contributions have been added in the public gas utilities for soaring demand of the gas for domestic and industrial consumption. FULL TEXT: Pakistan, Dec. 20 -- A resolve and commitment like that of China is needed to meet the local energy demand to run the engine of economy and to light up homes of people. The 21-month-old PPP government is only befooling the masses by first giving deadlines for controlling power outages and then extending the deadlines for reasons only known to the people sitting in power corridors. Ironically, now the government has also started gas load-shedding under the gas load management policy. The Chinese government made the 7,000-kilometre (4,350-mile) gas pipeline within two years to transport natural gas produced in Turkmenistan to major Chinese cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. One of the two pipelines which make up the project is complete and the other line is expected to be operational next year. The pipelines will eventually import up to 40 billion cubic metres of gas a year when the project reaches full capacity in 2012-13. Unlike Chinese commitment and resolve, Pakistani officials and energy gurus, sitting in the secretariat, have only been politicking over the two overseas pipelines - the IPI and TAP (now TAPI), since the 1990s while some of the countries which entered into negotiations with these gas-rich countries like Iran and CARs have not only materialised the deals but also running their industries on this cheaper source of energy. In 2008, experts confirmed that just one of Turkmenistan's fields, in the South Yolotan region, held the fifth largest gas reserves in the world, estimated at between 4 and 14 trillion cubic metres. To put this into context, the European Page 236
- 237. Union currently consumesclose to 500 million cubic metres of gas annually. The $7 billion (a re-estimated project cost), 3,000-kilometre pipeline venture, after originating from Iran's southern port city of Asalouyeh and traversing through the rugged and restive provinces of Balochistan and Sindh in Pakistan, would see its final destination in New Delhi and Mumbai in India. On October 21, 1995, Turkmen President Murad Niazov signed an agreement with Unocal and its Saudi partner Delta Oil Company in New York to build a gas pipeline to Pakistan through Afghanistan. An oil import lobby is also reported to be behind delay in these multi-billion projects for importing gas from Iran and Turkmenistan, but the policymakers never count these hurdles while deciding the future of nation keeping the national interests supreme. Besides importing gas, the oil and gas exploration at the local level is also at the lower ebb and no significant contributions have been added in the public gas utilities for soaring demand of the gas for domestic and industrial consumption. One example for not expediting the exploration activities in the country is work at Kohlu field in Balochitan. Of the 22 TCF gas reserves at Kohlu field, according to preliminary estimates, more than 15.4 TCF reserves are described as recoverable. At $5 per million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) the total value of 15.3 TCF translates into about $80 billion or around Rs6800 billion. Based on the current gas demand in the market, these reserves are believed to be sufficient to meet the energy requirements for several decades. Last source of importing LNG from Qatar is again in the dark as no development has been made to make the project a success. It seems that again this cheaper source of energy is a dream for the industry to run round-the-clock not only is competitive but also viable option for energy demand. With energy shortage, the government should start it at war footing otherwise, achieving a double-digit growth in industrial sector would remain only a dream. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Daily Pak Banker. For more information on news feed please contact Sarabjit Jagirdar at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com 123 SUBJECT: NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (92%); IMPORT TRADE (92%); OIL & GAS EXPORTS & IMPORTS (91%); NATURAL GAS & ELECTRIC UTILITIES (91%); OIL & GAS EXPLORATION (90%); UTILITIES INDUSTRY (90%); OIL & GAS PRICES (90%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (90%); ENERGY DEMAND (90%); NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION (90%); PETROLEUM EXPORTS & IMPORTS (90%); LOBBYING (90%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (90%); PUBLIC POLICY (90%); MINING & EXTRACTION SECTOR PERFORMANCE (89%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (89%); OIL EXPLORATION (87%); PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS (77%); CRUDE OIL & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (75%); OIL & GAS EXTRACTION (75%); INTERNATIONAL TRADE (73%); POWER FAILURES (73%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (70%) Pipelines; Natural gas utilities; Natural gas reserves COMPANY: DELTA OIL CO INC (63%) INDUSTRY: SIC5171 PETROLEUM BULK STATIONS & TERMINALS (63%) Page 237 Pakistan: Govt lacks resolve to materialise gas import projects Pak Banker December 20, 2009
- 238. GEOGRAPHIC: NEW DELHI,INDIA (79%); SHANGHAI, CHINA (79%); MUMBAI, INDIA (68%); GUANGZHOU, CHINA (58%) NEW YORK, USA (79%); EAST CHINA (79%); SOUTH CHINA (79%); GUANGDONG, CHINA (58%) CHINA (94%); IRAN (94%); TURKMENISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); INDIA (92%); HONG KONG (79%); UNITED STATES (79%); AFGHANISTAN (79%); EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES (53%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (94%) LOAD-DATE: August 13, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 2102576211 PUBLICATION-TYPE: Other (Wire feed) JOURNAL-CODE: PKBK Copyright 2009 ProQuest Information and Learning Company All Rights Reserved Banking Information Services Copyright 2009 © HT Media Ltd. Page 238 Pakistan: Govt lacks resolve to materialise gas import projects Pak Banker December 20, 2009
- 239. 99 of 214DOCUMENTS The Nation (Pakistan) April 14, 2010 Wednesday ARTICLE: Nine wasted years SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 1062 words By: I M Mohsin The neocons prompted President George W Bush to attack Afghanistan on the basis of a suspicion that it had helped Al-Qaeda in the 9/11 tragic venture. Although the Taliban regime had asked for a proof, yet as a coalition of Russia and Central Asian allies and northern warlords had been organised, the US went ahead with massive attacks using the most atrocious technologies. A certain source believes that the US lobbed bunker busters and daisy-cutters on an enemy which had no air force. True to their history, the Pashtuns fought valiantly but hellish asymmetry of power between the parties, proved the decisive factor governing the final outcome. Finding it difficult to wage a long war, they went to the hills. The discomfiture of the Taliban was also helped by the fact that many Afghans felt oppressed by their extremist version of Islam. So to start with many people felt considerably relieved at the change. But some were even duped by the long-winded promises made by Bush about rebuilding the conquered country with development and democracy. In the same vein, the Bonn Conference made fantastic commitments to the Afghans that later ended up as star gazing from a gutter, as Oscar Wilde would have said. The US and its abettors committed many atrocities on the prisoners of war. The Afghans believed that the northern warlords took revenge for their sufferings at the hands of the Pashtuns, during the Soviet occupation war, while the others avenged wrongs done to them by the Taliban post-1996. In addition, the Afghans were indiscriminately seized and transferred to Gitmo as enemy combatants, which remains a conundrum for the US courts till this day. However, as fear haunted the Americans, they were prepared to believe whatever was fed to them. No wonder, Bush himself claimed to be a war president after launching a war on terror. Indeed, it was this mindset that made the citizens accept the bogey of weapons of mass destruction a la Iraq, which was worked out by Silvio Berlusconi, the corrupt Italian prime minister, and Tony Blair to please Bush. Even an honourable man like Colin Powell became a party to such fraud which he regrets now. As 9/11 was never properly investigated, it remains a conundrum at home and the world over. The 9/11 commission only tried a cover up and it proved to be an exercise in futility. Many intellectuals, as well as affected groups, in the US started to enquire into the why and wherefore of the tragedy. While Noam Chomsky Page 239
- 240. defined it asbeing a manifestation of USAs empire complex, an adaptation of the neocons wild dreams of world domination by indiscriminate use of power, others like Cindy Sheehan sprang into action after personal suffering. In the latter category, are others whose relations perished in the collapse of Twin Towers. Groups representing pilots and engineers, who directly or indirectly became bereaved, as a consequence thereof, also have raked up issues which the administration had no clues about. Many websites have been developed to project that 9/11 was a smoke screen for a dangerous ulterior motive of the neocons, who were all closely associated with the oil lobby including Bush and Dick Cheney. One great US marine and now chief editor of Veter-ans.org, Gordon Duff, considers it to be the outcome of a conspiracy planned and executed with Israels complicity with Bush, Cheney and the oil lobby. As the Americans wake up to the serious reverses in Afghanistan, while even Iraq is becoming a trouble spot, despite the mounting US forces deployed therein, the situation is becoming still more intriguing. In Eurasia, it is believed that 9/11 was staged by the last administration to conquer Afghanistan and to be able to control the vast energy resources of the Central Asian Republics and the Caspian Sea. Besides attacking Afghanistan, the US also established multiple military bases in the area in the aftermath of 9/11. The Taliban also see the attack in October 2001 as having been funded by the oil lobby after the UNOCAL failed to get a contract from their regime in Kabul. It is now established that the administration, and even Bush himself, kept on trying to persuade the Taliban to oblige the oil giant. In August 2001, Bush is believed to have threatened the Taliban with total destruction, if his request was disregarded. Hence, the 9/11 and its aftermath in Afghanistan. Disgust with the neocons destroyed Republican goodwill at home. The people were fed up with the spiral of fear being exploited on all important occasions; more so during Bushs contest for a second-term. Though he won again, yet that degraded his countrys credibility all over the world. While he maintained an uneasy occupation of Iraq after, allegedly, pilfering oil from the country amounting to billions of dollars in cahoots with the Israeli government, the Taliban re-emerged in a very threatening style in 2006. This was due to the disillusionment of the Afghans with the status quo, which tended to be corrupt, insecure and incapable of providing some governance. The UN has protested that a lot of corruption is patronised by the foreign forces. The warlords, whom the US and Karzai are obliged to keep in good humour, defy all attempts at law enforcement across the board. Moreover, the northern warlords started to massively cultivate opium to make a quick buck through heroine trade whose main markets remain the US, Europe and Russia. Once the ball was set rolling, the Pashtuns also chipped in under the protection of the Taliban for such operations. President Obama has been generally following the discredited policies of his bizarre predecessor. No wonder he is digging more holes, which would multiply threats to the US forces. While his top general in Kabul has been trying to manipulate matters diligently, he was let down by the mistakes or friendly-fire syndrome of his troops. This may be due to the fear inspired by the ground realities. As a final word, in nine years the Americans have not understood the colossal enmities that get provoked by the killing of innocent civilians. Kandhar saw a crowd chant death to America, death to Karzai, death to this government, on Page 240 ARTICLE: Nine wasted years The Nation (Pakistan) April 14, 2010 Wednesday
- 241. Monday after theNATO troops killed many civilians. The Afghans believe in revenge and they can wait for their chance. After Kyrgyzstan, the US better wake up! The writer is a former interior secretary. SUBJECT: TERRORISM (90%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (89%); US PRESIDENTS (89%); HEADS OF STATE & GOVERNMENT (78%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (78%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (78%); AIR FORCES (75%); WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION (73%); PRIME MINISTERS (72%); INVESTIGATIONS (65%); RELIGION (53%) ORGANIZATION: AL-QAEDA (84%); PRISONERS OF WAR (54%) PERSON: GEORGE W BUSH (93%); SILVIO BERLUSCONI (52%); TONY BLAIR (52%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (98%); AFGHANISTAN (95%); CENTRAL ASIA (92%); ASIA (92%); RUSSIA (88%); IRAQ (79%); ITALY (50%) LOAD-DATE: April 15, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: NAT Copyright 2010 Nawaiwaqt Group of News Papers All Rights Reserved Page 241 ARTICLE: Nine wasted years The Nation (Pakistan) April 14, 2010 Wednesday
- 242. 100 of 214DOCUMENTS Star of Mysore (India) May 7, 2011 Saturday IN BLACK & WHITE: WAR--MONGER VS BOMB-MONGER LENGTH: 1376 words DATELINE: India India, May 7 -- Ok, Barack Obama got what he so desperately needed just in time for the overly patriotic Americans to remember to vote him for a second term. Yes, war and economy are the agendas that win elections in the United States and Obama has made sure he let his people know that he is as virile as his reckless predecessor when it comes to unilateralism ? one of the hallmarks of American Foreign Policy. With Osama bin Laden's killing, the US has once again reminded the world that they don't care for international laws. But with Osama gone, is terror going to lose steam? No. Because, America's war on terror is just fixing the symptom and not the problem. For terror to go away, the US has to first understand why most people in the Middle East hate them. Former US President George Bush once said, ??they (terrorists) hate our freedom and liberties.? No, Mr. Cowboy, they hate you and want to bomb your nation because you and your nation have created an environment non-conducive for the existence of exactly that ?freedom and liberty? for the people of many nations, especially Islamic nations. If there is one nation that has constantly destabilised the modern world, it is the United States, aided by their rich cowardly partners in the United Nations. In fact, the five permanent members of the elite Security Council ? USA, France, Russian, China and England ? are the biggest manufacturers and distributors of weapons in the world. Hypocrisy at its best. These five nations are also the most warring nations on this planet and US is the top performer amongst them, racking up enough wars to keep the world in limbo. America is today seen as an arrogant war-mongering nation, oblivious to the concept of co-existence. But then United States itself was built upon the blood of millions of Native Indians. As much as US has brought good to the world, it has also given us a generous showering of wars. They went to war with China (1945-46), then again in (1950-53); Korea (1950-53), Guatemala (1954, 1967-69), Indonesia (1958), Cuba (1959-60), Belgian Congo (1964), Peru (1965), Laos (1964-73), Vietnam (1961-73), Cambodia (1969-70, Grenada (1983), Libya (1986), El Salvador (1980s), Nicaragua (1980s), Panama (1989), Iraq (1991-99), Bosnia (1995), Sudan (1998), Yugoslavia (1999), Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2004). Is there any other country that has been so itchy for a war? Page 242
- 243. For the US,fighting wars has moved up from being just an itch to a habit and now looks like it?s become a full-blown addiction. But may be there is a reason; may be this is not pathological, considering US is a big weapons manufacturer; considering it destabilises nations that have rich natural resources, con-sidering it installs dictators of its choice and change them when it feels ?freedom? calling. It is obvious this war-itch has a satiating scratch to it ? money. But hey, the United States does not fight wars, they only have operations. Yes, like surgeons in a hospital who remove organs with clinical precision, the US too removes dictators and nations that have become vestigial organs to them. Americans specialise in three kinds of operations ? ?Operation Freedom?, ?Operation Justice? and ?Operation Liberty.? The recent one ?Operation Geronimo? is a ?sub-specialty? which they perform only on special occasions and on special patients like Pakistan, their friend supposedly. Americans went to Afghanistan singing ?Operation Enduring Freedom? and bombed Afghanistan which was already in the medieval age into stone age. Then they turned to Iraq. It began as a mission to find weapons of mass destruction. When none were found, it conveniently turned into ?Operation Iraqi Freedom.? But what they really wanted was Saddam Hussein, their former friend. After all, they helped him come to power, they sponsored his 8-year-war with Iran. They even kept quiet when Saddam in 1988 gassed and killed millions of Kurdish people. But after 14 years, in a moment of epiphany, the US realised that Saddam was a ?barbaric dictator?! And his people need to be saved. How convenient! The same with Afghanistan. Americans may have forgotten but some of us remember how in 1997 a few senior Taliban military lords were invited to Houston, Texas, where they met US State Department officials and Petroleum giant Unocal?s executives. The reason for pampering Taliban? To coax them to allow an oil pipeline to be constructed in Afghanistan. Where was the American concern for human rights and oh! the dignity of women then? Because even back then, the Taliban were as abusive as they are today. Americans and other rich nations have always found ways to keep nations with rich natural resources in constant state of destabilisation. These nations are usually in Africa and Middle East. So yes, USA's constant meddlesome foreign policy has upset the people of these nations and they will react. Does anyone really believe that America's intimidating military presence in the Middle East is because of their concern for human rights? By being there, they have done nothing but bleed the Arab people of blood and oil. So how different are the Americans from terrorists? Not very. Terrorists are unilateral, so is America. Terrorists invoke god, so does America. Didn?t Bush say that god told him to invade Iraq?! Terrorists say they are freedom fighters, America assumes it is god's ?democracy delivery mechanism.? Terrorists tell their people ?Americans will kill you so help us save you,? Americans say ?the terrorists will kill you all and destroy the world so let us clean them out for you.? Terrorists kill their own while achieving their goal, Americans have lost thousands of their own fighting wars they didn't need to. Terrorists have killed thousands, America along with the dictators it supported has killed thousands too. Terrorists don't care for laws except their own, and it is the same with America. So how different are these two? One is an established democracy with a Page 243 IN BLACK & WHITE: WAR--MONGER VS BOMB-MONGER Star of Mysore (India) May 7, 2011 Saturday
- 244. well-trained military force,the other a borderless creature with motivated fighters. But both use violence as a legitimate political instrument. And each say they are going to save us all from the other. While America tries dictators at the International Court of Justice for committing crimes against humanity, or like in the case of Saddam Hussein forms a Special Tribunal, why does it not apply such laws on itself? George Bush also should be charged and tried for waging a false war on Iraq that killed thousands of innocent civilians and turned millions into refugees. Oh! We forgot, in Saddam's case, it was his choice whereas in the case of Bush, ?god told him.? For us Indians, the amusing part of this unilateral war on terror by the US is the mockery of the Pakistan Army. Pak army may roar like a tiger now, but it is nothing more than a rich man's pussy cat. While Pakistan takes a harmless comment by our Army Chief and turns it into a show of strength, we wonder where this pride and valour was when the American choppers were hovering for a good 40 minutes just 200 meters from their Defence Academy? Yes in India we love America's exports like coke, jeans, iphones and McDonalds but we also take pride in our freedom, sovereignty and dignity, unlike our neighbours. Also while America is busy delivering democracy around the world, we request they ponder over the fact ? why terrorists from all over the world find Pakistan the most conducive place to settle down? Why almost all the money that terrorists get have its origins in Pakistan? American can never win the war on terror until it lets the people of the Middle East find their own path to freedom. America will never be free of terror as long as they have a fetish for setting up strategic naval bases like ugly warts all over the face of the globe. It will always be a terror target as long as it shows double standards. It will always be hated if it continues to act like the owner of this planet and treats the rest of the nations as its tenants. After all, doesn't everyone hate a bully? E-mail: vikram@starofmysore.com Published by HT Syndication with permission from Star of Mysore. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com SUBJECT: TERRORISM (90%); US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008 (90%); WAR ON TERROR (78%); ELECTIONS (78%); KOREAN WAR (77%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (76%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (76%); AL-QAEDA (76%); US PRESIDENTS (73%); INTERNATIONAL LAW (72%); WAR & CONFLICT (72%); OSAMA BIN LADEN'S DEATH (71%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (68%); UNITED NATIONS INSTITUTIONS (65%); RELIGION (51%) PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (92%); OSAMA BIN LADEN (57%); GEORGE W BUSH (56%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (99%); INDIA (94%); IRAQ (92%); BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); INDONESIA (79%); GUATEMALA (79%); NORTHERN ASIA (79%); AFGHANISTAN (79%); LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA (79%); CONGO, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE (79%); FRANCE (78%); ENGLAND (54%) LOAD-DATE: May 7, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Page 244 IN BLACK & WHITE: WAR--MONGER VS BOMB-MONGER Star of Mysore (India) May 7, 2011 Saturday
- 245. Copyright 2011 StarOf Mysore All Rights Reserved Page 245 IN BLACK & WHITE: WAR--MONGER VS BOMB-MONGER Star of Mysore (India) May 7, 2011 Saturday
- 246. 101 of 214DOCUMENTS Aljazeera.net January 27, 2010 Wednesday Talking to the Taliban LENGTH: 764 words The former Taliban government was only ever officially recognised by three countries [AFP] As Western leaders consider possible exit strategies from Afghanistan, a plan for encouraging Taliban fighters to lay down their weapons in return for money and jobs has several times been suggested. Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president, has said that peace must be reached "at any cost" and the scheme, which it is thought would cost between $500m to $1bn over five years, has prompted some furious policy debate. It's critics argue that the West should avoid engaging the Taliban, especially when the conflict in Afghanistan is going so badly for the US and its allies leaving the group in a strong negotiating position. But while US-led forces ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in 2001, the West has been far more conciliatory to the Taliban in the past. The Taliban emerged in the 1990s as a Sunni movement of Pashtun tribes and their supporters. The group took Kabul and established their rule, including enforcing their interperatation of Sharia, or Islamic law, in Afghanistan in 1996, amid the civil conflict that had erupted in the wake of the Soviet defeat and withdrawal from the country. Promising rule In those early days, Western observers saw a group that appeared to be ready to bring an end to the corruption and chaos in Afghanistan. The Taliban government was only ever officially recognised by the Pakistan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. But, in 1996, after the group had taken power, the Taliban were engaged by US oil company Unocal, which hoped to build an oil export pipeline through Afghanistan. For their part, the Taliban saw in the plan an opportunity to gain greater recognition from the US. Abdul Rashid Dostum, the Uzbek militia leader, visited the US at the oil company's behest and visits from other Taliban officials followed. But the plans attracted criticism from human rights groups that objected to an Page 246
- 247. American oil company'sdealings with a group known for its represive social policies and was abandoned. Meanwhile, Afghanistan which under the Taliban was recovering from years of war, continued to recieve aid from Western governments and non-governmental organisations (NGO) until 1998, when the Taliban order the NGOs out of Afgahnistan. Bin laden emerges That year also saw the bombings of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya by allies of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, who had taken sanctuary in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, prompting a US missile attack on the country. The UN imposed sanctions in 1999 and 2000, hopping to pressure the Taliban into handing over bin Laden, and following the Septmeber 11, 2001 attacks on the US, US officials met Taliban representatives to demand that they surrender the al-Qaeda leader. The Taliban's refusal precipitated the US-led invasion that brought an end to the group's rule. But more recently, as public support for Western efforts in Afghanistan has faltered, officials have moved to re-engage the group, arguing specifically that low-level Taliban supporters could be persuaded to lay down their arms. In July last year, Hilary Clinton, the US secretary of state, told an audience at the US Council of Foreign Relations that it would be worth separating die-hard Taliban supporters from those less ideologically inclined. 'Reintegration' On a trip to Inida earlier this month, Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, reiterated that sentiment saying that "we may see a real growth of reintegration at the local or district or provincial level". Even amid the conflict, Western powers have had some success engaging the Taliban. In 2007, the British managed to bring Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, a Taliban commander, on side, giving him the governorship of the Musa Qala district, though he has subsequently been accused of corruption. But critics are wary, arguing that the time for such deals has been gone and that after nearly a decade of conflict, the Taliban has moved closer to al-Qaeda, pointing to the increasing use of al-Qaeda-style tactics such as suicide bombings. But the near 10 years of conflict has wrought changes on the Western forces in Afghanistan too, and the move towards engagement may be driven, as Karzai said, by a desire for an end to the fighting "at any cost". Asked this week whether he believed the Taliban could play a role in the future government of Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of the US forces on the ground in Afghanistan, said: "I think any Afghan can play a role if they focus on the future, not the past." SUBJECT: MUSLIMS & ISLAM (90%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (89%); NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (89%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (86%); TERRORISM (86%); FINES & PENALTIES (77%); WAR & CONFLICT (75%); EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (73%); RELIGION (72%); HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS (71%); CRUDE OIL PIPELINES (64%); HUMAN RIGHTS (50%); AL-QAEDA (89%); PETROLEUM EXPORTS & IMPORTS (64%) COMPANY: U S OIL CO INC (66%) INDUSTRY: SIC5172 PETROLEUM & PETROLEUM PRODUCTS WHOLESALERS, EXCEPT BULK STATIONS & TERMINALS (66%) Page 247 Talking to the Taliban Aljazeera.net January 27, 2010 Wednesday
- 248. PERSON: HAMAD KARZAI(58%); OSAMA BIN LADEN (81%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) UNITED STATES (96%); AFGHANISTAN (95%); PAKISTAN (79%); TANZANIA (79%); SAUDI ARABIA (79%); KENYA (79%); TANZANIA, UNITED REPUBLIC OF (79%) LOAD-DATE: January 27, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Publication JOURNAL-CODE: 59 Copyright 2010 Aljazeera.net - Aljazeera.net All Rights Reserved Syndigate.info, Al Bawaba.com Page 248 Talking to the Taliban Aljazeera.net January 27, 2010 Wednesday
- 249. 102 of 214DOCUMENTS Power Politics January 1, 2011 India: A Player in Pipeline Realpolitik? LENGTH: 1155 words Why does India still want to be a partner in a venture that may not be realized? India's desire to go through the motions on TAPI appears driven more by our foreign policy imperatives than energy needs, contends T.N.R.RAO. Trans-national gas pipelines today are considered the modern equivalent of the spice routes of the Middle Ages, that extended international links to deliver the essentials of civilized life to Europe from strange and distant lands. Today the pipelines deliver the essential gas for the energy hungry countries for development from such lands. But the overland spice roads from Central Asia were disrupted by the success of the Ottoman empire in the 15th century, provoking a crisis in the west just as the disruption through Ukraine of Russian gas supplies has done 550 years later. That disruption in middle ages to vital imports inspired the great European voyages of discovery of the 15th and 16th centuries, opening up of several sea routes to bypass the troublesome transit regions. So has the Ukraine incident, spurring new pipeline routes through safer areas. Looking at TAPI purely from a gas supply point of view, have any lessons been learnt from the two decades of negotiations on the IPI pipeline? Our oil minister's statement at the signing of the TAPI framework agreement lists all the issues and caveats that need to be resolved before the pipeline becomes a reality, issues that actually bedeviled the IPI pipeline. Furthermore, it adds to the already existing physical security concerns, with transit in Afghanistan to be taken care of, in addition to Pakistan. As a tailender, India's security risks are more and not less in TAPI pipeline. Then, why does India still want to be a partner in a venture that may not be realized? India's desire to go through the motions on TAPI appears driven more by our foreign policy imperatives than energy needs. TAPI has in the same measure all commercial and security concerns that have remained unresolved in IPI. Reportedly India agrees to take delivery of gas at the Turkmenistan Afghan border, assuming responsibility for its safe transit through Afghanistan's Taliban tracts, after balking at taking delivery at Iran- Pak border in the case of IPI pipeline This change in stance regarding delivery point underscores the foreign policy objective of the need for India's strategic presence in Afghanistan. Natural gas has emerged as a key game changer in the world of energy politics. India as a rising power cannot afford to be left out of the game. Both as a large consumer and its geographical location, India is the default market for the gas from Middle East and also Central Asia. What then are India's options for real time energy supplies? The construction, maintenance and surveillance of the entire length of the Page 249
- 250. pipeline gives Indiastrategic depth to its presence in Afghanistan. By this we may at the most ensure delivery of and transit of gas within Afghanistan but will hit the bottleneck at the AfPak boder,. However, this will give India an upstream pressure point on Pakistan, unlike in the IPI pipeline where india's role is marginalised with Iran concluding a deal with Pakistan without India. This pressure point, if activated, could cost India also its supplies, but that cost becomes affordable if alternative secure supplies are in hand. Having once been TAPI's enthusiastic promoter, there would be no point if India fails to be a player in the regional pipeline realpolitik. But if Putin is today's Mehmet II (the conqueror of Constantinople in 1453) in disrupting supplies, he has also proved to be the one to explore and establish non-spice route options for his gas. The new gas pipeline from Russia to the European Union is the South Stream running under the Black Sea, avoiding the troublesome Ukraine, through which passes 80% of Russian gas exports to Europe. Its sister pipeline the Nordstream will run under the Baltic Sea. EU also is pursuing the Nabucco Project to bring gas from Central Asia bypassing Russia. All these are simply confirmation that when vital interests are at stake, every country including India should keep all their options open. Transit countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan stand to gain by such transnational pipelines.The example of Turkey again proves the point. The South Stream needs Turkey's approval as it passes through its territorial waters, though not in its strategic interest. Putin made a personal visit to Turkey to enlist its support with the promise of help to a long list of projects important to Turkey. Similarly, it would extract enormous concessions from EU also for the Nabucco pipeline. Afghanistan and to a lesser extent Pakistan can also do so. No one understands pipeline business better than Karzai, a former executive of the Unocal, an oil & gas company. US also should be happy, for having weaned away India from Iran gas, with this new lollipop. Russia would take a benign view as long as the gas moves eastwards and not towards its markets in the west. Impressive advances in technology and under sea repair systems by remotely operated vehicles have rendered deep sea pipelines today the safest routes to transport gas, bypassing troublesome areas. Apart from the Blue Stream ,South Stream amd Nord Stream under sea pipelines, under execution is the Medgaz, from Algeria to Italy under the Mediterranean sea. On the drawing board is another to carry gas from the Indonesian gas field to Shanghai under the South China Sea. Once laid, the pipeline lie blissfully on the ocean bed, away from the mischief of non-state or pariah state actors. Natural gas has emerged as a key game changer in the world of energy politics. India as a rising power cannot afford to be left out of the game. Both as a large consumer and its geographical location, India is the default market for the gas from Middle East and also Central Asia. What then are India's options for real time energy supplies? With the experience of IPI pipeline, it is clear that even TAPI, if and when it materializes, would take considerably more time. Like the examples of Russia and EU mentioned above, a viable option is to resort to a geopolitically neutral route for a pipeline bringing gas to India. It should be mentioned here that while the MoU for the Iran-India was being signed in the early nineties, it was suggested to Iran, anticipating the transit problems en route for a landline, to explore the option of a mid-sea tie-in with the sub-sea Oman-India pipeline for which a MoU had been signed a little earlier. Iran however chose to jointly execute the pipeline with India then. The sea route totally avoids problematic areas and also enables India to transport gas from countries bordering Iran like Turkmenistan by swapping with Iran gas. Iran Page 250 India: A Player in Pipeline Realpolitik? Power Politics January 1, 2011
- 251. is now willingto do that. With secure supplies in hand, India will be able to play more effectively its strategic role in the regional TAPI pipeline. SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (90%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (89%); ENERGY DEMAND (89%); FOREIGN POLICY (89%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (89%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (77%); ENERGY DEPARTMENTS (72%); TALIBAN (64%) GEOGRAPHIC: INDIA (99%); AFGHANISTAN (93%); ASIA (92%); CENTRAL ASIA (92%); EUROPE (90%); UKRAINE (87%); PAKISTAN (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%); TURKMENISTAN (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%) LOAD-DATE: January 7, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Magazine Copyright 2011 Power Politics, distributed by Contify.com All Rights Reserved Page 251 India: A Player in Pipeline Realpolitik? Power Politics January 1, 2011
- 252. 104 of 214DOCUMENTS The Nation (Pakistan) January 27, 2010 Wednesday ARTICLE: Karzai's bulky baggage SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 1049 words By: I M Mohsin The flare up of anti-Karzai campaign by the world media immediately before the last presidential election appears to be dying down. Making the best of bad bargain tends to trump moral sensitivities of the US and her partners. Karzai's acceptance, despite all the glitches, may have also been prompted by the following considerations. First, he managed to 'win' in a country where the people, generally, though keen on fighting for their rights yet they find it hard to come together at the political level. Second, he is a former UNOCAL-man who can be depended upon while any new leader could end up as a gamble. Third, that he is a Pashtun, who would have considerable leverage even now among his community if he followed the traditional tactics in seeking a viable settlement No wonder Secretary Robert Gates called the Taliban as part of the "political fabric" in Islamabad while General Stanley McChrystal told The Financial Times: "There's been enough of fighting." Besides, he urged the Afghans to "...focus on the future and not the past." Karzai himself feels that he and his election were not as bad as has been projected in a recent interview with John Simpson, the veteran BBC journalist. Karzai emphasised: "Unfortunately, our election was very seriously mistreated by our western allies...." Claiming that peace in the area must be won at any cost, he outlined his programme for the realisation of his stated-objective by a change of strategy. The major thrust of his plan is to win over the Taliban through the extensive use of silver bullets. He intends to provide liberal financial support to those who opt for peace as against the war. As the war simmers on with rising costs for the US, the American public is getting upset about the reverses suffered by their forces. Moreover, the economic crunch in the US is also demoralising them. Surveys/polls indicate that more of the citizens do not like or support the expansion of the US forces in Afghanistan. While this bloody drama goes on, the Afghans suffer much more as is indicated by various social indicators. As insecurity rules the roost, which is badly aggravated by the corrupt governance offered by the warlords, terrible unemployment, lack of normal life and awful misery has become the usual lot of the locals. Many Afghans are driven to work for the Taliban just to survive. Karzai wants to launch huge infrastructure programmes whereby he can wean away young persons from the other party. He has been continuously hammering this likely breakthrough as the way to cross the Rubicon in the war. Being conscious of his own image due to the inglorious Page 252
- 253. mismanagement of hiscountry, he told the BBC: "Yes, my presidency is weak in regard to the means of power, which means money, which means equipment, which means manpower, which means capacity." Playing the acolyte, he added: "We trust them because we are in a relationship together." Now the posturing from the mentors is for a patch-up, hence Karzai is singing this tune overtly. A conference recently was held in Istanbul to fine-tune Kabul heal-up. The UN believes that the reconstruction programme launched after 2002 fell through because of corruption in the Afghan government and the US contractors. This is now widely believed to be true. As the US believes in outsourcing lesser jobs to private contractors, the standards of integrity get compromised. In fact, there are many reports which suggest that a lot of public money is swindled in these transactions. Recently, there was a reliable report disclosing that a certain security contractor was paying regularly to the Taliban for the safe passage of supplies meant for the troops. No wonder, the Taliban are able to 'hire' young men for jihad. Likewise, they are able to make considerable amounts of money by providing dependable security to the opium/drug trade. There also reports on US websites that mid-level US military personnel are, at times, making huge quick bucks on this score. In this scenario, the ground realities in Afghanistan seem to distinctly favour the Taliban. They have announced that from spring onwards, there would be an increased number of attacks on the 'occupation' forces. Considering the increasing losses suffered by the US troops lately, after the adoption of the McChrystal Plan for reinforcement of troops, the threat must be taken seriously by the ISAF. The ease with which the Presidential Palace in Kabul was attacked by the Taliban last week is an eye-opener for all concerned. President Barack Obama, as a statesman, appears to know where the shoe pinches in this war. His strategy unveiled before the cadets at West Point highlighted a likely settlement whereby the US troops can start flying back home next year. However, there are things which neither Obama nor Karzai can apparently control. First, is the corruption which is haunting the state. A recent report affirms that the Afghans have to pay $2.5 billion under this heading to various agencies to try to survive. Second, while efforts are being planned for reaching out to the Afghans who join the Taliban to earn a living, nothing much is mentioned about those who are fighting for the Taliban to avenge some dear or near ones killed by the indiscriminate bombing of 'targets'. The US must understand that this segment of fighters would be harder to appease. Like other powers who got entangled with AfPak, due to the geopolitical paradigm or otherwise, the US cannot conquer this area. Secretary Gates on his recent visit bemoaned the mistake made by his country in the 1990 when it abandoned its 'partners' against the Soviets; being flush with the excitement of becoming the 'only superpower'. He assured the people of Pakistan, like Hillary Clinton did on an earlier visit, that the US would stick around this time in a friendly and helpful role. The game is now swinging towards diplomacy, despite the faade of expansion of the US troops. Both the sides are trying various tactics to get their pound of flesh. While the US is the superpower, the other party has stood by their history/tradition. Peace and justice must team up. USA's focus on India and China notwithstanding, only Pakistan can help the US out; more so if it has transparent governance. Page 253 ARTICLE: Karzai's bulky baggage The Nation (Pakistan) January 27, 2010 Wednesday
- 254. The writer isa former secretary interior. SUBJECT: CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (90%); ELECTIONS (90%); PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (90%); INTERVIEWS (74%); ECONOMIC CRISIS (72%); WAR & CONFLICT (64%); POLLS & SURVEYS (64%) COMPANY: FINANCIAL TIMES GROUP (69%) INDUSTRY: NAICS511110 NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS (69%); SIC2711 NEWSPAPERS: PUBLISHING, OR PUBLISHING & PRINTING (69%) PERSON: STANLEY A MCCHRYSTAL (56%); ROBERT M GATES (56%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (95%); AFGHANISTAN (94%) LOAD-DATE: January 28, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: NAT Copyright 2010 Nawaiwaqt Group of News Papers All Rights Reserved Page 254 ARTICLE: Karzai's bulky baggage The Nation (Pakistan) January 27, 2010 Wednesday
- 255. 105 of 214DOCUMENTS Trend Capital. English September 23, 2009 Wednesday Obama administration to support Turkmenistan in diversifying energy resources market BYLINE: Hasanov, H SECTION: POWER ENGINEERING LENGTH: 693 words DATELINE: Turkmenistan, Ashgabat The U.S. administration is ready to support and assist Turkmenistan in diversifying energy resources regarding the American companies' experience in applying "know-how", said Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State. U.S. wants to see Turkmenistan among the leaders in the issue of energy security and energy supplies, said the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the meeting with Turkmen President Gurbangulu Berdimuhamedov on Sept. 22, the Turkmenistan-4 TV channel reported. The US Department of State reported that Clinton noted the important role of supplies from Central Asia, especially from Turkmenistan, in providing natural gas to the European Nabucco pipeline project. Turkmenistan is one of the key energy players in the Caspian region and in previous years, it was associated with the United States in a series of major energy projects, for various reasons they have remained on paper. The most famous of them is the story of a consortium led by American PSG. The Trans-Caspian gas pipeline failed, because the Turkmen leadership could not agree on financing. In addition, Ashgabat refused to allocate half-pipeline under the Azerbaijani gas, discovered in the Shah Deniz field, arguing that the project was originally initiated exclusively for the Turkmen fuel. Another project in Pakistan broke down due to deteriorating of the situation in the transit areas - in Afghanistan, the American Unocal also was forced to step aside after the U.S. began military action against the Taliban. At present, the U.S. companies like Chevron, ConocoPhilips, Marathon, and Midland Oil & Gas are interested in the Turkmen market, which is developing its part of the Caspian Sea shelf. Berdimuhamedov reaffirmed Turkmenistan's willingness to cooperate actively with the U.S. companies on the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea for oil extraction and refining and other fields. During her recent visit to Ashgabat, U.S Energy Ministry Department for Russia and Eurasia Deputy Director Meryll Burpoe said American companies are interested in participating in pipeline projects from Turkmenistan to Europe, Pakistan and India. "Their participation will depend on the Turkmenistan Government, as well as Page 255
- 256. Turkmen energy concerns.Furthermore, US companies would like to work in any direction of oil and gas field in Turkmenistan, no matter investment projects, construction of facilities or service to Turkmen concerns," Burpoe said. So far, Russia used to purchase a lion share of Turkmen gas. However, gas supplies were creased due to an accident in the Central Asia - Center gas pipeline. Export did not resume after rehabilitation of communication, because Gasprom offered to reconsider the long-term contract on purchase to decrease volumes or prices. Talks are underway. In New York, Clinton, referring to Berdimuhamedov emphasized Turkmenistan's initiative to adopt the UN Resolution "A reliable and stable transit of energy resources and its role in sustainable development and international cooperation." The U.S. foreign minister emphasized the U.S. willingness to cooperate with Turkmenistan "at a higher level". In this regard, it was proposed to hold regular inter-state consultations in Ashgabat and Washington. Berdimuhamedov, in turn, said that by arriving in America to participate in the 64th UN General Assembly, whose deputy chairman is Turkmenistan, intends to use his time here as an opportunity for further expansion of business cooperation with the United States - one of its largest and most prestigious partners Noting the international significance of the issue of pipeline safety, Berdimuhamedov said that the next step is to offer to establish a working group under the auspices of the UN, whose main goal will be to develop a comprehensive international legal instrument aimed at creating an effective system of security of energy supplies to the world markets. "Turkmenistan, with its enormous hydrocarbon resources, supports diversification of its supplies on the world markets, which means creating a diverse pipeline of infrastructure," said the Turkmen leader. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at: capital@trend.az LOAD-DATE: October 13, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 115410 DOCUMENT-TYPE: News PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: TDCP Copyright 2009 ProQuest Information and Learning All Rights Reserved Copyright 2009 Trend News Agency Page 256 Obama administration to support Turkmenistan in diversifying energy resources market Trend Capital. English September 23, 2009 Wednesday
- 257. 107 of 214DOCUMENTS The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down BYLINE: David DeGraw LENGTH: 8757 words Dec. 3, 2009 (The Public Record delivered by Newstex) -- The amount of private military contractors deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan is rarely reported on in the US mainstream press, but a Congressional Research Service investigation into this revealed that a record high 69 percent active duty soldiers are in fact private mercenaries. Although the administration is yet to disclose how many private mercenaries will be deployed in the latest surge, it is believed that the 69 percent ratio will remain in tact. Troop Deployments The Militarized Economy Masters of War Psyops: Wag the Dog and Shake the Mohammed U.S. Insurgency: Violent, Strategic Dislocation Within U.S. The economic elite have escalated their attack on the U.S. public by surging military operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. As Obama announced plans for escalating the war effort, it has become clear that the Obama Illusion has taken yet another horrifying turn. Before explaining how the Af-Pak surge is a direct attack on the US public, lets peer through the illusion and look at the reality of the situation. Now that the much despised George W. Bush is out of the way and a more popular figurehead is doing PR for Dick Cheneys right-hand military leader Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who is leading his second AF-Pak surge now, and with long time Bush family confidant Robert Gates still running the Defense Department, the masters of war have never had it so good. Barack Obama, the anti-war candidate, has proven to be a perfect decoy for the military industrial complex. Consider all the opposition and bad press Bush received when he announced the surge in Iraq. Then consider this: TROOP DEPLOYMENTS The Bush surge in Iraq deployed an extra 28,000 US troops. Under Obama, back in March, a surge in Afghanistan, that also further escalated operations inside Pakistan, deployed an extra 21,000 troops. However, in an unannounced and underreported move, Obama added 13,000 more troops to that surge to bring the total to 34,000 troops. Obama actually outdid Bushs surge by 6000 troops and Page 257
- 258. brought the overallnumber of US troops in Afghanistan to 68,000, double the number there when Bush left office. Where opposition was fierce to Bushs surge, barely any opposition was expressed during Obamas surge. Part of the reason for so little political and public backlash was the cleverly orchestrated psychological operation to announce the beginning of US troop withdrawal from Iraq. While the drawdown in Iraq has been greatly exaggerated in the US mainstream media, as of October, Obama still had 124,000 troops deployed in Iraq (not counting private military contractors). When Obama casts the illusion of a 2011 withdrawal from Afghanistan, one just needs look at the reality of the situation with the over-hyped withdrawal in Iraq. Now, with Obamas latest surge announcement he will again be adding a minimum of another 30,000 US soldiers. This means that Obama has now led a bigger surge than Bush¦ on two separate occasions within the past nine months of his new administration. Obama has now escalated deployments in the Af-Pak region to 98,000 US troops. So in Af-Pak and Iraq, he will now have a total of 222,000 US troops deployed, 36,000 more than Bush ever had " 186,000 was Bushs highest total. PRIVATE MILITARY AND NATO DEPLOYMENTS The amount of private military contractors deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan is rarely reported on in the US mainstream press, but a Congressional Research Service investigation into this revealed that a record high 69 percent active duty soldiers are in fact private mercenaries. Although the administration is yet to disclose how many private mercenaries will be deployed in the latest surge, it is believed that the 69 percent ratio will remain in tact. The Pentagon released a report showing that Obama already had a total of 242,657 private contractors in action, as of June 30th. 119,706 of them in Iraq, 73,968 in Afghanistan, with 50,061 active in oeother US CENTCOM locations. Back in June, Jeremy Scahill reported on these findings: oeAccording to new statistics released by the Pentagon, with Barack Obama as commander in chief, there has been a 23 percent increase in the number of [#x2dc]Private Security Contractors working for the Department of Defense in Iraq in the second quarter of 2009 and a 29 percent increase in Afghanistan¦. Plus, we must mention, the immense dangers of having private military contractors as 69 percent of our fighting force. For those of you unaware, private military contractors are hired from all over the world. Any former soldier, from any country, is welcome to come and fight for a salary " a salary that is often significantly more than what we pay our own US soldiers. These mercenaries have a vested interest in prolonging the war, for as long as there is a war, they have a well paying job. So it is easy to infer that a significant percentage of these contractors will not have the US soldiers, or US taxpayers, best interests at heart. Page 258 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 259. Obama continues tofeed this out of control private army by pouring billions of taxpayer dollars into shady and scandalous companies like Blackwater, who recently changed their name to Xe Services, because they destroyed their reputation by committing numerous war crimes in Iraq. A recent investigation by Jeremy Scahill revealed the extent to which Blackwater is involved in covert operations inside Afghanistan and Pakistan. In some cases, Blackwater is not working for the US, but were hired by covert elements inside Pakistan. When it comes to private contractors, the fog of war grows ominous, exactly who is fighting for whom is unclear. The crucial factor is who paid them the most that particular day. The US military can give them $1000 today, and an enemy can give them $1000 tomorrow, when you have people who fight for a payday and not for a country, you get chaos. This leads to a breakdown in the chain of command, effectively turning a military operation into a covert intelligence operation, where youre never really sure if the person you are fighting with is on your side or not. A federal investigation by the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, revealed in June: oeMore than 240,000 contractor employees, about 80 percent of them foreign nationals, are working in Iraq and Afghanistan to support operations and projects of the U.S. military, the Department of State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Contractor employees outnumber U.S. troops in the region. While contractors provide vital services, the Commission believes their use has also entailed billions of dollars lost to waste, fraud, and abuse due to inadequate planning, poor contract drafting, limited competition, understaffed oversight functions, and other problems. Before this latest surge, there were over 123,000 US and NATO troops in the Af-Pak region, and 200,000 Afghan security forces, supporting the US effort. According to US intelligence sources the total number of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in the region was estimated to only be about 25,000, giving the US led forces a minimum of a 12 to 1 troop advantage. When you add in estimated private soldiers, you get an approximate minimum of a 17 to 1 advantage. Although Obama opened his war speech by mentioning al-Qaida as the main justification for this war, consider this AP report: oenational security adviser James Jones said last weekend that the al-Qaida presence has diminished, and he does not [#x2dc]foresee the return of the Taliban to power. He said that according to the maximum estimate, al-Qaida has fewer than 100 fighters operating in Afghanistan without any bases or ability to launch attacks on the West. Does it seriously take a surge of hundreds of thousands of troops to contain what amounts to oeless than 100³ al-Qaida members? Any serious war strategist will tell you that the most effective way to combat the remains of the al-Qaida network, is through an intelligence operation, and statistics prove that escalating more troops into the region will only fuel further acts of terrorism. DRONE DEPLOYMENTS Speaking of fueling hatred toward the US, other than a huge troop increase, Page 259 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 260. there has alsobeen a sharp increase in the use of unmanned drones. The New Yorker reports: oeAccording to a just completed study by the New America Foundation, the number of drone strikes has risen dramatically since Obama became President. During his first nine and a half months in office, he has authorized as many C.I.A. aerial attacks in Pakistan as George W. Bush did in his final three years in office. The unmanned drones have caused major controversy due to the high number of civilian causalities they cause. However, as the study stated, the Obama Administration continues to increasingly rely upon them. So summing up these statistics, we have the most fierce and technologically advanced military force in history, vastly outnumbering what amounts to be a ragtag army of peasant farmers with guns, and our best option is supposed to be an increase in troop levels? Obviously, something doesnt add up. After thinking about all of this, you begin to see through the smokescreen of what this war is said to be about and get a glimpse of some of the sinister forces at play here. OVER EXTENDED TROOPS With the rise in deployments, the US military is stretched to a breaking point. Obama is oedeploying practically every available US Army brigade to war, leaving few units in reserve. As this war enters its 9th year, many soldiers are forced into deploying on their 3rd or 4th combat tours, and morale is fading fast. The past year has seen a dramatic increase in US soldier deaths, with the number of wounded drastically rising as well. 928 US soldiers have died in Afghanistan thus far, with last month being the deadliest month since the start. AP reports that oenearly four times as many troops were injured in October as a year ago. Amputations, burns, brain injuries and shrapnel wounds proliferate in Afghanistan, due mostly to crude, increasingly potent improvised bombs targeting U.S. forces¦. Since 2007, more than 70,000 service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury " more than 20,000 of them this year? US soldier suicides are also on the rise. In 2008, 197 army soldiers committed suicide. Thus far in 2009, there have been 211 army suicides. McClatchy recently reported: oeAn Army task force has found that a growing number of soldiers serving in Afghanistan are suffering from some kind of mental stress and is urging the military to double the number of mental health professionals deployed there. The study, conducted by the Army Mental Health Advisory Team, found that soldiers morale in Afghanistan is significantly lower than it was in 2005 and 2007 studies? As wounded soldiers return from Afghanistan and Iraq, they are finding a healthcare system that is increasingly more difficult and costly to get care from. In fact, 2,266 US veterans died in 2008 due to lack of healthcare, and oeresearchers also found that, in 2008, 1,461,615 veterans between the ages of Page 260 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 261. 18 and 64lacked insurance. Despite all of this, in another devastating example of how the economy is unraveling US society, military enlistment levels have reached a high. In a report by the Washington Post headlined: oeA Historic Success In Military Recruiting they reveal: oeFor the first time in more than 35 years, the U.S. military has met all of its annual recruiting goals, as hundreds of thousands of young people have enlisted despite the near-certainty that they will go to war. The Pentagon¦ said the economic downturn and rising joblessness, as well as bonuses and other factors, had led more qualified youths to enlist. The military has not seen such across-the-board successes since the all-volunteer force was established.¦ [#x2dc]We delivered beyond anything the framers of the all-volunteer force would have anticipated, Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, said at a Pentagon news conference. Overall, the Defense Department brought in 168,900 active-duty troops, or 103 percent of the goal for the fiscal year¦. What we are witnessing here with such high enlistment levels during this economic crisis has many parallels to Germany in the 1930s. Just like the United States now, the German economy in the 1930s was devastated by an economic crisis brought on by Wall Street. With rising unemployment and poverty, German men turned to the military for income and health benefits that their family severely needed. With over 25 million US citizens unemployed and underemployed, over 50 million with no healthcare, and over 50 million living in poverty, military service is now a last resort for a growing number of desperate Americans as well. The record-breaking enlistment numbers are expected to continue to rise as the economy continues to decline. oeSuch a perfect democracy constructs its own inconceivable foe, terrorism. Its wish is to be judged by its enemies rather than by its results. " Guy DeBord, Comments On the Society of the Spectacle, 1988 II: THE MILITARIZED ECONOMY The amount of money necessary to keep the US military machine growing has reached astonishing levels. Considering the increasing amount of troops and contractors, the White House estimates that it spends one million dollars per soldier, per year in Afghanistan, oenot including the added expense of training and maintaining a security force. According to these calculations, 30,000 troops for this latest surge will add an additional $30 billion to the annual budget, just in troop related costs. Also consider the price of moving fuel around, AFP reports: oeMoving soldiers and supplies across the rugged Afghan landscape costs more than in Iraq, with the military consuming 83 liters or 22 gallons of fuel per soldier per day. The Hill adds: oePentagon officials have told the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee a gallon of fuel costs the military about $400 by the time it arrives in the remote locations in Afghanistan where U.S. troops operate. Page 261 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 262. Other than inIraq and Afghanistan, you have an unprecedented number of military bases spread throughout the world. Officially there are oe900 military facilities in 46 countries and territories (the unofficial figure is far greater). The US military owns or rents 795,000 acres of land, with 26,000 buildings and structures, valued at $146bn. The bases bristle with an inventory of weapons whose worth is measured in the trillions and whose killing power could wipe out all life on earth several times over. The official figures exclude the huge build-up of troops and structures in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade, as well as secret or unacknowledged facilities in Israel, Kuwait, the Philippines and many other places. In just three years of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, £2bn was spent on military construction. There was public outcry when Bush drastically raised an already bloated military budget to record highs. But in comes the admired anti-war candidate Obama, in the middle of a severe economic crisis, and what happens? Obama drastically increased Bushs record budget to $651 billion in 2009. Yes, during a severe economic crisis, Obama actually increased Bushs budget. US military spending is higher than the rest of the world combined. The 2010 budget, which doesnt account for war-related spending yet, is already set to grow to $680 billion. However, these budget numbers are deceiving because the Obama Administration has been getting better at hiding extra spending in other budget items. The actual total 2009 budget was over $1 trillion. And much like the staggering giveaway to the economic elite in the Wall Street banker bailout, no one is really sure where a significant percentage of this money is actually going. On September 10, 2001, Donald Rumsfeld announced that $2.3 trillion in military spending was unaccounted for. As CBS News reported: oe$2.3 trillion " thats $8,000 for every man, woman and child in America. At that time, Pentagon auditors admitted that they couldnt account for a staggering 25 percent of all military spending. And the budget has exploded since then, with fewer people accounting for where this money is going. Once again, just like the $23.7 trillion that went into propping up the Wall Street elite " which totals $80,000 for every American " you have trillions more in taxpayer money vanishing and very few regulating and accounting for it. Other than this staggering loss of taxpayer money, any serious economist will tell you oethat military spending increases unemployment and decreases economic growth. Economists Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes, in their book oeThe Three Trillion Dollar War, report that military spending on the war in Iraq has created over a trillion dollars in loses to the US economy. On top of all the looting of taxpayer money that is occurring, oeseveral powerful House committee chairmen have proposed a surtax on Americans to pay the future military costs. With the country already operating at a record $12 trillion deficit, members of congress dont know how we can afford increasing an already huge war expenditure. WEAPONS SALES Page 262 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 263. In this strugglingeconomy, weapon sales have become one of Americas most booming businesses. US weapon sales have hit a record level under the Obama administration. Foreign Policy In Focus reports: oeIn fiscal year 2008, the foreign military sales program sold $36 billion in weapons and defense articles, an increase of more than 50 percent over 2007. Sales for the first half of 2009 reached $27 billion, and could top out at $40 billion by the end of the year. In contrast, through the early 2000s, arms sales averaged between $8-13 billion per year¦. But last year, the United States sold arms or military services to well over 100 nations¦. ¦ the majority of U.S. arms sales to the developing world went to countries that our own State Department defined as undemocratic regimes and/or major human rights abusers. And over two-thirds of the worlds active conflicts involved weapons that had been supplied by the United States. Selling all these weapons, especially during the biggest global financial crisis, will lead to one thing¦ terrorism. Given these statistics, it shouldnt be a surprise to hear how US taxpayer dollars are still funding the Taliban. Prior to the 9/11 attacks, the Taliban government was funded by the US taxpayer. In fact, the Taliban still receives a significant portion of their funding courtesy of the US taxpayer. As The Nation recently reported: oeIt is an accepted fact of the military logistics operation in Afghanistan that the US government funds the very forces American troops are fighting. And it is a deadly irony, because these funds add up to a huge amount of money for the Taliban. [#x2dc]Its a big part of their income, one of the top Afghan government security officials told The Nation in an interview. In fact, US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10 percent of the Pentagons logistics contracts"hundreds of millions of dollars"consists of payments to insurgents. As former CIA Station Chief John Stockwell explained: oeEnemies are necessary for the wheels of the US military machine to turn. With the war in Afghanistan now entering its 9th year, senior military commanders and a growing number of experts have come to the conclusion that this war is unwinnable and will fuel terrorism. However, they all seem to be missing the point, before explaining this in more detail, let me start by referring you to a quote from a journalist who had firsthand experience operating inside a militaristic empire: oeThe war is not supposed to be winnable, it is supposed to be continuous¦ all for the hierarchy of society¦ The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labor. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent¦ it helps to preserve the special mental atmosphere that a hierarchical society needs. War¦ is now a purely internal affair. " George Orwell MASTERS OF WAR Page 263 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 264. oeCome you mastersof war You that build all the guns You that build the death planes You that hide behind walls You that hide behind desks I just want you to know, I can see through your mask? Many of the weapons manufactures and private military contractors are seen as the primary war profiteers. For an example of grotesque war profiteering, lets look at Dick Cheneys former company Halliburton. (NYSE:HAL) In a report headlined: oeU.S. War Privatization Results in Billions Lost in Fraud, Waste and Abuse, Jeremy Scahill reports on KBR (NYSE:KBR) , a Halliburton subsidiary. oeKBR has been paid nearly $32 billion since 2001. In May, April Stephenson, director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency, testified that KBR was linked to [#x2dc]the vast majority of war-zone fraud cases and a majority of the $13 billion in [#x2dc]questioned or [#x2dc]unsupported costs. According to Agency, it sent the inspector general [#x2dc]a total of 32 cases of suspected overbilling, bribery and other violations since 2004. According to the Associated Press, which obtained an early copy of the commissions report, [#x2dc]billions of dollars of the total paid to KBR [#x2dc]ended up wasted due to poorly defined work orders, inadequate oversight and contractor inefficiencies. KBR is at the center of a lethal scandal involving the electrocution deaths of more than a dozen US soldiers, allegedly as a result of faulty electrical work done by the company. The DoD paid KBR more than $80 million in bonuses for the very work that resulted in the electrocution deaths. With numerous scandals over KBR operations, Halliburton ended its relationship with the company. However, oeHalliburton reported $4 billion in operating profits in 2008, while KBR recently said its first quarter revenues in 2009 were up 27 percent, for a total of $3.2 billion. Its sales in 2008 were up 33 percent, and according to the Financial Times, the company had $1 billion in cash, no debt, and was looking for acquisitions. Beyond these blatant examples of war profiteering, there are more insidious forces at play that most people dont see. These war profiteering companies are funded by the same banks that have destroyed the US economy. Consider this example concerning Alliant Techsystems (NYSE:ATK) and Textron, two manufactures of cluster bombs, the controversial civilian killing WMDs. The Guardian reported: oeThe deadly trade in cluster bombs is funded by the worlds biggest banks who have loaned or arranged finance worth $20bn to firms producing the controversial weapons, despite growing international efforts to ban them¦ Goldman Sachs, the US bank which made £3.19bn profit in just three months, earned $588.82m for bank services and lent $250m to Alliant Techsystems and Page 264 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 265. Textron¦ Last December 90countries, including the UK, committed themselves to banning cluster bombs by next year. But the US was not one of them. So far 23 countries have ratified the convention. Before going into further detail on how these banks make a lions share of war profits, lets look back at the origins of these wars. GEO-STRATEGIC OIL OPERATIONS With all due respect to people who have been force-fed Pentagon propaganda by the US mainstream media, any serious observer of the Iraq and Af-Pak wars knows that these are geo-strategic conflicts based on controlling the worlds oil supply. Anyone in the oenews media who tells you otherwise is either unaware of what is actually going on, or is a well-paid propagandist working for the very people who profit off of them. ORIGINS OF THE IRAQ OCCUPATION: CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE As an AlterNet report put it: oeIn January 2000, 10 days into President George W. Bushs first term, representatives of the largest oil and energy companies joined the new administration to form the Cheney Energy Task Force. Secret Task Force documents that were dated March 2001, which were obtained by Judical Watch in 2003 after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, contained oea map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as two charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects? They also had: ?? a series of lists titled [#x2dc]Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts[#x2dc] naming more than 60 companies from some 30 countries with contracts in various stages of negotiation. None of contracts were with American nor major British companies, and none could take effect while the U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iraq remained in place. Three countries held the largest contracts: China, Russia and France " all members of the Security Council and all in a position to advocate for the end of sanctions. Were Saddam to remain in power and the sanctions to be removed, these contracts would take effect, and the U.S. and its closest ally would be shut out of Iraqs great oil bonanza. Project Censored highlighted a Judicial Watch report that stated: oeDocumented plans of occupation and exploitation predating September 11 confirm heightened suspicion that U.S. policy is driven by the dictates of the energy industry. According to Judicial Watch President, Tom Fitton, [#x2dc]These documents show the importance of the Energy Task Force and why its operations should be open to the public. ORIGINS OF THE AFGHANISTAN OCCUPATION: oeSTRATEGY OF THE SILK ROUTE Up until 9/11, oil companies, with the help of the Bush administration, were desperately trying to work out a deal with the Taliban to build an oil pipeline through Afghanistan. One of the worlds richest oil fields is on the eastern Page 265 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 266. shore of theCaspian sea just north of Afghanistan. The Caspian oil reserves are of top strategic importance in the quest to control the earths remaining oil supply. The US government developed a policy called oeThe Strategy of the Silk Route. The policy was designed to lock out Russia, China and Iran from the oil in this region. This called for U.S. corporations to construct an oil pipeline running through Afghanistan. Since the mid 1990s, a consortium of U.S. companies led by Unocal have been pursing this goal. A feasibility study of the Central Asian pipeline project was performed by Enron. Their study concluded that as long as the country was split among fighting warlords the pipeline could not be built. Stability was necessary for the $4.5 billion project and the U.S. believed that the Taliban would impose the necessary order. The U.S. State Department and Pakistans ISI, impressed by the Taliban movement to cut a pipeline deal, agreed to funnel arms and funding to the Taliban in their war for control of Afghanistan. oeUntil 1999 U.S. taxpayers paid the entire annual salary of every single Taliban government official. The U.S., Saudi and Pakistan intelligence alliance that created the terrorist financing bank BCCI reunited to facilitate the rise of the Taliban. BCCI was a US intelligence bank, which served as the financing arm for the creation of the al-Qaida network. BCCI was involved in many covert operations throughout the 80s. They played a pivotal role in arming Saddam in Iraq, creating the Iran hostage crisis, even selling drugs through Manuel Noriega and other top drug dealers. BCCI gave nuclear weapons to Pakistan, which led to North Korea and Iran obtaining pivotal nuclear secrets as well. BCCI was also a driving force behind the Savings and Loan scandals that were a precursor to our current economic crisis. Focusing on the creation of the Taliban, lets read an excerpt from a 2003 book, oe Modern Jihad: Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks, by Loretta Napoleoni: oeThe alliance between American capitalism and Islamist fundamentalism is not limited to the creation of the Taliban; it also produced business ventures designed to extract favours from the new regime. To strengthen its bargaining power with the newly formed Islamist state, Unocal joined the Saudi Delta Oil Corporation to create a consortium called CentGas. Delta Oil is owned by the bin Mahfouz and al-Amoudi families [pivotal BCCI players], Saudi clans which have strong links with Osama bin Ladens family¦. Mahfouz has been sponsoring charitable institutions used as fronts for bin Ladens associates through the National Commercial Bank, which his family controls¦. Naturally, as soon as George W. Bush was elected president, Unocal and [UKs] BP-Amoco¦ started once again to lobby the administration, among whom were several of their former employees. Unocal knew that Bush was ready to back them and resumed the consortium negotiations. In January 2001, it began discussions with the Taliban, backed by members of the Bush administration among whom was Under Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who had previously worked as a lobbyist for Unocal. The Taliban, for their part, employed as their PR officer in the US Laila Helms, niece of Richard Helms, former director of the CIA and former US ambassador to Iran. In March 2001, Helms succeeded in bringing Rahmatullah Hashami, Mullah Omars adviser, to Washington¦. As late as August Page 266 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 267. 2001, meetings wereheld in Pakistan to discuss the pipeline business¦. While negotiations were underway, the US was secretly making plans to invade Afghanistan. The Bush administration and its oil sponsors were losing patience with the Taliban; they wanted to get the Central Asian gas pipeline going as soon as possible. The [#x2dc]strategy of the Silk Route had been resumed¦. Paradoxically, 11 September provided Washington with a casus belli to invade Afghanistan and establish a pro American government in the country. When, a few weeks after the attack, the leaders of the two Pakistani Islamist parties negotiated with Mullah Omar and bin Laden for the latters extradition to Pakistan to stand trial for the 11 September attacks, the US refused the offer¦. In November 2001¦ Hamid Karzai was elected [Afghanistans] prime minister¦ Yet very few people remember that during the 1990s Karzai was involved in negotiations with the Taliban regime for the construction of a Central Asian gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through western Afghanistan to Pakistan. At that time he was a top adviser and lobbyist for Unocal¦ during the anti-Soviet jihad, Karzai was a member of the Mujahedin. In the early 1990s, thanks to his excellent contacts with the ISI, he moved to the US where he cooperated with the CIA and the ISI in supporting the Talibans political adventure. So it is not all that surprising to see recent reports revealing that Hamid Karzais drug kingpin brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, is also on the CIA payroll. With this, a new Senate investigation just revealed evidence that Donald Rumsfeld made a conscious strategic decision to let Bin Laden escape. AFP reports: oeOsama bin Laden was within the grasp of US forces in late 2001 and could have been caught if then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld hadnt rejected calls for reinforcements, a hard-hitting US Senate report says¦. It points the finger directly at Rumsfeld for turning down requests for reinforcements as Bin Laden was trapped in caves and tunnels in a mountainous section of eastern Afghanistan known as Tora Bora. [#x2dc]The vast array of American military power, from sniper teams to the most mobile divisions of the marine corps and the army, was kept on the sidelines, the report said. So now that we see how these wars are driven by oil, lets look at how the oil industry is benefiting from them. Since the invasion, the industry has experienced record profits across the board, setting new profit records quarter after quarter, year after year, as these wars rage on. IRAQI OIL DEALS With Exxon and Shell just signing new oil contracts in Iraq, its obvious why there are still over 100,000 troops in Iraq. In a Daily Mirror report headlined, oeOil Billions and Weapons of Mass Deception In Iraq, they report on the new oil deals: oeExxon-Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell won the development rights of a massive oil field " West Qurna near Basra in Iraqs south. The two oil giants hope to boost daily production from the current 300,000 barrels to 2.3 million barrels a day Page 267 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 268. at West Qurna,which the ousted and hanged Iraqi President Saddam Hussein wanted to give to a Russian oil company. Last month, British Petroleum (BP) and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) won a contract to develop another oil field. The invitation to China to join the plunder of Iraq is probably a payoff by the US so that this Asian economic powerhouse and rising military power would not rock the pirates boat. Lets look back over the years since the start of the War on Terror, heres a 2005 MSNBC report: oeBy just about any measure, the past three years have produced one of the biggest cash gushers in the oil industrys history. Since January of 2002, the price of crude has tripled, leaving oil producers awash in profits. During that period, the top 10 major public oil companies have sold some $1.5 trillion worth of crude, pocketing profits of more than $125 billion. oeThis is the mother of all booms, said Oppenheimer & Co. oil analyst Fadel Gheit. oeThey have so much profit, its almost an embarrassment of riches. They dont know what to do with it. So an oil field that was profitable with oil selling for $20 a barrel is much more profitable with oil trading around $60¦. Since January 2002, stocks of major oil companies have gained 88 percent; during that period the Standard and Poors 500 index has gained less than half as much. Oil producers have also given investors a raise by gradually increasing the dividends paid out to shareholders. Heres a 2007 Public Citizen report summing up oil company wartime profits: oeSince George Bush became President in 2001, the top five oil companies in the United States have recorded profits of $464 billion through the first quarter of 2007: ExxonMobil: $158.5 billion Shell: $108.5 billion BP: $89.2 billion ChevronTexaco: $60.9 billion ConocoPhillips: $46.9 billion In Febuary 2008, CNN reported: oeExxon shatters profit records Oil giant makes corporate history by booking $11.7 billion in quarterly profit; earns $1,300 a second in 2007. Exxon Mobil made history on Friday by reporting the highest quarterly and annual profits ever for a U.S. company, boosted in large part by soaring crude prices. Exxon, the worlds largest publicly traded oil company, said fourth-quarter net income rose 14 percent to $11.66 billion, or $2.13 per share. The company earned $10.25 billion, or $1.76 per share, in the year-ago period. Page 268 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 269. The profit toppedExxons previous quarterly record of $10.7 billion, set in the fourth quarter of 2005, which also was an all-time high for a U.S. corporation. In January 2009, during a severe economic crisis, the Washington Post reported: oeExxon Mobil finished a roller-coaster year in the oil markets with an all-time record $45.2 billion in profits¦ The worlds most far-flung oil giant broke its own record for corporate profits in a year that saw oil prices climb to $147 a barrel in July¦ Exxon Mobil still beat analysts expectations by registering $7.82 billion in profits, or $1.55 a share, for the final quarter of the year. Exxon Mobil and Chevrons revenue combined for 2008 exceeded the gross domestic product of all but 16 of the worlds nations, according to Bloomberg. Royal Dutch Shell, Europes largest oil firm¦ posted a $26.3 billion profit for the year. Once again, beyond these blatant examples of war profiteering, there are more insidious forces at play that most people dont see. When you take a closer look at the oil profits, you see the true driver and ultimate beneficiary of these profits are none other than the same people who benefited the most from the stock market collapse and the ensuing $23.7 trillion taxpayer oebailout. As the Washington Post reported, the huge oil profit margins were the result of the soaring price of a barrel of oil, reaching oe$147 a barrel in July. The InterContinental Exchange (ICE) In 2000, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) , Morgan Stanley and several oil companies oefounded the InterContinental Exchange (ICE)¦. ICE is an online commodities and futures marketplace. It is outside the US and operates free from the constraints of US laws. The exchange was set up to facilitate [#x2dc]dark pool trading in the commodities markets. A Congressional investigation into this exchange found that these companies were fraudulently inflating the price of oil by executing oeround-trip trades where one company would sell shares in oil to another company who would then sell the shares right back. This would drive the price of oil to however high they wanted it to go to. oeNo commodity ever changes hands. But when done on an exchange, these transactions send a price signal to the market and they artificially boost revenue for the company. This is nothing more than a massive fraud, pure and simple. So when oil was selling at $147 a barrel, the actual worth was most likely closer to half that price. Phils Stock World summed up the situation: oeHow widespread are round-trip trades? The Congressional Research Service looked at trading patterns in the energy sector and this is what they reported: This pattern of trading suggests a market environment in which a significant volume of fictitious trading could have taken place. Yet since most of the trading is unregulated by the Government, we have only a slim idea of the illusion being perpetrated in the energy sector. DMS Energy, when investigated by Congress, admitted that 80 percent of its Page 269 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 270. trades in 2001were round-trip trades. That means 80 percent of all of their trades that year were bogus trades where no commodity changed hands, and yet the balance sheets reflect added revenue¦ ¦the InterContinental Exchange; that is, the online, nonregulated, nonaudited, nonoversight for manipulation and fraud entity run by banks in this country¦. Under investigation, a lawyer for J.P. Morgan Chase admitted the bank engineered a series of round-trip trades with Enron¦. ICE¦ turned commodity trading into a speculative casino game where pricing was notional and contracts could be sold by people who never produced a thing, to people who didnt need the things that were not produced. And in just 5 years after commencing operations, Goldman Sachs and their partners managed to TRIPLE the price of commodities. Goldman Sachs Commodity Index funds accounted for $60Bn out of $100Bn of all formula-managed funds in 2007 and investors in the GSCI lost 15 percent in 2006 while Goldman had a record year. John Dizard, of the Financial Times calls this process [#x2dc]date rape by Goldman Sachs¦ It is not surprising that a commodity scam would be the cornerstone of Goldman Sachs strategy. CEO Lloyd Blankfein, rose to the top through Goldmans commodity trading arm J Aron, starting his career at J Aron before Goldman Sachs bought them over 25 years ago. With his colleague Gary Cohn, Blankfein oversaw the key energy trading portfolio. According to Chris Cook: [#x2dc]It appears clear that BP and Goldman Sachs have been working collaboratively " at least at a strategic level " for maybe 15 years now. Their trading strategy has evolved over time as the global market has developed and become ever more financialised. Moreover, they have been well placed to steer the development of the key global energy market trading platform, and the legal and regulatory framework within which it operates¦. Before ICE, the average American family spent 7 percent of their income on food and fuel. Last year, that number topped 20 percent. Thats 13 percent of the incomes of every man, woman and child in the United States of America, over $1Tn EVERY SINGLE YEAR, stolen through market manipulation. On a global scale, that number is over $4Tn per year " 80 Madoffs! Why is there no outrage, why are there no investigations. Well the answer is the same " $4Tn per year buys you a lot of political clout, it pays to have politicians all over the world look the other way while GS and their merry men rob from the poor and give to the rich on such a vast scale that its hard to grasp the damage they have done and continue to do to the global economy. The congressional investigation into ICE concluded that they couldnt do anything about it because the exchange was set up offshore. How convenient! So here we can see, that behind almost all of our societal problems and suffering, you have this small elite group profiting on destruction and misery at record highs. When Gold Sachs CEO Llyod Blankfien says that he is doing oeGods work, one has to wonder, who is the God he is praying to? Page 270 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 271. Famed two-time CongressionalMedal of Honor recipient US Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler accurately summed up the situation when he said: oeI spent 33 years in the Marines, most of my time being a high-class muscle man for big business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for Capitalism¦. The general public shoulders the bill. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones, Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations. WHAT IT ALL COMES DOWN TO¦ In the global economy, the economic elite dont need the US public anymore. When you see Obama taking trips to meet with the leader of China, and having his first official White House State Dinner in honor of the Prime Minster of India, you should know that the elite have moved on. There are billions of people in just these two countries that they believe can do all the work we do for much less pay. It is a race to the bottom, and we are considered obsolete to technocratic leaders who think it is better to hire cheaper workers in foreign lands. As the US continues to collapse, the technocrats have already moved on to the next country to rape and pillage. The economic elite dont have a home country, to them the entire globe is theirs, and the majority of the US can collapse into poverty for all they care, and thats exactly what they want to happen. The US working class is the biggest threat to them and they want us eliminated. As the IMF would say, there has been a structural adjustment program in place, and the US working class is obsolete. When you understand this, you can understand how the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are wars against the US public. Wars that weaken and drain the US working class of vital resources and social safety nets. In the overall picture, the technocratic elite see everyone as a number on a spreadsheet. To them you are what your economic net worth says you are. Considering this perspective, most in the US public have much more in common with an Afghanistan farmer than the billionaires on Wall Street. And the billionaires have put us in the same category as those in Afghanistan. To them it really doesnt matter if its an American life ended or an Afghani life ended in the war, as long as the profits keep coming in¦ they can care less. Common sense and statistics demonstrate that the more troops you send into war, the higher the causality count will be, and the more costs will rise, leading, of course, to higher profits. So as the Obama illusion and the motives behind this war become exposed, and the massive theft by the economic elite becomes known to a critical mass, the elite are ramping up their psychological operations on the US public by turning up their mainstream media distraction machine. PSYOPS: WAG THE DOG AND SHAKE THE MOHAMMED With the healthcare debate losing steam, and the people starting to understand Page 271 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 272. that the finalbill will do little to create much needed change, and as oehealth care reform is exposed as another gift to insurance company executives, and as unemployment rates remain high, the Economic Death Squad vitally needs some new distractions. Never mind the criminals on Wall Street: Its time to¦ Wag the Dog and Shake the Mohammed By Wag the Dog, I am of course referring to the old political trick of distracting public consciousness away from a crisis by starting, or in this case drastically escalating, a war. Dont worry about the $23.7 trillion of public wealth that was given to Wall Street as a reward for destroying the economy, we are at war and its time for you to support our troops. Ah, yes, another racket to pile up more of the economic poor. Barack W. Obama, once again, bows to¦ the elite¦ and serves up yet another gift by sending more US citizens to the Af-Pak region. 50 million US citizens are already living in dire straights, so whats the big deal if you just throw another 220,000 US lives onto the fire, not to mention the millions of Afghani, Pakistani and Iraqi lives. But a war in a distant land just isnt enough, is it? American public opinion has long been saturated in the distraction of war, and given the severity of the economic crisis, the elite policy makers figured another surge in Eurasia just wouldnt be enough of a distraction. So the psychological operations PR department has decided to also Shake the Muhammad. Yes, bring the 9/11 oemastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, back to the scene of the crime and create a New York media frenzy. Now thats a distraction! Not only will it cause a media frenzy, it will also reaffirm public opinion in the war effort¦ win, win! I dont know about you, but as someone who grew up a New Yorker and spent the last five years of my life living three blocks from Ground Zero, I have to say, take your psychological operations to a different location. You are going to have the oe9/11 mastermind in a courtroom right around the corner from the biggest terrorists of all¦ Wall Street. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Llyod Blankfien, Jamie Dimon and John Mack are all going to be in one place, at the same time! We will have the oe9/11 mastermind, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley all in the same zip code¦ HELLO! Can you say here comes the next Timothy McVeigh? Yes, the USA¦ is an insane asylum! So just Wag the Dog and Shake the Mohammed. U.S. Insurgency: Violent, Strategic Dislocation Within U.S. Page 272 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 273. Will there bea violent insurgency within the US? As a growing number of American lives are directly negatively impacted, media propaganda operations will lose their ability to confuse and distract. Studies of societal breakdowns prove that having such a large population experiencing severe and prolonged economic decline will result in violent outbrakes. Other than the 50 million US civilians living in dire straights, what will happen as thousands of bitter soldiers and US intelligence agents " who have given their lives to these wars, only to return home to find an economy in ruins and a healthcare system that has thrown them overboard " begin to make these connections and understand that a small group of men on Wall Street are at the root of their suffering? Well, some former military and intelligence agents, including a growing number of current serving members, have already made this connection, and they are organizing, training and strategizing tactical operations. They are factions inside a quickly growing " heavily armed " militia movement that now numbers over 200 active cells, within the US. The mainstream press gives some passing attention to the fringe factions that make threats against Obama, but the more experienced soldiers understand that he is just a figurehead and they have connected all these dots and have come to the conclusion that this war is actually a war to create profits for the economic elite at the expense of the US public. Llyod Blankfein, Jamie Dimon and John Mack can arm themselves and hire all the security they can get, but will it actually keep them safe when you have a population of millions living in dire straights as a direct result of their actions? At this point, even their own security members may be conspiring against them. The Obama illusion is fading fast. Every time you see through it, you get a glimpse of them. The Economic Death Squad is exposed under the bright light of inspection and investigation. Take a look at many of the major problems facing us today, as a country and as a species, and then you will understand that these problems exist because the economic elite are profiting off of them. Obama is just their mask, an illusion to pacify the masses. The economic crisis and the wars have now shattered this illusion " it has come crashing down¦ upon us. It has become clear that an opinion has emerged among a growing segment of the United States population: If the government will keep pouring money into banks and war, and wont stop the theft of US taxpayer money by holding accountable those responsible for it, WE MUST. And the question that arises after that: Can it be done non-violently? I certainly hope it can. However, this growing segment of the population uses strong rhetoric and is prepared to take up arms. Page 273 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 274. With over 200active militia cells, who are equipped with weapons, training and strategizing, the government must take swift action to rein in the economic elite. Otherwise, we are heading to war, not in a distant foreign land, within the US. The economic elite are well aware of the threat of a violent uprising within US borders. US Army documents have revealed that strategic plans are already formed for this situation. Chris Hedges explains: oeThe military must be prepared, the document warned, for a [#x2dc]violent, strategic dislocation inside the United States, which could be provoked by [#x2dc]unforeseen economic collapse, [#x2dc]purposeful domestic resistance, [#x2dc]pervasive public health emergencies or [#x2dc]loss of functioning political and legal order. The [#x2dc]widespread civil violence, the document said, [#x2dc]would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security. [#x2dc]An American government and defense establishment lulled into complacency by a long-secure domestic order would be forced to rapidly divest some or most external security commitments in order to address rapidly expanding human insecurity at home, it went on. ?? this might include use of military force against hostile groups inside the United States. Further, DoD [the Department of Defense] would be, by necessity, an essential enabling hub for the continuity of political authority in a multi-state or nationwide civil conflict or disturbance, the document read. In plain English¦ this translates into the imposition of martial law and a de facto government being run out of the Department of Defense. They are considering it. So should you. We could have a situation where the government deploys private soldiers, mostly foreign nationals, on US soil to fight against US citizens. Blackwater and DynCorp already had active duty soldiers deployed within the US when Hurricane Katrina hit. In New Orleans, they were essentially a foreign occupying force. LOSS OF FAITH IN POLITICAL PROCESS In response to the report, oeThe Critical Unraveling of US Society, readers primarily critiqued the part in which we call on readers to engage their representatives. An irate majority of the responses have consistently stated that they have repeatedly contacted their representative through multiple forms of communication, and no action was taken. A growing segment of the US population has now lost all faith in our government and they are on the verge of taking violent action. Personally, I believe that non-violent action is a much more strategic and effective move. We are 99 percent of the population, and the enemy is less than 1 percent. We are a sleeping giant; they are a small group of clueless greed-addicted people who desperately cling to the Administration, Treasury, Fed Page 274 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 275. and a fewother firms like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. If we can take action on a mass non-violent scale, the rule of law and economic justice can be obtained. In our nations history, the stakes have never been higher. If we cannot organize a mass movement to non-violently oppose outright theft, then violence will ultimately tare our nation apart. The question on my mind: Can we swiftly mobilize such a heavily propagandized population to take mass non-violent action? A growing population does not believe we can do so, and is on the verge of launching a heavily armed insurgency. So in the months ahead, while they are Wagging the Dog and Shaking the Mohammed, the US public vitally needs to understand that the stakes have never been higher. And the clock is ticking . . . David DeGraw is the founder and editor of AmpedStatus.com and director of MediaChannel.org. You can reach him at David@AmpedStatus.com This report was originally published on AmpedStatus Newstex ID: PBRC-5083-40195079 SUBJECT: RELIGION (93%); DEFENSE INDUSTRY (91%); ARMED FORCES (91%); TERRORISM (91%); WAR & CONFLICT (90%); DEFENSE CONTRACTING (90%); CONTRACTS & BIDS (90%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (90%); DEFENSE SECTOR PERFORMANCE (90%); INVESTIGATIONS (90%); MILITARY WEAPONS (90%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (90%); MILITARY OPERATIONS (90%); ENGINEERING (90%); POLITICS (86%); OIL & GAS FIELD EQUIPMENT MFG (79%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (79%); PUBLIC CONTRACTING (78%); OIL SERVICES INDUSTRY (78%); COMPANY EARNINGS (78%); DEFENSE DEPARTMENTS (78%); LAW ENFORCEMENT (77%); COUNTERTERRORISM (77%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (77%); LEGISLATORS (77%); ECONOMIC NEWS (75%); NUCLEAR WEAPONS (74%); RIOTS (74%); US PRESIDENTS (72%) Special to The Public Record; afghanistan surge; Blackwater; Erik Prince; military industrial complex; nuclear weapons; Pakistan; Pentagon; President Obama; troop increase; Wall Street; Asia; unrest; conflicts and war; GeoCodes; politics; economy; business and finance; crime; law and justice; Events; religion and belief; disaster and accident; Europe; North America; environmental issues; science and technology; Global; United States; Afghanistan; Iraq; Pakistan; Russia; China; Kuwait; Philippines; Israel; civil unrest; armed conflict; war; terrorism; weaponry; conflict (general); defense; government; national legislature; treaties and international organisations; crime; law enforcement; islam; man-made disaster; company information; manufacturing and engineering; energy and resources; financial and business services; economy (general); finance (general); United States of America; Financial Performance; Surveys/Polls; Economy; Earnings; energy use and policy; mathematics; Germany; Russia; France; Middle East; Arabian Peninsula; Asia; Europe; Western Europe; New York; rebellions and revolutions; armed forces; government departments; public officials; national government; alliances; terrorism; anti-terror; terrorist attack; defense & government contracts; defense equipment contractors; heavy engineering; oil and gas; healthcare; economic outlook and indicators; personal finance; Islamic politics; banking and law; Intifada and jihad; energy resources Page 275 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 276. COMPANY: HALLIBURTON CO;KBR INC.; ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS INC; GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC ORGANIZATION: CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE (84%) TICKER: HAL (NYSE); KBR (NYSE); ATK (NYSE); GS (NYSE) PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (95%); GEORGE W BUSH (94%); DICK CHENEY (59%); STANLEY A MCCHRYSTAL (55%) Richard Bruce Cheney; Donald Henry Rumsfeld; Barack Obama; George W. Bush GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (97%); IRAQ (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); EUROPE (93%); ASIA (92%); CHINA (79%); GULF STATES (79%); FRANCE (79%); PHILIPPINES (79%); NORTH AMERICA (79%); KUWAIT (79%); ISRAEL (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); WESTERN EUROPE (79%) LOAD-DATE: December 3, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2009 The Public Record Page 276 Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down The Public Record December 3, 2009 Thursday 6:00 AM EST
- 277. 108 of 214DOCUMENTS Right Vision News September 19, 2010 Sunday TAPI project making headlines again LENGTH: 1002 words DATELINE: Karachi Karachi, Sept. 19 -- Turkmenistan and Pakistan have called for a top-level summit to restart talks on the $7.5 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, a stalled project. The meeting, proposed for December, is the latest sign of growing momentum around the project following a series of recent high-level talks between regional leaders and the signing of a framework deal on moving forward the delayed project between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. Analysts believe that efforts have been expedited for materializing the United States-backed TAPI gas pipeline project after Pakistan's hopes for construction of Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline dampened as a result of sanctions imposed by the United Nations and US on Iran's energy sector due to its nuclear ambitions. TAPI is likely to become the priority energy project for the country to meet its chronic energy shortages in view of the lingering fate of IP gas pipeline. TAPI pipeline aims to transport over 30 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Daulatabad gas fields in south-east Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and possibly India. Pakistan has sought early completion of the project to meet the country's pressing energy demand. Islamabad has reportedly proposed to Turkmenistan to supply gas via Iran by using the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline, instead of laying a pipeline through the war-torn Afghanistan, under a swap arrangement. Under the arrangement, imported gas volume agreed between Pakistan and Turkmenistan will be supplied to the northern provinces of Iran in lieu of which Iran will supply equivalent gas volume through the IP pipeline to Pakistan. Islamabad has asked Turkmenistan to submit certification of gas reserves, as the country wants to resolve all technical issues on the gas project by end of December. An experts' meeting will be held in Ashgabat on September 15 to sort out technical issues pertaining to the project. The country proposed a swap arrangement during a recent meeting held in Islamabad between the Petroleum Minister Naveed Qamar and the visiting delegation headed by Deputy Chairman of the cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov. The two sides reviewed the status of signing of the Heads of Agreement (HoA) and negotiations on the Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) between Pakistan and Turkmenistan and also discussed possibly early commencement of the 11th Steering Committee meeting and holding the same in Ashgabat. The proposed pipeline will have to pass through chaotic regions, including conflict-torn Helmand and Kandahar provinces in Afghanistan as well as Page 277
- 278. insurgency-hit Balochistan provincein Pakistan. Security in the volatile Afghanistan has been a key issue related to the execution of TAPI project. Pakistan has reportedly conveyed to Turkmenistan that more than 72 per cent insurgency-related cases by the extremists' elements are taking place on a weekly basis on the earlier proposed TAPI gas pipeline route - from Herat to Kandahar. Islamabad has proposed an alternative route to Turkmenistan - from Iran to Pakistan with entry point through Balochistan where Gwadar port could be used as an export point for Turkmenistan gas. Under the newly proposed route, the pipeline will pass near Reko Diq copper mine project in Chaghi district of Balochistan and onward to Gwadar port. The alternative western route reduces the length of gas pipeline to 1,490-kilometre from 1,680-kilometre on Herat-Kandahar route. In April 2008 during the 10th Steering Committee (SC) meeting, Pakistan and India had jointly offered a gas price of $200 per million cubic meters (MCM) $5.7 per mmbtu but Turkmenistan rejected the offered price insisting on a price not less than $11.4 per million British thermal unit. Though Turkmenistan claims that it has gas reserves of 8 trillion cubic meters yet Pakistan and India want certification of gas reserves before taking any further steps on the project. Turkmenistan sits atop the world's fourth-biggest natural gas reserves and Russia, China and the West are vying to expand their presence there as the country cautiously relaxes the isolation imposed by Berdymukhamedov's late predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov. China's President Hu Jintao in late 2009 launched a landmark pipeline running 7,000 kilometres (4,350 miles) to transport Turkmenistan's natural gas to China. Pakistan and Iran signed a contract in June under which Iran agreed to supply the equivalent of 29 per cent of the country's current consumption of natural gas. The $7.4 billion IP gas pipeline project is in jeopardy after the world community and the US imposed crippling sanctions on Iran's energy sector due to their nuclear dispute with the Islamic republic. Though the United States has opposed the IP project, yet it is interested in TAPI project. Some analysts are of the opinion that Washington actually wants the country for materializing the TAPI project. US oil firm, Unocal had been active to lead efforts for building the trans-Afghan link for opening up Central Asia's gas reserves to the wider world. It however could not implement its plans when US struck Al-Qaeda training camps inside Afghanistan with cruise missiles in 1998. Since the ouster of Taliban government in Kabul, the regional leaders have been lobbying hard for the trans-Afghan gas pipeline from Daulatabad to Gwadar to world markets. The project involves many international interests. All the proposed gas pipelines whether originating from energy-rich Central Asia or Middle East to energy-starved South Asia will have to pass through strategically located Pakistani province of Balochistan. The strategic trans-national gas pipeline projects and construction of seaport and oil city at Gwadar can turn Balochistan into an important energy conduit in the region Published by HT Syndication with permission from Right Vision News. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (93%); ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS (90%); NATURAL GAS Page 278 TAPI project making headlines again Right Vision News September 19, 2010 Sunday
- 279. PRODUCTS (90%); TALKS& MEETINGS (90%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (89%); WAR & CONFLICT (87%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (78%); OIL & GAS PRICES (77%); ENERGY & UTILITY SECTOR PERFORMANCE (77%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (77%); ENERGY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS (77%); ENERGY DEPARTMENTS (77%); INDUSTRY ANALYSTS (75%); IMPORT TRADE (74%); ENERGY DEMAND (73%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (69%); EMBARGOES & SANCTIONS (69%); UNITED NATIONS INSTITUTIONS (69%) GEOGRAPHIC: KARACHI,PAKISTAN (92%) AFGHANISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); IRAN (94%); TURKMENISTAN (94%); INDIA (93%); UNITED STATES (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (94%) LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2010 Right Vision News All Rights Reserved Page 279 TAPI project making headlines again Right Vision News September 19, 2010 Sunday
- 280. 110 of 214DOCUMENTS Los Angeles Times March 28, 2010 Sunday Home Edition Afghan studies center is its own hot spot; Critics say the Nebraska academic institute has gone too far in its cooperation with the U.S. military and even the Taliban. BYLINE: Kate Linthicum SECTION: MAIN NEWS; National Desk; Part A; Pg. 21 LENGTH: 1003 words DATELINE: OMAHA On the dusty plains of Afghanistan, a surprising number of people are said to know the word "Nebraska." It began as a fluke in the early 1970s, when administrators at the University of Nebraska at Omaha launched the Center for Afghanistan Studies. They wanted to distinguish the school as an international institution, and no other university was studying the then-peaceful nation half a world away. As Afghanistan became a central battleground in the Cold War and then in the war against terrorism, the center -- and its gregarious, well-connected director, Thomas Gouttierre -- were fortuitously poised. Equal parts research institute, development agency and consulting firm, the center has collected tens of millions of dollars from the U.S. military, the State Department and private contractors for its programs at home and in Afghanistan. Like much of America's involvement in that nation, it has not been without controversy. The center has come under fire from some academics who say it has not generated the kind of scholarly research needed to help solve Afghanistan's problems. It has also been criticized by women's rights groups for its dealings with the Taliban. Most frequently it has been targeted by peace activists, who say the center's past and current collaborations with U.S. war efforts in Afghanistan are unethical. "I don't think the University of Nebraska has any business teaching kids anywhere in the world how to be killers," said Paul Olson, president of Page 280
- 281. Nebraskans for Peace,an activist group that has been calling on the university to close the center for the last decade. As evidence, Olson points to the center's $60-million contract with the U.S. government in the 1980s to educate Afghan refugees who were living in Pakistan during the Soviet occupation. It printed millions of textbooks that featured material developed by the mujahedin resistance groups -- including images of machine guns and calls for jihad against the Soviets. Gouttierre says criticisms of the center are "revisionist" and fail to acknowledge the challenges of working in a society that has been at war for three decades. The center's aim, he says, has been to build cultural understanding and empower the Afghan people. "Our interest is humanitarian," he said. "They are victims who lost years of their lives on earth." Few Americans know more about Afghanistan than Gouttierre, who fell in love with the country as a Peace Corps volunteer there in the 1960s. He and his wife, Mary Lou, arrived during the "golden age" of Afghanistan, a time before the Soviet invasion, the rise of the Taliban and the widespread production of opium. In a mud house in Kabul, he wrote love poems in the Afghan language of Dari. At the high school where he taught English, he built a basketball court (he later coached the Afghan national basketball team). And he met a collection of people who would later figure largely in Afghanistan's history -- future Marxists, anti-Soviets and ministers of the current government of Hamid Karzai. In 1973, after nearly 10 years in Afghanistan, Gouttierre was invited by the University of Nebraska to lead the newly launched Afghanistan program, with the title dean of international studies. Gouttierre moved to Omaha and set up an exchange program with Kabul University. He recruited Afghans to come teach and helped organize a large library of donated Afghan materials. The U.S. funded its educational projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan until the 1990s, when the Taliban took power and the contracts dried up. That left the center to do "whatever was necessary" to continue its programs, Gouttierre said. In 1997, that meant signing a contract to train workers for Unocal, a California company that was trying to build a natural gas pipeline in Afghanistan. That year, several Taliban ministers came to Nebraska for a tour of the campus. Several women's groups, angry over the Taliban's repressive policies against women, protested. It was the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that launched Gouttierre -- and the center -- onto the international stage. Page 281 Afghan studies center is its own hot spot; Critics say the Nebraska academic institute has gone too far in its cooperation with the U.S. military and even the Taliban. Los Angeles Times March 28, 2010 Sunday
- 282. The morning ofthe attacks, Gouttierre showed up to teach his Introduction to International Studies lecture and found half a dozen reporters sitting in the center aisle. Over the next 10 months, he said, he gave more than 2,000 interviews to journalists from around the globe who wanted to learn about the rise of the Taliban and about Osama bin Laden, whom Gouttierre had researched while on a United Nations peacekeeping mission to Afghanistan in the 1990s. The center's newfound prominence helped garner more funding. In 2002, the State Department gave the center a $6.5-million contract to print 15 million textbooks. Images of AK-47s were absent in these books, but they included phrases from the Koran, prompting criticism that U.S. funds were inappropriately being used to print religious material. The following year, the government did not renew the book contract. The university has defended the center. Terry Hynes, senior vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, called it "a superb asset" to the school. These days, the center leads a Department of Defense-funded literacy training program for the Afghan army. It also hosts a program for social scientists who are being trained to accompany U.S. military teams in Afghanistan to help facilitate cultural understanding. Eighteen such groups, known as "human terrain teams," have come to Omaha over two years before shipping overseas. Gouttierre stood before a cramped class of trainees one morning this winter. In a lecture that lasted several hours, he talked about the history of Afghanistan and about U.S. involvement there since Sept. 11. "We under-sourced the military and we outsourced redevelopment," Gouttierre said, his voice rising. What Afghanistan needs, he said, is rebuilding. And the stakes could not be higher. "If we succeed, it's going to be seen as an American success," Gouttierre said. "And if we fail, it's going to be an American failure." -- kate.linthicum@ latimes.com SUBJECT: RESEARCH INSTITUTES (91%); UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION (89%); TEXTBOOKS (77%); COLD WAR (76%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (76%); WAR & CONFLICT (76%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (76%); HUMAN RIGHTS (75%); TERRORISM (75%); HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS (75%); PARAMILITARY & MILITIA (75%); ETHICS (74%); REFUGEES (71%); BASKETBALL (63%); VOLUNTEERS (50%); OPIUM (50%); TALIBAN (91%) UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA; TALIBAN (MILITIA); AFGHANISTAN; COLLEGE COURSES ORGANIZATION: UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA (93%); PEACE CORPS (59%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) NEBRASKA, USA (98%) UNITED STATES (98%); AFGHANISTAN (95%); PAKISTAN (79%) LOAD-DATE: March 28, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH Page 282 Afghan studies center is its own hot spot; Critics say the Nebraska academic institute has gone too far in its cooperation with the U.S. military and even the Taliban. Los Angeles Times March 28, 2010 Sunday
- 283. GRAPHIC: PHOTO: DIRECTOR:Thomas Gouttierre has no apologies for the center's work: "Our interest is humanitarian." PHOTOGRAPHER:Chris VanKat For The Times PHOTO: BACK WHEN: Gouttierre, second from right, went to Afghanistan as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960s and later coached the national basketball team. PHOTOGRAPHER: PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2010 Los Angeles Times All Rights Reserved Page 283 Afghan studies center is its own hot spot; Critics say the Nebraska academic institute has gone too far in its cooperation with the U.S. military and even the Taliban. Los Angeles Times March 28, 2010 Sunday
- 284. 112 of 214DOCUMENTS India Abroad (New York) August 21, 2009 Friday 'There is a nexus now between Washington, Tel Aviv, and New Delhi' BYLINE: Hammond, Jeremy R SECTION: PAKISTAN SPECIAL; Pg. A26 Vol. 39 No. 47 ISSN: 0046-8932 LENGTH: 2537 words ABSTRACT "A very good question," he responded. "I think you have reached the point precisely." It is a "principle of war," he said, "that you never mix objectives. Because when you mix objectives then you end up with egg on your face. You face defeat. And here was a case where the objectives were mixed up. Ostensibly, it was to disperse Al Qaeda, to get Osama bin Laden. But latently, the reasons for the offensive, for the attack on Afghanistan, were quite different." First, he says, the US wanted to "reach out to the Central Asian oilfields" and "open the door there", which "was a requirement of corporate America, because the Taliban had not complied with their desire to allow an oil and gas pipeline to pass through Afghanistan. UNOCAL is a case in point. They wanted to keep the Chinese out. They wanted to give a wider security shield to the state of Israel, and they wanted to include this region into that shield. And that's why they were talking at that time very hotly about 'greater Middle East'. They were redrawing the map." Third, it was "to go for Pakistan's nuclear capability", something that used to be talked about "under their lip", "but now they are openly talking about". This was the reason the US "signed this strategic deal with India, and this was brokered by Israel. So there is a nexus now between Washington, Tel Aviv, and New Delhi." FULL TEXT In an exclusive interview with Foreign Policy Journal's Jeremy R Hammond, Lieutenant General Hamid Gul, former chief of Pakistan's dreaded spy agency the Inter Services Intelligence, responds to charges that he supports terrorism, discusses 9/11 and ulterior motives for the war on Afghanistan, and claims that the US, Israel, and India are behind efforts to destabilize Pakistan. Hamid Gul was the director general of Pakistan's ISI directorate from 1987 to 1989, during which time he worked closely with the Central Intelligence Agency to provide support for the mujahideen fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Page 284
- 285. Though once deemeda close ally of the United States, in more recent years his name has been the subject of considerable controversy. He has been outspoken with the claim that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were an 'inside job'. He has been called 'the most dangerous man in Pakistan', and the US government has accused him of supporting the Taliban , even recommending him to the United Nations Security Council for inclusion on the list of international terrorists. I asked the former ISI chief what his response was to these allegations. He replied, "Well, it's laughable I would say, because I've worked with the CIA and I know they were never so bad as they are now." He said this was "a pity for the American people" since the CIA is supposed to act "as the eyes and ears" of the country. As for the charge of him supporting the Taliban, "it is utterly baseless. I have no contact with the Taliban, nor with Osama bin Laden and his colleagues." He added, "I have no means, I have no way that I could support them, that I could help them." After the Clinton administration's failed attempt to assassinate Osama bin Laden in 1998, some US officials alleged that bin Laden had been tipped off by someone in Pakistan to the fact that the US was able to track his movements through his satellite phone. Then counter-terrorism advisor to the National Security Council Richard Clarke said, 'I have reason to believe that a retired head of the ISI was able to pass information along to Al Qaeda that the attack was coming.' And some have speculated that this 'retired head of the ISI' was none other than Lieutenant Gen Hamid Gol. When I put this charge to him, General Gul pointed out that he had retired from the ISI June 1, 1989, and from the army in January 1992. "Did you share this information with the ISI?" he asked. "And why haven't you taken the ISI to task for parting this information to its exhead?" The US had not informed the then Pakistan army chief, Jehangir Karamat, of its intentions, he said. So how could he have learned of the plan to be able to warn bin Laden? "Do I have a mole in the CIA? If that is the case, then they should look into the CIA to carry out a probe, find out the mole, rather than trying to charge me. I think these are all baseless charges, and there's no truth in it... And if they feel that their failures are to be rubbed off on somebody else, then I think they're the ones who are guilty, not me." General Gul turned our conversation to the subject of 9/11 and the war on Afghanistan. "You know, my position is very clear," he said. "It's a moral position that I have taken'. And I say that America has launched this aggression without sufficient reasons. They haven't even proved the case that 9/11 was done by Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda." He argued that "There are many unanswered questions about 9/11," citing examples like the failure to intercept any of the four planes after it had become clear Page 285 'There is a nexus now between Washington, Tel Aviv, and New Delhi' India Abroad (New York) August 21, 2009 Friday
- 286. that they hadbeen hijacked. He questioned how Mohammed Atta, "who had had training on a light aircraft in Miami for six months" could have maneuvered a jumbo jet "so accurately" to hit his target (Atta was reportedly the hijacker in control of American Airlines Flight 11, which was the first plane to hit its target, striking the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 am). And he made reference to the flight that hit the Pentagon and the maneuver its pilot had performed, dropping thousands of feet while doing a near 360 degree turn before plowing into its target. "And then, above all," he added, "why have no heads rolled? The FBI, the CIA, the air traffic control - why have they not been put to question, put to task?" Describing the 9/11 Commission as a "cover up", the general added, "I think the American people have been made fools of. I have my sympathies with them. I like Americans. I like America. I appreciate them. I've gone there several times." I turned to the war in Afghanistan, observing that the ostensible purpose for the war was to bring the accused mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden, to justice. And yet there were plans to overthrow the Taliban regime that predated 9/11. The FBI does not include the 9/11 attacks among the crimes for which bin Laden is wanted. After the war began, General Tommy Franks responded to a question about capturing him by saying, 'We have not said that Osama bin Laden is a target of this effort.' The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Richard Myers, similarly said afterward, 'Our goal has never been to get bin Laden.' And President George W Bush himself said, 'I truly am not that concerned about him.' These are self-serving statements, obviously, considering the failure to capture bin Laden. But what, I asked General Gul, in his view, were the true reasons for the invasion of Afghanistan, and why the US is still there? "A very good question," he responded. "I think you have reached the point precisely." It is a "principle of war," he said, "that you never mix objectives. Because when you mix objectives then you end up with egg on your face. You face defeat. And here was a case where the objectives were mixed up. Ostensibly, it was to disperse Al Qaeda, to get Osama bin Laden. But latently, the reasons for the offensive, for the attack on Afghanistan, were quite different." First, he says, the US wanted to "reach out to the Central Asian oilfields" and "open the door there", which "was a requirement of corporate America, because the Taliban had not complied with their desire to allow an oil and gas pipeline to pass through Afghanistan. UNOCAL is a case in point. They wanted to keep the Chinese out. They wanted to give a wider security shield to the state of Israel, and they wanted to include this region into that shield. And that's why they were talking at that time very hotly about 'greater Middle East'. They were redrawing the map." Page 286 'There is a nexus now between Washington, Tel Aviv, and New Delhi' India Abroad (New York) August 21, 2009 Friday
- 287. Second, the war"was to undo the Taliban regime because they had enforced Shariah", or Islamic law, which, "in the spirit of that system, if it is implemented anywhere, would mean an alternative socio-monetary system. And that they would never approve." Third, it was "to go for Pakistan's nuclear capability", something that used to be talked about "under their lip", "but now they are openly talking about". This was the reason the US "signed this strategic deal with India, and this was brokered by Israel. So there is a nexus now between Washington, Tel Aviv, and New Delhi." While achieving some of these aims, "there are many things which are still left undone," he continued, "because they are not winning on the battlefield. And no matter what maps you draw in your mind, no matter what plans you make, if you cannot win on the battlefield, then it comes to naught. And that is what is happening to America." "Besides, the American generals, I have a professional cudgel with them," Gul added. "They lack character. They know that a job cannot be done, because they know - I cannot believe that they didn't realize that the objectives are being mixed up here - they could not stand up to men like Donald Rumsfeld and to Dick Cheney. They could not tell them. I think they cheated the American nation, the American people. This is where I have a problem with the American generals, because a general must show character. He must say that his job cannot be done. He must stand up to the politicians. But these generals did not stand up to them." As a further example of the lack of character in the US military leadership, General Gul cited the 'victory' in Iraq. "George Bush said that it was a victory. That means the generals must have told him 'We have won!' They had never won. This was all bunkum, this was all bullshit." Segueing back to Afghanistan, he continued: "And if they are now saying that with 17,000 more troops they can win in Afghanistan - or even double that figure if you like they cannot. Now this is a professional opinion I am giving. And I will give this sound opinion for the good of the American people, because I am a friend of the American people and that is why I always say that your policies are flawed. This is not the way to go." Furthermore, the war is "widely perceived as a war against Islam. And George Bush even used the word 'Crusade'." This is an incorrect view, he insisted. "You talk about clash of civilizations. We say the civilizations should meet." Alluding once more to the US charges against him, he added, "And if they think that my criticism is tantamount to opposition to America, this is totally wrong, because there are lots of Americans themselves who are not in line with American policies." He had warned early on, he informed me, including in an interview with Rod Nordland in Newsweek immediately following the 9/11 attacks, that the US would be making a mistake to go to war. "So, if you tell somebody, 'Don't jump into the well!' and that somebody thinks you are his enemy, then what is it that you can say about him?" I turned the conversation towards the consequences of the war in Afghanistan on Pakistan, and the increased extremist militant activities within his own country's borders, where the Pakistani government has been at war with the Page 287 'There is a nexus now between Washington, Tel Aviv, and New Delhi' India Abroad (New York) August 21, 2009 Friday
- 288. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP,or Pakistan Taliban). I observed that the TTP seemed well funded and supplied and asked Gul how the group obtains financing and arms. He responded without hesitation. "Yeah, of course they are getting it from across the Durand Line, from Afghanistan. And Mossad is sitting there, the Research and Analysis Wing [India's external intelligence agency] is sitting there they have the umbrella of the US. And now they have created another organisation which is called RAMA. It may be news to you that very soon this intelligence agency - of course, they have decided to keep it covert but it is Research and Analysis Milli Afghanistan. That's the name. The Indians have helped create this organization, and its job is mainly to destabilise Pakistan." General Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, former deputy minister of defense of the Northern Alliance under Ahmad Shah Massoud and the chief of staff of the Afghan National Army since 2002 - "whom I know very well" General Gul told me - "had gone to India a few days back, and he has offered bases to India, five of them: Three on the border, the eastern border with Pakistan, from Asadabad, Jalalabad, and Kandhar; one in Shindand, which is near Herat; and the fifth one is near Mazar-e Sharif. So these bases are being offered for a new game unfolding there." This is why, he asserted, the Indians, despite a shrinking economy, have continued to raise their defense budget, by 20 percent last year and an additional 34 percent this year. He also cited as evidence of these designs to destabilize Pakistan the US Predator drone attacks in Waziristan, which have "angered the Pathan people of that tribal belt. And this state of anger is being fuelled. It is that fire that has been lit, is being fuelled, by the Indian intelligence from across the border. Of course, Mossad is right behind them. They have no reason to be sitting there, and there's a lot of evidence. I hope the Pakistan government will soon be providing some of the evidence against the Indians." Several days after I had first spoken with General Gul, the news hit the headlines that the leader of the TTP, Baitullah Mehsud, had been killed by a CIA drone strike. So I followed up with him and asked him to comment about this development. "When Baitullah Mehsud and his suicide bombers were attacking Pakistan armed forces and various institutions," he said, "at that time, Pakistan intelligence were telling the Americans that Baitullah Mehsud was here, there. Three times, it has been written by the Western press, by the American press - three times the Pakistan intelligence tipped off America, but they did not attack him. Why have they now attacked and killed him, supposedly?" "Because there were some secret talks going on between Baitullah Mehsud and the Pakistani military establishment. They wanted to reach a peace agreement, and if you recall there is a long history of our tribal areas, whenever a tribal militant has reached a peace agreement with the government of Pakistan, Americans have without any hesitation struck that target." Among other examples, the former ISI chief said "an agreement in Bajaur was about to take place" when, October 30, 2006, a drone struck a madrassa in the area, an attack "in which 82 children were killed". Page 288 'There is a nexus now between Washington, Tel Aviv, and New Delhi' India Abroad (New York) August 21, 2009 Friday
- 289. "So in myopinion," General Gul continued, "there was some kind of a deal which was about to be arrived at - they may have already cut a deal. I don't know. I don't have enough information on that. But this is my hunch, that Baitullah was killed because he was trying to reach an agreement with the Pakistan army. And that's why there were no suicide attacks inside Pakistan for the past six or seven months." SIDEBAR Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud. Hamid Gul, inset, alleges Mehsud was killed by America because he was close to a deal with the Pakistani government SIDEBAR An American soldier plays baseball at the Pesh valley of Kunar province, Afghanistan, August 13. Hamid Gul declares emphatically that the US cannot win the war in Afghanistan SUBJECT: TERRORISM (93%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (92%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (91%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (90%); ESPIONAGE (90%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (90%); ARMIES (89%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (79%); CRUDE OIL PIPELINES (79%); NATIONAL SECURITY (78%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (78%); INTERVIEWS (78%); COUNTERTERRORISM (77%); INTELLIGENCE SERVICES (77%); ASSASSINATION (74%); UNITED NATIONS INSTITUTIONS (67%) Public officials; Terrorism; International relations; Foreign policy; War PERSON: Gul, Hamid GEOGRAPHIC: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (94%); NEW DELHI, INDIA (94%) NEW YORK, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (98%); ISRAEL (96%); INDIA (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); ASIA (92%); MIDDLE EAST (92%) United States--US; India; Israel; Pakistan LOAD-DATE: November 7, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 58602 GRAPHIC: Photographs DOCUMENT-TYPE: News PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: INDA Copyright 2009 ProQuest Information and Learning All Rights Reserved Copyright 2009 India Abroad Publications Page 289 'There is a nexus now between Washington, Tel Aviv, and New Delhi' India Abroad (New York) August 21, 2009 Friday
- 290. 113 of 214DOCUMENTS BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring May 17, 2011 Tuesday Turkmen hope to revive Afghan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project- Russian paper LENGTH: 968 words Text of report by the website of liberal Russian newspaper Vremya Novostey on 14 December [Article by Arkadiy Dubnov: "Turkmen 'Centre of the Planet'" (Vremya Novostey Online)] Turkmen 'centre of the planet' Asgabat once again announces the start of implementation of the trans-Afghan gas pipeline. An event of planetary proportions took place in one of the countries to the north of Afghanistan. It was learned that Turkmenistan, which is located there, had "acquired the high status in world policy of being the peacemaking centre of the planet in the third millennium." This was stated in the greeting directed by the president of that country, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, to the Turkmen people on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the day on which the country proclaimed its neutrality. The president, as befitting a leader of the "era of the Great Rebirth," appeals to his fellow countrymen in an epic manner: "My dear people!" Berdymukhamedov's speech writers tried to supply the text of the greeting with such "masterpieces" of style, which even the late Turkmenbashi the Great would have envied: This "glorious date his forever etched into modern history of mankind as a decisive step of global significance in international relations of Turkmenistan." Then again, we need not be surprised here. The authors of texts of "global significance" have not changed since the times of Turkmenbashi's rule, and are headed up by the eternal aide to the first and second presidents, Viktor Khramov. Turkmenbashi's name is not mentioned in a single one of the abundant lofty turns of phrase in honour of the glorious anniversary. Desacralization of the "diamond wreath of the Turkmen people" - as it was customary to refer during his life to the ruler who had met an untimely death - is slowly but surely continuing, along with the imposition of the cult of personality by his successor, the former "surgeon-general of the Turkmen court," Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. And, of course, no one in Asgabat would dare to recall that the idea of Turkmenistan's adopting the status of permanent neutrality belongs to former Minister of Foreign Affairs Boris Shikhmuradov. Sentenced to life imprisonment 8 Page 290
- 291. years ago fororganizing a so-called "attempt" on the life of Turkmenbashi, Shikhmuradov has vanished without a trace in the Turkmenistani prison system. For all these years, the Turkmenistan authorities are not telling his family anything about his fate, or whether he is alive or dead. The situation is exactly the same with the rest of those who were sentenced in the case of the "assassination attempt." And Berdymukhamedov himself, addressing his people on the occasion of the holiday, assures them without any doubt that, "embodying the love of peace, goodwill and humanism, he will bring endless happiness and joy to every family." When the British newspaper, Guardian, yesterday published an extensive list of countries whose leaders had been given an unflattering appraisal in secret dispatches of American diplomats, published by WikiLeaks, Turkmenistan occupied a notable place in it. A report sent to Washington states that "President of Turkmenistan Berdymukhamedov seems to be vain, faultfinding, vengeful [leader] who controls every step," "an experienced liar," and "not a very smart fellow." In accordance with the closed nature of the regime, "the accusations evoked practically no reaction," the Guardian concludes. This time, the celebrations in Turkmenistan on the occasion of the "day of neutrality" were rather pompous. Berdymukhamedov even refused to go to Moscow for the CIS Summit, which for him looked like an unprecedented act in recent years. But it was worth it. Numerous guests were invited to Asgabat. The main ones among them turned out to be the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Khamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari, as well as Minister of Oil and Natural Gas of the Republic of India Murli Deora. This made it possible to hold the "Turkmenistan -Afghanistan -Pakistan -India" summit, in the course of which framework and intergovernmental agreements on the "practical" start of implementation of the TAPI gas pipeline -from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India -were signed. The idea for this truly remarkable project was born back in the early 1990's, right after Turkmenistan acquired its independence. But as a result of the unending Afghan guerrilla war, as well as the differences between Asgabat during the times of Turkmenbashi and Western companies -the Argentinian Bridas and the American Unocal -the TAPI project could not be implemented. After the death of Turkmenbashi, work on this project was revitalized. A Management Committee on the Gas Pipeline Project was created, and representatives of the Asian Development Bank, which allocated funds for development of a technical-economic feasibility study of the TAPI project, were involved in the work. But, as evidenced by the signing of the aforementioned documents (which, we might add, were never publicized), the matter came to a standstill after this. As informed diplomatic sources of Vremya Novostey in Asgabat point out, the text of the agreement contains no specifics which would define such important characteristics as the determination of the formula for establishing the price on gas, selection of the contracting company and operator company for the project, and guarantees for the gas consumer countries (Pakistan, India) and for the gas transit country (Afghanistan). And without such guarantees, not one international financial institution would grant loans for financing construction of a gas pipeline that is 1,735 km in length, with a capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas and an estimated cost of 7.5 billion dollars. Source: Vremya Novostey website, Moscow, in Russian 14 Dec 10 Page 291 Turkmen hope to revive Afghan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project- Russian paper BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring May 17, 2011 Tuesday
- 292. SUBJECT: SENTENCING (88%);JAIL SENTENCING (85%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (76%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (76%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (76%); ANNIVERSARIES (74%); ASSASSINATION (70%); MILLENNIUM (70%); HISTORY (69%); PRISONS (64%) GEOGRAPHIC: TURKMENISTAN (99%); PAKISTAN (92%); INDIA (92%); AFGHANISTAN (90%) LOAD-DATE: July 8, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Transcript Copyright 2011 British Broadcasting Corporation All Rights Reserved Page 292 Turkmen hope to revive Afghan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project- Russian paper BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring May 17, 2011 Tuesday
- 293. 114 of 214DOCUMENTS BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring May 17, 2011 Tuesday Turkmen hope to revive Afghan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project- Russian paper LENGTH: 968 words Text of report by the website of liberal Russian newspaper Vremya Novostey on 14 December [Article by Arkadiy Dubnov: "Turkmen 'Centre of the Planet'" (Vremya Novostey Online)] Turkmen 'centre of the planet' Asgabat once again announces the start of implementation of the trans-Afghan gas pipeline. An event of planetary proportions took place in one of the countries to the north of Afghanistan. It was learned that Turkmenistan, which is located there, had "acquired the high status in world policy of being the peacemaking centre of the planet in the third millennium." This was stated in the greeting directed by the president of that country, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, to the Turkmen people on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the day on which the country proclaimed its neutrality. The president, as befitting a leader of the "era of the Great Rebirth," appeals to his fellow countrymen in an epic manner: "My dear people!" Berdymukhamedov's speech writers tried to supply the text of the greeting with such "masterpieces" of style, which even the late Turkmenbashi the Great would have envied: This "glorious date his forever etched into modern history of mankind as a decisive step of global significance in international relations of Turkmenistan." Then again, we need not be surprised here. The authors of texts of "global significance" have not changed since the times of Turkmenbashi's rule, and are headed up by the eternal aide to the first and second presidents, Viktor Khramov. Turkmenbashi's name is not mentioned in a single one of the abundant lofty turns of phrase in honour of the glorious anniversary. Desacralization of the "diamond wreath of the Turkmen people" - as it was customary to refer during his life to the ruler who had met an untimely death - is slowly but surely continuing, along with the imposition of the cult of personality by his successor, the former "surgeon-general of the Turkmen court," Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. And, of course, no one in Asgabat would dare to recall that the idea of Turkmenistan's adopting the status of permanent neutrality belongs to former Minister of Foreign Affairs Boris Shikhmuradov. Sentenced to life imprisonment 8 Page 293
- 294. years ago fororganizing a so-called "attempt" on the life of Turkmenbashi, Shikhmuradov has vanished without a trace in the Turkmenistani prison system. For all these years, the Turkmenistan authorities are not telling his family anything about his fate, or whether he is alive or dead. The situation is exactly the same with the rest of those who were sentenced in the case of the "assassination attempt." And Berdymukhamedov himself, addressing his people on the occasion of the holiday, assures them without any doubt that, "embodying the love of peace, goodwill and humanism, he will bring endless happiness and joy to every family." When the British newspaper, Guardian, yesterday published an extensive list of countries whose leaders had been given an unflattering appraisal in secret dispatches of American diplomats, published by WikiLeaks, Turkmenistan occupied a notable place in it. A report sent to Washington states that "President of Turkmenistan Berdymukhamedov seems to be vain, faultfinding, vengeful [leader] who controls every step," "an experienced liar," and "not a very smart fellow." In accordance with the closed nature of the regime, "the accusations evoked practically no reaction," the Guardian concludes. This time, the celebrations in Turkmenistan on the occasion of the "day of neutrality" were rather pompous. Berdymukhamedov even refused to go to Moscow for the CIS Summit, which for him looked like an unprecedented act in recent years. But it was worth it. Numerous guests were invited to Asgabat. The main ones among them turned out to be the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Khamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari, as well as Minister of Oil and Natural Gas of the Republic of India Murli Deora. This made it possible to hold the "Turkmenistan -Afghanistan -Pakistan -India" summit, in the course of which framework and intergovernmental agreements on the "practical" start of implementation of the TAPI gas pipeline -from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India -were signed. The idea for this truly remarkable project was born back in the early 1990's, right after Turkmenistan acquired its independence. But as a result of the unending Afghan guerrilla war, as well as the differences between Asgabat during the times of Turkmenbashi and Western companies -the Argentinian Bridas and the American Unocal -the TAPI project could not be implemented. After the death of Turkmenbashi, work on this project was revitalized. A Management Committee on the Gas Pipeline Project was created, and representatives of the Asian Development Bank, which allocated funds for development of a technical-economic feasibility study of the TAPI project, were involved in the work. But, as evidenced by the signing of the aforementioned documents (which, we might add, were never publicized), the matter came to a standstill after this. As informed diplomatic sources of Vremya Novostey in Asgabat point out, the text of the agreement contains no specifics which would define such important characteristics as the determination of the formula for establishing the price on gas, selection of the contracting company and operator company for the project, and guarantees for the gas consumer countries (Pakistan, India) and for the gas transit country (Afghanistan). And without such guarantees, not one international financial institution would grant loans for financing construction of a gas pipeline that is 1,735 km in length, with a capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas and an estimated cost of 7.5 billion dollars. Source: Vremya Novostey website, Moscow, in Russian 14 Dec 10 Page 294 Turkmen hope to revive Afghan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project- Russian paper BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring May 17, 2011 Tuesday
- 295. SUBJECT: SENTENCING (88%);JAIL SENTENCING (85%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (76%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (76%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (76%); ANNIVERSARIES (74%); MILLENNIUM (70%); ASSASSINATION (70%); HISTORY (69%); PRISONS (64%) GEOGRAPHIC: TURKMENISTAN (99%); PAKISTAN (92%); INDIA (92%); AFGHANISTAN (90%) LOAD-DATE: May 17, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Transcript Copyright 2011 British Broadcasting Corporation All Rights Reserved Page 295 Turkmen hope to revive Afghan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project- Russian paper BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring May 17, 2011 Tuesday
- 296. 115 of 214DOCUMENTS The Nation (Pakistan) May 5, 2010 Wednesday ARTICLE: Money not a solution SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 1069 words By: I M Mohsin The US administration and its forces in Afghanistan are seen as blowing hot and cold, perhaps, as a part of the new strategy adopted on the advice of General David Patraeus and General Stanley McChrystal. Both the generals won laurels for their performance in Iraq, regardless of the continuous destruction that goes on in that unlucky country while the US troops prepare to pull out. After the occupation of Iraq, the US started exploiting the Shia-Sunni divide to weaken the local resistance. This worked initially for two reasons. First, Iraqi Shias, despite being in majority, were kept muffled by the cloak and dagger diplomacy of Saddam Hussain. This was also facilitated by the history whereby Sunnis had ruled the country. Second, such a status quo was also facilitated by the minority controlling the state machinery including the army. Hence, Saddam kept his hold and the US treated him with a lot of consideration when it needed him to attack the Iranian revolutionary regime which came in as the Shah fled his country. However, the Shia discontent was a known factor like the Kurdish minority in Kirkuk and around who, despite being Sunnis, had a history of having suffered persecution at the hands of Baghdad for their irredentist claims. The US planned it intelligently to induce Saddam to occupy Kuwait after its army was exhausted in the Iranian long war. Thus the dictator was misled into believing that the US was paying back for his favour of attacking Iran to punish the clerics. Actually, it is now widely believed, that this was planned by the US oil lobby which was very powerful then and has lost some of its clout due to the loss of some money; however, it remains influential as some powerful people represent it in the US. As per their planning once the Iraqi forces got to Kuwait, the move sent jitters throughout the Muslim Middle East, as Israel remains untouchable because of the US support plus its own nukes. The Saudi kingship asked for the US forces to be landed into their country to guarantee against any possible danger. So Iraq was made to submit to an arrangement which punished the dictator as well as its helpless people. It is well known how about half a million children died because of the sanctions imposed on the country. Then 9/11 appeared giving a lever to the neocons that had bizarre dreams of world domination under the cover of clichs pertaining to democracy and development in their false-flag tale named as The American Century. George Bush, Page 296
- 297. who had beenexclusively a part of the oil lobby amongst Daddy Bushes children, is now believed to have been brought in as president. It is a matter of record that he was very thick with the oil lobby and even as president he had been threatening the Taliban to oblige Enron and Unocal with award of business contracts. Bush decided that the attacks had been carried out by a conspiracy between 20 youngsters from Muslim countries who, except one, had perished in the flights which brought down the Twin Towers in New York and also damaged the Department of Defence. It is now an established fact that seven of those cited to be dead in the hijackings were alive on the next day in Saudi Arabia, which shows what was being fed by the US administration and media to its citizens who also suffered grievous losses of all kinds. Osama bin Ladin was held responsible and the Taliban were threatened with attack on their country by the US. True to their traditions, they refused to be cowed down. A coalition was worked out with Russia, the northern warlords of Afghanistan and neighbouring Central Asian countries and the attack was launched. The Taliban, though viciously outgunned and without any air force, fought courageously; however, had to quit the seat of power finding it difficult to hold on and so the country was occupied by the US forces. Subsequently, the UN-NATO forces were brought in. However, lacking the will to build-up the destroyed country in order to politically finish off the Taliban, the US disappointed the local population in a big way. In Iraq, the US used money plus awful suppression, to create a mirage of peace by using Sunnis and Shias against each other. The same thing is now being tried in Afghanistan. There are reports that the US private contractors have brought in non-Afghans, who masquerade as Afghans, and are creating difficult situations. Additionally, lot of money is being distributed among the Afghans too. Nevertheless, tremendous propaganda blitzes are trying to project that the Taliban have become divided and are terribly short of arms and ammunition. Pentagon has lately been stressing that the arrests of Taliban leaders by Pakistan has almost finished the movement. Such news can be very flattering but the people in the area know about the way the Afghans fight a foreign force. In addition, the reviled Karzai is trying to make peace with the Taliban. His overtures have recently been disapproved by the US Secretary of State Clinton. In a recent interview, she said: There would be no talks with the Taliban. Thus, a highly confused scene is being built up at home to feed the local public opinion. In Afghanistan, the US has not scored any military success worth mentioning in the last three months but propaganda has built up in Marjah, under pressure from the enemy even now, as a great breakthrough. Moreover, similar tactics are being used to create a big hullabaloo about the impending Kandahar operation projected to take place in June sometimes. Hence, the liberal distribution of money among the Afghans by the soldiers and contractors. History indicates that Iraq and Afghanistan are different countries; geographically and historically. The Taliban shot back from oblivion to make America feel concerned about its interests in the region. This was due to their capacity to fight the the foreign forces and the disgust of the local people with the corrupt government imposed on them by the US. The latters reconstruction is seen as a failure. Now, trying to bribe some tribes is being tried. Page 297 ARTICLE: Money not a solution The Nation (Pakistan) May 5, 2010 Wednesday
- 298. Afghanistans history isvery different. God has given incredible patience to the Afghans in fighting a foreign enemy although they generally lack the same in interpersonal dealings. A famous proverb about the enemy stresses: Leave the wounded snake to the ants. Money maybe a palliative but definitely not a solution. The writer is a former interior secretary. SUBJECT: MUSLIMS & ISLAM (90%); ARMIES (90%); ARMED FORCES (89%); IRAQ WAR (77%); CONTRACT AWARDS (72%); CHILDREN (64%) COMPANY: ENRON CREDITORS RECOVERY CORP (50%) INDUSTRY: SIC4911 ELECTRIC SERVICES (50%) PERSON: SADDAM HUSSEIN (71%); STANLEY A MCCHRYSTAL (58%); GEORGE W BUSH (51%) GEOGRAPHIC: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (79%) IRAQ (96%); UNITED STATES (95%); KUWAIT (92%); AFGHANISTAN (92%); IRAN (79%); ISRAEL (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); SAUDI ARABIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: May 6, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: NAT Copyright 2010 Nawaiwaqt Group of News Papers All Rights Reserved Page 298 ARTICLE: Money not a solution The Nation (Pakistan) May 5, 2010 Wednesday
- 299. 116 of 214DOCUMENTS The Business Times Singapore January 18, 2011 Tuesday Is latest pipeline just a pipe dream?; Many obstacles stand in the way of regional projects in the Indian sub-continent BYLINE: G Panicker SECTION: VIEWS AND OPINIONS; Opinion LENGTH: 1165 words TRADITIONAL rivals India and Pakistan seem to think that joint economic projects would help them get along with each other. With such a view, India and Pakistan have been discussing a strategic gas pipeline connection for almost two decades. Both countries are energy starved but the so-called 'Peace Pipeline' to feed Iranian natural gas to Pakistan and India via a 2,700 km pipeline has gone nowhere. The three nations have spent much time arguing over prices, quantity assurance, security, transit fees and so on. India and Pakistan were to get yearly supply of 11 billion cubic metres (bcm) each by 2012. But the project is in limbo. It has been effectively killed off by the US, which doesn't want Iran to be enriched in any way. Ostensibly, Washington's objections have to do with Teheran's nuclear programme, which the US claims is for military purposes. Iran denies it. Under US pressure, India vacillated. Pakistan and Iran signed a deal to push ahead. The two have reportedly approached China for help with the project. China can then get access to Iran's gas, overland or through a Pakistani port. India is caught between Iran, a traditional source of oil supplies, and the US, which has given it a civilian nuclear deal. New Delhi worries that the sanctions on Iran could affect its state companies and investment. Still India repeats the mantra of its interest in the US $7.4 billion project. Recently, attention has turned to a replacement pipeline, TAPI, an acronym representing the four participating nations - Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The four countries signed a framework intergovernmental agreement in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan's capital, last month on a US $7.6 billion project. TAPI will carry gas from the Dauletabad field and possibly from the larger Southern Yoloten-Osman gas field later. The TAPI routes Turkmen gas south through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India over 1,700 km. Work is set to start next year and end in 2015. Western troops pull out of Afghanistan in 2014. Page 299
- 300. Unlike the Iran-Pakistan-Indiapipeline (IPI), TAPI enjoys the backing of the US and the Asian Development Bank. Unocal, now part of Chevron, worked on the project in the 1990s but later abandoned it because of the US-led war in Afghanistan. The US sees TAPI as a long-term project offering benefits to the region as well as isolating Iran. The security of the pipeline passing through two troubled countries will rest with the respective nations. Its 735 km route in Afghanistan runs through the Taliban strongholds of Helmand and Kandahar. Nato says that it will keep some combat troops beyond 2014 to provide security cover. Nato's plan includes training 7,000 Afghanis and involving local communities to protect the pipeline which will be underground in some areas. In Pakistan, the pipeline will traverse 800 km through Quetta in Baluchistan, where insurgents are fighting for political autonomy, and Multan in Punjab, ending up on the Indian border town of Fazilka. Indian officials say that a consortium of national oil companies will build and operate the pipeline. But reports say that ADB favours China to build the pipeline. China operates two pipelines, one carrying Turkmenistan's gas and another, Kazakhstan's oil, and thus has the experience and the technology. Gas sale price will be settled by April. India and Pakistan will get 14 bcm of gas each year and Afghanistan five bcm. The pipeline can potentially convey future gas supplies from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. TAPI opens up another outlet for the vast amount of gas from central Asia. It may be extended to the Gwadar port in Baluchistan, to supply other parts of Asia and Europe. The deep-water port, in part, has been built with Chinese funds. The port is managed by Singapore's PSA. China has given billions of dollars in aid to help develop the South Yolotel-Osman field. The International Energy Agency, the rich world's energy think tank, expects Caspian gas production to rise from 159 bcm in 2009 to 260 bcm by 2020 and 310 bcm in 2035. The BP Statistical Review places Turkmenistan's reserves at 7.6 trillion cubic metres (tcm) in 2009 after a sharp upgrade from the previous year. Turkmenistan claims its reserves are as high as 40 tcm. TAPI is enmeshed in regional and global politics. It is yet another project to reduce Russian monopoly over former Soviet states and diminish Iran's role. The two oil producers account for 42 per cent of known gas reserves and have been the principal movers for the 11-member Gas Exporting Forum, along with Qatar. Turkmenistan is the fourth largest gas source and operates pipelines to Iran. Europe is working on several new projects to supplement the two pipelines from Russia. A Russian counter strategy envisages two new pipelines to protect its 40 per cent share of the European market, setting off a battle for gas supply. Turkmenistan is driving the TAPI deal after Russian purchases had flagged and a rift arose over gas prices. Moscow is keen to have a role in the project while opposing Turkmen plans to supply the proposed European pipeline, Nabucco. Turkmenistan has resisted Moscow's advances. Some people are sceptical that Turkmenistan has enough gas to feed all the pipelines proposed. Page 300 Is latest pipeline just a pipe dream?; Many obstacles stand in the way of regional projects in the Indian sub-continent The Business Times Singapore January 18, 2011 Tuesday
- 301. The needs ofIndia and Pakistan are growing. India may require to source abroad as much as 90 bcm of gas a year by 2020, according to global consultancy McKinsey. In theory, TAPI will build durable partnerships. It might stabilise Afghanistan, providing it with energy for industries and so create jobs. Kabul, according to some reports, will receive up to US $1.2 billion in transit fees. Pakistan will be compelled to weigh its support for militants against the project's long-term gains. A focus on economy will ease US concerns over both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Despite the political rhetoric in support of the pipeline, militants can spoil the party. Will they back a project that might weaken them? Meanwhile, increasing violence in Pakistan is worrying Washington even further. Trust and stability demand great compromises between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan wants less Indian influence in Kabul, and India wants less Pakistan support for the Taliban. Iran is a factor in the security situation of Afghanistan. It has blocked fuel supplies by tankers to Afghanistan of late. Teheran has offered to double the gas supplies to Pakistan if it backs the IPI and says that the pipeline laying from its South Pars field is almost done on the Iran side of the border. Another aspect is private sector finance needed to supplement ADB funds. Like the IPI, the TAPI project has immense potential. But it also hinges on the sub-continent's competitive politics. India is concerned about contracts for Chinese companies. So, when it comes to regional projects, experience tells us that we must wait and watch what happens next: whether any pipeline will reach India or if either - or both - the projects will run out of gas. The writer was formerly with BT's foreign desk SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (90%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (90%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (90%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (77%); INTERGOVERNMENTAL TALKS (77%); DEVELOPMENT BANKS (73%); ARMED FORCES (73%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS (72%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (72%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (71%); WAR & CONFLICT (68%); EMBARGOES & SANCTIONS (50%); TALIBAN (78%) COMPANY: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (63%) TICKER: ATB (ASX) (63%) INDUSTRY: NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (63%); SIC6081 BRANCHES & AGENCIES OF FOREIGN BANKS (63%) GEOGRAPHIC: TEHRAN, IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%); NEW DELHI, INDIA (79%) INDIA (99%); UNITED STATES (95%); AFGHANISTAN (95%); PAKISTAN (94%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (94%); TURKMENISTAN (93%); IRAN (79%); ASIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: January 17, 2011 Page 301 Is latest pipeline just a pipe dream?; Many obstacles stand in the way of regional projects in the Indian sub-continent The Business Times Singapore January 18, 2011 Tuesday
- 302. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright2011 Singapore Press Holdings Limited All Rights Reserved Page 302 Is latest pipeline just a pipe dream?; Many obstacles stand in the way of regional projects in the Indian sub-continent The Business Times Singapore January 18, 2011 Tuesday
- 303. 117 of 214DOCUMENTS The Nation (Pakistan) February 10, 2010 Wednesday ARTICLE: Afghanistan: the Helmand huff SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 1038 words By: I M Mohsin The foreign forces appear to be pursuing confusing tactics to tame the enemy. Till about two months back, Karzai was a cheat and US and its allies had to find an aggressive way-out of the Afghan quagmire. Though the US manpower losses are nominal, the history of the area proves that far more pernicious prospects lie in store than in the case of Vietnam, with all its awful baggage. As the new strategy recommended by the General staff was adopted by the Administration, there was huffing and puffing in the government circles in US etc. The Afghans heard, with mixed feelings, of new reinforcements to the US troops. Other countries have their problems in adding to their military stre-ngth. Predictably the Taliban threatened more attacks on the occupation forces, while the status quo milieu welcomed it. Pakistan questioned this development for two reasons. First, that it would lead to more bloo-dshed on both sides; the Afghan civilians, who have been subjected to indiscriminate bo-mbings would be affected more, like their brothers on the Pakistani border. Second, that as the Taliban experience disproportionate bombing etc, they will tend to seek refuge in the mountainous hideouts on our side. The AfPak border is a much worse delineation as compared with the Mexican border, which also has a poor history. At many points there is no formal boundary; a wall, pillar or check post. Till now Pakistan has no surveillance equipment worthy of mention despite having been a partner of the US war on ter-ror launched by George W. The NATO forces deployed on the other side of border should be much better equipped in principle but they also appear to have no clear policy. As tradition rules the roost, the people on either side have enjo-yed the right of passage for routine purposes, and even the British Empire put up with this anomaly handled by their political administration. Besides, the border did not matter at all when the US and Pakistan were helping these brave people to force out the Soviet forces. Millions of our Afghan brothers were accommodated in and around Peshawar, Kohat, etc to facilitate their regular contribution to the then, profusely praised/projected by the CIA, jihad. In the mid-eighties, it was awesome to see how the CIA would propagate Islamic traditions among the Muslim combatants related to the coveted status of jihad in Islam. Our interaction revealed that the Americans were being fed in this propaganda by scholars mainly from the Middle East who were doing all this in good faith. No wonder, the cold war CIA was a very professional organization Page 303
- 304. which suffered lossof status and in terms of manpower after the US became the only superpower. Following 9/11 It was given a final raw deal by the neocons following it remains a conundrum till this day despite the 9/11 Commission report and the research done by some Americans. 9/11 also remains a big question-mark for the people in Asia while the Afghans, generally, hold it to be a US trick to destroy their country. The Taliban hold it be staged to punish them for refusing to oblige UNOCAL, now merged in Chevron, which was dying to get a pipeline project from Central Asian countries through Afghanistan and Pakistan to beat the Russian efforts to capture a sellers market. The enthusiasm of our American frie-nds, including the former Ambassador to Pakistan Oakley, in trying to persuade the Taliban regime to clinch the deal was worth noticing. As the oil industry in the US is one of the dem-ons, which protects the stakes of the, generally, rich families, including the Bushes, even the Administration of Bill Clinton was making sensible gestures to bail out their oil-giant. Unfortunately, the Brazilian company, called Bridas, spoiled the show by offering a higher bid which induced the Taliban to deliberate more on this issue. As the US Presidential election 2000 came on, they waited for the results to come. Tables were turned on them as Bush won, thanks to Jeb Bush and Florida scandals overlooked by the US Supreme Court, leading to the armag-eddon in New York and subsequent massacres in Iraq and Afghanistan. The latter took up the challenge with their own timeline. Gen Mchrystal, like Gen Petraeus, is a very well-read officer. On taking over command, he rightly condemned the approach of his predecessors in Afghanistan. Insisting on winning the hearts and minds of the people by providing them viable security, no matter what is the cost, and sincere implementation of reconstruction programs to alleviate sufferings of the people who are subjected to death and destruction over the last 30 years. In pursuance of the same, he is planning to launch attacks on Helmand where, as usual, the enemy holds sway. Forces have been rushed there amid lot of fanfare despite the fact that the security situation all over the country remains murky. The Taliban, being in a defiant mood, have reacted accordingly. No wonder they are also getting ready while saying, as the Pashto proverb goes, it is better to be torn by a loin than to be loved by a jackal. The upshot of all such moves is that the local population is seriously disturbed about their security. Many are migrating to other areas to escape more suffering. Being an internally displaced person poses many challenges but the Pashtuns dislike it as a fall-out of war. So such sabre rattling by foreign troops would alienate the people even further. The above dimension also runs counter to the scheme of things formulated in the London Conference recently. While Karzai is going around trying to win over his disenchanted bro-thers, his mentors are, perhaps, unconsciously, working at a tangent. It runs counter to the spirit of Defence Secretary Gat-es recent statement accepting that the Taliban are a part of Afghan political spectrum. Helmand has been a graveyard of foreign forces. Kipling advised in 1898, When youre wounded and left on Afghanistans plains, And the women come out to cut up what remains, Jest roll to your rifle an blow out your brains An go to your Gawd like a soldier.. The British Defense Secretary Ains-worh has warned of the expected casualties! Helmand ha-rdcore heeds its horrid history! Page 304 ARTICLE: Afghanistan: the Helmand huff The Nation (Pakistan) February 10, 2010 Wednesday
- 305. The writer isa former Secretary Interior. SUBJECT: MUSLIMS & ISLAM (89%); ARMED FORCES (88%); RELIGION (84%); COLD WAR (78%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (68%); SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY (50%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (95%); PAKISTAN (94%); AFGHANISTAN (93%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); MEXICO (79%); NORTH AMERICA (79%) LOAD-DATE: February 11, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: NAT Copyright 2010 Nawaiwaqt Group of News Papers All Rights Reserved Page 305 ARTICLE: Afghanistan: the Helmand huff The Nation (Pakistan) February 10, 2010 Wednesday
- 306. 118 of 214DOCUMENTS The Nation (Pakistan) December 18, 2010 Saturday ARTICLE: Pipeline dreams and politics SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 1065 words DATELINE: By December 18 Farooq Hameed Khan The intergovernmental agreement for laying the $7.6 billion 1,700 km Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline was recently concluded in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat by the Presidents of three member countries, while India was represented by its energy minister. Under this gas pipeline framework agreement, Turkmenistan will supply around 3.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from its South Yolotan and Usman gas fields. Both Pakistan and India will each receive 1,325 million cubic feet per day of gas, while Afghanistan will receive 500 million cubic feet daily. With Pakistans gas requirement increasing annually by 10 percent, the yawning supply-demand gap and widespread civil unrest, due to consumer and commercial loadshedding, TAPI gas pipeline is considered vital to satisfy its appetite for energy. With certification and partial funding by the Asian Development Bank, the pipeline will stretch from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and onwards to Fazilka in India and is expected to commence gas flow by 2015. Negotiations between the four countries on gas price and transit tariffs will follow in the coming months. Attempts to build a pipeline through Afghanistan date back to the mid-1990s, when the US-led consortium Unocal was locked in fierce competition with Argentinas Bridas to win a deal to construct and run the route. However, after the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan, this ambitious project was shelved and remained dormant ever since. That TAPI will ever see the light of the day depends largely on sustained peace in Afghanistan, particularly in the Taliban-controlled Helmand and Kandahar regions through which the pipeline will pass. Without cooperation and support of the Afghan Taliban, TAPIs construction and uninterrupted operation represents a major security challenge with heavy reliance on deals with local Taliban warlords, following the American model of bribing them to secure a safe passage for the US/NATO forces and their goods whenever required. The Afghan government, which expects to earn millions of dollars in transit fees, has guaranteed the pipelines security through a 7,000 strong Afghan force. Page 306
- 307. While TAPIs constructionand operation promise job opportunities for the local Baloch, especially skilled technical manpower, Pakistan would also have to raise a special force for pipeline security through Balochistan. While TAPI has full support of India and US, the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project seems to be stalling. Further progress on IP remains hostage to strained Iran-US relations. The US would not only like to deprive Iran of cash benefits by selling surplus gas to Pakistan, but also deny its onward transmission to energy thirsty China through the proposed trade and energy corridor from Gwadar up north through the Karakoram to Xinjiang, Chinas autonomous eastern region. TAPI also offers bright prospects for US energy giants to secure lucrative contracts for the pipelines construction, which are impossible in the IP case, due to Washingtons sanctions on Iran. For India, the IP option was shorter, cheaper, easier to build and relatively more secure, yet it backed out of the IP agreement under USAs pressure, only to be rewarded with the civil nuclear energy deal by Washington. The IP gas pipeline, which will offer 750 million cubic feet gas daily to Pakistan, is both technically and economically feasible, but its build up into Pakistan appears to be delayed, due to the non-availability/allocation of funds or a weakening commitment of the present leadership. While Iran has declared that the 1,000 km gas pipeline infrastructure on the Iranian side was ready, the 800 km part on the Pakistan side has yet to take off. If the Chinese were to co-fund this project and security conditions in Balochistan improve, the IPC (Iran-Pakistan-China) gas pipeline could well be a reality by 2014. While Pakistans Petroleum Minister has reiterated that the IP gas pipeline project is in an advanced stage, the US has encouraged the TAPI project as an alternative to the IP. Any move by Pakistan towards delaying the IP project to appease the US would not only supplement the American efforts to isolate Iran, but would further strain Pak-Iran relations. Any attempt to abandon IP in favour of TAPI will not only be detrimental to our energy security, but may harm Chinas strategic energy related interests through Pakistan. Nevertheless, both TAPI and IP highlight Pakistans geo-strategic importance, as it provides the much needed overland energy corridor from the Middle East, Iran and Central Asia to China and India. With the energy-starved India desperate to benefit from these energy riches to sustain its rising economy, Pakistan holds the key to its access to the Central Asian energy reserves and TAPIs success in particular. That Pakistan remains under increasing US pressure to allow the Indian overland trade route through Wagha to Afghanistan /Central Asia was evident in the manner the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement was concluded in presence of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her last visit to Islamabad. This agreement, which facilitated the movement of Afghan goods to India via Wagha border check post, was perhaps the first part of the Indo-US plan in this respect. Thanks to the media and public pressure that thwarted the second part, which if agreed upon by the Pakistani government could have secured the Indian trade route to Afghanistan via Wagha. TAPI is, therefore, another significant breakthrough for Indias economic future, with Pakistan gaining no concessions from India in the process. Hopefully, Pakistan will negotiate the gas transit royalties with India from a position of strength. If only our leaders play their cards sensibly, India could well be forced to stop its interference in Khyber Page 307 ARTICLE: Pipeline dreams and politics The Nation (Pakistan) December 18, 2010 Saturday
- 308. Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistanprovinces, resolve the Kashmir and water disputes in return for the trade and energy passages to and from Central Asia. Both TAPI and IP demonstrate how energy pipelines, and regional cooperation, are vulnerable to political and strategic interests of the neighbours and international players. For Pakistan, while TAPI and IP projects must go on in parallel, the fast track development of indigenous oil and gas resources must, however, remains a national priority. The writer is a retired brigadier. SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (92%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (90%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (90%); INTERGOVERNMENTAL TALKS (90%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (89%); ENERGY DEPARTMENTS (78%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (78%); OIL & GAS PRICES (78%); DEVELOPMENT BANKS (77%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS (70%); EMBARGOES & SANCTIONS (60%); ARMED FORCES (50%) COMPANY: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (69%) ORGANIZATION: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (56%) TICKER: ATB (ASX) (69%) INDUSTRY: NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (69%); SIC6081 BRANCHES & AGENCIES OF FOREIGN BANKS (69%) GEOGRAPHIC: NORTHWEST CHINA (78%); XINJIANG, CHINA (58%) INDIA (96%); TURKMENISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (94%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (93%); AFGHANISTAN (93%); CHINA (92%); ASIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: December 20, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: NAT Copyright 2010 Nawaiwaqt Group of News Papers All Rights Reserved Page 308 ARTICLE: Pipeline dreams and politics The Nation (Pakistan) December 18, 2010 Saturday
- 309. 119 of 214DOCUMENTS Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt BYLINE: David DeGraw LENGTH: 9378 words Jun. 23, 2011 (Atlantic Free Press delivered by Newstex) -- Dont Believe The Hype: Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt by David Degraw It is a positive development that the Obama Administration is withdrawing some troops from Afghanistan. However, Obamas announcement of troop reductions is primarily a propaganda stunt. It is another perfect example of how the Obama Administration and the mainstream media manipulates public opinion and deceives the American public. Headlines throughout the media are declaring: oeObama Announces Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan and oeObama to announce return of 30,000 troops from Afghanistan by end of next year. All of this is designed to give you the impression that Obama is going to end the war, and give his re-election campaign a boast as well. As CBS News reported: oePresident Obamas [#x2dc]surge of 30,000 troops to Afghanistan announced in late 2009 was meant to be temporary, and Wednesday night the president is expected to announce that they will return home by around the time voters head to the polls to determine whether he gets another term. However, what very few in the mainstream media will even make the effort to mention is something Wired concisely explained in this new report: Never Mind The Drawdown: Taliban Talks, Not Troop Numbers, Are What Really Matter for Afghanistan oeEven if Obama decides to pull out all the 30,000 troops he ordered sent to Afghanistan in a December 2009 speech at West Point, that still wont constitute the end of the reinforcements he ordered earlier same year. Its easy to forget, but Obama sent 21,000 extra troops to Afghanistan as one of his first acts in office. Front-load the withdrawal of [#x2dc]West Point troops, and 68,000 U.S. troops will still remain. [Note: This does not take into account the dramatic increase in private mercenary deployments under the Obama Adminstration as well " see below.] There the majority of them will stay until 2014, when the Afghans are supposed to take over combat duties. But those troops are largely illiterate. Many still walk off the job, and some have taken to killing their American sponsors. The general in charge of training them thinks theyll need mentoring until 2017. Then there are negotiations with the Afghan government for long-term basing accords. The military, as weve been reporting, wants a token withdrawal this year " Page 309
- 310. maybe two brigades.Support troops, not the guys who pull triggers, would leave first. Afghanistansswarm of drones, surveillance aircraft and spy blimps would stay. So there you have it, oea token withdrawal. Yet another propaganda ploy from the psychological operations department. Whats next? Is Obama going to get tough on those oefat cat bankers again, now that they are raking in yet another round of record-breaking bonuses? Dont believe the hype people. The joke is always at our expense. You can expect a few more oemajor announcements on the imperial wars that the Obama Administration has raging throughout the world in coming months. Not only to dupe voters into re-electing Obama, but to also defuse the momentum building to the massive October 6th Afghanistan War ten-year anniversary protest in DC: oeOn Thursday, October 6, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan, we who oppose war in the United States will occupy Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, and we wont budge until U.S. troops and mercenaries are out of Afghanistan and the money now being used to keep them there is brought home to fund human needs. We know our overlords are adept at ignoring marches, demonstrations, and what few expressions of free speech we have left. This time, we wont let them. We intend to shut down business as usual and force them to listen. [read more] To keep up on Obamas deceptive propaganda, read our Obama Illusion news wire. For some much needed background, heres an extensive report I wrote on Obamas Af-Pak War policies: Af-Pak War Racket: The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing Down By David DeGraw, AmpedStatus Report Originally published by AmpedStatus.com on December 2, 2009. Report Contents: """"I: Troop Deployments """"II: The Militarized Economy """"III: Masters of War """"IV: PsyOps: Wag the Dog and Shake the Mohammed """"V: U.S. Insurgency: Violent, Strategic Dislocation Within U.S. The economic elite have escalated their attack on the U.S. public by surging military operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. As Obama announced plans for escalating the war effort, it has become clear that the Obama Illusion has taken yet another horrifying turn. Before explaining how the Af-Pak surge is a direct attack on the US public, lets peer through the illusion and look at the reality of the situation. Now that the much despised George W. Bush is out of the way and a more popular Page 310 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 311. figurehead is doingPR for Dick Cheneys right-hand military leader Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who is leading his second AF-Pak surge now, and with long time Bush family confidant Robert Gates still running the Defense Department, the masters of war have never had it so good. Barack Obama, the anti-war candidate, has proven to be a perfect decoy for the military industrial complex. Consider all the opposition and bad press Bush received when he announced the surge in Iraq. Then consider this: I: TROOP DEPLOYMENTS The Bush surge in Iraq deployed an extra 28,000 US troops. Under Obama, back in March, a surge in Afghanistan, that also further escalated operations inside Pakistan, deployed an extra 21,000 troops. However, in an unannounced and underreported move, Obama added 13,000 more troops to that surge to bring the total to 34,000 troops. Obama actually outdid Bushs surge by 6000 troops and brought the overall number of US troops in Afghanistan to 68,000, double the number there when Bush left office. Where opposition was fierce to Bushs surge, barely any opposition was expressed during Obamas surge. Part of the reason for so little political and public backlash was the cleverly orchestrated psychological operation to announce the beginning of US troop withdrawal from Iraq. While the drawdown in Iraq has been greatly exaggerated in the US mainstream media, as of October, Obama still had 124,000 troops deployed in Iraq (not counting private military contractors). When Obama casts the illusion of a 2011 withdrawal from Afghanistan, one just needs look at the reality of the situation with the over-hyped withdrawal in Iraq. Now, with Obamas latest surge announcement he will again be adding a minimum of another 30,000 US soldiers. This means that Obama has now led a bigger surge than Bush¦ on two separate occasions within the past nine months of his new administration. Obama has now escalated deployments in the Af-Pak region to 98,000 US troops. So in Af-Pak and Iraq, he will now have a total of 222,000 US troops deployed, 36,000 more than Bush ever had " 186,000 was Bushs highest total. PRIVATE MILITARY AND NATO DEPLOYMENTS The amount of private military contractors deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan is rarely reported on in the US mainstream press, but a Congressional Research Service investigation into this revealed that a record high 69% active duty soldiers are in fact private mercenaries. Although the administration is yet to disclose how many private mercenaries will be deployed in the latest surge, it is believed that the 69% ratio will remain in tact. The Pentagon released a report showing that Obama already had a total of 242,657 private contractors in action, as of June 30th. 119,706 of them in Iraq, 73,968 in Afghanistan, with 50,061 active in oeother US CENTCOM locations. Back in June, Jeremy Scahill reported on these findings: oeAccording to new statistics released by the Pentagon, with Barack Obama as commander in chief, there has been a 23% increase in the number of [#x2dc]Private Security Contractors working for the Department of Defense in Iraq in the second quarter of 2009 and a 29% increase in Afghanistan¦. Page 311 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 312. Plus, we mustmention, the immense dangers of having private military contractors as 69% of our fighting force. For those of you unaware, private military contractors are hired from all over the world. Any former soldier, from any country, is welcome to come and fight for a salary " a salary that is often significantly more than what we pay our own US soldiers. These mercenaries have a vested interest in prolonging the war, for as long as there is a war, they have a well paying job. So it is easy to infer that a significant percentage of these contractors will not have the US soldiers, or US taxpayers, best interests at heart. Obama continues to feed this out of control private army by pouring billions of taxpayer dollars into shady and scandalous companies like Blackwater, who recently changed their name to Xe Services, because they destroyed their reputation by committing numerous war crimes in Iraq. A recent investigation by Jeremy Scahill revealed the extent to which Blackwater is involved in covert operations inside Afghanistan and Pakistan. In some cases, Blackwater is not working for the US, but were hired by covert elements inside Pakistan. When it comes to private contractors, the fog of war grows ominous, exactly who is fighting for whom is unclear. The crucial factor is who paid them the most that particular day. The US military can give them $1000 today, and an enemy can give them $1000 tomorrow, when you have people who fight for a payday and not for a country, you get chaos. This leads to a breakdown in the chain of command, effectively turning a military operation into a covert intelligence operation, where youre never really sure if the person you are fighting with is on your side or not. A federal investigation by the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, revealed in June: oeMore than 240,000 contractor employees, about 80 percent of them foreign nationals, are working in Iraq and Afghanistan to support operations and projects of the U.S. military, the Department of State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Contractor employees outnumber U.S. troops in the region. While contractors provide vital services, the Commission believes their use has also entailed billions of dollars lost to waste, fraud, and abuse due to inadequate planning, poor contract drafting, limited competition, understaffed oversight functions, and other problems. Before this latest surge, there were over 123,000 US and NATO troops in the Af-Pak region, and 200,000 Afghan security forces, supporting the US effort. According to US intelligence sources the total number of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in the region was estimated to only be about 25,000, giving the US led forces a minimum of a 12 to 1 troop advantage. When you add in estimated private soldiers, you get an approximate minimum of a 17 to 1 advantage. Although Obama opened his war speech by mentioning al-Qaida as the main justification for this war, consider this AP report: oenational security adviser James Jones said last weekend that the al-Qaida presence has diminished, and he does not [#x2dc]foresee the return of the Taliban to power. He said that according to the maximum estimate, al-Qaida has fewer than 100 fighters operating in Afghanistan without any bases or ability to launch attacks on the West. Page 312 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 313. Does it seriouslytake a surge of hundreds of thousands of troops to contain what amounts to oeless than 100³ al-Qaida members? Any serious war strategist will tell you that the most effective way to combat the remains of the al-Qaida network, is through an intelligence operation, and statistics prove that escalating more troops into the region will only fuel further acts of terrorism. DRONE DEPLOYMENTS Speaking of fueling hatred toward the US, other than a huge troop increase, there has also been a sharp increase in the use of unmanned drones. The New Yorker reports: oeAccording to a just completed study by the New America Foundation, the number of drone strikes has risen dramatically since Obama became President. During his first nine and a half months in office, he has authorized as many C.I.A. aerial attacks in Pakistan as George W. Bush did in his final three years in office. The unmanned drones have caused major controversy due to the high number of civilian causalities they cause. However, as the study stated, the Obama Administration continues to increasingly rely upon them. So summing up these statistics, we have the most fierce and technologically advanced military force in history, vastly outnumbering what amounts to be a ragtag army of peasant farmers with guns, and our best option is supposed to be an increase in troop levels? Obviously, something doesnt add up. After thinking about all of this, you begin to see through the smokescreen of what this war is said to be about and get a glimpse of some of the sinister forces at play here. OVER EXTENDED TROOPS With the rise in deployments, the US military is stretched to a breaking point. Obama is oedeploying practically every available US Army brigade to war, leaving few units in reserve. As this war enters its 9th year, many soldiers are forced into deploying on their 3rd or 4th combat tours, and morale is fading fast. The past year has seen a dramatic increase in US soldier deaths, with the number of wounded drastically rising as well. 928 US soldiers have died in Afghanistan thus far, with last month being the deadliest month since the start. AP reports that oenearly four times as many troops were injured in October as a year ago. Amputations, burns, brain injuries and shrapnel wounds proliferate in Afghanistan, due mostly to crude, increasingly potent improvised bombs targeting U.S. forces¦. Since 2007, more than 70,000 service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury " more than 20,000 of them this year? US soldier suicides are also on the rise. In 2008, 197 army soldiers committed suicide. Thus far in 2009, there have been 211 army suicides. McClatchy recently reported: oeAn Army task force has found that a growing Page 313 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 314. number of soldiersserving in Afghanistan are suffering from some kind of mental stress and is urging the military to double the number of mental health professionals deployed there. The study, conducted by the Army Mental Health Advisory Team, found that soldiers morale in Afghanistan is [#x2dc]significantly lower than it was in 2005 and 2007 studies? As wounded soldiers return from Afghanistan and Iraq, they are finding a healthcare system that is increasingly more difficult and costly to get care from. In fact, 2,266 US veterans died in 2008 due to lack of healthcare, and oeresearchers also found that, in 2008, 1,461,615 veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 lacked insurance. Despite all of this, in another devastating example of how the economy is unraveling US society, military enlistment levels have reached a high. In a report by the Washington Post headlined: oeA Historic Success In Military Recruiting they reveal: oeFor the first time in more than 35 years, the U.S. military has met all of its annual recruiting goals, as hundreds of thousands of young people have enlisted despite the near-certainty that they will go to war. The Pentagon¦ said the economic downturn and rising joblessness, as well as bonuses and other factors, had led more qualified youths to enlist. The military has not seen such across-the-board successes since the all-volunteer force was established.¦ [#x2dc]We delivered beyond anything the framers of the all-volunteer force would have anticipated, Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, said at a Pentagon news conference. Overall, the Defense Department brought in 168,900 active-duty troops, or 103 percent of the goal for the fiscal year¦. What we are witnessing here with such high enlistment levels during this economic crisis has many parallels to Germany in the 1930²s. Just like the United States now, the German economy in the 1930²s was devastated by an economic crisis brought on by Wall Street. With rising unemployment and poverty, German men turned to the military for income and health benefits that their family severely needed. With over 25 million US citizens unemployed and underemployed, over 50 million with no healthcare, and over 50 million living in poverty, military service is now a last resort for a growing number of desperate Americans as well. The record-breaking enlistment numbers are expected to continue to rise as the economy continues to decline. oeSuch a perfect democracy constructs its own inconceivable foe, terrorism. Its wish is to be judged by its enemies rather than by its results. " Guy DeBord, Comments On the Society of the Spectacle, 1988 II: THE MILITARIZED ECONOMY The amount of money necessary to keep the US military machine growing has reached astonishing levels. Considering the increasing amount of troops and contractors, the White House estimates that it spends one million dollars per soldier, per year in Afghanistan, oenot including the added expense of training and maintaining a security force. According to these calculations, 30,000 troops for this latest surge will add an additional $30 billion to the annual budget, just in troop related costs. Also Page 314 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 315. consider the priceof moving fuel around, AFP reports: oeMoving soldiers and supplies across the rugged Afghan landscape costs more than in Iraq, with the military consuming 83 liters or 22 gallons of fuel per soldier per day. The Hill adds: oePentagon officials have told the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee a gallon of fuel costs the military about $400 by the time it arrives in the remote locations in Afghanistan where U.S. troops operate. Other than in Iraq and Afghanistan, you have an unprecedented number of military bases spread throughout the world. Officially there are oe900 military facilities in 46 countries and territories (the unofficial figure is far greater). The US military owns or rents 795,000 acres of land, with 26,000 buildings and structures, valued at $146bn. The bases bristle with an inventory of weapons whose worth is measured in the trillions and whose killing power could wipe out all life on earth several times over. The official figures exclude the huge build-up of troops and structures in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade, as well as secret or unacknowledged facilities in Israel, Kuwait, the Philippines and many other places. In just three years of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, £2bn was spent on military construction. There was public outcry when Bush drastically raised an already bloated military budget to record highs. But in comes the admired anti-war candidate Obama, in the middle of a severe economic crisis, and what happens? Obama drastically increased Bushs record budget to $651 billion in 2009. Yes, during a severe economic crisis, Obama actually increased Bushs budget. US military spending is higher than the rest of the world combined. The 2010 budget, which doesnt account for war-related spending yet, is already set to grow to $680 billion. However, these budget numbers are deceiving because the Obama Administration has been getting better at hiding extra spending in other budget items. The actual total 2009 budget was over $1 trillion. And much like the staggering giveaway to the economic elite in the Wall Street banker bailout, no one is really sure where a significant percentage of this money is actually going. On September 10, 2001, Donald Rumsfeld announced that $2.3 trillion in military spending was unaccounted for. As CBS News reported: oe$2.3 trillion " thats $8,000 for every man, woman and child in America. At that time, Pentagon auditors admitted that they couldnt account for a staggering 25% of all military spending. And the budget has exploded since then, with fewer people accounting for where this money is going. Once again, just like the $23.7 trillion that went into propping up the Wall Street elite " which totals $80,000 for every American " you have trillions more in taxpayer money vanishing and very few regulating and accounting for it. Other than this staggering loss of taxpayer money, any serious economist will tell you oethat military spending increases unemployment and decreases economic growth. Economists Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes, in their book oeThe Three Trillion Dollar War, report that military spending on the war in Iraq has created over a trillion dollars in loses to the US economy. On top of all the looting of taxpayer money that is occurring, oeseveral powerful House committee chairmen have proposed a surtax on Americans to pay the Page 315 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 316. future military costs. Withthe country already operating at a record $12 trillion deficit, members of congress dont know how we can afford increasing an already huge war expenditure. WEAPONS SALES In this struggling economy, weapon sales have become one of Americas most booming businesses. US weapon sales have hit a record level under the Obama administration. Foreign Policy In Focus reports: oeIn fiscal year 2008, the foreign military sales program sold $36 billion in weapons and defense articles, an increase of more than 50% over 2007. Sales for the first half of 2009 reached $27 billion, and could top out at $40 billion by the end of the year. In contrast, through the early 2000s, arms sales averaged between $8-13 billion per year¦. But last year, the United States sold arms or military services to well over 100 nations¦. ¦ the majority of U.S. arms sales to the developing world went to countries that our own State Department defined as undemocratic regimes and/or major human rights abusers. And over two-thirds of the worlds active conflicts involved weapons that had been supplied by the United States. Selling all these weapons, especially during the biggest global financial crisis, will lead to one thing¦ terrorism. Given these statistics, it shouldnt be a surprise to hear how US taxpayer dollars are still funding the Taliban. Prior to the 9/11 attacks, the Taliban government was funded by the US taxpayer. In fact, the Taliban still receives a significant portion of their funding courtesy of the US taxpayer. As The Nation recently reported: oeIt is an accepted fact of the military logistics operation in Afghanistan that the US government funds the very forces American troops are fighting. And it is a deadly irony, because these funds add up to a huge amount of money for the Taliban. [#x2dc]Its a big part of their income, one of the top Afghan government security officials told The Nation in an interview. In fact, US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10 percent of the Pentagons logistics contracts"hundreds of millions of dollars"consists of payments to insurgents. As former CIA Station Chief John Stockwell explained: oeEnemies are necessary for the wheels of the US military machine to turn. With the war in Afghanistan now entering its 9th year, senior military commanders and a growing number of experts have come to the conclusion that this war is unwinnable and will fuel terrorism. However, they all seem to be missing the point, before explaining this in more detail, let me start by referring you to a quote from a journalist who had firsthand experience operating inside a militaristic empire: oeThe war is not supposed to be winnable, it is supposed to be continuous¦ all for the hierarchy of society¦ The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labor. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too Page 316 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 317. comfortable, and hence,in the long run, too intelligent¦ it helps to preserve the special mental atmosphere that a hierarchical society needs. War¦ is now a purely internal affair. " George Orwell III: MASTERS OF WAR oeCome you masters of war You that build all the guns You that build the death planes You that hide behind walls You that hide behind desks I just want you to know, I can see through your mask? Many of the weapons manufactures and private military contractors are seen as the primary war profiteers. For an example of grotesque war profiteering, lets look at Dick Cheneys former company Halliburton. (NYSE:HAL) In a report headlined: oeU.S. War Privatization Results in Billions Lost in Fraud, Waste and Abuse, Jeremy Scahill reports on KBR (NYSE:KBR) , a Halliburton subsidiary. oeKBR has been paid nearly $32 billion since 2001. In May, April Stephenson, director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency, testified that KBR was linked to [#x2dc]the vast majority of war-zone fraud cases and a majority of the $13 billion in [#x2dc]questioned or [#x2dc]unsupported costs. According to Agency, it sent the inspector general [#x2dc]a total of 32 cases of suspected overbilling, bribery and other violations since 2004. According to the Associated Press, which obtained an early copy of the commissions report, [#x2dc]billions of dollars of the total paid to KBR [#x2dc]ended up wasted due to poorly defined work orders, inadequate oversight and contractor inefficiencies. KBR is at the center of a lethal scandal involving the electrocution deaths of more than a dozen US soldiers, allegedly as a result of faulty electrical work done by the company. The DoD paid KBR more than $80 million in bonuses for the very work that resulted in the electrocution deaths. With numerous scandals over KBR operations, Halliburton ended its relationship with the company. However, oeHalliburton reported $4 billion in operating profits in 2008, while KBR recently said its first quarter revenues in 2009 were up 27%, for a total of $3.2 billion. Its sales in 2008 were up 33%, and according to the Financial Times, the company had $1 billion in cash, no debt, and was looking for acquisitions. Beyond these blatant examples of war profiteering, there are more insidious forces at play that most people dont see. These war profiteering companies are funded by the same banks that have destroyed the US economy. Consider this example concerning Alliant Techsystems and Textron, two manufactures of cluster bombs, the controversial civilian killing WMDs.The Guardian reported: oeThe deadly trade in cluster bombs is funded by the worlds biggest banks who have loaned or arranged finance worth $20bn to firms producing the controversial weapons, despite growing international efforts to ban them¦ Goldman Sachs, the US bank which made £3.19bn profit in just three months, earned $588.82m for bank services and lent $250m to Alliant Techsystems and Textron¦ Page 317 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 318. Last December 90countries, including the UK, committed themselves to banning cluster bombs by next year. But the US was not one of them. So far 23 countries have ratified the convention. Before going into further detail on how these banks make a lions share of war profits, lets look back at the origins of these wars. GEO-STRATEGIC OIL OPERATIONS With all due respect to people who have been force-fed Pentagon propaganda by the US mainstream media, any serious observer of the Iraq and Af-Pak wars knows that these are geo-strategic conflicts based on controlling the worlds oil supply. Anyone in the oenews media who tells you otherwise is either unaware of what is actually going on, or is a well-paid propagandist working for the very people who profit off of them. ORIGINS OF THE IRAQ OCCUPATION: CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE As an AlterNet report put it: oeIn January 2000, 10 days into President George W. Bushs first term, representatives of the largest oil and energy companies joined the new administration to form the Cheney Energy Task Force. Secret Task Force documents that were dated March 2001, which were obtained by Judical Watch in 2003 after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, contained oea map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as two charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects? They also had: ?? a series of lists titled [#x2dc]Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts[#x2dc] naming more than 60 companies from some 30 countries with contracts in various stages of negotiation. None of contracts were with American nor major British companies, and none could take effect while the U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iraq remained in place. Three countries held the largest contracts: China, Russia and France " all members of the Security Council and all in a position to advocate for the end of sanctions. Were Saddam to remain in power and the sanctions to be removed, these contracts would take effect, and the U.S. and its closest ally would be shut out of Iraqs great oil bonanza. Project Censored highlighted a Judicial Watch report that stated: oeDocumented plans of occupation and exploitation predating September 11 confirm heightened suspicion that U.S. policy is driven by the dictates of the energy industry. According to Judicial Watch President, Tom Fitton, [#x2dc]These documents show the importance of the Energy Task Force and why its operations should be open to the public. ORIGINS OF THE AFGHANISTAN OCCUPATION: oeSTRATEGY OF THE SILK ROUTE Up until 9/11, oil companies, with the help of the Bush administration, were desperately trying to work out a deal with the Taliban to build an oil pipeline through Afghanistan. One of the worlds richest oil fields is on the eastern shore of the Caspian sea just north of Afghanistan. The Caspian oil reserves are of top strategic importance in the quest to control the earths remaining oil supply. The US government developed a policy called oeThe Strategy of the Silk Route. The policy was designed to lock out Russia, China and Iran from the oil in this region. This called for U.S. corporations to construct an oil pipeline running Page 318 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 319. through Afghanistan. Sincethe mid 1990s, a consortium of U.S. companies led by Unocal have been pursing this goal. A feasibility study of the Central Asian pipeline project was performed by Enron. Their study concluded that as long as the country was split among fighting warlords the pipeline could not be built. Stability was necessary for the $4.5 billion project and the U.S. believed that the Taliban would impose the necessary order. The U.S. State Department and Pakistans ISI, impressed by the Taliban movement to cut a pipeline deal, agreed to funnel arms and funding to the Taliban in their war for control of Afghanistan. oeUntil 1999 U.S. taxpayers paid the entire annual salary of every single Taliban government official. The U.S., Saudi and Pakistan intelligence alliance that created the terrorist financing bank BCCI reunited to facilitate the rise of the Taliban. BCCI was a US intelligence bank, which served as the financing arm for the creation of the al-Qaida network. BCCI was involved in many covert operations throughout the 80²s and early 90²s. They played a pivotal role in arming Saddam in Iraq, the Iran-Contra scandal, the Iran hostage crisis, even selling drugs through Manuel Noriega and other top drug dealers. BCCI gave nuclear weapons to Pakistan, which led to North Korea and Iran obtaining pivotal nuclear secrets as well. BCCI was also a driving force behind the Savings and Loan scandals that were a precursor to our current economic crisis. Focusing on the creation of the Taliban, lets read an excerpt from a 2003 book, oeModern Jihad: Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks, by Loretta Napoleoni: oeThe alliance between American capitalism and Islamist fundamentalism is not limited to the creation of the Taliban; it also produced business ventures designed to extract favours from the new regime. To strengthen its bargaining power with the newly formed Islamist state, Unocal joined the Saudi Delta Oil Corporation to create a consortium called CentGas. Delta Oil is owned by the bin Mahfouz and al-Amoudi families [pivotal BCCI players], Saudi clans which have strong links with Osama bin Ladens family¦. Mahfouz has been sponsoring charitable institutions used as fronts for bin Ladens associates through the National Commercial Bank, which his family controls¦. Naturally, as soon as George W. Bush was elected president, Unocal and [UKs] BP-Amoco¦ started once again to lobby the administration, among whom were several of their former employees. Unocal knew that Bush was ready to back them and resumed the consortium negotiations. In January 2001, it began discussions with the Taliban, backed by members of the Bush administration among whom was Under Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who had previously worked as a lobbyist for Unocal. The Taliban, for their part, employed as their PR officer in the US Laila Helms, niece of Richard Helms, former director of the CIA and former US ambassador to Iran. In March 2001, Helms succeeded in bringing Rahmatullah Hashami, Mullah Omars adviser, to Washington¦. As late as August 2001, meetings were held in Pakistan to discuss the pipeline business¦. While negotiations were underway, the US was secretly making plans to invade Afghanistan. The Bush administration and its oil sponsors were losing patience with the Taliban; they wanted to get the Central Asian gas pipeline going as soon as possible. The [#x2dc]strategy of the Silk Route had been resumed¦. Page 319 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 320. Paradoxically, 11 Septemberprovided Washington with a casus belli to invade Afghanistan and establish a pro American government in the country. When, a few weeks after the attack, the leaders of the two Pakistani Islamist parties negotiated with Mullah Omar and bin Laden for the latters extradition to Pakistan to stand trial for the 11 September attacks, the US refused the offer¦. In November 2001¦ Hamid Karzai was elected [Afghanistans] prime minister¦ Yet very few people remember that during the 1990s Karzai was involved in negotiations with the Taliban regime for the construction of a Central Asian gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through western Afghanistan to Pakistan. At that time he was a top adviser and lobbyist for Unocal¦ during the anti-Soviet jihad, Karzai was a member of the Mujahedin. In the early 1990s, thanks to his excellent contacts with the ISI, he moved to the US where he cooperated with the CIA and the ISI in supporting the Talibans political adventure. So it is not all that surprising to see recent reports revealing that Hamid Karzais drug kingpin brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, is also on the CIA payroll. With this, a new Senate investigation just revealed evidence that Donald Rumsfeld made a conscious strategic decision to let Bin Laden escape. AFP reports: oeOsama bin Laden was within the grasp of US forces in late 2001 and could have been caught if then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld hadnt rejected calls for reinforcements, a hard-hitting US Senate report says¦. It points the finger directly at Rumsfeld for turning down requests for reinforcements as Bin Laden was trapped in caves and tunnels in a mountainous section of eastern Afghanistan known as Tora Bora. [#x2dc]The vast array of American military power, from sniper teams to the most mobile divisions of the marine corps and the army, was kept on the sidelines, the report said. So now that we see how these wars are driven by oil, lets look at how the oil industry is benefiting from them. Since the invasion, the industry has experienced record profits across the board, setting new profit records quarter after quarter, year after year, as these wars rage on. IRAQI OIL DEALS With Exxon and Shell just signing new oil contracts in Iraq, its obvious why there are still over 100,000 troops in Iraq. In a Daily Mirror report headlined, oeOil Billions and Weapons of Mass Deception In Iraq, they report on the new oil deals: oeExxon-Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell won the development rights of a massive oil field " West Qurna near Basra in Iraqs south. The two oil giants hope to boost daily production from the current 300,000 barrels to 2.3 million barrels a day at West Qurna, which the ousted and hanged Iraqi President Saddam Hussein wanted to give to a Russian oil company. Last month, British Petroleum (BP) and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) won a contract to develop another oil field. The invitation to China to join the plunder of Iraq is probably a payoff by the US so that this Asian economic powerhouse and rising military power would not rock the pirates boat. Page 320 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 321. Lets look backover the years since the start of the War on Terror, heres a 2005 MSNBC report: oeBy just about any measure, the past three years have produced one of the biggest cash gushers in the oil industrys history. Since January of 2002, the price of crude has tripled, leaving oil producers awash in profits. During that period, the top 10 major public oil companies have sold some $1.5 trillion worth of crude, pocketing profits of more than $125 billion. oeThis is the mother of all booms, said Oppenheimer & Co. oil analyst Fadel Gheit. oeThey have so much profit, its almost an embarrassment of riches. They dont know what to do with it. So an oil field that was profitable with oil selling for $20 a barrel is much more profitable with oil trading around $60¦. Since January 2002, stocks of major oil companies have gained 88 percent; during that period the Standard and Poors 500 index has gained less than half as much. Oil producers have also given investors a raise by gradually increasing the dividends paid out to shareholders. Heres a 2007 Public Citizen report summing up oil company wartime profits: oeSince George Bush became President in 2001, the top five oil companies in the United States have recorded profits of $464 billion through the first quarter of 2007: ExxonMobil: $158.5 billion Shell: $108.5 billion BP: $89.2 billion ChevronTexaco: $60.9 billion ConocoPhillips: $46.9 billion In Febuary 2008, CNN reported: oeExxon shatters profit records Oil giant makes corporate history by booking $11.7 billion in quarterly profit; earns $1,300 a second in 2007. Exxon Mobil made history on Friday by reporting the highest quarterly and annual profits ever for a U.S. company, boosted in large part by soaring crude prices. Exxon, the worlds largest publicly traded oil company, said fourth-quarter net income rose 14% to $11.66 billion, or $2.13 per share. The company earned $10.25 billion, or $1.76 per share, in the year-ago period. The profit topped Exxons previous quarterly record of $10.7 billion, set in the fourth quarter of 2005, which also was an all-time high for a U.S. corporation. In January 2009, during a severe economic crisis, the Washington Post reported: oeExxon Mobil finished a roller-coaster year in the oil markets with an all-time record $45.2 billion in profits¦ Page 321 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 322. The worlds mostfar-flung oil giant broke its own record for corporate profits in a year that saw oil prices climb to $147 a barrel in July¦ Exxon Mobil still beat analysts expectations by registering $7.82 billion in profits, or $1.55 a share, for the final quarter of the year. Exxon Mobil and Chevrons revenue combined for 2008 exceeded the gross domestic product of all but 16 of the worlds nations, according to Bloomberg. Royal Dutch Shell, Europes largest oil firm¦ posted a $26.3 billion profit for the year. Once again, beyond these blatant examples of war profiteering, there are more insidious forces at play that most people dont see. When you take a closer look at the oil profits, you see the true driver and ultimate beneficiary of these profits are none other than the same people who benefited the most from the stock market collapse and the ensuing $23.7 trillion taxpayer oebailout. As the Washington Post reported, the huge oil profit margins were the result of the soaring price of a barrel of oil, reaching oe$147 a barrel in July. The InterContinental Exchange (ICE) In 2000, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and several oil companies oefounded the InterContinental Exchange (ICE)¦. ICE is an online commodities and futures marketplace. It is outside the US and operates free from the constraints of US laws. The exchange was set up to facilitate [#x2dc]dark pool trading in the commodities markets. A Congressional investigation into this exchange found that these companies were fraudulently inflating the price of oil by executing oeround-trip trades where one company would sell shares in oil to another company who would then sell the shares right back. This would drive the price of oil to however high they wanted it to go to. oeNo commodity ever changes hands. But when done on an exchange, these transactions send a price signal to the market and they artificially boost revenue for the company. This is nothing more than a massive fraud, pure and simple. So when oil was selling at $147 a barrel, the actual worth was most likely closer to half that price. Phils Stock World summed up the situation: oeHow widespread are round-trip trades? The Congressional Research Service looked at trading patterns in the energy sector and this is what they reported: This pattern of trading suggests a market environment in which a significant volume of fictitious trading could have taken place. Yet since most of the trading is unregulated by the Government, we have only a slim idea of the illusion being perpetrated in the energy sector. DMS Energy, when investigated by Congress, admitted that 80 percent of its trades in 2001 were round-trip trades. That means 80 percent of all of their trades that year were bogus trades where no commodity changed hands, and yet the balance sheets reflect added revenue¦ ¦the InterContinental Exchange; that is, the online, nonregulated, nonaudited, nonoversight for manipulation and fraud entity run by banks in this country¦. Under investigation, a lawyer for J.P. Morgan Chase admitted the bank engineered a series of round-trip trades with Enron¦. Page 322 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 323. ICE¦ turned commoditytrading into a speculative casino game where pricing was notional and contracts could be sold by people who never produced a thing, to people who didnt need the things that were not produced. And in just 5 years after commencing operations, Goldman Sachs and their partners managed to TRIPLE the price of commodities. Goldman Sachs Commodity Index funds accounted for $60Bn out of $100Bn of all formula-managed funds in 2007 and investors in the GSCI lost 15% in 2006 while Goldman had a record year. John Dizard, of the Financial Times calls this process [#x2dc]date rape by Goldman Sachs¦ It is not surprising that a commodity scam would be the cornerstone of Goldman Sachs strategy. CEO Lloyd Blankfein, rose to the top through Goldmans commodity trading arm J Aron, starting his career at J Aron before Goldman Sachs bought them over 25 years ago. With his colleague Gary Cohn, Blankfein oversaw the key energy trading portfolio. According to Chris Cook: [#x2dc]It appears clear that BP and Goldman Sachs have been working collaboratively " at least at a strategic level " for maybe 15 years now. Their trading strategy has evolved over time as the global market has developed and become ever more financialised. Moreover, they have been well placed to steer the development of the key global energy market trading platform, and the legal and regulatory framework within which it operates¦. Before ICE, the average American family spent 7% of their income on food and fuel. Last year, that number topped 20%. Thats 13% of the incomes of every man, woman and child in the United States of America, over $1Tn EVERY SINGLE YEAR, stolen through market manipulation. On a global scale, that number is over $4Tn per year " 80 Madoffs! Why is there no outrage, why are there no investigations. Well the answer is the same " $4Tn per year buys you a lot of political clout, it pays to have politicians all over the world look the other way while GS and their merry men rob from the poor and give to the rich on such a vast scale that its hard to grasp the damage they have done and continue to do to the global economy. The congressional investigation into ICE concluded that they couldnt do anything about it because the exchange was set up offshore. How convenient! So here we can see, that behind almost all of our societal problems and suffering, you have this small elite group profiting on destruction and misery at record highs. When Gold Sachs CEO Llyod Blankfien says that he is doing oeGods work, one has to wonder, who is the God he is praying to? Famed two-time Congressional Medal of Honor recipient US Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler accurately summed up the situation when he said: oeI spent 33 years in the Marines, most of my time being a high-class muscle man for big business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for Capitalism¦. The general public shoulders the bill. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones, Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations. Page 323 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 324. WHAT IT ALLCOMES DOWN TO¦ In the global economy, the economic elite dont need the US public anymore. When you see Obama taking trips to meet with the leader of China, and having his first official White House State Dinner in honor of the Prime Minster of India, you should know that the elite have moved on. There are billions of people in just these two countries that they believe can do all the work we do for much less pay. It is a race to the bottom, and we are considered obsolete to technocratic leaders who think it is better to hire cheaper workers in foreign lands. As the US continues to collapse, the technocrats have already moved on to the next country to rape and pillage. The economic elite dont have a home country, to them the entire globe is theirs, and the majority of the US can collapse into poverty for all they care, and thats exactly what they want to happen. The US working class is the biggest threat to them and they want us eliminated. As the IMF would say, there has been a structural adjustment program in place, and the US working class is obsolete. When you understand this, you can understand how the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are wars against the US public. Wars that weaken and drain the US working class of vital resources and social safety nets. In the overall picture, the technocratic elite see everyone as a number on a spreadsheet. To them you are what your economic net worth says you are. Considering this perspective, most in the US public have much more in common with an Afghanistan farmer than the billionaires on Wall Street. And the billionaires have put us in the same category as those in Afghanistan. To them it really doesnt matter if its an American life ended or an Afghani life ended in the war, as long as the profits keep coming in¦ they can care less. Common sense and statistics demonstrate that the more troops you send into war, the higher the causality count will be, and the more costs will rise, leading, of course, to higher profits. So as the Obama illusion and the motives behind this war become exposed, and the massive theft by the economic elite becomes known to a critical mass, the elite are ramping up their psychological operations on the US public by turning up their mainstream media distraction machine. PSYOPS: WAG THE DOG AND SHAKE THE MOHAMMED With the healthcare debate losing steam, and the people starting to understand that the final bill will do little to create much needed change, and as oehealth care reform is exposed as another gift to insurance company executives, and as unemployment rates remain high, theEconomic Death Squad vitally needs some new distractions. Never mind the criminals on Wall Street: Its time to¦ Wag the Dog and Shake the Mohammed By Wag the Dog, I am of course referring to the old political trick of distracting public consciousness away from a crisis by starting, or in this case drastically escalating, a war. Dont worry about the $23.7 trillion of public wealth that was given to Wall Page 324 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 325. Street as areward for destroying the economy, we are at war and its time for you to support our troops. Ah, yes, another racket to pile up more of the economic poor. Barack W. Obama, once again, bows to¦ the elite¦ and serves up yet another gift by sending more US citizens to the Af-Pak region. 50 million US citizens are already living in dire straights, so whats the big deal if you just throw another 220,000 US lives onto the fire, not to mention the millions of Afghani, Pakistani and Iraqi lives. But a war in a distant land just isnt enough, is it? American public opinion has long been saturated in the distraction of war, and given the severity of the economic crisis, the elite policy makers figured another surge in Eurasia just wouldnt be enough of a distraction. So the psychological operations PR department has decided to also Shake the Muhammad. Yes, bring the 9/11 oemastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, back to the scene of the crime and create a New York media frenzy. Now thats a distraction! Not only will it cause a media frenzy, it will also reaffirm public opinion in the war effort¦ win, win! I dont know about you, but as someone who grew up a New Yorker and spent the last five years of my life living three blocks from Ground Zero, I have to say, take your psychological operations to a different location. You are going to have the oe9/11 mastermind in a courtroom right around the corner from the biggest terrorists of all¦ Wall Street. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Llyod Blankfien, Jamie Dimon and John Mack are all going to be in one place, at the same time! We will have the oe9/11 mastermind, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley all in the same zip code¦ HELLO! Can you say here comes the next Timothy McVeigh? Yes, the USA¦ is an insane asylum! So just Wag the Dog and Shake the Mohammed. U.S. Insurgency: Violent, Strategic Dislocation Within U.S. Will there be a violent insurgency within the US? As a growing number of American lives are directly negatively impacted, media propaganda operations will lose their ability to confuse and distract. Studies of societal breakdowns prove that having such a large population experiencing severe and prolonged economic decline will result in violent outbrakes. Other than the 50 million US civilians living in dire straights, what will happen as thousands of bitter soldiers and US intelligence agents " who have given their lives to these wars, only to return home to find an economy in ruins and a healthcare system that has thrown them overboard " begin to make these connections and understand that a small group of men on Wall Street are at the root of their suffering? Well, some former military and intelligence agents, including a growing number Page 325 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 326. of current servingmembers, have already made this connection, and they are organizing, training and strategizing tactical operations. They are factions inside a quickly growing " heavily armed "militia movement that now numbers over 200 active cells, within the US. The mainstream press gives some passing attention to the fringe factions that make threats against Obama, but the more experienced soldiers understand that he is just a figurehead and they have connected all these dots and have come to the conclusion that this war is actually a war to create profits for the economic elite at the expense of the US public. Llyod Blankfein, Jamie Dimon and John Mack can arm themselves and hire all the security they can get, but will it actually keep them safe when you have a population of millions living in dire straights as a direct result of their actions? At this point, even their own security members may be conspiring against them. The Obama illusion is fading fast. Every time you see through it, you get a glimpse of them. The Economic Death Squad is exposed under the bright light of inspection and investigation. Take a look at many of the major problems facing us today, as a country and as a species, and then you will understand that these problems exist because the economic elite are profiting off of them. Obama is just their mask, an illusion to pacify the masses. The economic crisis and the wars have now shattered this illusion " it has come crashing down¦ upon us. It has become clear that an opinion has emerged among a growing segment of the United States population: If the government will keep pouring money into banks and war, and wont stop the theft of US taxpayer money by holding accountable those responsible for it, WE MUST. And the question that arises after that: Can it be done non-violently? I certainly hope it can. However, this growing segment of the population uses strong rhetoric and is prepared to take up arms. With over 200 active militia cells, who are equipped with weapons, training and strategizing, the government must take swift action to rein in the economic elite. Otherwise, we are heading to war, not in a distant foreign land, within the US. The economic elite are well aware of the threat of a violent uprising within US borders. US Army documents have revealed that strategic plans are already formed for this situation. Chris Hedges explains: oeThe military must be prepared, the document warned, for a [#x2dc]violent, strategic dislocation inside the United States, which could be provoked by [#x2dc]unforeseen economic collapse, [#x2dc]purposeful domestic resistance, [#x2dc]pervasive public health emergencies or [#x2dc]loss of functioning political and legal order. The [#x2dc]widespread civil violence, the document Page 326 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 327. said, [#x2dc]would forcethe defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security. [#x2dc]An American government and defense establishment lulled into complacency by a long-secure domestic order would be forced to rapidly divest some or most external security commitments in order to address rapidly expanding human insecurity at home, it went on. ?? this might include use of military force against hostile groups inside the United States. Further, DoD [the Department of Defense] would be, by necessity, an essential enabling hub for the continuity of political authority in a multi-state or nationwide civil conflict or disturbance, the document read. In plain English¦ this translates into the imposition of martial law and a de facto government being run out of the Department of Defense. They are considering it. So should you. We could have a situation where the government deploys private soldiers, mostly foreign nationals, on US soil to fight against US citizens. Blackwater and DynCorp already had active duty soldiers deployed within the US when Hurricane Katrina hit. In New Orleans, they were essentially a foreign occupying force. LOSS OF FAITH IN POLITICAL PROCESS In response to the report, oeThe Critical Unraveling of US Society, readers primarily critiqued the part in which we call on readers to engage their representatives. An irate majority of the responses have consistently stated that they have repeatedly contacted their representative through multiple forms of communication, and no action was taken. A growing segment of the US population has now lost all faith in our government and they are on the verge of taking violent action. Personally, I believe that non-violent action is a much more strategic and effective move. We are 99% of the population, and the enemy is less than 1%. We are a sleeping giant; they are a small group of clueless greed-addicted people who desperately cling to the Administration, Treasury, Fed and a few other firms like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. If we can take action on a mass non-violent scale, the rule of law and economic justice can be obtained. In our nations history, the stakes have never been higher. If we cannot organize a mass movement to non-violently oppose outright theft, then violence will ultimately tear our nation apart. The question on my mind: Can we swiftly mobilize such a heavily propagandized population to take mass non-violent action? A growing population does not believe we can do so, and is on the verge of launching a heavily armed insurgency. So in the months ahead, while they are Wagging the Dog and Shaking the Mohammed, the US public vitally needs to understand that the stakes have never been higher. Page 327 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 328. And the clockis ticking . . . Newstex ID: ATFR-5311-105619414 SUBJECT: US PRESIDENTS (90%); ARMED FORCES (89%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (88%); INFORMATION WARFARE (78%); TALIBAN (77%); ELECTIONS (73%); VOTERS & VOTING (73%); WAR & CONFLICT (72%); STRIKES (65%); SURVEILLANCE & RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT (63%); MILITARY SURVEILLANCE (63%); SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY (60%) COMPANY: HALLIBURTON CO; KBR INC. TICKER: HAL (NYSE); KBR (NYSE) PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (95%) GEOGRAPHIC: AFGHANISTAN (95%); UNITED STATES (93%) LOAD-DATE: June 24, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2011 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2011 Pacific Free Press Page 328 Obamas Af-Pak Troop Withdrawal Is A Propaganda Stunt Pacific Free Press June 23, 2011 Thursday 3:59 PM EST
- 329. 120 of 214DOCUMENTS Kabulpress.org April 11, 2010 Pakistan: In search of a strategic death LENGTH: 1216 words An Afghan journalist explores the new great game in Central Asia between the U.S., NATO Iran, Iraq, the Taliban, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Pakistan and India. The Inuit of the Arctic had a clever technique for hunting wolves. They would plant a bloody knife in the snow. Lured by the smell of blood, the wolves would approach the knife and lick the blade, cutting their tongues. Without realizing that they were drinking their own blood, wolves would continue licking until they had bled to An Afghan journalist explores the new great game in Central Asia between the U.S., NATO Iran, Iraq, the Taliban, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Pakistan and India. The Inuit of the Arctic had a clever technique for hunting wolves. They would plant a bloody knife in the snow. Lured by the smell of blood, the wolves would approach the knife and lick the blade, cutting their tongues. Without realizing that they were drinking their own blood, wolves would continue licking until they had bled to death. Back in 1980s, the Pakistani military adopted a doctrine of strategic depth. This doctrine is proving to be a hunter's knife for Pakistan. The doctrine implies that Pakistan needs Afghanistan as backyard beyond India's reach. The Afghan-India nexus dominating the military's mind is evident from a recent interaction General Kayani had with media recently. On February 1, he told foreign correspondents: '"We want Afghanistan to be our strategic depth'. In two days time, he was telling Pakistani journalists: 'I am India-centric.' It is in search of strategic depth that the Pakistan military, post-September 11, has been hunting with the American hound and running with Taliban hare. Definitely not an easy position. That Pakistan's military establishment has not given up Jihadi assets is evident from media reports. Woe unto the missing Saudi billionaire! He disturbed the order the Pakistani military had established in the region. No matter with what horrible Page 329
- 330. consequesnces for themasses. When the 'communist' era came to an end in Afghanistan, warring Mujahideen pillaged Kabul in their bid to outdo each other for the control of government. Gulbadin Hikmatyar was Pakistan's favourite horse in this race. When he proved futile, Pakistan saddled the Taliban as its second horse. Back in 1997, objective conditions favored the Pakistan-sponsored Taliban's seizure of Kabul. It remains the Pakistani military's sole victory on an external front. A disinterested USA welcomed the Taliban's arrival in Kabul. The New York Times wrote that, the 'State Department was touting the Taliban as the group that might finally bring stability'. A US diplomat, Jon Holtzman, was advised to visit Kabul. That trip, however was cancelled after the media kerfuffle about women rights. Still $125 million were granted in aid to the Taliban. The State Department maintained a secret correspondence with Taliban regime. At the time, the media were replete with rumors regarding US-backing for the Taliban. Unlike the anti-US image the Taliban have cultivated in recent years, they were also pretty cozy with infidel Uncle Sam. The US rationale for Taliban support was not merely an over-publicized gas pipeline project that Unocal wanted to pursue. The Clinton Administration, it was rumored, had Iran in mind when welcoming Taliban. Whether these rumors were true or not, the Taliban's second major sponsor, Riyadh, definitely wanted to contain Iran through staunchly anti-Shia Taliban. Thus, all three infamous partners, the Pakistani Army, America, and Allah (represented here by Riyadh) were united in seeking, by default, cherished strategic depth. Equally important was the turmoil in Russia and Central Asian Republics (CARs). Following the Soviet dissolution, new regimes in Russia and CARs were struggling to consolidate. Most importantly, Afghans were desperate for peace after years of brutal infighting among Mujahideen gangs. Hoping against hope, many Afghans pinned their hopes on the Taliban, even if it meant sacrificing civil liberties. Fifteen years on, the odds are stubbornly going against Taliban. The USA is not merely on the other side of the fence, it in fact is guarding (no matter how unsuccessfully) the fence. Saudi royals, one of them personally humiliated by Mullah Omar on the question of Osama's expulsion, would find it imprudent to annoy Washington by patronizing Taliban. Regimes in CARs and Russia, dealing with their own Islamic militancy, would not sit idle in the face of a Taliban take-over of Kabul. Pakistan's all-weather friend China, facing the Uighur uprising, has publicly expressed her disapproval of the Taliban. Most importantly, a big majority of Afghans, particularly non-Pashtuns, who constitute almost 55 percent of the population, and lived through the Taliban nightmare are not ready to experience it again. Though Pakistan's pro-Taliban media have pretty successfully painted the Taliban as popular peace-harbingers (in the 1990s) and as a popular liberation force (2001 onwards) the Afghan perception of Taliban is different. Opinion polls find the Taliban's popularity below ten percent. Hence, a Taliban march on Kabul, by proxy providing strategic depth to Pakistan, may not be resisted so much by the USA, Iran, India, China, CARs, and Russia but very stridently by most Afghans. However, despite lacking a mass social base, the Taliban have the advantage of Page 330 Pakistan: In search of a strategic death Kabulpress.org April 11, 2010
- 331. an unceasing supplyof fanatics ready to explode themselves on Afghan streets en route paradise. This factor has shattered early US hopes of a steady occupation in a strategically important country neighboring Iran, gas-rich Central Asia while China is just a stone's throw away. Meantime, the Obama administration is not the only one to stake its political future on Afghanistan. The Afghan war is a good war (essential to nip terror in its Afghan bud) hence it is a good tool to keep NATO united. NATO fell apart in the case of Iraq. Afghanistan provided Washington with the opportunity to discipline European satraps (world leaders or governors who are heavily influenced by larger world superpowers and act as their surrogates-ed.). Hence, to tranquillize the Taliban uproar, Washington has resorted to a multi-pronged policy. An Iraq-style surge (over thirty thousand more troops to Kabul). An aggressive drone-bombing policy to force Islamabad (read Pakistani military) into giving up its dual policy on the Taliban. Also, by droning Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan,----particularly targeting leadership----the US wishes to weaken the Taliban. The Fallujah-style military offensive in Marja, is an attempt to demoralize the Taliban. All this is aimed at bringing a weak Taliban (and Pakistani patrons) to the negotiating table. Caught between the hammer of the 'war on terror' and anvil of 'strategic depth,' Pakistan, instead of reaching strategic depth, will embrace a strategic death. Every time the Pakistani military hunts the Taliban, there is a boomerang suicidal attack. According to a think tank, in 2009:"If the casualties in terrorist attacks, operational attacks by the security forces and their clashes with the militants, inter-tribal clashes and the cross-border attacks of the US and Nato forces in Fata are counted, the overall casualties amount to 12,632 people dead and 12,815 injured." SUBJECT: JOURNALISM (89%); WAR & CONFLICT (73%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (73%); ARMED FORCES (67%); WEALTHY PEOPLE (62%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (94%) AFGHANISTAN (96%); INDIA (95%); UNITED STATES (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); ARCTIC (93%); ASIA (93%); SAUDI ARABIA (93%); IRAN (93%); IRAQ (93%); CHINA (93%); CENTRAL ASIA (93%) LOAD-DATE: April 11, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Publication JOURNAL-CODE: 230 Copyright 2010 Kabulpress.org. All Rights Reserved Syndigate.info, Al Bawaba.com Page 331 Pakistan: In search of a strategic death Kabulpress.org April 11, 2010
- 332. 121 of 214DOCUMENTS Phil's Stock World December 8, 2009 Tuesday 3:10 AM EST Climate, Oil, War, and Money BYLINE: ilene LENGTH: 1321 words Dec. 8, 2009 (Phil's Stock World delivered by Newstex) -- James Kunstler writes on climate-gate as another distraction on the way to societal collapse. - Ilene Climate, Oil, War, and Money Courtesy of James Howard Kunstler Against a greater welter and flow of incoherence jerking the nation this way and that way en route to collapse comes "ClimateGate," the latest excuse for screaming knuckleheads to defend what has already been lost. It is also yet another distraction from the emergency agenda that the United States faces - namely the urgent re-scaling, re-localizing, and de-globalizing of our daily activities. What seems to be at stake for the knuckleheads is their identity, their idea of what it means to be an American, which boils down to being an organism so specially blessed and entitled that it is excused from paying attention to reality. There were no doubt plenty of counterparts among the Mayans when the weather changed and their crops failed, and certainly the Romans had their share of identity psychotics who doubted reality even when Alaric the Visigoth was hoisting off their household treasure. Reality doesnt care if we are on-board with its mandates or not. The human race has to get with whatever program reality is serving up at a particular time. Are we shocked to learn that scientists fight among themselves and cheat as much as congressmen? Does that really change the relationships we understand about parts-per-million of carbon dioxide in the earths atmosphere and the weather? What the people of the world can do or will do about a change in climate is something else. My guess is that the undertow of entropy is now too great to provoke any meaningful unified change in behavior. The collapse of the US economy is too close to the horizon, and the so-called developing nations will have problems equally severe. In the meantime, it is unlikely that any of the major players will burn less coal and oil, or not cheat on each other even if they pledge to burn less. People who are not knuckleheads will make the practical arrangements that they can. These will, by definition, be localized, Page 332
- 333. small-scale, and non-globalcommunities, doing what they would have to do anyway. A parallel identity mania afflicts those who have decided that the Bakken shale oil deposits and the Marcellus gas play will allow the USA to cancel any modifications to our living arrangements. This cohort of knuckleheads wants to believe the public relations of the oil and gas industry, and in particular the bankers who are arranging the financing for these ventures. The facts are irrelevant to their identity-claims (that the USA has limitless energy resources). In fact, the Bakken shale formation is unlikely to produce more than a few hundred thousand barrels of oil a day in a nation used to burning about twenty million. A few hundred thousand might mean a lot if were only used to light kerosene lamps, but it is unlikely to keep the faithful motoring off to WalMart and Walt Disney (NYSE:DCQ) World (NYSE:DIS) - which is the exact expectation of the knuckleheads. Shale gas is a similar story. It will be too expensive to get out of the tight rock at a flow that will allow business as usual to continue. It certainly wont be produced at under $10 a unit, and the nations comprehensive bankruptcy accelerates every day, making it less likely that the public can pay premium prices within the framework of our current living arrangements. Who the hell really knows what were up to in Afghanistan. President Obama tried to present a coherent explanation last week but, frankly, it all just seemed an exercise in futility - and reminded me of those countless wealth-sapping expeditions the Roman army made to the frontiers of their own empire during the period of collapse. Paul Craig Roberts, the former Reagan treasury official turned fierce critic of bail-out economics, said on a podcast last week, that he thought our adventure there was about protecting a Unocal oil company pipeline from Turkmenistan. Sorry, Paul. I cant buy that. Like, were going to post soldiers every two hundred yards across some of the most forbidding terrain in world? And keep them posted there, and provisioned¦ forever? I dont think so. One pet theory of mine about the Af-stan adventure is that we wanted to make a baloney sandwich out of Iran by posting armies on both sides of them, with Iraq and Af-stan as the Wonder Bread. All I can say about that is that it doesnt seem to have affected Iran much during the past six years, or modified or influenced their behavior favorably. Or perhaps it just allows us to stand close by to Pakistan, in case the Islamic maniacs get their mitts on central power there - and by extension, on a bagful of nukes. Its a lot less easy to believe that we have any prospects for really domesticating and/or democratizing Af-stan itself. And even if we do manage to suppress the Taliban for a few years, are we prepared to continue the mission¦ forever? As soon as were out of there, the Afghanis are back to tribal business-as-usual. So why not just bail while the bailing is good? Make like the Russians and the Brits before them and cut our losses? Is our prestige at stake? And by extension our identity as world-savers? I suppose this leads to larger questions of a.) the stability of Islamic Central Asia in general, and b.) the capabilities and intentions of the maniacs within it who would like inflict punishment on us Western crusader types. One popular theory, of course, is that they only feel that way because of our intrusions in the Islamic Ummah; that they would back off and mind their own Page 333 Climate, Oil, War, and Money Phil's Stock World December 8, 2009 Tuesday 3:10 AM EST
- 334. business if wewould just quit sending our knights over there. I have no idea if this is true, though one would suppose there is a certain inertia in play that would keep their animosities at work for a long time to come, not to mention the millions of under-employed young men who seek to work off their testosterone by blowing things up. One thing you can state pretty categorically about the Af-stan war: it sure is a good way to blow an additional one trillion dollars worth of capital - that is, money we lend to ourselves, which leads to the next link-in-the-chain: the destiny of our national finances. If a clerk at H and R Block sat down for an hour with Uncle Sam, hed surely be reaching for the Pepto-Bismol after five minutes. Weve been able to play games with ourselves for a whole year about the true state of our capital resources. It is a mighty big system, kept chugging along on little more than inertia, as things will when they are headed downhill and gravity exerts its influence. But it begins to seem now like a great reeking freight train of toxic waste out-of-control on the downgrade and headed for a very nasty smash-up. The Green Shoots crowd - a sub-category of identity maniacs, who think the USA is immune to the laws of history and physics - has made common cause with the oil and climate knuckleheads to proclaim that we are returning to normal, back to the "consumer" orgy, the suburban sprawl nexus of McHousing and miracle mortgages, and new frontiers of corporate profit-raking. They are tragically wrong. Instead, were headed into the wildest king-hell debt workout that the world has ever seen, which will propel a lot of people used to working in air-conditioned cubicles into a world made by hand. We march day by day into the great holiday season with mortgages going unpaid and the credit cards getting cancelled and money disappearing and the fears and grievances mounting. Pretty soon, the folks doing "Gods work" at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) (and their tribal kin on Wall Street) will announce their annual bonuses (because they are publicly-held companies, which have to do so). Wont that be a galvanizing moment for us all? Newstex ID: PHIL-0001-40303998 SUBJECT: RELIGION (93%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (90%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (89%); CLIMATE CHANGE (78%); ECONOMIC CRISIS (77%); GLOBALIZATION (74%); ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES (73%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (71%); EMERGING MARKETS (67%) Uncategorized; Asia; GeoCodes; environmental issues; economy; business and finance; religion and belief; weather; North America; Global; United States; energy use and policy; Iran; Pakistan; Iraq; Turkmenistan; Afghanistan; energy and resources; islam; global change; United States of America; Middle East; energy resources; oil and gas; Islamic politics; banking and law COMPANY: WALT DISNEY CO; WALT DISNEY CO; GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC TICKER: DIS (NYSE); DCQ (NYSE); GS (NYSE) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (96%); NORTH AMERICA (79%); IRAQ (79%); PAKISTAN (79%); IRAN (79%); TURKMENISTAN (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); AFGHANISTAN (79%); ASIA (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%) LOAD-DATE: December 8, 2009 Page 334 Climate, Oil, War, and Money Phil's Stock World December 8, 2009 Tuesday 3:10 AM EST
- 335. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: Theviews expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2009 Phil's Stock World Page 335 Climate, Oil, War, and Money Phil's Stock World December 8, 2009 Tuesday 3:10 AM EST
- 336. 123 of 214DOCUMENTS Rupee News February 21, 2010 Sunday 9:30 PM EST End the war in Afghanistan: Just get out! BYLINE: aliphbay@aol.com (Rupee News) LENGTH: 1084 words Feb. 21, 2010 (Rupee News delivered by Newstex) -- Perhaps, there was once a time when most westerners could pretend that the US-led onslaught against the Afghan people was a good thing. Perhaps they convinced themselves that because the government of that country had allowed Osama Bin Laden to live in the mountains there that there was reason enough to attack his neighbors and destroy what remained of their nation. Perhaps, too, westerners (especially US citizens) believed that the true purpose of the US-led military mission in Afghanistan was to capture Bin Laden and destroy his terror network. Yes, perhaps there was a time when the facade of justice and righteous revenge provided enough of a moral veneer to the US war in Afghanistan that even intelligent westerners could live with the death and destruction occurring in their name. However, that time is long past. The war has gone on for more than eight years without any sign of cessation. Indeed, since Barack Obama took up residence in the White House, the casualties in that war have spiked. There are at least 40,000 more US troops in the country since that date last January and another thirty or forty thousand more getting ready to go there. In addition, the number of mercenaries has similarly increased. The reasons provided for this escalation range from going after terrorists to creating a civil society. As I write, another offensive against Afghans is being prepared. It primary purpose is to install a governor appointed by the US-created government in Kabul. No matter what the reason, it is painfully clear that those of us expecting a truthful explanation for Washingtons presence in Afghanistan will not receive it from those who continue to send troops and weaponry over there. Nor will they receive it from those in Congress that continue to fund this lethal endeavor. Yet, the antiwar movement"which should know better"remains virtually silent. A day of bi coastal demonstrations is planned for March 20, 2010, but otherwise there is not even a whisper of protest. Students go to classes while their generational cohorts in uniform face the prospect of death and killing. Antiwar organizations send out the occasional email or call for action, but there is no action. Congressmen and women ignore the letters and faxes constituents send them asking that they refuse to vote for the next war-funding legislation. Furthermore, these legislators refuse to make the connection between the destruction of the US economy and the trillion dollars spent to kill Afghans and Page 336
- 337. Iraqis the pasteight years. The media rarely covers the war except to promote the glory of the men and women sent to do Americas dirty work. There is no critical debate in the mainstream media. Opponents of Washingtons imperial program"rarely acknowledged in the mainstream media at any time"are now completely ignored. Into this dismal void steps a crucial and accessible text by David Wildman and Phyllis Bennis titled Ending the US War in Afghanistan: A Primer. As up-to-date as a printed text could possibly be, this pocket-sized book is an unambiguous call to end the US-led war in Afghanistan. Written in a question and answer format, the authors cover the recent history of US involvement in that country from the late 1970s arming of the fundamentalist holy warriors in Washingtons proxy war against the Soviet Union to the recent faux elections in Fall 2009. The geopolitical meaning of Afghanistan in Washingtons strategy for empire is explained and so is the role of Unocal and pipelines. The writers challenge the myth that Washingtons occupation and war have made life better for the majority of Afghanistans female population. In fact, they challenge the assumption that this was ever even a goal of Washington when the war was begun. The recent much-ballyhooed switch from a counterterrorism strategy to a counterinsurgency approach is discussed and dissected. The Pentagons plans to provide humanitarian aid is described in all of its deception. The supposed division of budgeted funds into eighty per cent reconstruction and twenty per cent military is shown to be a fraud. The authors write that after all is said and done, the percentages look more like this: 90-95% military and 5-10% actually going to reconstruction. Even then much of the reconstruction is military in nature. The idea that an occupying army that continues to bomb villages, kick in the doors of peoples homes, and arrest their sons and husbands will ever win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people is soundly rejected in these pages. Furthermore, it is the authors contention that there will never be real progress toward a genuine peace in Afghanistan until the US and other members of the International Security Armed Force (ISAF) withdraw their forces. Those interested in organizing to end this war (and the occupation of Iraq) should pay special attention to the final forty pages of Ending the US War in Afghanistan: A Primer. These pages are where the shortcomings of the antiwar movement are discussed. Primary amongst these failings was the anti-Bush focus of the antiwar movement of 2002-2008. Another false move was the assumption by way too many of those who protested Bushs war that the Empires policy would change under Barack Obama. Bennis and Wildman write that the dynamics between the antiwar forces and the current administration might be slightly different, which could increase the movements ability to affect policy. Of course, we will never know this unless we create a movement that is as larger or larger than the aforementioned one. Perhaps the key phrase in this section is this: oethe moment Congress perceives that the political cost of funding the war has risen above the (political) cost of ending the war, they will do what has become politically expedient"and cutting the war funding will become an urgent political necessity.? To make this happen is a huge task, but it is the one we must undertake. Once Again, Get the Hell Out! Ending the War in Afghanistan By RON JACOBS Ron Jacobs is author of The Way the Wind Blew: a history of the Weather Underground, which is just republished by Verso. Jacobs essay on Big Bill Broonzy is featured in CounterPunchs collection on music, art and sex, Serpents Page 337 End the war in Afghanistan: Just get out! Rupee News February 21, 2010 Sunday 9:30 PM EST
- 338. in the Garden.His first novel, Short Order Frame Up, is published by Mainstay Press. He can be reached at: rjacobs3625@charter.net Filed under: , , , , Newstex ID: RPNW-5065-42246364 SUBJECT: TERRORISM (93%); WAR & CONFLICT (91%); MILITARY OPERATIONS (90%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (90%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (90%); LEGISLATORS (89%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (89%); POLITICS (84%); COUNTERTERRORISM (77%); ARMED FORCES (75%); RIOTS (74%); LAW ENFORCEMENT (74%); LEGISLATION (72%); PROTESTS & DEMONSTRATIONS (65%); GOVERNORS (64%); AL-QAEDA (77%) Current Affairs; Pak CA; Politics; US Int Rel.; US Poli; ISAF; Asia; unrest; conflicts and war; GeoCodes; crime; law and justice; disaster and accident; politics; Afghanistan; Iraq; Global; civil unrest; armed conflict; war; terrorism; man-made disaster; law enforcement; crime; national legislature; Middle East; rebellions and revolutions; terrorist attack; anti-terror; terrorism; lower house PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (55%); OSAMA BIN LADEN (91%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) AFGHANISTAN (96%); UNITED STATES (96%); IRAQ (92%); ASIA (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%) LOAD-DATE: February 22, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2010 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2010 Rupee News Page 338 End the war in Afghanistan: Just get out! Rupee News February 21, 2010 Sunday 9:30 PM EST
- 339. 124 of 214DOCUMENTS The Nation (Pakistan) August 5, 2009 Wednesday ARTICLE: Afghanistan: for winning the war SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 1153 words By I.M. Mohsin Predictably July ended up as the worst month in the eight-year old campaign for the foreign forces. As the US forces have spread out after the surge, their vulnerability also grew. Moreover it indicates intense planning by the Taliban to agonise the enemy. In addition, they also seized one marine from Paktika. Regardless of their own losses, they appear to be sending out a message to all. First, that 'occupation' can't succeed as they are bound to defy the same. Second, the coming elections would be a 'fraud' which would offer old wine in new bottles. They have already launched a propaganda campaign urging Afghans to stay away from casting of votes. As such their mission is well-defined and it seems to enjoy the whole-hearted backing of their ilk as per the local traditions. The Centcom's new strategy appears, so far, to rest on four elements. First, to try to inflate the 'boots on the ground'. Petraeus also wants the number of Afghan forces to go up. Second, the attitude of the US forces etc should become friendly so that they can guard vast swaths of territory to frustrate Taliban operations. This would offer an opportunity to the soldiers to adopt a new approach by maintaining a warm interaction with the locals to win them goodwill. Third, this would also lead to consistent combat operations against the enemy instead of the firefights utilised by the forces so far. Apparently the US forces, being in small numbers, used to resort to indiscriminate use of air-power against the enemy. This always led to the scandalous killings of innocent civilians including women/children which provoked condemnation, even from Karzai. No wonder, many people joined the Taliban over the years to avenge the killing of their kith and kin. Fourth, to damage the Taliban' sources of funding. Of late, there has been a lot of hubbub in US and EU about the new strategy in Afghanistan, perhaps, due to the heaviest losses suffered in July while the start of August shows the worrying trend continuing. As United Kingdom scaled down its operation, Miliband had to use political pep-talk to justify such a drastic change. However, new charades are being, generally, floated by politicians to soften the blow to the 'war-effort'. UK now wants the Afghans to take over the responsibility of killing the 'bad Taliban'. As a corollary, 'good Taliban' should be approached and offered a sop of power. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of France repeated the same logic in an interview/Monday with Le Figaro. Such tactics advocated by Karzai/Pakistan earlier on are now being perceived to be the best way out. Richard Holbrooke Page 339
- 340. also repeated thismantra last week. An AP report indicates that Secretary Hillary Clinton has also supported Miliband's view. While such political stunts adorn the major capitals of the world, the situation on the ground is getting worse for the US forces deployed in vulnerable areas. As regards the Afghans, generally, they appear to live by their own proverb: "One hits him on the head, another on the ankle" for the last 30 years particularly. True to their tradition and history, they are not deterred. US forces are reported to have banned the cultivation of opium. This has been done as the Taliban, like the Northern warlords were making a lot of money and goodwill in the Pashtun areas by providing security and services to the growers on a big scale. As the Taliban had themselves successfully suppressed such cultivation due to relevant Islamic injunction, the change appears to be the outcome of the 'duty' to fight against the 'foreign forces'. However, an AP report indicates that the ban is irregular and the Pashtun strongholds remain immune. It is a catch-22 condition for the US. If it tries to enforce the ban uniformly, it may need a colossal force which would multiply their losses in a big way for two reasons. First, the Afghans are living, generally, on below poverty-line and opium trade appears to be their insurance against starvation. No wonder the World Bank also has been advising against imposing a ban to forestall a human disaster. Second, the political fallout of such a step would be difficult to handle as all starving Afghans could then join the ranks of Taliban. For Global Research, the new strategy in Afghanistan under General McChrystal is more of the 1970 escalation of Vietnam War whereby the Pentagon stretched the on-going war to Cambodia. Over the last few months, it is involving Pakistan physically as well as through the blame-game. The US has also brought in the top NATO military commander, James Staviridis as No 2 in Kabul who has, allegedly, a controversial past a la Columbia. Apparently Obama's surge may look like some serious fumble in Vietnam. However, we must not forget that while the Vietnamese defended their country in a historic way, Afghanistan is no Vietnam. History, geography and traditions make the Afghans unique when it comes to fighting an 'occupation'. The Afghan does not forget the wrong done to him. He is bound to avenge the same, as and when possible, unlike the Vietnamese unless a negotiated settlement is reached. In addition, the US can't 'nuke' them, as suggested by some loonies, since it would involve Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan and even India. Moreover Afghanistan forms the gateway to the Vast Central Asian/Caspian Energy Resources which the likes of UNOCAL were trying to reach in 1997 and even later. reports that Secretary Gates had a secret meeting with top commanders on Sunday in Brussels which included those in Kabul. Apparently the upswing of military casualties is hurting. It is also reported that Obama, generally, approves of UK's above initiative at long last. The Afghans and Pakistanis, generally, feel that botched up policies and disregard for the local culture, prompted by design or default, has put the US in a hole. Prof Stanikzai of the Kabul University stresses: "The West when it toppled the Taliban, mistook the Taliban defeat for its elimination. It was a big mistake." Likewise Mariam from France's CISR asserts: "The US strategy in Afghanistan cannot work, it is too late." As if this was not enough, Ahmed Rashid via BBC has observed that a chink is growing in Pak-US relations due to negative innuendoes from the latter' officials about the former. Page 340 ARTICLE: Afghanistan: for winning the war The Nation (Pakistan) August 5, 2009 Wednesday
- 341. Obama is notGeorge W. Given his statesmanlike solemnity, he would realise that US has permanent interests in the 'AfPak' region which would preclude decamping like in Saigon. It can't even desert the area like it did after the collapse of the Soviet Union under Daddy Bush nor can it maintain 'occupation'. Bruce Riedel considers a Pak-US relationship of "constancy and consistency" indispensable wherein aid is not "the product of temper tantrums on Capitol Hill." He even wants a fair solution of Kashmir so that Pakistan can concentrate consciously on the Western borders. The writer is a former interior secretary SUBJECT: MILITARY OPERATIONS (90%); TRENDS (78%); ELECTIONS (78%); NEW ISSUES (75%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (73%); ARMED FORCES (71%); INTERVIEWS (60%) PERSON: BERNARD KOUCHNER (51%); RICHARD HOLBROOKE (50%); HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (50%) GEOGRAPHIC: AFGHANISTAN (95%); UNITED STATES (94%); UNITED KINGDOM (92%); PAKISTAN (79%) LOAD-DATE: August 26, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: NAT Copyright 2009 Nawaiwaqt Group of News Papers All Rights Reserved Page 341 ARTICLE: Afghanistan: for winning the war The Nation (Pakistan) August 5, 2009 Wednesday
- 342. 125 of 214DOCUMENTS BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring May 21, 2010 Friday Pakistan author says Taleban cashing in on resentment against US in Afghanistan LENGTH: 1082 words Text of article by I. M. Mohsin headlined "Afghanistan: the nasty north" published by Pakistani newspaper The Nation website on 20 May So far the main headache for the foreign forces has been the 'insurgency' in the Pashtun areas of the south. Hence, a COIN strategy was devised by the General Staff and adopted only after its approval by the President. This resulted in a surge of forces. as against all kinds of advice and suggestions ranging from Ambassador Karl Eikenberry to Mikhail Gorbachev. If history of the country was any guide this would be tantamount to putting your good money with bad money, which seldom works in the field of economics. However, for some reason known to the US, a military operation was launched in Marjah, a small town in Helm-and Province, with a force of 15,000 troops, mostly US but some Afghan too. As usual the media went abuzz projecting the Operation Moshtarik, which is the biggest joint venture between the foreign troops and their Afghan counterparts during the Afghan war. As it always happens in a war between a very powerful force and a ragtag entity, but one with a commitment to a cause, howsoever debatable, the Taleban launched daring attacks against their enemy for about two months. But later they reduced their attention to the operation in Marjah. The foreign troops started telling the media that they had scored a great victory against their enemy, which may have sold in the US. Soon the Taleban went on upping the ante in other provinces and they also made sure that Marjah would not look like an abandoned cause. The result is that even now it stays a bad bet for the US forces which feel, somewhat, comfortable by the liberal distribution of goodwill money among the local people. The northern Afghanistan, unlike in the south, had sided with the US coalition since 9/11. As the Taleban were an authoritarian regime, they wanted to bring everything under their control ignoring even ethnic divisions which have always played a role in the Afghan history. Moreover, the Afghan culture of autonomy could not tolerate micro-management from Kabul. That is why the institution of warlords prevailed more often than not, as it does most ferociously under Karzai. A school of thought believes that in defying the Taleban, Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Tajik Commander and the 'Lion of Panjshir' against the Soviet onslaught of 80's, was planning to seek the creation of greater Tajikistan with alleged Page 342
- 343. Russian help, perhapsout of disgust with his fellow Afghans. Once he was killed in early September 2001 in a bombing-incident planned by the Taleban, the other leaders still holding out in the north had no option but to join the invading forces. A lot of evidence is now emerging about the role of the powerful US oil lobby in the attacks on Afghanistan following 9/11. As Enron and UNOCAL had invested billions in ventures whose success depended on the passage of a pipeline through Afghanistan to Pakistan and onwards through India, the Taleban trying a tough bargain angered the 'lobby'. As George Bush and many of the neocon stalwarts were obliged to support the lobby due to their inherent commonality of interest, the American policy got reduced to "you are either with us or against us." What happened is recent history. According to one estimate, the US used the aerial bombing atrociously although their enemy had no air force, which cost America 2bn dollars initially. The Taleban, despite being only a ragtag militia, kept up the honourable Afghan tradition and fought valiantly. However, seeing no openings they retreated to the mountains, which again was like history repeating itself in the new century. The north remained fully involved with the US and the concerned warlords took their pound of flesh from the US, which needed their help to keep their acolyte in Kabul going. In addition to getting all kinds of benefits from the status quo, they started trading in heroin by growing large tracts of opium. This was more than a goldmine, as it met the demand in the US and Russia for the drugs. As was natural, the Pashtuns in the south, who have far bigger cultivable area, followed suit to benefit from the bounty offered by drug trade; more so, after the threat of a famine appeared on the horizon in 2004/5 to stave off starvation. Seeing a breakthrough becoming available, the Taleban started offering security to the local cultivators so that their business flourished to everybody's benefit, as the chances of any other kind of employment had become virtually non-existent under Karzai's set up. Soon the drug traders felt obliged to pay a part of their earnings to the Taleban for their services and support to the southern drug enterprise. Helped by such shared interest, the Taleban re-emerged on the scene to challenge the foreign forces. Apparently, their appeal also increased due to the incidents involving civilians, who were treated as "collateral damage" by the foreign troops, which provoked even more anger among the Afghans. No wonder, the Taleban started getting stronger and also swelled in the south. As the promised reconstruction failed to take off, a reaction started against the US forces even in the north. This was aggravated by the most unfortunate incidents of the killing of civilians out of fear or miscalculations. Kunduz experienced the most harrowing of such incidents when an oil tanker trying to cross a small river got stuck in the mud and the area was deliberately bombed by the US and NATO forces. This ended up with the killing of 150 people and wounding of twice that number. Two more similar incidents turned the tide in the north. The Taleban cashed in on such resentment and now the north is becoming a real sore point like the south. Lately, a commander of the NATO forces advocated that an operation, like the one projected for Kandahar in June, should also be held in the north. This is seen Page 343 Pakistan author says Taleban cashing in on resentment against US in Afghanistan BBC Monitoring South Asia - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring May 21, 2010 Friday
- 344. as a mustto stem the tide of attacks which is going up. If that is so, the supply line for foreign troops, which was considered safe, would also be blocked like the one in the south. Moreover, the Kyrgyzstan crisis could create more bottlenecks in the airlift of troops. The US must do some hard thinking or follow Karzai's approach despite the outbursts of Hillary Clinton, which were also matched by similar expressions from her guest from Kabul. Only the US's advantage of asymmetrical power may not work. It's Afghanistan! Source: The Nation website, Islamabad, in English 20 May 10 SUBJECT: ARMED FORCES (90%); MILITARY OPERATIONS (90%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (77%); WAR & CONFLICT (77%); JOINT VENTURES (53%); TALIBAN (90%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) AFGHANISTAN (96%); UNITED STATES (94%); PAKISTAN (92%); TAJIKISTAN (92%); RUSSIA (79%); ASIA (79%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (79%) LOAD-DATE: May 21, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Transcript Copyright 2010 British Broadcasting Corporation All Rights Reserved Page 344 Pakistan author says Taleban cashing in on resentment against US in Afghanistan BBC Monitoring South Asia - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring May 21, 2010 Friday
- 345. 126 of 214DOCUMENTS The Nation (Pakistan) May 19, 2010 Wednesday ARTICLE: Afghanistan: the nasty north SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 1055 words DATELINE: _ May 19 By By: I M Mohsin So far the main headache for the foreign forces has been the insurgency in the Pashtun areas of the south. Hence, a COIN strategy was devised by the General Staff and adopted only after its approval by the President. This resulted in a surge of forces. as against all kinds of advice and suggestions ranging from Ambassador Karl Eikenberry to Mikhail Gorbachev. If history of the country was any guide this would be tantamount to putting your good money with bad money, which seldom works in the field of economics. However, for some reason known to the US, a military operation was launched in Marjah, a small town in Helm-and Province, with a force of 15,000 troops, mostly US but some Afghan too. As usual the media went abuzz projecting the Operation Moshtarik, which is the biggest joint venture between the foreign troops and their Afghan counterparts during the Afghan war. As it always happens in a war between a very powerful force and a ragtag entity, but one with a commitment to a cause, howsoever debatable, the Taliban launched daring attacks against their enemy for about two months. But later they reduced their attention to the operation in Marjah. The foreign troops started telling the media that they had scored a great victory against their enemy, which may have sold in the US. Soon the Taliban went on upping the ante in other provinces and they also made sure that Marjah would not look like an abandoned cause. The result is that even now it stays a bad bet for the US forces which feel, somewhat, comfortable by the liberal distribution of goodwill money among the local people. The northern Afghanistan, unlike in the south, had sided with the US coalition since 9/11. As the Taliban were an authoritarian regime, they wanted to bring everything under their control ignoring even ethnic divisions which have always played a role in the Afghan history. Moreover, the Afghan culture of autonomy could not tolerate micro-management from Kabul. That is why the institution of warlords prevailed more often than not, as it does most ferociously under Karzai. A school of thought believes that in defying the Taliban, Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Tajik Commander and the Lion of Panjshir against the Soviet onslaught of 80s, was planning to seek the creation of greater Tajikistan with alleged Page 345
- 346. Russian help, perhapsout of disgust with his fellow Afghans. Once he was killed in early September 2001 in a bombing-incident planned by the Taliban, the other leaders still holding out in the north had no option but to join the invading forces. A lot of evidence is now emerging about the role of the powerful US oil lobby in the attacks on Afghanistan following 9/11. As Enron and UNOCAL had invested billions in ventures whose success depended on the passage of a pipeline through Afghanistan to Pakistan and onwards through India, the Taliban trying a tough bargain angered the lobby. As George Bush and many of the neocon stalwarts were obliged to support the lobby due to their inherent commonality of interest, the American policy got reduced to you are either with us or against us. What happened is recent history. According to one estimate, the US used the aerial bombing atrociously although their enemy had no air force, which cost America $2 billion initially. The Taliban, despite being only a ragtag militia, kept up the honourable Afghan tradition and fought valiantly. However, seeing no openings they retreated to the mountains, which again was like history repeating itself in the new century. The north remained fully involved with the US and the concerned warlords took their pound of flesh from the US, which needed their help to keep their acolyte in Kabul going. In addition to getting all kinds of benefits from the status quo, they started trading in heroin by growing large tracts of opium. This was more than a goldmine, as it met the demand in the US and Russia for the drugs. As was natural, the Pashtuns in the south, who have far bigger cultivable area, followed suit to benefit from the bounty offered by drug trade; more so, after the threat of a famine appeared on the horizon in 2004/5 to stave off starvation. Seeing a breakthrough becoming available, the Taliban started offering security to the local cultivators so that their business flourished to everybodys benefit, as the chances of any other kind of employment had become virtually non-existent under Karzais set up. Soon the drug traders felt obliged to pay a part of their earnings to the Taliban for their services and support to the southern drug enterprise. Helped by such shared interest, the Taliban re-emerged on the scene to challenge the foreign forces. Apparently, their appeal also increased due to the incidents involving civilians, who were treated as collateral damage by the foreign troops, which provoked even more anger among the Afghans. No wonder, the Taliban started getting stronger and also swelled in the south. As the promised reconstruction failed to take off, a reaction started against the US forces even in the north. This was aggravated by the most unfortunate incidents of the killing of civilians out of fear or miscalculations. Kunduz experienced the most harrowing of such incidents when an oil tanker trying to cross a small river got stuck in the mud and the area was deliberately bombed by the US and NATO forces. This ended up with the killing of 150 people and wounding of twice that number. Two more similar incidents turned the tide in the north. The Taliban cashed in on such resentment and now the north is becoming a real sore point like the south. Lately, a commander of the NATO forces advocated that an operation, like the one projected for Kandahar in June, should also be held in the north. This is seen Page 346 ARTICLE: Afghanistan: the nasty north The Nation (Pakistan) May 19, 2010 Wednesday
- 347. as a mustto stem the tide of attacks which is going up. If that is so, the supply line for foreign troops, which was considered safe, would also be blocked like the one in the south. Moreover, the Kyrgyzstan crisis could create more bottlenecks in the airlift of troops. The US must do some hard thinking or follow Karzais approach despite the outbursts of Hillary Clinton, which were also matched by similar expressions from her guest from Kabul. Only the USAs advantage of asymmetrical power may not work. Its Afghanistan! The writer is a former interior secretary. SUBJECT: REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (90%); ARMED FORCES (90%); WAR & CONFLICT (90%); MILITARY OPERATIONS (90%); JOINT VENTURES (68%) COMPANY: ENRON CREDITORS RECOVERY CORP (50%) INDUSTRY: SIC4911 ELECTRIC SERVICES (50%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) AFGHANISTAN (96%); UNITED STATES (94%); TAJIKISTAN (92%); PAKISTAN (79%); RUSSIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: May 21, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: NAT Copyright 2010 Nawaiwaqt Group of News Papers All Rights Reserved Page 347 ARTICLE: Afghanistan: the nasty north The Nation (Pakistan) May 19, 2010 Wednesday
- 348. 127 of 214DOCUMENTS Rupee News November 12, 2009 Thursday 4:22 PM EST [#x2dc]A donkey with a new saddle: What they say in Kabul BYLINE: aliphbay@aol.com (Rupee News) LENGTH: 1162 words Nov. 12, 2009 (Rupee News delivered by Newstex) -- President Barack Obama has concluded his deliberations about the vital subject. Last week witnessed the ticklish toll among foreign troops while eight Afghans working with the US forces were killed al a NATO air strike. Recently, a tragedy struck Hood Fort in Texas. Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an American Muslim and a psychiatrist, opened fire on his comrades killing 13 and wounding 29 before getting shot. President Obama, while expressing his outrage at the sad demise of troopers, counselled patience so that facts are brought out. In the same vein, the Muslim community in the US also condemned such a grisly incident, which bedevilled the prevailing gloom in the US and the world over. In Pakistan, serious loss of life is becoming a daily affair. Undoubtedly, the start of the military operation against South Waziristan blew it. While the army has made great progress, the situation remains awfully confused. A perception prevails here that Pakistan and the US are not operating on the same wavelength. Reportedly the army seized arms and ammunition of US/Indian origin and the ISPR has been hesitant to disclose the same. Such a complex set of insights or ground realities appear to be rather demoralising for the Pakistani people, more so, in the worst hit areas of NWFP that bear the brunt of the bizarre blitz. They are suffering from regular bombings, suicidal or otherwise, but their sacrifices appear to be billed against nobody except the spectre of [#x2dc]terrorism. In places like Peshawar or DIK, the relief infrastructure is so poor that the people have to, generally, carry their own dying patients at their own risk and cost. This does not bode well for the coalition, as losing public support can spell a cataclysm in this sensitive area. Except for one or two ministers, the rich representatives " because no poor person passes political criteria for issuance of tickets " hesitate even going for offering fateha. However, the Frontier society is traditional and it stands by their country, despite poor governance. Why cant the US build makeshift hospital facilities to alleviate the sufferings of these people, as our [#x2dc]disaster-relief appears to be [#x2dc]busy? Why cant the federal communications minister, who is the son of a late dear friend of mine and belongs to a respectable family of Peshawar, put his foot down to provide immediate rescue outposts for his constituents? We definitely want answers, but that is not going to happen. Page 348
- 349. Next in WashingtonDC, President Obama faces a gigantic challenge. The administration seems to be split over General Stanley McChrystals request for more troops. While the army commanders are taken in by the Iraq experience, discretion demands distinct foresight. Moreover, the British media are crying hoarse that going by history, the war is not winnable despite the hectic efforts of Gordon Brown to promote other course. In addition, the European Union too is sceptical about the nature of the NATO commitment to the ongoing war regardless of the over-enthusiasm of Secretary General Anders Fogh Rassmussen. No wonder its leaders, generally, keep blowing hot and cold to put paper over cracks without practically raising their stakes. As most of the major countries were colonial powers while Germany suffered a catastrophe in search of her share of the same under Hitler, their experience also dictates their [#x2dc]to be or not to be policy in Afghanistan. General McChrystals new strategy lays the right emphasis on the security of the Afghan people. It visualises his troops learning Pashto to be able to show respect for the local culture and traditions for winning the [#x2dc]hearts and minds of the people. Reuters has circulated a photo from Killeen in Texas wherein an American Chaplain Jason Palmer in uniform is talking to Imam Syed Ahmed Ali on Saturday (November 07, 2009) at the local Islamic Community Centre while his colleague looks on. They met as Jason invited the Imam to join the memorial service for the 13 victims of the Fort Hood. Major Hasan was said to have used the centre to offer prayers. Furthermore, Jason is caught making a gesture, which means a lot to an Afghan. He is holding his hand against his chest, which signifies goodwill. Thus, General McChrystals inspiration appears to be at work. However, this ought to have been initiated in 2002 when the Bonn Conference created a mirage about great things to come after the Taliban lost power. Sadly then the army, like the neo-con administration, was rather gung-ho. François-Marie Arouet, known by the pen name Voltaire, has said: "Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?" Hence, all options before President Obama underline the necessity for a concord with the Afghans. This is so because history highlights hereditary hostility to [#x2dc]foreign occupation despite all odds. In the past, Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, advised the US to aim at "dialogue" to terminate the "long sufferings of the people." About the surge, he emphasised: "This is something we discussed too, years ago. But we decided not to do it. I think our experience deserves attention." In Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai is to become a president again following his discredited election. Recently, the news appeared that his brother was a CIA agent as well as a drug baron. Reportedly, Obama has warned him to cut corruption visibly for earning US support. While Admiral Michael Mullen rightly labelled Karzais legitimacy, "at best, in question right now and at worst, does not exist." Apparently insulting Karzai, a former Unocal employee and another Diem, publicly makes him [#x2dc]a donkey with a new saddle as per an Afghan proverb. Anyway, the US does realise that a coalition of warlords had been whipped up by spending dollars duly helped by the neighbouring countries in the wake of the 9/11 sympathy wave. In Iraq, the US persecuted the Sunni minority by partnering the majority but the Pashtuns are the majority in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, while the Taliban creed caused a lot of misery, the ethnic factor is still important. The US must define its long-term strategy to be followed regardless of the party Page 349 [#x2dc]A donkey with a new saddle: What they say in Kabul Rupee News November 12, 2009 Thursday 4:22 PM EST
- 350. politics. Pakistan isplaying the pivotal part, despite the widespread mayhem let loose against the people. How long can our people keep dying in the hope that the US would stand by them? Moreover, Indian overtures reveal self-deception. The Maoists, a rebellion against the status quo defined by the rampage of the rich, are a great threat. Arundhati Roy asks: "If it takes 600,000 soldiers to hold down the tiny valley of Kashmir, how many will it take to contain the mounting rage of hundreds of millions of people?" Therefore, the US must guarantee her commitment to the region to win peace and also to AfPak. Remember fire-fighting cant forestall an Armageddon. The Nation. I M Mohsin. The writer is a former secretary interior. Posted in Current Affairs Newstex ID: RPNW-5065-39673999 SUBJECT: RELIGION (94%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (91%); ARMED FORCES (90%); US PRESIDENTS (90%); ARMIES (90%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (90%); MILITARY OPERATIONS (90%); WAR & CONFLICT (90%); US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008 (90%); RESCUE OPERATIONS (89%); POLITICS (89%); MUSLIM AMERICANS (77%); SHOOTINGS (77%); WOUNDS & INJURIES (76%); RIOTS (74%); HOSPITALS (72%); TERRORISM (72%); PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS (71%); DISASTER RELIEF (64%) Current Affairs; Asia; GeoCodes; unrest; conflicts and war; politics; religion and belief; North America; Europe; Global; Afghanistan; Pakistan; Iraq; civil unrest; armed conflict; defense; islam; United States of America; Germany; Middle East; Asia; Europe; rebellions and revolutions; social conflict; armed forces; Islamic politics; banking and law ORGANIZATION: NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (58%) PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (94%); GORDON BROWN (50%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (92%) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (98%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (93%); IRAQ (92%); EUROPE (92%); ASIA (92%); NORTH AMERICA (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%) LOAD-DATE: November 12, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right Page 350 [#x2dc]A donkey with a new saddle: What they say in Kabul Rupee News November 12, 2009 Thursday 4:22 PM EST
- 351. to delete postsand comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2009 Rupee News Page 351 [#x2dc]A donkey with a new saddle: What they say in Kabul Rupee News November 12, 2009 Thursday 4:22 PM EST
- 352. 128 of 214DOCUMENTS Missoula Independent (Montana) June 17, 2010 - June 24, 2010 Going for gold BYLINE: Ochenski, Helena George. Helena's George Ochenski rattles the cage of the political establishment as a political analyst for the Independent. Contact Ochenski at opinion@missoulanews.com SECTION: OCHENSKI; Pg. 10 Vol. 21 No. 24 LENGTH: 1226 words ABSTRACT Shortly after 9-11, President George W. Bush sent troops into Afghanistan claiming he was "on the hunt" for Osama bin Laden, who claimed to mastermind the attack. While this nation's penchant for bloody vengeance is well known, many questioned why we were going into Afghanistan when, in fact, most of those who flew the jets into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were from Saudi Arabia. Now those accusations don't seem so off-base. Bush has come and gone, as have at least a trillion dollars and tens of thousands of lives. Yet, the war drags on, heading into its tenth year and, by most accounts, we're losing badly. The flaunted Marja offensive a few months ago was a flop, and the Pashtun fighters are once again re-occupying the territory we failed to secure with our "clear and hold" strategy. A new offensive to repeat the same failure is set to begin in Kandahar, said to be a Taliban stronghold. So if you're losing the war, the public is increasingly dismayed and Congress is starting to ask too many questions, what do you do? Well, if you're the Pentagon, you spend taxpayer dollars to conduct aerial surveys of the mineral wealth that's sitting beneath the arid soil of Afghanistan. Hopefully, that will convince both the populace and their elected representatives that there's a pot of gold, literally, at the end of the war if only we can keep funding it into the foreseeable future. FULL TEXT The war in Afghanistan has little to do with bin Laden Before another American soldier picks up a rifle and disembarks for Afghanistan; before we drop another bomb, launch another rocket, or fire another bullet; before another American taxpayer sends in another dollar to the Internal Revenue Service; before another member of Congress votes for the pending $33 billion appropriation for continued funding of the Afghanistan War, the American people deserve an explanation of what the Pentagon revealed about the mineral potential of that country, and why our military is so interested in enabling its Page 352
- 353. exploitation by CorporateAmerica. Early this week the New York Times published an intriguing article titled, "U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan." If you were looking for a reason why the United States is involved in what is now the longest war in its history, this article will give you plenty to think about. Namely, there's gold- and lithium, niobium, iron, copper and cobalt- in them thar hills. Them thar hills, by the way, would be the Hindu Kush mountains, one of the most forbidding and dangerous places on the face of the earth. In the old days, the British Empire would merely send out its warships, push the local natives out of the way and take whatever they wanted from other nations around the world. If the natives resisted, well, that's what's meant by superior firepower and, for God and Queen, if they wanted a fight then the Royal Marines were more than glad to send "the bloody wogs" to their maker. These days, the modus operandi remains essentially the same, only the flag and war machines have changed. Now, it's no longer Brittania Rules the Waves; it's the vast might of the American military that reaches deadly tentacles across the globe, maintaining 800 bases worldwide and sucking down about half of the nation's annual budget in the process. Shortly after 9-11, President George W. Bush sent troops into Afghanistan claiming he was "on the hunt" for Osama bin Laden, who claimed to mastermind the attack. While this nation's penchant for bloody vengeance is well known, many questioned why we were going into Afghanistan when, in fact, most of those who flew the jets into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were from Saudi Arabia. One of the reasons offered by a number of writers was that Afghanistan was a critical pathway for a planned Unocal pipeline to bring oil and gas from Central Asia. The history of this particular project is well documented and need not be repeated here. But with former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney in the vice president's office secretly meeting with his cadre of energy company advisers, it didn't take long before clever pens termed the country Pipelinestan and correctly identified the true motive as simply another attempt to fill our insatiable appetite for oil and gas while making a handful of corporations billions of dollars. Of course the true patriots soundly denounced those who made such suggestions as terrorist sympathizers, backed up by a bellicose President Bush who brazenly declared: "You're either with us or against us." But now those accusations don't seem so off-base. Bush has come and gone, as have at least a trillion dollars and tens of thousands of lives. Yet, the war drags on, heading into its tenth year and, by most accounts, we're losing badly. The flaunted Marja offensive a few months ago was a flop, and the Pashtun fighters are once again re-occupying the territory we failed to secure with our "clear and hold" strategy. A new offensive to repeat the same failure is set to begin in Kandahar, said to be a Taliban stronghold. So if you're losing the war, the public is increasingly dismayed and Congress is starting to ask too many questions, what do you do? Well, if you're the Pentagon, you spend taxpayer dollars to conduct aerial surveys of the mineral wealth that's sitting beneath the arid soil of Afghanistan. Hopefully, that will convince both the populace and their elected representatives that there's a pot of gold, literally, at the end of the war if only we can keep funding it into Page 353 Going for gold Missoula Independent (Montana) June 17, 2010 - June 24, 2010
- 354. the foreseeable future. Andwhy not? A backward country suffering from 20 years of war is suddenly told by its foreign occupiers that it could be "the Saudi Arabia of lithium." From the corporate point of view, how sweet is it having the Pentagon and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) do the taxpayer-funded work for them so they can roll in when the time is right and grab the gold? Even better, there are virtually no environmental or workers' rights laws in the country, so no need to worry about the well-being of the natives or the water, air or land while Corporate America happily bleeds the nation of its resources. Just like the good old days, mate! It sounds too unreal, too primitive, too contrived to be true. But to quote the Times article: "The Pentagon task force has already started trying to help the Afghans set up a system to deal with mineral development... and technical data is being prepared to turn over to multinational mining companies and other potential foreign investors." Ironically, this is not new information. Here's a clip from a 1986 study from American University: Afghanistan has reserves of a wide variety of nonenergy mineral resources, including iron, chrome, copper, silver, gold, barite, sulfur, talc, magnesium, mica, marble, and lapis lazuli. By 1985 Soviet surveys had also revealed potentially useful deposits of asbestos, nickel, mercury, lead, zinc, bauxite, lithium, and rubies." It is clear that we are being consciously manipulated by the Pentagon to continue a senseless war. The decision is now ours to make. Since this is no longer about national security or freedom, the choice seems equally clear: No more bullets, no more blood, no more dollarsget us out of Afghanistan now. SIDEBAR "It is clear that we are being consciously manipulated by the Pentagon to continue a senseless war." SUBJECT: TAXES & TAXATION (90%); WAR & CONFLICT (90%); APPROPRIATIONS (90%); DEFENSE SPENDING (90%); ARMED FORCES (89%); US PRESIDENTS (88%); TAX AUTHORITIES (77%); PUBLIC FINANCE (77%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (77%); TAX LAW (77%); DEFENSE DEPARTMENTS (76%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (76%); BUDGET (72%); NAVAL VESSELS (70%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (59%) War; Mineral resources; Government agencies; Mineral exploration; Appropriations; Defense spending COMPANY: Department of Defense COMPANY-NUMBER: NAICS:928110 COMPANY-TERMS: Department of Defense GEOGRAPHIC: MONTANA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (99%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); SAUDI ARABIA (93%); UNITED KINGDOM (79%); ASIA (79%); CENTRAL ASIA (79%) Afghanistan LOAD-DATE: June 28, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH Page 354 Going for gold Missoula Independent (Montana) June 17, 2010 - June 24, 2010
- 355. ACC-NO: 58690 DOCUMENT-TYPE: Commentary PUBLICATION-TYPE:Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: MSIT Copyright 2010 ProQuest Information and Learning All Rights Reserved Copyright 2010 Missoula Independent Page 355 Going for gold Missoula Independent (Montana) June 17, 2010 - June 24, 2010
- 356. 129 of 214DOCUMENTS Trend Daily Economic News November 4, 2009 Wednesday 11:33 AM GMT +4 Rome joins big game for Turkmen gas SECTION: POWER ENGINEERING LENGTH: 959 words Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, November 3 / H. Hasanov / Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov will soon visit Rome after receiving an official invitation from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ealrlier this year. "We have something to offer each other given our economic potential," Berdimuhammedow said. Paolo Scaronil, head of the Italian energy giant Eni, recently returned from Ashgabat where he attended the country's Independence Day celebrations. Upon his return, he said Turkmenistan will soon play a major role on the global energy arena due to its immense hydrocarbon potential. Scaroni added that he is willing to contribute to Turkmenistan's development. "We have all the necessary technical and operational opportunities," he said. Eni is Italy's leading oil and gas company operating in 70 countries worldwide, including Russia, Norway and Algeria. Eni entered the Turkmen market by acquiring assets of the British Burren Energy last year. The company can now extract oil in western Turkmenistan over a 200-square-kilometer area. "The economy is connected with gas here, and the desire of a large player like Eni to join the gas sector is clear," a Turkmen economist told on conditions of anonymity. According to BP's most recent estimates, Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world in terms of proven natural resources after Russia, Iran and Qatar. Italy is the third highest natural gas consumer after the UK and Germany in the EU. Page 356
- 357. The European capitals,as a rule, are discussing the implementation of the Nabucco project. Brussels hopes to launch the initiative over the next two years. Turkmen gas may be transported to Azerbaijan via the Caspian seabed to Turkey and European markets. Rome is thought to be a supporter of the South Stream project through the Black Sea, which will strengthen the Old World's energy dependence on Russia. Eni is interested in this project with Gazprom on par. The company's top managers even insisted on doubling the capacity to over 60 billion cubic meters of gas. Italy decided not to dispute the Kremlin's role on the energy market in the near future. The country meets a third of its energy needs owing to Russian gas. As for Turkmenistan, Ashgabat is rapidly approaching its goal of becoming an independent player on the international energy market. A gas pipeline to China will be put into operation in late 2009. Another branch will soon appear in Iran, working with the existing Turkmen network. Negotiations are also underway to restore gas transit through Russia. But Ashgabad has insisted that Moscow refuse the re-exporter role. Ashgabat believes the era has ended when Moscow established the rules of the game in Central Asia by controlling the flow of energy via Soviet-era pipes. "The progressive economies of Pakistan and India sooner or later will need additional volumes of gas," a Western diplomat told while commenting on Eni's hope to transport Caspian resources to South Asia. "It is important to find an engine that will appear at the right time and in the right place." Scaroni named his company a natural candidate for the project. But it is difficult for observers to press the project's implementation today, as the gas would be transported through Afghanistan. Tthe Taliban is sensitive due to the presidential elections, and the laying of a pipeline would further aggravate the militant group by strengthening the current regime via transit duties. The situation in Pakistan is also complicated by terrorist attacks. On the other hand, an Iranian route is possible. But Tehran's enormous South Pars reserves are also still waiting for realization, and Gazprom is a shareholder in this energy source. Offshore transportation of liquefied natural gas is another possibility. But this type of energy is still poorly developed in Turkmenistan. Huge amounts of time and investments are needed to move in this direction. At present, Turkmenistan's main task is to push the development of new fields and restore old projects. For a long time, Ashgabat was rather optimistic about the construction of a gas pipeline to Pakistan and India. The Taliban's seasonal activity in Afghanistan intensified the belief that such a pipeline could be secured. However, the U.S. Unocal failed to implement such a project in the late 1990s. U.S military operations stopped these plans. The Asian Development Bank later tried to move the project forward by paying for a feasibility study. Page 357 Rome joins big game for Turkmen gas Trend Daily Economic News November 4, 2009 Wednesday 11:33 AM GMT +4
- 358. Subsequently, India, joiningthe project, made a certain recovery in 2006. But it was evident that the initiatives were made by Islamabad and New Delhi. Ashgabat only took delegations of buyers to its deposit by demonstrating its export capacity. According to local forecasts, its export capacity will reach 200 billion cubic meters of gas with a total output worth $250 billion. Official Ashgabat is rather interested in Southeast Asia. Experts said the UN has supported Ashgabat's to prepare an international convention to provide the market with energy resources. Berdimuhamedov stressed a few weeks ago that India may be a potential market in addition to Europe. He said such a pipeline could bring jobs and foreign exchange earnings to Afghanistan and contribute to peace and stability in the neighboring country. Earlier, Pakistan and Turkmenistan signed a protocol to accelerate the Trans-Afghan project. Congratulating new Pakistani Ambassador Tassaduk Hussain with his appointment in Ashgabat, Berdimuhamedov emphasized that the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline can be a guarantor of further economic growth in the region. Meanwhile, a suitable player needs to be be found for such an ambitious project. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at: capital@trend.az SUBJECT: NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (89%); NATURAL GAS & ELECTRIC UTILITIES (89%); TRENDS (89%); CRUDE OIL & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (88%); OIL & GAS EXTRACTION (88%); NATURAL GAS MARKETS (88%); HEADS OF STATE & GOVERNMENT (78%); ENERGY DEMAND (77%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (77%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (75%); OIL & GAS PIPELINES (74%); PRIME MINISTERS (73%); NATURAL RESOURCES (77%) COMPANY: OAO GAZPROM (64%) TICKER: OGZD (LSE) (64%) INDUSTRY: NAICS486210 PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS (64%); NAICS221210 NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION (64%); NAICS213112 SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FOR OIL & GAS OPERATIONS (64%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (64%); SIC4923 NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION (64%); SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (64%) PERSON: SILVIO BERLUSCONI (91%) GEOGRAPHIC: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (91%); BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (69%); MOSCOW, RUSSIAN FEDERATION (91%) ATLANTIC OCEAN (79%); CASPIAN SEA (79%) TURKMENISTAN (99%); RUSSIA (95%); IRAN (92%); EUROPE (92%); UNITED KINGDOM (92%); ITALY (92%); AZERBAIJAN (79%); ASIA (79%); NORWAY (79%); PAKISTAN (79%); TURKEY (79%); INDIA (79%); CHINA (79%); GERMANY (79%); CENTRAL ASIA (79%); EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES (79%); BELGIUM (74%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (95%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (92%) LOAD-DATE: November 4, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH Page 358 Rome joins big game for Turkmen gas Trend Daily Economic News November 4, 2009 Wednesday 11:33 AM GMT +4
- 359. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Publication Copyright2009 Trend News Agency All Rights Reserved Page 359 Rome joins big game for Turkmen gas Trend Daily Economic News November 4, 2009 Wednesday 11:33 AM GMT +4
- 360. 130 of 214DOCUMENTS Trend Oil & Gas - Azerbaijan November 4, 2009 Wednesday 11:33 AM GMT +4 Rome joins big game for Turkmen gas SECTION: ENERGY NEWS LENGTH: 959 words Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, November 3 / H. Hasanov / Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov will soon visit Rome after receiving an official invitation from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ealrlier this year. "We have something to offer each other given our economic potential," Berdimuhammedow said. Paolo Scaronil, head of the Italian energy giant Eni, recently returned from Ashgabat where he attended the country's Independence Day celebrations. Upon his return, he said Turkmenistan will soon play a major role on the global energy arena due to its immense hydrocarbon potential. Scaroni added that he is willing to contribute to Turkmenistan's development. "We have all the necessary technical and operational opportunities," he said. Eni is Italy's leading oil and gas company operating in 70 countries worldwide, including Russia, Norway and Algeria. Eni entered the Turkmen market by acquiring assets of the British Burren Energy last year. The company can now extract oil in western Turkmenistan over a 200-square-kilometer area. "The economy is connected with gas here, and the desire of a large player like Eni to join the gas sector is clear," a Turkmen economist told on conditions of anonymity. According to BP's most recent estimates, Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world in terms of proven natural resources after Russia, Iran and Qatar. Italy is the third highest natural gas consumer after the UK and Germany in the EU. Page 360
- 361. The European capitals,as a rule, are discussing the implementation of the Nabucco project. Brussels hopes to launch the initiative over the next two years. Turkmen gas may be transported to Azerbaijan via the Caspian seabed to Turkey and European markets. Rome is thought to be a supporter of the South Stream project through the Black Sea, which will strengthen the Old World's energy dependence on Russia. Eni is interested in this project with Gazprom on par. The company's top managers even insisted on doubling the capacity to over 60 billion cubic meters of gas. Italy decided not to dispute the Kremlin's role on the energy market in the near future. The country meets a third of its energy needs owing to Russian gas. As for Turkmenistan, Ashgabat is rapidly approaching its goal of becoming an independent player on the international energy market. A gas pipeline to China will be put into operation in late 2009. Another branch will soon appear in Iran, working with the existing Turkmen network. Negotiations are also underway to restore gas transit through Russia. But Ashgabad has insisted that Moscow refuse the re-exporter role. Ashgabat believes the era has ended when Moscow established the rules of the game in Central Asia by controlling the flow of energy via Soviet-era pipes. "The progressive economies of Pakistan and India sooner or later will need additional volumes of gas," a Western diplomat told while commenting on Eni's hope to transport Caspian resources to South Asia. "It is important to find an engine that will appear at the right time and in the right place." Scaroni named his company a natural candidate for the project. But it is difficult for observers to press the project's implementation today, as the gas would be transported through Afghanistan. Tthe Taliban is sensitive due to the presidential elections, and the laying of a pipeline would further aggravate the militant group by strengthening the current regime via transit duties. The situation in Pakistan is also complicated by terrorist attacks. On the other hand, an Iranian route is possible. But Tehran's enormous South Pars reserves are also still waiting for realization, and Gazprom is a shareholder in this energy source. Offshore transportation of liquefied natural gas is another possibility. But this type of energy is still poorly developed in Turkmenistan. Huge amounts of time and investments are needed to move in this direction. At present, Turkmenistan's main task is to push the development of new fields and restore old projects. For a long time, Ashgabat was rather optimistic about the construction of a gas pipeline to Pakistan and India. The Taliban's seasonal activity in Afghanistan intensified the belief that such a pipeline could be secured. However, the U.S. Unocal failed to implement such a project in the late 1990s. U.S military operations stopped these plans. The Asian Development Bank later tried to move the project forward by paying for a feasibility study. Page 361 Rome joins big game for Turkmen gas Trend Oil & Gas - Azerbaijan November 4, 2009 Wednesday 11:33 AM GMT +4
- 362. Subsequently, India, joiningthe project, made a certain recovery in 2006. But it was evident that the initiatives were made by Islamabad and New Delhi. Ashgabat only took delegations of buyers to its deposit by demonstrating its export capacity. According to local forecasts, its export capacity will reach 200 billion cubic meters of gas with a total output worth $250 billion. Official Ashgabat is rather interested in Southeast Asia. Experts said the UN has supported Ashgabat's to prepare an international convention to provide the market with energy resources. Berdimuhamedov stressed a few weeks ago that India may be a potential market in addition to Europe. He said such a pipeline could bring jobs and foreign exchange earnings to Afghanistan and contribute to peace and stability in the neighboring country. Earlier, Pakistan and Turkmenistan signed a protocol to accelerate the Trans-Afghan project. Congratulating new Pakistani Ambassador Tassaduk Hussain with his appointment in Ashgabat, Berdimuhamedov emphasized that the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline can be a guarantor of further economic growth in the region. Meanwhile, a suitable player needs to be be found for such an ambitious project. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at: capital@trend.az SUBJECT: TRENDS (89%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (89%); NATURAL GAS & ELECTRIC UTILITIES (89%); OIL & GAS EXTRACTION (88%); CRUDE OIL & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (88%); NATURAL GAS MARKETS (88%); HEADS OF STATE & GOVERNMENT (78%); NATURAL RESOURCES (77%); ENERGY DEMAND (77%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (77%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (75%); OIL & GAS PIPELINES (74%); PRIME MINISTERS (73%) COMPANY: OAO GAZPROM (64%) TICKER: OGZD (LSE) (64%) INDUSTRY: NAICS486210 PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS (64%); NAICS221210 NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION (64%); NAICS213112 SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FOR OIL & GAS OPERATIONS (64%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (64%); SIC4923 NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION (64%); SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (64%) PERSON: SILVIO BERLUSCONI (91%) GEOGRAPHIC: MOSCOW, RUSSIAN FEDERATION (91%); BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (69%) CASPIAN SEA (79%); ATLANTIC OCEAN (79%) TURKMENISTAN (99%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (95%); EUROPE (92%); ITALY (92%); AZERBAIJAN (92%); UNITED KINGDOM (92%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (92%); CHINA (79%); GERMANY (79%); INDIA (79%); PAKISTAN (79%); CENTRAL ASIA (79%); ASIA (79%); EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES (79%); NORWAY (79%); TURKEY (79%); BELGIUM (74%) LOAD-DATE: March 4, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Publication Page 362 Rome joins big game for Turkmen gas Trend Oil & Gas - Azerbaijan November 4, 2009 Wednesday 11:33 AM GMT +4
- 363. Copyright 2009 TrendNews Agency All Rights Reserved Page 363 Rome joins big game for Turkmen gas Trend Oil & Gas - Azerbaijan November 4, 2009 Wednesday 11:33 AM GMT +4
- 364. 132 of 214DOCUMENTS The Nation (Pakistan) March 31, 2010 Wednesday ARTICLE: For keeping US safe SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 1063 words I M Mohsin US President Barack Obama landed at the Bagram Airbase in Kabul, paying a surprise visit over the weekend after winning laurels in Moscow over the nuclear agreement with the hosts. He complimented his troops on their achievements as they were keeping their country safe and secure. Trying to be politically correct, he also praised Afghan President Hamid Karzai for sticking it out despite the vicissitudes of fortune. As a great strategist, he also indicated that he would like to end USAs direct involvement. Therefore, he urged his host to prepare to takeover the countrys security. He also stressed that the US would keep helping the Afghans, who have suffered due to the ravages of the war. Assuring the hosts that the US would not abandon the area, perhaps conscious of the 1990 faux pas, he advised Karzai to stop corruption in order to ensure and promote good governance. This he thought would facilitate the US assistance, as well as promote peace, within Afghanistan. President Obama kept his cool for a few weeks on this issue, while he successfully focused on the landmark healt-hcare reforms at home. Basking in the glory of two political victories, one at home and the other in Russia, he gave a new message. Despite Obamas statesmanship and political acumen, the fact remains that the situation in Afghanistan is generally murky. The much-vaunted operation Mushtariq in Marjah and Helmand is pretty much on hold. The stories coming out of the area indicate that there is a lull in the fighting which is prompted by the US forces doling out money to the people most generously. The same, reportedly, is true of the northern provinces wherein the private contractors are paying goodwill money to the local Taliban to make sure that their supplies for the US/NATO forces keep going through unhindered. Quite naturally the threatened attack on Kandhar is, now, on hold as a consequence of the Taliban bombing of that city over a week back. The Taliban had also proclaimed that more attacks would follow. Accordingly there were bombing hits in other provinces to keep the ante up. Considering the ground realities, the war looks a bad one for the US troops. This has been so, particularly since the surge of troops was ordered by President Obama last July. It must be rather discouraging that the Taliban threatened and increased attacks on the foreign troops. No wonder the casualties of the foreign troops mounted along with those among the locals. But the Taliban tend to treat the casualties as a non-issue since they consider it to be the outcome of a jihad against foreign troops. Perhaps, the US wants to cut its losses by eliminating direct engagement with Page 364
- 365. the Taliban whileproclaiming not to abandon AfPak. Nevertheless, political sagacity demands calling it to keep the US safe and secure. Many a thinking mind view it as a continuation of the Bush policy inspired by the neo-cons fallacy of The American Century which emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Empire. The US seems to be following Brezi-nskis strategy on Eurasias control for staying as the dominant power in the 21st century. While the people in Asia generally treat this as a moot, the Europeans also have mixed feelings about the same. The Taliban take the US for a capitalist giant dominated by rich lobbies, like the oil lobby, which they hold responsible for 9/11 together with Israel. Even in the US many well-informed circles see the Bush-family linkage with the oil lobby as a suspect; more so, the way shock and awe has been propagated. A genuine veteran like Senator Max Cleland of Georgia had the courage in November 2003 to say that: If this decision stands (to limit the 9/11 Commission access to White House documents), I as a member of the commission, cannot look at any American in the eye, especially family members of victims, and say the commission had full access. This investigation is now compromised. As things get awry, the administrations version of 9/11 is being disputed widely even in the US; particularly in view of Director CIA George John Tenets plea to the 9/11 Commission that throughout the summer of 2001 he had expressed the view, the system was blinking red. Still nobody bothered; not even when the first plane struck the Twin Towers. Why? Karzai started openly looking for reconciliation with, as he calls the Taliban, the estranged brothers with help from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. He met a delegation led by Gulbadins son in Kabul. More so, while Obama in Kabul ignored this phenomenon, his Secretary of Defence Robert Gates thought it was probably early for making such gestures. The latter hinted at waiting till the Taliban are driven to accept that they are, in fact, losing. Gates is widely off track, if the Afghan history of even the last nine years is the criterion. While home politics matters a lot to the US administration, clarity of approach is badly needed in dealing with the mess in Afghanistan. The US shall be safe if the Obama administration does not follow Bushs cavalier attitude to other nations defined by his Texan remark: You are either with us or against us. Not knowing much about the world, he got power drunk by the intrigue woven by the likes of Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice who all were connected to the rich oil lobby. It is widely believed in Asia, more than in the US, that 9/11 occurred as the Taliban regimes failed to comply with Bushs wish, up to August 2001, that it to oblige the UNOCAL with a pipeline contract. In fact, Bush himself had, reportedly, warned the Taliban of a possible apocalypse. President Obama being a more cultured politician with a flair for statesmanship has to accept the ground realities, particularly after being slighted by the rightwing Jews headed by Netanyahu, on ending the Israeli occupation from Palestine. To project their contempt of the US, the Israeli army keeps committing an atrocity frequently which demeans the former even more, particularly, even in the tutored Muslim world. As such the two-state solution appears to be years away, thanks to the land grabbing Jews of Israel backed by the US lobbies. AfPak can reach a settlement not under duress but as per the hoary traditions. A new negotiated relationship would then emerge which would weld normalcy with peace and development leading to the best guarantee for security! The writer is a former interior secretary. Page 365 ARTICLE: For keeping US safe The Nation (Pakistan) March 31, 2010 Wednesday
- 366. SUBJECT: US PRESIDENTS(90%); US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008 (90%); ARMED FORCES (89%); WAR & CONFLICT (77%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (68%) PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (94%); HAMAD KARZAI (72%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (92%); MOSCOW, RUSSIA (73%) UNITED STATES (96%); AFGHANISTAN (95%); RUSSIA (79%) LOAD-DATE: April 5, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: NAT Copyright 2010 Nawaiwaqt Group of News Papers All Rights Reserved Page 366 ARTICLE: For keeping US safe The Nation (Pakistan) March 31, 2010 Wednesday
- 367. 133 of 214DOCUMENTS Rupee News September 10, 2010 Friday 11:24 PM EST Pepe Escobar classic Fifty questions on 9/11 BYLINE: aliphbay@aol.com (Rupee News) LENGTH: 2169 words Sep. 10, 2010 (Rupee News delivered by Newstex) -- Its September 11 all over again " eight years on. The George W Bush administration is out. The oeglobal war on terror is still on, renamed oeoverseas contingency operations by the Barack Obama administration. Obamas oenew strategy " a war escalation " is in play in AfPak. Osama bin Laden may be dead or not. oeAl-Qaeda remains a catch-all ghost entity. September 11 " the neo-cons oenew Pearl Harbor " remains the darkest jigsaw puzzle of the young 21st century. Its useless to expect US corporate media and the ruling elites political operatives to call for a true, in-depth investigation into the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001. Whitewash has been the norm. But even establishment highlight Dr Zbig oeGrand Chessboard Brzezinski, a former national security advisor, has admitted to the US Senate that the post-9/11 oewar on terror is a oemythical historical narrative. The following questions, some multi-part " and most totally ignored by the 9/11 Commission " are just the tip of the immense 9/11 iceberg. A hat tip goes to the indefatigable work of 911truth.org; whatreallyhappened.com; architects and engineers for 9/11 truth; the Italian documentary Zero: an investigation into 9/11; and Asia Times Online readers e-mails. None of these questions has been convincingly answered " according to the official narrative. Its up to US civil society to keep up the pressure. Eight years after the fact, one fundamental conclusion is imperative. The official narrative edifice of 9/11 is simply not acceptable. Fifty questions 1) How come dead or not dead Osama bin Laden has not been formally indicted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as responsible for 9/11? Is it because the US government " as acknowledged by the FBI itself " has not produced a Page 367
- 368. single conclusive pieceof evidence? 2) How could all the alleged 19 razor-blade box cutter-equipped Muslim perpetrators have been identified in less than 72 hours " without even a crime scene investigation? 3) How come none of the 19²s names appeared on the passenger lists released the same day by both United Airlines and American Airlines (NYSE:AMR) ? 4) How come eight names on the oeoriginal FBI list happened to be found alive and living in different countries? 5) Why would pious jihadi Mohammed Atta leave a how-to-fly video manual, a uniform and his last will inside his bag knowing he was on a suicide mission? 6) Why did Mohammed Atta study flight simulation at Opa Locka, a hub of no less than six US Navy training bases? 7) How could Mohammed Attas passport have been magically found buried among the Word Trade Center (WTC)s debris when not a single flight recorder was found? 8) Who is in the possession of the oedisappeared eight indestructible black boxes on those four flights? 9) Considering multiple international red alerts about a possible terrorist attack inside the US " including former secretary of state Condoleezza Rices infamous August 6, 2001, memo " how come four hijacked planes deviating from their computerized flight paths and disappearing from radar are allowed to fly around US airspace for more than an hour and a half " not to mention disabling all the elaborate Pentagons defense systems in the process? 10) Why the secretary of the US Air Force James Roche did not try to intercept both planes hitting the WTC (only seven minutes away from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey) as well as the Pentagon (only 10 minutes away from McGuire)? Roche had no less than 75 minutes to respond to the plane hitting the Pentagon. 11) Why did George W Bush continue to recite oeMy Pet Goat in his Florida school and was not instantly absconded by the secret service? 12) How could Bush have seen the first plane crashing on WTC live " as he admitted? Did he have previous knowledge " or is he psychic? 13) Bush said that he and Andrew Card initially thought the first hit on the WTC was an accident with a small plane. How is that possible when the FAA as well as NORAD already knew this was about a hijacked plane? 14) What are the odds of transponders in four different planes be turned off almost simultaneously, in the same geographical area, very close to the nations seat of power in Washington, and no one scrambles to contact the Pentagon or the media? 15) Could defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld explain why initial media reports said that there were no fighter jets available at Andrews Air Force Base and then change the reports that there were, but not on high alert? Page 368 Pepe Escobar classic Fifty questions on 9/11 Rupee News September 10, 2010 Friday 11:24 PM EST
- 369. 16) Why wasthe DC Air National Guard in Washington AWOL on 9/11? 17) Why did combat jet fighters of the 305th Air Wing, McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey not intercept the second hijacked plane hitting the WTC, when they could have done it within seven minutes? 18) Why did none of the combat jet fighters of the 459th Aircraft Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base intercept the plane that hit the Pentagon, only 16 kilometers away? And since were at it, why the Pentagon did not release the full video of the hit? 19) A number of very experienced airline pilots " including US ally Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a former fighter jet pilot " revealed that, well, only crack pilots could have performed such complex maneuvers on the hijacked jets, while others insisted they could only have been accomplished by remote control. Is it remotely believable that the hijackers were up to the task? 20) How come a substantial number of witnesses did swear seeing and hearing multiple explosions in both towers of the WTC? 21) How come a substantial number of reputed architects and engineers are adamant that the official narrative simply does not explain the largest structural collapse in recorded history (the Twin Towers) as well as the collapse of WTC building 7, which was not even hit by a jet? 22) According to Frank de Martini, WTCs construction manager, oeWe designed the building to resist the impact of one or more jetliners. The second plane nearly missed tower 1; most of the fuel burned in an explosion outside the tower. Yet this tower collapsed first, long before tower 2 that was oeperforated by the first hit. Jet fuel burned up fast " and by far did not reach the 2000-degree heat necessary to hurt the six tubular steel columns in the center of the tower " designed specifically to keep the towers from collapsing even if hit by a Boeing (NYSE:BA) 707. A Boeing 707 used to carry more fuel than the Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 that actually hit the towers. 23) Why did Mayor Rudolph Giuliani instantly authorized the shipment of WTC rubble to China and India for recycling? 24) Why was metallic debris found no less than 13 kilometers from the crash site of the plane that went down in Pennsylvania? Was the plane in fact shot down " under vice president Dick Cheneys orders? 25) The Pipelineistan question. What did US ambassador Wendy Chamberlain talk about over the phone on October 10, 2001, with the oil minister of Pakistan? Was it to tell him that the 1990s-planned Unocal gas pipeline project, TAP (Turkmenistan/Afghanistan/ Pakistan), abandoned because of Taliban demands on transit fees, was now back in business? (Two months later, an agreement to build the pipeline was signed between the leaders of the three countries). 26) What is former Unocal lobbyist and former Bush pet Afghan Zalmay Khalilzad up to in Afghanistan? 27) How come former Pakistani foreign minister Niaz Niak said in mid-July 2001 that the US had already decided to strike against Osama bin Laden and the Taliban by October? The topic was discussed secretly at the July Group of Eight Page 369 Pepe Escobar classic Fifty questions on 9/11 Rupee News September 10, 2010 Friday 11:24 PM EST
- 370. summit in Genoa,Italy, according to Pakistani diplomats. 28) How come US ambassador to Yemen Barbara Bodine told FBI agent John ONeill in July 2001 to stop investigating al-Qaedas financial operations " with ONeill instantly moved to a security job at the WTC, where he died on 9/11? 29) Considering the very intimate relationship between the Taliban and Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the ISI and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is Bin Laden alive, dead or still a valuable asset of the ISI, the CIA or both? 30) Was Bin Laden admitted at the American hospital in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on July 4, 2001, after flying from Quetta, Pakistan, and staying for treatment until July 11? 31) Did the Bin Laden group build the caves of Tora Bora in close cooperation with the CIA during the 1980s anti-Soviet jihad? 32) How come General Tommy Franks knew for sure that Bin Laden was hiding in Tora Bora in late November 2001? 33) Why did president Bill Clinton abort a hit on Bin Laden in October 1999? Why did then-Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf abort a covert ops in the same date? And why did Musharraf do the same thing again in August 2001? 34) Why did George W Bush dissolve the Bin Laden Task Force nine months before 9/11? 35) How come the (fake) Bin Laden home video " in which he oeconfesses to being the perpetrator of 9/11 " released by the US on December 13, 2001, was found only two weeks after it was produced (on November 9); was it really found in Jalalabad (considering Northern Alliance and US troops had not even arrived there at the time); by whom; and how come the Pentagon was forced to release a new translation after the first (botched) one? 36) Why was ISI chief Lieutenant General Mahmud Ahmad abruptly oeretired on October 8, 2001, the day the US started bombing Afghanistan? 37) What was Ahmad up to in Washington exactly on the week of 9/11 (he arrived on September 4)? On the morning of 9/11, Ahmad was having breakfast on Capitol Hill with Bob Graham and Porter Goss, both later part of the 9/11 Commission, which simply refused to investigate two of its members. Ahmad had breakfast with Richard Armitage of the State Department on September 12 and 13 (when Pakistan negotiated its oecooperation with the oewar on terror) and met all the CIA and Pentagon top brass. On September 13, Musharraf announced he would send Ahmad to Afghanistan to demand to the Taliban the extradition of Bin Laden. 38) Who inside the ISI transferred US$100,000 to Mohammed Atta in the summer of 2001 " under orders of Ahmad himself, as Indian intelligence insists? Was it really ISI asset Omar Sheikh, Bin Ladens information technology specialist who later organized the slaying of American journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi? So was the ISI directly linked to 9/11? 39) Did the FBI investigate the two shady characters who met Mohammed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi in Harrys Bar at the Helmsley Hotel in New York City on Page 370 Pepe Escobar classic Fifty questions on 9/11 Rupee News September 10, 2010 Friday 11:24 PM EST
- 371. September 8, 2001? 40)What did director of Asian affairs at the State Department Christina Rocca and the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef discuss in their meeting in Islamabad in August 2001? 41) Did Washington know in advance that an oeal-Qaeda connection would kill Afghan nationalist commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, aka oeThe Lion of the Panjshir, only two days before 9/11? Massoud was fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda " helped by Russia and Iran. According to the Northern Alliance, Massoud was killed by an ISI-Taliban-al Qaeda axis. If still alive, he would never have allowed the US to rig a loya jirga (grand council) in Afghanistan and install a puppet, former CIA asset Hamid Karzai, as leader of the country. 42) Why did it take no less than four months before the name of Ramzi Binalshibh surfaced in the 9/11 context, considering the Yemeni was a roommate of Mohammed Atta in his apartment cell in Hamburg? 43) Is pathetic shoe-bomber Richard Reid an ISI asset? 44) Did then-Russian president Vladimir Putin and Russian intelligence tell the CIA in 2001 that 25 terrorist pilots had been training for suicide missions? 45) When did the head of German intelligence, August Hanning, tell the CIA that terrorists were oeplanning to hijack commercial aircraft? 46) When did Egyptian President Mubarak tell the CIA about an attack on the US with an oeairplane stuffed with explosives? 47) When did Israels Mossad director Efraim Halevy tell the CIA about a possible attack on the US by oe200 terrorists? 48) Were the Taliban aware of the warning by a Bush administration official as early as February 2001 " oeEither you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs? 49) Has Northrop-Grumman (NYSE:NOC) used Global Hawk technology " which allows to remotely control unmanned planes " in the war in Afghanistan since October 2001? Did it install Global Hawk in a commercial plane? Is Global Hawk available at all for commercial planes? 50) Would Cheney stand up and volunteer the detailed timeline of what he was really up to during the whole day on 9/11? Fifty questions on 9/11 By Pepe Escobar. Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007) and Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge. His new book, just out, is Obama does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009). He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com Filed under: Tagged: , Newstex ID: RPNW-5065-48595227 SUBJECT: TERRORISM (94%); RELIGION (93%); INVESTIGATIONS (91%); LAW ENFORCEMENT (91%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (90%); WAR & CONFLICT (90%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (90%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (90%); SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE FORCES (90%); ENGINEERING (90%); COUNTERTERRORISM (90%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (90%); Page 371 Pepe Escobar classic Fifty questions on 9/11 Rupee News September 10, 2010 Friday 11:24 PM EST
- 372. MUSLIMS & ISLAM(90%); ESPIONAGE (88%); AEROSPACE INDUSTRY (79%); HISTORY (77%); RIOTS (74%); INDICTMENTS (73%); INTELLIGENCE SERVICES (72%); EVIDENCE (71%); ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES (70%); HEADS OF STATE & GOVERNMENT (68%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (67%); DOCUMENTARY FILMS (64%); AIRLINES (62%); WAR ON TERROR (90%); AL-QAEDA (90%) Current Affairs; 9/11; Pepe Escobar classic Fifty questions on 9/11; WTC; ISI; FBI; CIA; GeoCodes; crime; law and justice; Asia; unrest; conflicts and war; politics; disaster and accident; economy; business and finance; religion and belief; science and technology; Europe; Global; United States; law enforcement; crime; man-made disaster; Pakistan; Afghanistan; Iran; Iraq; Israel; Russia; China; India; United Arab Emirates; Yemen; government; defense; diplomacy; espionage and intelligence; terrorism; armed conflict; civil unrest; war; islam; transportation; manufacturing and engineering; engineering; Russia; Italy; Middle East; Asia; Europe; Arabian Peninsula; Eastern Europe; terrorist attack; terrorism; anti-terror; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); investigation; rebellions and revolutions; armed forces; public officials; government departments; heads of state; air transportation; aerospace; Islamic politics; banking and law; Intifada and jihad; aerospace engineering COMPANY: AMR CORP (50%); AMERICAN AIRLINES INC (50%); UNITED AIR LINES INC (50%) AMR CORP; BOEING CO; NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP ORGANIZATION: CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (84%); FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (84%); AL-QAEDA (57%) TICKER: AMR (NYSE) (50%) AMR (NYSE); BA (NYSE); NOC (NYSE) INDUSTRY: SIC4512 AIR TRANSPORTATION, SCHEDULED (50%) PERSON: GEORGE W BUSH (91%); BARACK OBAMA (58%); OSAMA BIN LADEN (84%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (94%); ASIA (93%); EUROPE (93%); ITALY (79%); AFGHANISTAN (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); ISRAEL (79%); PAKISTAN (79%); IRAQ (79%); IRAN (79%); CHINA (79%); UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (79%); GULF STATES (75%); EASTERN EUROPE (59%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%) LOAD-DATE: September 11, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their Page 372 Pepe Escobar classic Fifty questions on 9/11 Rupee News September 10, 2010 Friday 11:24 PM EST
- 373. individual opinion andtheir publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2010 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2010 Rupee News Page 373 Pepe Escobar classic Fifty questions on 9/11 Rupee News September 10, 2010 Friday 11:24 PM EST
- 374. 134 of 214DOCUMENTS Hindustan Times February 5, 2011 Saturday WikiLeaks ' a global deceptive gameplan? LENGTH: 1701 words DATELINE: Assam Assam, Feb. 5 -- 'Turning our enemy's inherent decency into a vehicle of their own demise' is one of the many lifelines that the Mossad has cultivated for itself. Intelligent Americans knew what was going on.And they were the ones who elected President Obama. In China, WikiLeaks is suspected of having Mossad connections. It is pointed out that its first 'leak' was from an Al Shabbab 'insider' in Somalia. Al Shabbab is the Muslim insurgent group that the neocons have regarded close to Al Qaeda. Because their first leak came from a group with ties to Al Qaeda, it has been stated that they have connections with the Mossad. The inference is that they have al Qaeda connections but on the ground they are tied to the Mossad, the world's most fearsome intelligence insurgency. WikiLeaks will be used as a springboard by info-hitmen against President Obama's and Rahm Emanuel's adversaries in the next elections slated for 2012. Amounting to a virtual announcement of war against Iran, WikiLeaks is said to be a part of the Mossad's 'war by deception.' WikiLeaks has amply demonstrated 'leaked' false information. Leaks have referred to Iran as having a nuclear weapons programme. An offensive nuclear weapons programme has been acknowledged to be non-existent. The whistleblowing website WikiLeaks on October 22, 2011 released nearly 400,000 classified Iraq war documents qualifying as the largest leak of secret information in America. Classified files show the failing war in Afghanistan, the Guardian described. Death of hundreds of civilians and a soaring increase in attacks by the Taliban have been revealed in a blow-by-blow account. A covert unit was constituted to kill and imprison Taliban leaders. There would be no trial either.. The White House has condemned the leaks as irresponsible. "These irresponsible leaks will not impact our ongoing commitment to deepen our partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan," Jim Jones, Barack Obama's National Security Adviser said in a statement. Two former British commanders in Afghanistan, Colonel Richard Kemp, and Colonel Stewart Tootal, who took slightly different views. were interviewed by news presenter Sarah Montague. Colonel Stewart's reasoning was that the logs showed nothing that was fresh and new. He believed there had been important changes on the ground for the period 2004-09 covered by the logs. There had been a surge in the number of troops.The US was focused on saving civilians lives. Colonel Richard thought release of the cables would help people to understand the war better. Kemp indicated that diplomats from Great Britain and the US could directly face the issue of ISI links with the Taliban and al Page 374
- 375. Qaeda. The cablesseemed to have kept the dubious role of the ISI low profile as possible. The BBC ran the interview of it's corespondent in Kabul David Loyn over revelation by the logs of close links between the ISI and Taliban. The BBC correspondent was keen on the 'very significant penetration' by US intelligence of Afghan intelligence. WikiLeaks has also been described as the first intelligence agency of the people.WikiLeaks relies upon the power of overt fact to empower citizens to being feared by corrupt governments and corporations. WikiLeaks relies upon the power of overt fact to enable and empower citizens to to trigger punishment to prosecute corrupt governments and corporations. WikiLeaks follows guidelines that are principled and honourable. In contrast to State intelligence agencies, WikiLeaks helps every government official, bureaucrat, and corporate worker. If they were aware about an embarrassing case that the institution wouldn't want people to know, but the public needs to know, WikiLeaks can broadcast to the world amazing truths that conscience wouldn't allow. It is against institutional secrecy that has been unjustly hidden. Wikileaks is exposing the most noxious of all. Those who have presented themselves as the last light of hope and freedom for a world beset by a real conspiracy. It's against the invasion of nations. The United States has invaded Iraq under false pretexts. Michael Rivero has written about how World War-III had already got under way. After the July release of more than 70,000 classified military field reports from Afghanistan, WikiLeaks has exercised efforts to be responsive to criticism. WikiLeaks activisits say they worked for months on end with special software to remove sensitive identities and specific locations. WikiLeaks also said it decided to review the documents along with nonprofit organizations.The initiative marked the maturity of the operation. Seeking to create 'an uncensorable system for untraceable mass leaking.' in 2006, Assange and his colleagues have been consistently fighting corruption and injustice. They have sought to provide a way for electronic documents and images to become public. They would protect the source with all it's might. The documents are designated 'Secret'. They appear to emphasis the military's alarm that Wikileaks might be used to reveal United States military secrets, or broadcast disinformation harmful to the US. The report that is yet to be verified, says Wikileaks, could be of value to foreign intelligence and security services (FISS), foreign military forces, foreign insurgents, and foreign terrorist groups for collecting information for attacks against U.S. forces, both within the United State and abroad.' The report warned that the site 'could be used to post fabricated information; misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda. It could be also uses to initiate perception management and manipulate operations designed to convey a negative message to those who view or retrieve information from the website.' The Pentagon was fully cognizant of the nightmare with the show comprising beatings with rifle butts and steel cables, electrocutions, flesh sliced with razors, limbs hacked-off with chainsaws, acid and chemical burns on battered corpses found along the roads, eyes gouged out. The power drill laccerates the bones to shreds. When the imperial action went awry, American forces are alleged to have formed death squads. Their style of operation is similar to Operation Phoenix in Vietnam and Operation Condor in South-and Central America during the 1970s and 1980s.The Wolf Brigade or the Iraqi Interior Ministry's Special Police Commandos, was the creation of the former commander of the U.S. Military Page 375 WikiLeaks ' a global deceptive gameplan? Hindustan Times February 5, 2011 Saturday
- 376. Advisory Group inEl Salvador, Col.James Steele. WikiLeaks has also been called the biggest disinformation project in modern times. Because it is an organization of truth, the consequences could be even more dangerous. The worst-case scenario is that there are charges that describe WiKileaks masquerading as an institution of truth. The classified documents released makes up for information but without being a breakthrough. The information contains propaganda that is similar to day-to-day reports in the Zionist media. The ultimate instrument of the media disinformation is defined as misinformation that is deliberately disseminated to influence or confuse rivals. Governments use it to mislead and brainwash their citizens and wage wars. Foreign regimes are under leash and dictated to.It comprises falsehood as well as facts. Wikileaks, founded by Julian Assange, has been said to be the most effective disinformation because it's also based on facts. WiKileaks has also been seen to have dropped out events such as the the training of Taliban by the Mossad. Massive drug profits in the Mossad coffers, CIA and the US-puppet Hamid Karzai are part of the story even as the Karzais' links to Unocal and alleged Zionist war criminal Henry Kissinger surfaced. Neither were there any mention of Israeli business operations with the aim to take control of oil fields in former Soviet Republics such as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. Fully protected by the Zionist entity, the Russian-Jewish mafia continue to trade in guns-and high-tech weapons with US-backed Afghan warlords. Considered important, these sensitive happenings are missing from the website's pages. Doing so would have incriminated the Zionist regime. Journalists, bloggers and activists, from occupied Afghanistan and abroad, have been reporting on the vast civilian casualties in Afghanistan since the US intervention got under way 30 years early on. Wikileaks revealed nothing that wasnt already known. Notable leaks include the 238-page U.S. military manual detailing operations of the Defense Department's Guant'namo Bay detention facility, and a Central Intelligence Agency manual for operating the CIA's rendition flights, which involved undocumented detainees who were kidnapped in various locations and flown to countries outside the United States for interrogation and torture. 'Information Harmful to the United States,' of course, does not necessarily mean 'bad'. Information about the treatment of war prisoners is bad to the United States, but important in preventing abuses of human rights by a few bad apples (or administrations). The current Wikileak 'dump' has had a number of talking-point 'dumps' so as to properly facilitate utilization of the pro-Israel press assets in the world of bloggers. These talking points lay bare 'seeded' intelligence designated to support an attack on Iran. This has been said to be the the primary objective of the current Assange-Murdoch-Israel combination and it's consequences. Many internet news sources that describe themselves as 'alternative' or even anti-Zionist are subject to control.. The cables Wikileaks most often quotes are not only favourable to Israel but written by diplomats who had visited Israel on 'fact-finding' missions, often privately financed. The initial Israeli 'talking points' began with cables theoretically showing support for an attack on Iran by the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia. There are reasons to acknowledge the concept that the whole show was just built Page 376 WikiLeaks ' a global deceptive gameplan? Hindustan Times February 5, 2011 Saturday
- 377. up so thatthis high-profile material could be in public domain. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Assam Tribune. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com SUBJECT: WIKILEAKS CONTROVERSIES (90%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (90%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (90%); AL-QAEDA (90%); TALIBAN (89%); TERRORISM (89%); INTERVIEWS (89%); WAR & CONFLICT (88%); PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (77%); ELECTIONS (77%); US PRESIDENTS (77%); IRAQ WAR (75%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (70%); MILITARY WEAPONS (70%); NUCLEAR WEAPONS (68%); NATIONAL SECURITY (68%); ARMED FORCES (60%) ORGANIZATION: AL-QAEDA (91%) PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (92%); RAHM EMANUEL (56%); JAMES L JONES (52%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) ASSAM, INDIA (89%) AFGHANISTAN (94%); UNITED STATES (94%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (92%); CHINA (92%); INDIA (89%); PAKISTAN (79%); SOMALIA (79%); IRAQ (79%); UNITED KINGDOM (67%) LOAD-DATE: February 11, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire Copyright 2011 HT Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved Page 377 WikiLeaks ' a global deceptive gameplan? Hindustan Times February 5, 2011 Saturday
- 378. 135 of 214DOCUMENTS Trend Capital. English November 3, 2009 Tuesday Rome joins big game for Turkmen gas BYLINE: Hasanov, H SECTION: POWER ENGINEERING LENGTH: 948 words DATELINE: Turkmenistan, Ashgabat Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov will soon visit Rome after receiving an official invitation from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ealrlier this year. "We have something to offer each other given our economic potential," Berdimuhammedow said. Paolo Scaronil, head of the Italian energy giant Eni, recently returned from Ashgabat where he attended the country's Independence Day celebrations. Upon his return, he said Turkmenistan will soon play a major role on the global energy arena due to its immense hydrocarbon potential. Scaroni added that he is willing to contribute to Turkmenistan's development. "We have all the necessary technical and operational opportunities," he said. Eni is Italy's leading oil and gas company operating in 70 countries worldwide, including Russia, Norway and Algeria. Eni entered the Turkmen market by acquiring assets of the British Burren Energy last year. The company can now extract oil in western Turkmenistan over a 200-square-kilometer area. "The economy is connected with gas here, and the desire of a large player like Eni to join the gas sector is clear," a Turkmen economist told Trend News on conditions of anonymity. According to BP's most recent estimates, Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world in terms of proven natural resources after Russia, Iran and Qatar. Italy is the third highest natural gas consumer after the UK and Germany in the EU. The European capitals, as a rule, are discussing the implementation of the Nabucco project. Brussels hopes to launch the initiative over the next two years. Turkmen gas may Page 378
- 379. be transported toAzerbaijan via the Caspian seabed to Turkey and European markets. Rome is thought to be a supporter of the South Stream project through the Black Sea, which will strengthen the Old World's energy dependence on Russia. Eni is interested in this project with Gazprom on par. The company's top managers even insisted on doubling the capacity to over 60 billion cubic meters of gas. Italy decided not to dispute the Kremlin's role on the energy market in the near future. The country meets a third of its energy needs owing to Russian gas. As for Turkmenistan, Ashgabat is rapidly approaching its goal of becoming an independent player on the international energy market. A gas pipeline to China will be put into operation in late 2009. Another branch will soon appear in Iran, working with the existing Turkmen network. Negotiations are also underway to restore gas transit through Russia. But Ashgabad has insisted that Moscow refuse the re-exporter role. Ashgabat believes the era has ended when Moscow established the rules of the game in Central Asia by controlling the flow of energy via Soviet-era pipes. "The progressive economies of Pakistan and India sooner or later will need additional volumes of gas," a Western diplomat told Trend News while commenting on Eni's hope to transport Caspian resources to South Asia. "It is important to find an engine that will appear at the right time and in the right place." Scaroni named his company a natural candidate for the project. But it is difficult for observers to press the project's implementation today, as the gas would be transported through Afghanistan. Tthe Taliban is sensitive due to the presidential elections, and the laying of a pipeline would further aggravate the militant group by strengthening the current regime via transit duties. The situation in Pakistan is also complicated by terrorist attacks. On the other hand, an Iranian route is possible. But Tehran's enormous South Pars reserves are also still waiting for realization, and Gazprom is a shareholder in this energy source. Offshore transportation of liquefied natural gas is another possibility. But this type of energy is still poorly developed in Turkmenistan. Huge amounts of time and investments are needed to move in this direction. At present, Turkmenistan's main task is to push the development of new fields and restore old projects. For a long time, Ashgabat was rather optimistic about the construction of a gas pipeline to Pakistan and India. The Taliban's seasonal activity in Afghanistan intensified the belief that such a pipeline could be secured. However, the U.S. Unocal failed to implement such a project in the late 1990s. U.S military operations stopped these plans. The Asian Development Bank later tried to move the project forward by paying for a feasibility study. Subsequently, India, joining the project, made a certain recovery in 2006. But it was evident that the initiatives were made by Islamabad and New Delhi. Ashgabat only took delegations of buyers to its deposit by demonstrating its export capacity. According to local forecasts, its export capacity will reach Page 379 Rome joins big game for Turkmen gas Trend Capital. English November 3, 2009 Tuesday
- 380. 200 billion cubicmeters of gas with a total output worth $250 billion. Official Ashgabat is rather interested in Southeast Asia. Experts said the UN has supported Ashgabat's to prepare an international convention to provide the market with energy resources. Berdimuhamedov stressed a few weeks ago that India may be a potential market in addition to Europe. He said such a pipeline could bring jobs and foreign exchange earnings to Afghanistan and contribute to peace and stability in the neighboring country. Earlier, Pakistan and Turkmenistan signed a protocol to accelerate the Trans-Afghan project. Congratulating new Pakistani Ambassador Tassaduk Hussain with his appointment in Ashgabat, Berdimuhamedov emphasized that the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline can be a guarantor of further economic growth in the region. Meanwhile, a suitable player needs to be be found for such an ambitious project. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at: capital@trend.az LOAD-DATE: October 5, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 115410 DOCUMENT-TYPE: News PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: TDCP Copyright 2009 ProQuest Information and Learning All Rights Reserved Copyright 2009 Trend News Agency Page 380 Rome joins big game for Turkmen gas Trend Capital. English November 3, 2009 Tuesday
- 381. 139 of 214DOCUMENTS The Nation (Pakistan) March 24, 2010 Wednesday ARTICLE: The shadows of the dead SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 1056 words I M Mohsin The subject is a quote from Winston Churchill basking in the glory of victory over the axis powers and was used to justify atrocious measures to end World War II in order to cut US troop losses. Despite the chicanery, allegedly, practiced by FDR to induce Pearl Harbour to incite fear among his own people, the fact remains that Hitler went far beyond his agreed text in pursuit of getting part the colonial empire. While his Lebensraum slogan fired the German psyche, the way France collapsed under attack must have misled him to aim at a thousand year Reich. History tends to be generally the version of the victors and all kinds of current enlightenment has allowed some objective murmurs also to figure in the world. Hence, one finds very honourable Americans treating 9/11 as false flag terror. The US appears to be paying heavily for the neocon Trojan horses in a big way and the insulting attitude of the Israeli rightwing government to President Barack Obama over land grabbing makes a case in point. Nine years on, the Afghan War launched in October 2001 is like the Vietnam War after the Tet Offensive, a military campaign during the Vietnam War. The new strategy of the US forces looks like a drama played out in the distant land to block the peoples disenchantment with the status quo. With the help of a friendly media the high command projects a poetical description of their mission under Operation Mushtarak in Helmand province. To stay safe, reportedly, the forces in Marjah are obliged to distribute cash among the locals. Having been approached by various quarters for a settlement the Taliban know that history will prevail anytime soon. Hence, they too are ignoring Helmand while attacks on foreign forces persist to keep the cauldron boiling. A look back into the start of the war has many historic object lessons. George W Bush or Cheney just watched 9/11 tragedy unfolding, while death and destruction dug deep. The same evening, Bush threatened war on usual suspects. He said: I implemented our governments emergency response plans. How could four hijacked planes have played havoc if an emergency plan had worked? The US is still a superpower and even a poorer country would have reacted to such a calamity straight on. If Bush was out of DC, Cheney was there along with the entire state apparatus including the super hotline communication channels. His fearful audience believed him, quite naturally, and the media spun all kinds of tales to terrify their people further. Furthermore, Mullah Omars response was well-worded. He advised the US to recall the experience of the Soviet Union after it landed forces in Afghanistan. Page 381
- 382. Warning the USleaders to think and think again about attacking his people; he exhorted the Afghans to act as per their traditions that was to face any American attack with courage and self-respect. Showing great courage, a spokesman emphasised: If a country or group violates our country, we will not forget our revenge Even a bird eye view of the Afghan struggle against the occupation forces shows how they have stuck to their mission. The US have a hireling in President Karzai, a former UNOCAL employee like Khalilzad, who was given power in complicity with the northern warlords after the Taliban treaded to the safe mountains. During their rule, they ran into serious problems with their own people due to their extremist ideology and became pretty unpopular as such. However, they maintained public peace which is a dream now. Being honest, they never allowed drug trade or cultivation of opium which hurt many vested interests at home and abroad. True to their history, they have kept the ante up, even in the most depressing times. In these years, about a million Afghans are reported to have been killed but, as usual, the fight goes on. The US sponsored war has failed because of the across-the-board corruption, as per the UN, let loose by private contractors and their local accomplices. Outsourcing appears to have become the safest wrapping for all kinds of shady deals. Lately, these agencies are offering handsome payments to the concerned Taliban to ensure that their supply convoys are not attacked. Such measures also helped to reduce bloody combats. However, reportedly, this has hit a new height since the new strategy was put into operation with the surge of troops by President Barack Obama. The Taliban trade security for money so that they can use the same to maintain pressure against the foreign enemy. As such the arrangement appears to suit both parties. No wonder the casualties among the foreign troops are decreasing as against the last few months of the outgoing year. For the first seven years, either due to arrogance of power or ignorance of the Afghan traditions, indiscriminate bombings by the air force, which would normally be a war crime, accounted for too many killings of civilians, including women and children. Even an acolyte like Karzai had to issue protests against such vicious murders committed by the foreign troops by the misuse of hellish firepower against innocent persons. This has been one of the major manpower-suppliers to the fighting force feeding the Taliban struggle. In Pashtun tradition, revenge for the murder of a dear one is mandatory. General Stanley McChrystal knows a lot about the Afghans, like General Petraeus, and he is trying to limit such carnage. Even his predecessor had developed some understanding of the local culture so he was seen apologising to the jirgas before he was replaced. The shadows of the dead for the people in the US are not lengthening as cold peace prevails between the parties as explained above. Deployment of various kinds of robots in the battle areas enhances the security of the foreign troops. President Obama must be more confident about his genius after the passage of the healthcare bill which was viciously opposed by the vested interests. However, it is a dream come true for the Democrats who generally tend to promote the welfare of the poor. No wonder they get pilloried from the rich right-wingers. President Obama knows that militarily Afghanistan has become a logjam. The moves made by Karzai and the strategic dialogue with Pakistan prove the same. Only if justice is done to those who suffered in AfPak, shall we get peace! The writer is a former interior secretary. Page 382 ARTICLE: The shadows of the dead The Nation (Pakistan) March 24, 2010 Wednesday
- 383. SUBJECT: WORLD WARII (91%); VIETNAM WAR (90%); DISASTER PLANNING (75%); SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK (75%); HIJACKING (70%); RELIGION (50%) PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (55%); GEORGE W BUSH (53%) GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (95%); AFGHANISTAN (94%) LOAD-DATE: March 26, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: NAT Copyright 2010 Nawaiwaqt Group of News Papers All Rights Reserved Page 383 ARTICLE: The shadows of the dead The Nation (Pakistan) March 24, 2010 Wednesday
- 384. 140 of 214DOCUMENTS The Public Record June 18, 2010 Friday 2:37 PM EST Global War Racket Exposed: Trillions in Resources & Funding Our Enemies BYLINE: David DeGraw LENGTH: 2962 words Jun. 18, 2010 (The Public Record delivered by Newstex) -- Building on my Af-Pak War Racket report, a few recent news items help expose the true drivers of current wars around the world. #1) Wherever there is a war, look for CIA/IMF/private military war profiteers covertly funding and supporting BOTH sides in order to keep the wars raging and the profits rolling in. As former CIA Station Chief John Stockwell explained: oeEnemies are necessary for the wheels of the US military machine to turn. Building on my Af-Pak War Racket report, a few recent news items help expose the true drivers of current wars around the world. #1) Wherever there is a war, look for CIA/IMF/private military war profiteers covertly funding and supporting BOTH sides in order to keep the wars raging and the profits rolling in. As former CIA Station Chief John Stockwell explained: oeEnemies are necessary for the wheels of the US military machine to turn. Heres an important glimpse of truth to seep through last week in the NY Times, via Raw Story: US-backed [#x2dc]bribes in Afghanistan may be funding Taliban On June 7, the day Afghanistan became Americas longest-ever war, the New York Times reported on an ongoing investigation poised to prove that private security companies oeare using American money to bribe the Taliban to fuel combat and thus enhance demand for their services. The news follows a oeseries of events last month that suggested all-out collusion with the insurgents, the Times said. oeThe American people are paying to prop up a corrupt government that may be using our money to pay private companies to drum up business by paying the insurgents to attack our troops, [Kucinich] said¦. The Times interviewed a NATO official in Kabul who oebelieved millions of dollars were making their way to the Taliban. [read more] #2) On top of that report, Sundays headlines read, oePakistani spy agency supports Taliban: Pakistans main spy agency continues to arm and train the Taliban and is even Page 384
- 385. represented on thegroups leadership council despite U.S. pressure to sever ties and billions in aid to combat the militants, said a research report released Sunday. The findings could heighten tension between the two countries and raise further questions about U.S. success in Afghanistan since Pakistani cooperation is seen as key to defeating the Taliban, which seized power in Kabul in the 1990s with Islamabads support. U.S. officials have suggested in the past that current or former members of Pakistans powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, have maintained links to the Taliban despite the governments decision to denounce the group in 2001 under U.S. pressure. [read more] First off, these two reports are really not news at all. Reports of American tax dollars ending up in the hands of the Taliban have been coming out since the start of the war and the ISI, as the CIA has been well aware of for years now, has been playing both sides of this war and is pivotal in keeping the war going. Secondly, I have long wondered when the CIA / US military would start exposing all of this in the mainstream propaganda press as a pretext to further expand the war into Pakistan. #3) As a result of all this, and not surprising at all to people who were paying close attention to Obamas surge strategy, costs and death counts are quickly rising. Jim Lobe reports from Afghanistan that the oeNews is Bad. While U.S. officials insist they are making progress in reversing the momentum built up by the Taliban insurgency over the last several years, the latest news from Afghanistan suggests the opposite may be closer to the truth. Even senior military officials are conceding privately that their much-touted new counterinsurgency strategy of oeclear, hold and build in contested areas of the Pashtun southern and eastern parts of the country are not working out as planned despite the oesurge of some 20,000 additional U.S. troops over the past six months. Casualties among the nearly 130,000 U.S. and other NATO troops now deployed in Afghanistan are also mounting quickly. [read more] #4) In a propaganda effort to spin away from all the latest bad news, the desperate US military has pulled this dusty old news report out of their back-pocket and launched a psychological operation in the NY Times to give a positive spin in hopes of further manipulating US public opinion: U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves¦. The previously unknown deposits " including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium " are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe. An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the Page 385 Global War Racket Exposed: Trillions in Resources & Funding Our Enemies The Public Record June 18, 2010 Friday 2:37 PM EST
- 386. oeSaudi Arabia oflithium, a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys. [read more] In the process of this latest propaganda campaign, the Pentagon has unwittingly exposed two things that I will now jump on. A) The real reason why we are in this war to begin with: its all about natural resources. And B) All the BS statements about these oepreviously unknown deposits clearly prove, yet again, that the NY Times is only too happy to play the role of a straight-up propaganda paper. For those of us paying attention, weve been reading reports about these minerals for the past decade! Roland Sheppard just sent this along: oeThe New York Times, when it was beating the drums of war in 2002, failed to mention that the USGS published a report, at that time, Mines and Mineral Occurrences of Afghanistan Compiled by G.J. Orris and J.D. Bliss. Open-File Report 02-110. On page 16, they list as [#x2dc]Significant Minerals or Materials magnetite, hematite, chalcopyrite, covellite, chalcocite, cuprite, malachite, azurite, molybdenite, and native gold " lithium is mentioned on page 10 under [#x2dc]References. So, from the very beginning, as I went into further detail in the past, the war in Afghanistan is all about resources. Ill get back to the oeSaudi Arabia of lithium in a minute, heres a brief excerpt from my prior report on another key resource in the region: ORIGINS OF THE AFGHANISTAN OCCUPATION: oeSTRATEGY OF THE SILK ROUTE Up until 9/11, oil companies, with the help of the Bush administration, were desperately trying to work out a deal with the Taliban to build an oil pipeline through Afghanistan. One of the worlds richest oil fields is on the eastern shore of the Caspian sea just north of Afghanistan. The Caspian oil reserves are of top strategic importance in the quest to control the earths remaining oil supply. The US government developed a policy called oeThe Strategy of the Silk Route. The policy was designed to lock out Russia, China and Iran from the oil in this region. This called for U.S. corporations to construct an oil pipeline running through Afghanistan. Since the mid 1990s, a consortium of U.S. companies led by Unocal have been pursing this goal. A feasibility study of the Central Asian pipeline project was performed by Enron. Their study concluded that as long as the country was split among fighting warlords the pipeline could not be built. Stability was necessary for the $4.5 billion project and the U.S. believed that the Taliban would impose the necessary order. The U.S. State Department and Pakistans ISI, impressed by the Taliban movement to cut a pipeline deal, agreed to funnel arms and funding to the Taliban in their war for control of Afghanistan. [read more] Then of course we have the war in Iraq, again from my previous report: ORIGINS OF THE IRAQ OCCUPATION: CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE As an AlterNet report put it: oeIn January 2000, 10 days into President George W. Bushs first term, representatives of the largest oil and energy companies joined the new administration to form the Cheney Energy Task Force. Secret Task Force documents that were dated March 2001, which were obtained by Page 386 Global War Racket Exposed: Trillions in Resources & Funding Our Enemies The Public Record June 18, 2010 Friday 2:37 PM EST
- 387. Judical Watch in2003 after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, contained oea map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as two charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects? They also had: ?? a series of lists titled [#x2dc]Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts[#x2dc] naming more than 60 companies from some 30 countries with contracts in various stages of negotiation. None of contracts were with American nor major British companies, and none could take effect while the U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iraq remained in place. Three countries held the largest contracts: China, Russia and France " all members of the Security Council and all in a position to advocate for the end of sanctions. Were Saddam to remain in power and the sanctions to be removed, these contracts would take effect, and the U.S. and its closest ally would be shut out of Iraqs great oil bonanza. Project Censored highlighted a Judicial Watch report that stated: oeDocumented plans of occupation and exploitation predating September 11 confirm heightened suspicion that U.S. policy is driven by the dictates of the energy industry. According to Judicial Watch President, Tom Fitton, [#x2dc]These documents show the importance of the Energy Task Force and why its operations should be open to the public. So thats the oil angle of this resource war, now back to the lithium angle. This longest war in US history is very similar to the even longer wars raging in Northern Africa, another resource rich paradise of death and destruction. In the late 1990s, CIA-connected corporations like Bechtel worked with NASA to conduct infrared satellite studies to discover mineral rich regions throughout the world. Other than the discoveries in South-Central Asia (Af-Pak region), Northern Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo region), emerged as a key source for future resources. In particular, the mineral coltan, which like lithium, is vital to powering most computer technology. Since Bechtel and NASA made these discoveries, a report from The International Rescue Committee revealed that an astonishing 5.4 MILLION Africans have been killed in the region. For some background, heres an excellent report from July 2001, in Dollars and Sense magazine: The Business of War in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dena Montague and Frida Berrigan oeThis is all money, says a Western mining executive, his hand sweeping over a geological map toward the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He is explaining why, in 1997, he and planeloads of other businessmen were flocking to the impoverished country and vying for the attention of then-rebel leader Laurent Kabila. The executive could just as accurately have said, [#x2dc]This is all war. The interplay among a seemingly endless supply of mineral resources, the greed of multinational corporations desperate to cash in on that wealth, and the provision of arms and military training to political tyrants has helped to produce the spiral of conflicts that have engulfed the continent " what many regard as oeAfricas First World War. These minerals are vital to maintaining U.S. military dominance? [read more] Page 387 Global War Racket Exposed: Trillions in Resources & Funding Our Enemies The Public Record June 18, 2010 Friday 2:37 PM EST
- 388. For further detail,heres Project Censoreds 2003 report: American Companies Exploit the Congo: The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been labeled oethe richest patch of earth on the planet. The valuable abundance of minerals and resources in the DRC has made it the target of attacks from U.S.-supported neighboring African countries Uganda and Rwanda. The DRC is mineral rich with millions of tons of diamonds, copper, cobalt, zinc, manganese, uranium, niobium, and tantalum also known as coltan. Coltan has become an increasingly valuable resource to American corporations. Coltan is used to make mobile phones, night vision goggles, fiber optics, and capacitators used to maintain the electrical charge in computer chips¦. The DRC holds 80% of the worlds coltan reserves, more than 60% of the worlds cobalt and is the worlds largest supplier of high-grade copper. With these minerals playing a major part in maintaining US military dominance and economic growth, minerals in the Congo are deemed vital US interests. Historically, the U.S. government identified sources of materials in Third World countries, and then encouraged U.S. corporations to invest in and facilitate their production. Dating back to the mid-1960s, the U.S. government literally installed the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko, which gave U.S. corporations access to the Congos minerals for more than 30 years. However, over the years Mobutu began to limit access by Western corporations, and to control the distribution of resources. In 1998, U.S. military-trained leaders of Rwanda and Uganda invaded the mineral-rich areas of the Congo. The invaders installed illegal colonial-style governments which continue to receive millions of dollars in arms and military training from the United States. Our government and a $5 million Citibank loan maintains the rebel presence in the Congo. Their control of mineral rich areas allows western corporations, such as American Mineral Fields, to illegally mine. Rwandan and Ugandan control over this area is beneficial for both governments and for the corporations that continue to exploit the Congos natural wealth¦. San Francisco based engineering firm Bechtel Inc. established strong ties in the rebel zones as well. Bechtel drew up an inventory of the Congos mineral resources free of charge, and also paid for NASA satellite studies of the country for infared maps of its minerals. Bechtel estimates that the DRCs mineral ores alone are worth $157 billion dollars. Through coltan production, the Rwandans and their allies are bringing in $20 million revenue a month. Rwandas diamond exports went from 166 carats in 1998 to 30,500 in 2000. Ugandas diamond exports jumped from approximately 1,500 carats to about 11,300. The final destination for many of these minerals is the U.S. [read more] And to close this out, let me return to oeThe Business of War report by Dena Montague and Frida Berrigan. As you will see, you always have to follow the money, the bankers and our friends at the IMF are always at the root of global death and destruction, and are the true Masters of War: oeToday, the United States claims that it has no interest in the DRC other than a peaceful resolution to the current war. Yet U.S. businessmen and politicians are still going to extreme lengths to gain and preserve sole access to the DRCs mineral resources. And to protect these economic interests, the U.S. government Page 388 Global War Racket Exposed: Trillions in Resources & Funding Our Enemies The Public Record June 18, 2010 Friday 2:37 PM EST
- 389. continues to providemillions of dollars in arms and military training to known human-rights abusers and undemocratic regimes. Thus, the DRCs mineral wealth is both an impetus for war and an impediment to stopping it¦. During his historic visit to Africa in 1998, President Clinton praised Presidents Kagame and Musevini as leaders of the [#x2dc]African Renaissance, just a few months before they launched their deadly invasion of the DRC with U.S. weapons and training¦. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have knowingly contributed to the war effort. The international lending institutions praised both Rwanda and Uganda for increasing their gross domestic product (GDP), which resulted from the illegal mining of DRC resources. Although the IMF and World Bank were aware that the rise in GDP coincided with the DRC war, and that it was derived from exports of natural resources that neither country normally produced, they nonetheless touted both nations as economic success stories¦. In January 2000, Chevron " the corporation that named an oil tanker after National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice " announced a three-year, $75 million spending program in the DRC, thus challenging the notion that war discourages foreign investment¦. As one investor put it, oeIt is a good moment to come: it is in difficult times that you can get the most advantage.?. In April 2001, a scathing UN report argued that Presidents Kagame and Museveni are oeon the verge of becoming the godfathers of the illegal exploitation of natural resources and the continuation of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The two leaders, the report alleged, have turned their armies into armies for business¦. According to East African media reports, U.S. diplomats continue to view Rwanda and Uganda as oestrategic allies in the Great Lakes region and oewould not want to upset relations with them at this time. ¦. The IMF and World Bank have also indicated that their policies toward Rwanda and Uganda will remain unchanged¦. Famed two-time Congressional Medal of Honor recipient US Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler accurately summed up the situation when he said: oeI spent 33 years in the Marines, most of my time being a high-class muscle man for big business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for Capitalism¦. The general public shoulders the bill. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones, Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations. Sing it with me: oeCome you masters of war¦ You that hide behind desks I just want you to know, I can see through your mask? Read more of David DeGraws work at DavidDeGraw.org. Page 389 Global War Racket Exposed: Trillions in Resources & Funding Our Enemies The Public Record June 18, 2010 Friday 2:37 PM EST
- 390. David DeGraw, aregular contributor to The Public Record, is an investigative journalist who has been featured in many publications and websites. He is the founder and editor of AmpedStatus.com, editorial director of MediaChannel.org and author of The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States. Newstex ID: PBRC-5083-46211674 SUBJECT: RELIGION (93%); TERRORISM (90%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (90%); ENGINEERING (90%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (90%); INTELLIGENCE SERVICES (90%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (90%); ECONOMIC NEWS (90%); ESPIONAGE (89%); ARMED FORCES (89%); INVESTIGATIONS (89%); BRIBERY (87%); WAR & CONFLICT (78%); WAR CRIMES (78%); COUNTERTERRORISM (77%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (77%); MILITARY & VETERANS LAW (76%); RIOTS (74%); INORGANIC CHEMICALS (74%); SECURITY GUARD SERVICES (71%); LAW ENFORCEMENT (69%); INVESTIGATION & SECURITY SERVICES (64%); POLITICAL CORRUPTION (71%); TALIBAN (89%) Special to The Public Record; Af-Pak·Africa; CIA; IMF; Iraq; private military; War Crimes; Asia; GeoCodes; unrest; conflicts and war; Africa; politics; crime; law and justice; economy; business and finance; North America; Events; religion and belief; Europe; disaster and accident; science and technology; Global; United States; Afghanistan; Pakistan; Iraq; Saudi Arabia; China; Russia; Iran; civil unrest; armed conflict; war; terrorism; Rwanda; Uganda; United States of America; law enforcement; crime; islam; Financial Performance; Economy; man-made disaster; Russia; France; economy (general); manufacturing and engineering; chemicals; company information; defense; treaties and international organisations; government; espionage and intelligence; foreign aid; diplomacy; engineering; technology; rebellions and revolutions; Middle East; Africa; Arabian Peninsula; Asia; Europe; New York; Islamic politics; banking and law; terrorism; anti-terror; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); terrorist attack; economic outlook and indicators; inorganic chemicals; aerospace; armed forces; alliances; space program and rocketry; aerospace engineering ORGANIZATION: CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (92%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (92%) UNITED STATES (96%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); IRAQ (92%); AFRICA (92%); EUROPE (92%); ASIA (92%); FRANCE (79%); CHINA (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); PAKISTAN (79%); NORTH AMERICA (79%); UGANDA (79%); IRAN (79%); RWANDA (79%); GULF STATES (79%); SAUDI ARABIA (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (79%) LOAD-DATE: June 18, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other Page 390 Global War Racket Exposed: Trillions in Resources & Funding Our Enemies The Public Record June 18, 2010 Friday 2:37 PM EST
- 391. guarantees will beoffered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2010 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2010 The Public Record Page 391 Global War Racket Exposed: Trillions in Resources & Funding Our Enemies The Public Record June 18, 2010 Friday 2:37 PM EST
- 392. 141 of 214DOCUMENTS Rupee News April 7, 2010 Wednesday 8:16 PM EST Mr. Karzais madness? BYLINE: aliphbay@aol.com (Rupee News) LENGTH: 1485 words Apr. 7, 2010 (Rupee News delivered by Newstex) -- Reading the speeches of Mr. Hamid Karzai, one wonders if he has gone stark raving mad. Some may think that Hamids Anti-Americanism is an attempt at self-suicide. However sagacious analyst know that Mr Karzai speaks many languages"but his best eloquence is in Schmooze. There is a method to his madness. Mr. Karzai is a chameleon. He has come full circle. He used to a representative of Unocal pushing for the Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan gas pipeline. After the Taliban took over, he lived in Quetta"however he had extensive contacts with the Taliban and was proposed as the Talibans UN Ambassador. Today Mr. Karzai knows that the US is about to leave Afghanistan. Therefore it suits Mr. Karzai to be Anti-American. Tony Karan of Time Magazine correctly and brilliantly describes the reason for Mr. Karaais timely tirades against America. To some it may seem as if President Hamid Karzai has a death wish. The Afghan leader has lately begun sticking it to the U.S. and its Western allies " the only force protecting him from a surging Taliban, which hanged the last foreign-backed President when it reached Kabul in 1996. Having infuriated the Obama Administration by continuing to drag his feet on corruption " and then cozying up to Iran and China when Washington turned up the heat " Karzai ratcheted up the rhetoric last week. He accused the U.S. of trying to dominate his country, blamed the West for last years electoral fraud (which his campaign was accused of masterminding) and made comments that verged on sanctifying the Taliban insurgency as a oenational resistance against foreign invaders. The New York Times reported on Sunday that Karzai even threatened, during a meeting with Afghan parliamentarians, to join the Taliban himself if the West continued to pressure him. Karzais ebullition: [#x2dc]Ill rejoin the Taliban But bizarre as his behavior may seem, there may be a method in Karzais madness. For one thing, he has begun denouncing the Western powers in his country because Page 392
- 393. he knows hecan " Karzai would have been cut adrift some time ago if there were any other viable alternative on whom the U.S. could pin its strategy. The wily President knows that the presence of foreign forces in his country is deeply unpopular, particularly when civilians are killed in the course of NATO military operations. Karzai, moreover, is humiliated and shown to be powerless when his protestations over such operations are ignored by his Western patrons. So while he may have been installed by a U.S.-led invasion, if Karzai is to survive the departure of Western forces, he will have to reinvent himself as a national leader with an independent power base. Hes obviously determined not to go the way of Mohammad Najibullah, the former Soviet-backed leader who was executed by the Taliban seven years after the Red Army withdrew. So from Karzais point of view, hes pushing back against the U.S. not only because he can, but also because he must if he is to survive politically. The US occupation has not brought security to Afghan women. There are several factors which have led to the impasse in the White House. AfPak countercurrents beyond the Oxus to AfPakAzUzbKazTurkKyr-istan. Some of them has been identified by Bob Woodward in his recent front page article in the Washington Post. Obamas Afghan timeout vs. Mullens surge. Its worth remembering that Karzai was essentially parachuted into the country in the course of the U.S. invasion, tapped to lead a new post-Taliban government that would be founded largely on the Northern Alliance " the coalition of ethnic Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara former mujahedin warlords who had always fought the Taliban. A chieftain in the Popolzai tribe, Karzai was a prominent leader in Afghanistans largest ethnic group, the Pashtun, which is also the social base of the Taliban. Still, his power base was limited, and creating an effective government forced him to cut deals with all manner of unsavory characters. The CIA, it should be remembered, was doing the same thing: the hundreds of millions of dollars in suitcases that the agency took into Afghanistan in the early days of the invasion was not aimed at funding womens literacy projects; its purpose was to buy off the local warlords who control all the valleys, recognizing the fact that power changes hands in Afghanistan when those warlords switch their allegiances. Karzai probably considers the U.S. political leadership naive for believing that a pro-Western government there can survive without paying off a lot of unsavory characters. There are several factions in the administration. One of them is the geostrategic reality that NATO doesnt buy the Obama Doctrine. It seems that the oeExiters seem to be winning. oeCan Karzai get away with a stolen election- Carter. Various Democrats seem to be warning Mr. Obama about the impending catastrophe. We are running the risk of replicating the fate of the Soviets Mr. Brzezinski. Karzai also knows that the U.S. commitment in his country is finite, and the need to survive after the Americans leave makes him more inclined to rely on such established hard men as Uzbek warlord General Rashid Dostum and Tajik strongman General Mohammed Fahim " even if that means turning a blind eye to their transgressions. He is also keen to take charge of negotiating a political settlement with the Taliban on his own timetable, and with less of a role for Pakistan than Washington might be ready to concede to Islamabad. Just as U.S. influence in Iraq declined precipitously once its intention to withdraw became clear, so is Karzais game plan premised on getting along without the U.S., even though hell do his best to keep it there as long as possible. That means going through the motions of satisfying U.S. demands on corruption and reform, without Page 393 Mr. Karzais madness? Rupee News April 7, 2010 Wednesday 8:16 PM EST
- 394. alienating the hardmen on whose support he may depend once the Americans leave. Mr. Obama fell into the routine acceptance for a request for more troops. He has repeated the historical mistakes of Vietnam. Justifying the Banality of Occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan: The Thinktanks attempt to complete the circle of complicity between a sycophantic press, and a non-inquisitive servile public. The nation is forced to accept the only argument that it is being repeatedly inundated with. Its a common mistake for great powers to assume that those whom they engage as proxies to fight their battles or run their satrapies share the same agenda as their patrons just because their interests coincide at a given moment. But not all of Karzais enemies in the region are Americas enemies, and not all of Americas allies are Karzais allies. Nowhere is this more true than in the case of Pakistan, the original patron of the Taliban, which has also been going through the motions of indulging American concerns while continuing to enable the Afghan Taliban insurgency and identifying Karzai as an adversary because of his regimes close ties with India. Like Pakistan over the past eight years, Karzai has been biding his time, positioning himself for the battles and power shifts that will come when the Americans leave, his goal " like Islamabads " being to protect his power. And the arrival in Washington of the Obama Administration signaled the onset of the endgame. Driven by a desire to conclude Americas fiscally burdensome wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and alarmed by the downward security spiral in Afghanistan, the Obama Administration put Karzai on notice that failure to tackle the corruption that was deemed to be fueling the insurgency would jeopardize his ties with Washington. And in the weeks leading up to last Augusts election, U.S. officials in Afghanistan were widely perceived to be backing rival candidates. Karzai has also noted that key U.S. officials like special envoy Richard Holbrooke have spoken frankly about giving Pakistan a greater role in shaping the political outcome in Afghanistan. Mr. Obama has stepped back to ask a more basic question.Hindu Kush cul de sac: Why are we in Afghanistan? The main question is, whether. President Obama have the courage to implement the real solutions to Obamas Vietnam (AfPak). President Obama is planning an Exit strategy by negotiating with the oeTaliban (Pakhtuns). Can he go through with it? Trade First not Aid First It should come as no surprise, then, that in the endgame, Karzai has revealed an agenda quite distinct from that of Washington " just as Pakistan has done. The premise of the U.S. policy, after all " just like that of the Pakistanis, Karzai, the Taliban and every other player in the game " is that sooner or later, the Americans will leave. And its that reality, now more than ever, that is shaping everyones game. Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1977781,00.html?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0kSeYkm Filed under: , , , , , Tagged: , Newstex ID: RPNW-5065-43656600 SUBJECT: RELIGION (93%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (90%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (90%); WAR & CONFLICT (89%); POLITICS (87%); RIOTS (74%); EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (74%); US PRESIDENTS (74%); FRAUD & FINANCIAL CRIME (70%); TALKS & MEETINGS (70%); Page 394 Mr. Karzais madness? Rupee News April 7, 2010 Wednesday 8:16 PM EST
- 395. TERRORISM (60%); PIPELINETRANSPORTATION (55%); ELECTION FRAUD (70%); POLITICAL CORRUPTION (70%); TALIBAN (90%) Afghanistan; Current Affairs; Politics; US CA; US Int Rel.; US Poli; Anti-Americanism; Hamid Karzai; Asia; GeoCodes; unrest; conflicts and war; politics; religion and belief; crime; law and justice; Global; United States; Afghanistan; Pakistan; Iraq; Vietnam; Iran; Turkmenistan; China; India; civil unrest; armed conflict; islam; diplomacy; treaties and international organisations; government; crime; Middle East; Asia; rebellions and revolutions; Islamic politics; banking and law; terrorism; alliances; public officials PERSON: HAMAD KARZAI (97%); BARACK OBAMA (54%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) AFGHANISTAN (95%); UNITED STATES (94%); CHINA (92%); PAKISTAN (92%); ASIA (92%); IRAN (92%); TURKMENISTAN (92%); IRAQ (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (92%) LOAD-DATE: April 7, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2010 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2010 Rupee News Page 395 Mr. Karzais madness? Rupee News April 7, 2010 Wednesday 8:16 PM EST
- 396. 142 of 214DOCUMENTS Targeted News Service November 13, 2009 Friday 4:05 AM EST The Taliban Biography: The Structure and Leadership of the Taliban 1996-2002 BYLINE: Targeted News Service LENGTH: 1129 words DATELINE: WASHINGTON The National Security Archives issued the following news release: Three years before al Qaeda's attacks on the United States on 9/11, U.S. officials detected an alarming shift in the ideological stance of Taliban leader Mullah Omar toward pan-Islamism - a change that portended a burgeoning alliance between the Afghan regime and Osama bin Laden. The report that Omar might be falling under bin Laden's "influence" is contained in a December 1998 U.S. Embassy cable from Islamabad, Pakistan, one of a number of recently declassified government documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the National Security Archive and published here today on the eighth anniversary of the Taliban's expulsion from Kabul. The new documents provide other revealing insights into the inner workings of the notoriously opaque Taliban which underscore the challenges and potential opportunities that continue to confront U.S. policy-makers today. For example, while the organization in the late 1990s showed a troubling inclination toward radical Islamic thinking on issues beyond its usually more parochial concerns, it also displayed a pragmatic and even opportunistic side, recruiting troops from a variety of political perspectives including local communists. And although the documents describe Mullah Omar as highly authoritarian and adept at keeping his political rivals off-balance, the organization had evidenced a surprising diversity of viewpoints within its upper ranks, which suggested possible weak spots in the organization's control. A comprehensive chart compiled by the Archive details biographical and professional information on more than 40 Taliban officials. Essential background information on the regime has always been largely second-hand, contested or altogether absent from the public record. In order to facilitate better public understanding of the group and its principal figures, the National Security Archive has organized a unique and comprehensive chart, compiled entirely from U.S. government sources, detailing biographical and professional information on more than 40 important Taliban officials. In addition to highly informative biographical materials, the declassified documents in this briefing book contain fascinating new details about Taliban Page 396
- 397. structure, decision-making andevolving ideology. The December 1998 Embassy cable noted above describes how Mullah "Omar - perhaps under the influence of bin Ladin and other extremists - may have become more sympathetic to pan-Islamist thinking. For example, he was quoted at least twice in 1998 as criticizing the U.S. presence in the Gulf, which is not usually a great concern of Afghans." Furthermore, Mullah Omar's Taliban ruling style may be even more controlling and brutal than previously reported. The December 1998 Embassy cable mentioned above notes that Omar "maintains an idiosyncratic, almost obscurantist, leadership style," making policy decisions, "but generally leav[ing] the day-to-day matters to his key lieutenants." In order to ensure his deputies remain "off balance" and do "not grow overly comfortable in their positions, Omar also rotates Taliban officials from post-to-post, apparently at a whim." Omar may have felt threatened by his now-deceased deputy, Mullah Mohammad Rabbani. A "moderate," who reportedly disagreed with Omar's decision to protect al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Rabbani wanted to "settle the [bin Laden] matter before [the Taliban] become even more isolated from the international community." By 1996, Omar had purged Taliban members loyal to Mullah Rabbani in order to prevent his Deputy from gaining popularity and an independent base of power. Also contained in the documents are indications that despite Mullah Omar's authoritarian methods, the Taliban may have been more politically and ideologically diverse than previously known. In March 1997, U.S. State Department officials note that "while we do not know much about [Taliban] decision-making, there is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest there are differences of opinion among high-level Taliban leaders. And when they do reach a decision, there is not a well-defined process for communicating that decision to all the areas under their control, let alone making sure that it is carried out." There is surprising ideologically heterogeneity in the organization as some Taliban officials, such as Minister of Defense Mullah Obaidullah, regularly recruit former communists for Taliban membership. U.S. officials note, "there are also many non-ideological Afghans (former commanders, tribal leaders, khalqis, etc.) who have jumped into the Taliban bandwagon for their own motives. There is thus some evidence to suggest that in provinces where they are in control, they - or at least their ideology - are spread thin." As a collection, the documents reproduced here provide an interesting illustration of the complexity of dealing with a repugnant political regime. U.S. State Department officials describe Taliban social policies as abominable; yet they find themselves engaged in regular diplomatic contact and even supporting potential commercial deals. While the State Department is studying reports of growing domestic opposition to the Taliban (prompting Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to write in the margins of one memo, "This is encouraging"), UNOCAL (the Union Oil Company of California) is sponsoring a Taliban delegation on a tour of the United States in hopes of getting permission to build a pipeline through Afghanistan. One of the visitors, Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban Minister of Education and Minister of Information and Culture, is described as a "key figure in the Taliban's ideological projects," and an individual even more "extreme on social issues than most Taliban." The State Department confesses U.S. policy "will inevitably be messy and the policy we follow will be ridden with inner tensions, as we simultaneously engage with the Taliban and criticize their abuses." Highlights: Page 397 The Taliban Biography: The Structure and Leadership of the Taliban 1996-2002 Targeted News Service November 13, 2009 Friday 4:05 AM EST
- 398. * A cableindicating that by 1998 U.S. diplomats are growing concerned that Taliban leader Mullah Omar may be becoming increasingly ideologically influenced by Osama Bin Laden. * A cable reporting that Taliban Foreign Minister Jalil told U.S. officials in January 1997 that "bin Ladin had lived in caves south of Jalalabad in Tora Bora and the Taliban had become suspicious." * A May 2000 handwritten note from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on the Taliban. * A 1997 Document on Jalaluddin Haqqani, a critical figure of the past 20 years of Afghan politics. * Details on how the Taliban governed Afghanistan through the "Inner" Shura, the "Outer" Shura, the Caretaker Council and the "Ulema" Shura. Copyright Targeted News Services TNS gv51gv-091114-2476138 61GemaViana SUBJECT: RELIGION (90%); TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS (90%); NATIONAL SECURITY (90%); TERRORISM (90%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (89%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (89%); PROFILES & BIOGRAPHIES (89%); PUBLIC POLICY (89%); BIOGRAPHICAL LITERATURE (88%); EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (75%); POLITICAL PARTIES (75%); FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (71%); AL-QAEDA (90%); TALIBAN (91%) ORGANIZATION: AL-QAEDA (84%) PERSON: OSAMA BIN LADEN (92%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) UNITED STATES (96%); AFGHANISTAN (90%); PAKISTAN (79%) LOAD-DATE: November 21, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire Copyright 2009 Targeted News Service LLC All Rights Reserved Page 398 The Taliban Biography: The Structure and Leadership of the Taliban 1996-2002 Targeted News Service November 13, 2009 Friday 4:05 AM EST
- 399. 143 of 214DOCUMENTS BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring December 24, 2010 Friday Pakistan article urges making four-nation gas pipeline symbol of regional peace LENGTH: 1701 words Text of article by Raja Muhammad Khan headlined "TAPI: Economic and security aspects" published by Pakistani newspaper The Frontier Post website on 24 December The 17,000-kilometre long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI), natural gas pipeline project has been signed on December 11, 2010, during Ashkabad Summit. The project is both unique and significant. Unique in the sense that, it is third time that concerned parties have agreed for its construction, but practically it could not materialise mainly because of security threats, prevailing in Afghanistan. Initially, the project was conceived as TAP (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan) during the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Later it was revived twice; as TAP and TAPI during Karzai administration in Afghanistan. On December 11, 2010, energy ministers of all the four countries signed the framework agreement of the project, whereas, the Presidents of all countries less India signed the key document. Mr. Murli Deora, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, represented India, who signed the key document too. The envisaged route of the gas pipeline is from Turkmen city of Dauletabad gas fields to Fazilka India via Herat-Kandahar (Afghanistan) and Quetta-Pakistan. The designated capacity of the gas is expected to be 33 billion cubic metres per year. The estimated cost of the project is $8 billion. Yoloton gas field, being developed by Turkmenistan may later become another supply source for this pipeline in future. According to initial estimates, "India and Pakistan would each stand to receive around 38 million cubic metres of gas (42% each) out of the 90 million cubic metres shipped daily," with rest going to Afghanistan. Apart from other Central Asian states, Turkmenistan hold huge amount of natural gas. It is considered as a country, which has fourth largest natural gas, reserves in the world. As per an independent auditing company of United Kingdom, this country has 14 trillion cubic metres of natural gas reserves. The President of the Republic, however, estimates that, these reserves are around 22 trillion cubic metres. From these vast resources, it is supplying gas to Russian Federation and China too. In December 2009, the first China-Turkmenistan gas pipeline constructed by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) started pumping the gas to Chinese western region, the Xinjiang. Chinese President Hu Jintao inaugurated this 1800 Km long gas pipeline in the presence of Central Asian leaders. The pipeline passes through the territories of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to Xinjiang. Owing to its abundant resources of the gas, Turkmenistan Page 399
- 400. has sought tobroaden its client base. This deal would substantially reduce the Russian political influence on Turkmenistan in the days to come. This pipeline as well as the other pipelines from CARs to China seriously bothers United States and its European partners. In the wording of Turkmen President, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov: "This project has not only commercial or economic value. It is also political." President Hu was also categorical in saying that, "China is positive about our co-operation, and the opening of this gas pipeline is another platform for collaboration and co-operation between our friendly nations." Apart from others, the Eni Oil and Gas Company of Italy, has recently desired to construct this gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India. Indeed, Unocal, a US led consortium, was all set to undertake the project in 1990s, once it developed differences with Taliban regime. Whereas, the consortium is considered as the basic force behind the emergence of Taliban as a power in mid 1990s. It funded the Taliban militia for gaining a foothold in Afghanistan. Initially, this consortium also locked in fierce competition with Argentina's Bridas to win a deal to construct and run the route. The latter was ready to undertake the construction at a cheaper rate and in a record period. However, the US consortium had other strategic objectives linked with the pipeline, which Afghans did not agree in 1990s. Following the overthrow of Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2001, the heads of state of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan met in Islamabad in May 2002. They agreed t o constitute a steering committee, consisting of oil and gas ministers of three states (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan). The committee requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the requisite funding and technical assistance. The ADB after necessary analysis of the project, promised assistance for, "financing a techno-economic feasibility study that covered pipeline routing, preliminary design, cost estimates, and rapid environmental impact assessment, and to assess volume-price sensitivity." In phase-1, ADB also supported a market study on demand for natural gas in Pakistan and northern India, and a risk analysis and risk mitigation study to address the concerns of gas-consuming countries and of downstream consumers in case gas supply is disrupted along the route of the pipeline. In a way, ADB, which is acting as the secretariat of the project, vigorously persuaded and compelled the basic partners of the agreement to include India into it? The technical assistance by the designers of ADB also include construction of underground reservoirs for the storage of natural gas in Pakistan in sufficient quantity for meeting the emergency requirements of the consumer countries, in case of shortage of supply at the source or interruption in between. The project is significant, because it is the first formal effort for linking the energy rich Central Asia with the energy deficient South Asia. Moreover, the project would provide an outlet to the landlocked Central Asian Republics (CARs) through a shortest possible route for the rest of the world. At regional level, the project would lead towards a regional integration between the South and Central Asia. The regional resources would be consumed by regional countries. It is worth mentioning that as compared to the former routes of oil and gas from CARs to rest of the world through Russia, Pakistan provides shortest access to CARs for export and transportation of their natural resources via Arabian Sea as well as the overland route. Another significance of the project would be that a huge number of human resources would be committed during the construction of the pipeline and even thereafter on monitoring, storage and security related and miscellaneous duties. According to an estimate, over 12,000 jobs would be created for the Afghan people only during the pipeline construction. This would provide employment to the people in their respective areas, thus substantially reducing the unemployment in these countries. Apart from this optimistic aspect, for the countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan, the project would bring a huge amount of the transit fee, as the pipeline covers Page 400 Pakistan article urges making four-nation gas pipeline symbol of regional peace BBC Monitoring South Asia - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring December 24, 2010 Friday
- 401. huge stretches throughthe Pak-Afghan territories. Besides, a lot of positive aspects and hopes for the economic prosperity the TAPI is expected to bring in, there are fears linked with the completion of this project. The pipeline has to pass through some rowdy areas of Afghanistan, still under the occupation of Taliban and warlords. The member countries of the TAPI and even the ADB have shown concern over the security aspects of the pipeline in the Taliban dominated areas and some areas of Pakistan, frequently hit by terrorists. Indeed, "the issue is not only security in the sense that you can't actually guarantee the safety of the pipeline, but actual construction is going to be difficult as well." The President of ADB, Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda said in Ashkabad: "This will not be an easy project to complete - it is mandatory that we guarantee the security of the pipeline and the quality of construction work." President Karzai, however, made a firm commitment on the occasion that "Afghanistan will live up to its obligations in ensuring the pipeline's construction and safety". On the sideline of the Summit, President Asif Ali Zardari and President Karzai had an in-depth discussion regarding the security aspects of the pipeline. Both agreed to ensure strict security measures during this multinational pipeline project. In this regard, the ongoing efforts of Hamid Karzai for the reconciliation and re-integratio n of Taliban and warlords needs further impetus. Definitely the countries directly involved in the Afghan affairs; the US and NATO countries and India, which is massively involved in the garb of Afghan development have the primary responsibility to bring stability in that country. Of course, the other regional countries do have a role to play for the stability of Afghanistan, the way Pakistan is assisting the Karzai administration in the integration and reconciliation of Taliban with his Government. Luckily, the project has the tacit approval from the United States, the occupier of hostile Afghanistan. US otherwise, encourage and support all oil and gas pipelines from the Central Asian and Caspian region to Asia and Europe from routes other than those passing either from Russia or from Iran. In this regard, it is also highlighted that, US still opposes the establishment of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline. It was because of US pressure that forced India to withdraw from the project, previously known as the IPI (Iran-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline. The project had lot of prospects for the rapidly growing Indian economy. Pakistan welcomes the much-awaited Ashkabad Summit and token Indian representation in this presidential moot. The terrorist-hit country expect that all those who promote, abet and finance terrorism and sub-nationalism in Pakistan would now desist from this nefarious act for the greater cause of economic prosperity in South Asia. As pointed out by Turkmen President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov, after the signature on the document that, "Along with commercial and economic benefits, this project will also yield a stabilising influence on the region and beyond," let us make TAPI as the symbol of peace, stability, and economic prosperity of South and Central Asia. Source: The Frontier Post website, Peshawar, in English 24 Dec 10 SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (91%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (91%); NATURAL GAS PIPELINES (90%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (89%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (89%); ENERGY DEPARTMENTS (77%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (77%); TALIBAN (73%) COMPANY: CHINA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORP (83%) INDUSTRY: NAICS213112 SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FOR OIL & GAS OPERATIONS (83%); SIC1389 OIL & GAS FIELD SERVICES, NEC (83%) PERSON: HU JINTAO (51%) Page 401 Pakistan article urges making four-nation gas pipeline symbol of regional peace BBC Monitoring South Asia - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring December 24, 2010 Friday
- 402. GEOGRAPHIC: NORTHWEST CHINA(92%); XINJIANG, CHINA (68%) INDIA (95%); CHINA (94%); TURKMENISTAN (94%); PAKISTAN (94%); ASIA (93%); CENTRAL ASIA (92%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (92%); AFGHANISTAN (92%); UNITED KINGDOM (79%); UZBEKISTAN (79%); KAZAKHSTAN (79%) LOAD-DATE: December 24, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Transcript Copyright 2010 British Broadcasting Corporation All Rights Reserved Page 402 Pakistan article urges making four-nation gas pipeline symbol of regional peace BBC Monitoring South Asia - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring December 24, 2010 Friday
- 403. 144 of 214DOCUMENTS LiberalPro July 11, 2009 Saturday 7:47 AM EST The More Things "Change"... BYLINE: Timothy V. Gatto LENGTH: 1151 words Jul. 11, 2009 (LiberalPro delivered by Newstex) -- Every one of us has their own "take on what is happening in this brave new world. I am no different than most, I also have an opinion on what's going on. When I write an article I usually have no problem giving my opinion as to what is really happening. This time however, I'm going to try not to give my opinion. I only want to present the facts as I understand them. The truth is much more damning than any opinion I could offer, as Sgt Joe Friday once said in Dragnet, an old TV police show; "Just the facts Ma'am, just the facts. Let's start with the two political parties that supposedly "run this country. The truth is that political parties don't run this country, money does. Our entire political system is based on wealth. This has been true in some degree since the day we gained our independence, but it has never been as apparent as it is now. Money drives political campaigns. All the politicos know this and so do most people. Senators Russ Feingold and John McCain tried to reform the way that political campaigns were financed, but by the time the reforms were passed by Congress, the politicians and lobbyists had gutted the bill, making it so weak that it was too little, too late. We, the people, are supposedly equal under the law, and we are, except that some are more equal than others depending on their net worth and how their money is used. During the last presidential election, money coming from "ordinary folks in a "populist surge of donations put Barack Obama over the top and they supposedly carried the day. It never happened. What really happened is that the people who controlled the financial sector of the economy saw a massive train wreck about to happen and they needed someone malleable and ambitious enough to work with them to clean up the mess that would follow. At that time, A junior Senator from Illinois with his golden tongue a good understanding of quid pro quid, stepped into the batter's box. The financial sector then showered him with campaign funds in order to minimize the catastrophe that was, beyond a shadow of doubt, going to happen. The truth was that everyone in government, and those working in the financial sector, knew that the only recourse available to prevent a financial meltdown, was for the Federal Government to bail out the bankers, the stock exchange, the real estate market and the hedge fund people, mortgage lenders and the manufacturing base (Automobile manufacturers and the defense industry). Let's take a look at campaign financing. Obama raised $745 million, McCain raised $368 million. Page 403
- 404. Finance, Insurance &Real Estate: $130,634,154 Total. Democrats $69,987,307 GOP: $60,525,764 Total for all candidates Finance, Insurance & Real Estate: Total Individuals PAC'S To Democrats To Republicans 2008 $468,809,924 $396,331,007 $72,478,917 $238,597, 503 $229,267,201 Securities and Investments Total Individuals PAC'S To Dems To Republicans 2008 $154,918,793 $143,495,995 $11,422,798 $87,965,961 $66,736,485 When it comes to influence, the average American has very little. It's amazing when you consider how the political parties package their candidates. They use the oldest trick in the book to win elections. Divide and conquer. Left, right, rich poor, black, white, legal, illegal, it's all a ruse. The hot-button issues still resonate; abortion, gay and lesbian, health care, education and taxes and the all-important "national security as if Venezuela were to suddenly invade the Gulf of Mexico with help from Bolivia. Our lawmakers have broken the backs of the Unions. They pass agricultural laws that drive independent farmers out of business because the costs of doing business have become astronomical. Meanwhile fear-mongers and ideologues such as Rush Limbaugh claim that Obama is practicing some new variation of "socialism that has allowed corporations to return to the era of monopolies. Standard Oil, AT&T (NYSE:SBT) (NYSE:T) and big Pharmaceutical companies merged with their competitors and drove smaller operations out of business. Our nation is continuously at war. The War on Drugs, the War on Crime, the War on Terrorism and the War on Climate Change challenge our resources so that we now fight wars for these resources. We celebrate our freedom while our phones are being tapped, our e-mails read and collected, our computer keystrokes are recorded and plans for an RFID chip in a National ID card are being planned. These are not right or left issues or liberal/conservative issues. Until 2008 the Republicans spent money like drunken sailors on liberty, now the Democrats find themselves buying American auto manufacturers and controlling interests in banks and insurance companies. We buy American dollars from the Rothschild's and the Mellon's and the Rockefellers at interest through private banker that have the audacity to call themselves "The Federal Reserve We cannot print our own national currency; this was a primary reason we fought to free ourselves from Great Britain. Our money comes pre-packaged with debt attached. Congress denies legislation for Americans so that they may stay in their homes while authorizing 80 million in additional funds so that we can continue to send unmanned drones into Pakistan to bring death from the sky blasting suspected Taliban forces that turn out to be wedding parties and picnics. Our "Shining City on a Hill has caused more than one million dead Iraqi's and over four million refugees. Our thousand points of light are actually depleted uranium projectiles that emit alpha radiation that bring death in the form of fission and birth defects to Iraqi children Along ken strands of DNA in our soldiers that bring deformities to American children. A thousand points of light in the form of white phosphorus that when burning, doesn't stop until it has burned through flesh and bone until it lands on dirt. We watch as American and NATO troops take the Helmand Provence in Southern Afghanistan that will be used for the all important oil pipeline that was planned by UnoCal years ago when President Karzai, the Afghan leader worked for the American oil company. Now we have permission the fly over Russia to resupply Afghanistan with soldiers and instruments of war while the Russians sit back and watch our people die. The American people are slowly realizing that we have traded one war-monger for Page 404 The More Things "Change"... LiberalPro July 11, 2009 Saturday 7:47 AM EST
- 405. another. Once wewere in Afghanistan to fight al Qaeda, now we are trying to kill the Taliban. In reality we are killing anyone that stops us from building that oil pipeline. Almost a decade ago we saw a candidate tout "compassionate conservatism. Nothing was further from the truth. Now we have a President that speaks of "change. The only change I see is a different battlefield for people to die. Newstex ID: LIBP-0001-36399196 SUBJECT: POLITICS (90%); POLITICAL PARTIES (89%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (89%); BANKING & FINANCE (89%); US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008 (89%); US POLITICAL PARTIES (88%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (88%); CAMPAIGN FINANCE (88%); US DEMOCRATIC PARTY (74%); ELECTIONS (74%); US REPUBLICAN PARTY (74%); US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (71%); BAILOUTS (71%); LOBBYING (71%); ECONOMIC CRISIS (67%); AUTOMOBILE MFG (65%); MORTGAGE BANKING & FINANCE (62%); REAL ESTATE (88%); STOCK EXCHANGES (60%); HEDGE FUNDS (60%); AUTOMOTIVE MFG (60%); DEFENSE INDUSTRY (60%); MORTGAGE BANKING (60%); AUTOMAKERS (50%) COMPANY: AT&T INC; SBC COMMUNICATIONS INC. 7.00% PUBLIC INCOME NOTES PINES DUE JUNE 12041 TICKER: T (NYSE); SBT (NYSE) PERSON: JOHN MCCAIN (92%); BARACK OBAMA (82%); RUSS FEINGOLD (55%) John McCain; Barack Obama GEOGRAPHIC: ILLINOIS, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (79%) LOAD-DATE: July 11, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Page 405 The More Things "Change"... LiberalPro July 11, 2009 Saturday 7:47 AM EST
- 406. Newstex Web Blogs Copyright2009 LiberalPro Page 406 The More Things "Change"... LiberalPro July 11, 2009 Saturday 7:47 AM EST
- 407. 145 of 214DOCUMENTS World Gas Intelligence November 18, 2009 Turkmenistan Turns Away From Russia SECTION: WHAT'S NEW LENGTH: 556 words Expected first flows of Turkmen gas late this year to China via the recently completed 2,000 kilometer, 40 billion cubic meter per year (3.9 billion cubic foot per day) pipeline that runs across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to the Chinese border couldn't come soon enough for Ashkhabad, which is on an accelerated campaign to line up new outlets following the April suspension of all its gas sales to Russia. Unfortunately for Turkmenistan, it will take several years for initial flows of 5 Bcm/yr to get to full volume under state Turkmengas's 30-year sales and purchase agreement with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC). Initial throughput is to come from a gas processing plant that CNPC has built at the Amandepe field in the Bagtiyarlyk contract area awarded to the Chinese company under a production sharing agreement in 2007. Bagtiyarlyk output is expected to increase to 13 Bcm/yr next year, with the planned completion of a second CNPC gas plant at the Altyn Asyr field. The rest of the gas for the pipeline is to come from newly discovered giant Turkmen fields such as Osman and South Yolotan, which are likely to be developed in phases. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which have large gas reserves of their own, also have an option to send some of their own production through the pipeline to China. In the meantime, talks on resuming sales to Russian state Gazprom, which last year took some 50 Bcm of Turkmen gas under a 25-year supply deal with Ashkhabad, have gone nowhere as yet. Turkmenistan, which has threatened to sue Gazprom for causing losses that are estimated as high as $1 billion per month, is demanding much higher prices and wants to ensure that none of the gas is re-exported to Ukraine, as it has been for years (WGI Sep.9,p4) . As the standoff with Gazprom continues, the Turkmens have given themselves an alternative by constructing a small pipeline from the large Dauletabad field to the Iranian border. The new spur was completed recently and flows should start in December, enabling Turkmenistan to build up deliveries to Iran to 33 million cubic meters per day (12 Bcm/yr) from 25 MMcm/d now (WGI Aug.19,p3) . Ashkhabad has said that volumes to Iran could ultimately reach 20 Bcm/yr. All the gas currently goes to Iran via a 200 km pipeline that links the Korpedzhe field to the northern Iranian town of Kord Kui. Page 407
- 408. Turkmenistan also hasambitions to open up a fourth export "corridor," and has asked Germany's RWE, a relative newcomer to the country, to study the options for getting gas to Europe (WGI Jul.22,p3) . As a founding shareholder in the Nabucco consortium, RWE's obvious preference is to have Turkmen gas flowing across the Caspian to Baku, Azerbaijan and then overland across Turkey to Europe. But the chances of a Trans-Caspian pipeline ever being built are rated as slim. In any case, a Trans-Caspian line is a lower priority for the Turkmens than a line to transport gas to Pakistan and India via Afghanistan. This line, too, is clearly bedeviled by serious security concerns (WGI Jun.3,p8) . Nevertheless, Italy's Eni, whose chief executive, Paolo Scaroni, visited Ashkhabad last month to iron out some misunderstandings with the Turkmen leadership, has reportedly offered to support the trans-Afghan project, which was pursued without success by Unocal and its Saudi partner Delta in the late 1990s. SUBJECT: OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (90%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (78%); OIL & GAS EXPLORATION (78%); PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (78%); UTILITIES INDUSTRY (78%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (78%); TALKS & MEETINGS (74%); SHAREHOLDERS (50%) COMPANY: OAO GAZPROM (93%); CHINA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORP (84%); OAO GAZPROM NEFT (85%) TICKER: OGZD (LSE) (93%); GAZ (LSE) (85%) INDUSTRY: NAICS486210 PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS (93%); NAICS221210 NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION (93%); NAICS213112 SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FOR OIL & GAS OPERATIONS (93%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (93%); SIC4923 NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION (93%); SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (93%); SIC1389 OIL & GAS FIELD SERVICES, NEC (84%) GEOGRAPHIC: TURKMENISTAN (99%); IRAN (94%); RUSSIA (94%); CHINA (93%); UZBEKISTAN (93%); KAZAKHSTAN (93%); UKRAINE (77%); EUROPE (73%); GERMANY (65%); IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF (94%); RUSSIAN FEDERATION (94%) LOAD-DATE: December 18, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newsletter Copyright 2009 Energy Intelligence Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved Page 408 Turkmenistan Turns Away From Russia World Gas Intelligence November 18, 2009
- 409. 146 of 214DOCUMENTS Kabulpress.org November 20, 2009 It's all a conspiracy!!!! BYLINE: Hadi Zaher LENGTH: 1654 words As I put pen to paper Hamid Karzai is on the verge of being inaugurated for another term; Obama is soon to announce his administration's new strategy for Afghanistan and if there will be another surge of troops; major towns and cities across Afghanistan and Pakistan are gripped with fear of suicide bombings and coordinated Taliban attacks; travellers across Afghanistan fear IEDs and Taliban roadblocks, villagers in the highlands are not sure whether they will survive the winter; thousands of victims of self-immolation lie in bloodied beds in overcrowded hospitals; Afghanistan sits at the bottom of global corruption index; unemployment is well above 40%; Afghan asylum seekers continue their gruelling and at times deadly journeys through the deadly seas in the Indian Ocean, the English Channel, the snow covered peaks between Iran and Turkey and camps and slums in Greece and France seeking to get asylum in the West in pursuit of a better, safer and happier future. And so goes another day as far as matters regarding Afghanistan and its people are concerned. In early 2002 I could not have imagined the sky high hopes and aspirations of the people concerned about Afghanistan and the future of its people turning into the raw ash of misery as early as 2006. I cared little for what was being announced in the Bonn Conference or what group was getting what share. What I did cherish was the optimism on the faces of the average Afghan on the streets in Kabul, in the villages in the highlands and inside the muddy walls of refugee slums in Quetta. Years later, following the quagmire that became known as the illegal invasion of Iraq, yet again we found ourselves amidst another quagmire, one that is getting worse by the day and with each new incident, we face more questions than answers. Today, it would be fair to say that corruption, political instability and Islamic extremism are the biggest challenges faced by Afghanistan. However, there is more to the story than meets the eye. Cynicism aside, lack of Page 409
- 410. responsibility on alllevels, and a culture of mistrust and jingoism are issues that will undermine any effort to restore Afghanistan to a civilised country. Lack of indigenous effort towards changing the tide of events will keep Afghans begging for assistance from international donors and governments, indefinitely. Afghans appear to have embraced a culture of shedding any responsibility off their shoulders and blaming others as a solution to all their day to day problems. For example, starting with the brutal periods of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century all the way to the overthrow of the monarchy, to the cruel episode that was Afghan communism, to the bloody civil war involving Jihadi factions, to the arrival of the Taliban, to the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan and the consequent insurgency, there emerges a pattern of the blame game where all the peoples and countries of the world but Afghans themselves are responsible for Afghanistan's troubles. The ethnic genocides of the late nineteenth century are blamed upon the British Empire, similar accusations are made for the failures of the successive monarchs, President Daud's failures were not his but that of the West and the Soviet Union, PDPA's mass murders, corruption and other failures were all the work of Moscow, Najeebullah was a spy of the (then non-existent) Soviet Union, Jihadi brutalities were all American/Pakistani/Saudi/Iran sponsored, the dark period under the Taliban was all the work of the ISI, Karzai is a is a CIA/Unocal/Halliburton employee and a crony of the White House. Large scale corruption is the work of Mossad, Tolo Television is designed to destroy Islam and Pervez Kambakhsh was paid to download literature off the internet and eventually destroy Islam. Afghans have had nothing to do with anything that could be wrong with this country. If it's bad, there has to be an outside hand involved. Such is the scale of arrogant ignorance rife on the streets and even inside University classrooms and the academia. When examined on a micro level, matters worsen. Ethnic, linguistic and sectarian rivalries get involved as each religious sect and ethnic group blames the other for all their respective miseries as well as their social, economic and political troubles. Beneficiaries to this idiosyncrasy have been former Jihadis - current "democratically" elected MPs and the so called reformed Communists and/or Taliban. While they did represent tiny minorities in the nineties, today their celebrity status runs inside schools, universities, local communities as well as large sections of the Afghan Diaspora who have done a great job glorifying their (lack of) achievements to the extent that yesterday's toll collectors are 21st century resistance legends whose expertise stretched from guerrilla warfare to theology as well as to modern sciences and international peace movements. While Afghans take pride in voting criminals and their cronies into powerful positions, they waste no time in passing the blame for their failure on to the shoulders of above mentioned "enemies of Afghanistan". Look brother, my leader is the most honest person in Afghanistan and possibly the world. He is a symbol of democracy, Islam and peace. America, Britain and Pakistan will not let him work for the advancement of this country; otherwise, Afghanistan would be the number one country in the world. -But he has amassed immense wealth and power while people in his own constituency are starving to death. [Nay. Uthu nesth]. He has had most of it all the time, the rest he has achieved through hard work and the grace of Allah. Mashallah! Page 410 It's all a conspiracy!!!! Kabulpress.org November 20, 2009
- 411. To sum itup ordinary Afghans go the extra mile to make angels out of drug barons and totalitarians based on demographic/religious alliances, but fail to see how the consequences of these very actions keep them stuck on the edge of misery and despair. They condemn corruption but support corrupt politicians. Tens of thousands turn to the streets to condemn a caricature drawn far away in Denmark but conspiracy kicks in when it is time to condemn religious fundamentalism, to protest against corruption, violation of human rights and countless other issues that actually matter. It amazes me that the younger, far better educated generation of Afghans, particularly ones living abroad, have picked up this nasty behaviour and are walking the same path of hypocrisy and lies. Their actions abroad follow the same pattern but their projects have far bigger budgets and better means of delivery to young minds in search for answers. When it comes to ourselves, we Afghans go through memory lapses. We forget that throughout Afghanistan's recent history atrocities on Afghans have been committed by other Afghans. Much of the dirty work for the British and Russian empires was done by Afghan emirs and tribes; it was the Afghans who agreed to the establishment of the Durand line as an international border; it was the Afghans who tried to rid the country of other groups of Afghans; it was the Afghans who overthrew a King for being too secular and democratic; it was the Afghans who played out bloodbaths to outwit each other for the throne in Kabul; it was an Afghan king who built palaces in Italy while his subjects resorted to exchanging their daughters for a loaf of bread in order to survive; it was the Afghans who labelled each other as "real Afghans" and "immigrant Afghans"; it was the Afghans who went on indiscriminate killing sprees and summary executions in order to run a totalitarian state; it was the Afghans who on more than one occasion begged the Soviets to invade Afghanistan so that they could better fight other Afghans; it was the Afghans who time and again volunteered to fight the West's proxy wars; it was the Afghans who embraced Arab and Pakistan jihadists as heavenly saviours; it was the Afghans who wiped out entire neighbourhoods off rival Afghans; it was the Afghans who initially celebrated and welcomed the application of the Taliban Shariah; it was the Afghans who stood and watched as all their heritage being bombed into pieces; it was the Afghans who jumped out of their pants to welcome the arrival of the US and company and the establishment of a puppet government; it was the Afghans who took pride in having voted a dozen times each in the presidential election; it was the Afghans growing tons of opium; it was the Afghans rigging votes, demanding bribes and pocketing aid; it was the Afghans and an "elected" parliament attempting to revive Shariah in a branded package ... If there is anything that needs changing, it is the attitude of ordinary Afghans towards their everyday challenges. Military or civilian surges, bribing powerful warlords, sending in a thousand different "experts" (especially the annoying ones who never get off news networks), and appeasing all sorts of crazy fundamentalists, nationalists and mullahs won't make Afghanistan any better. If the international community is truly committed towards building a civilised and friendly country out of the mess that is Afghanistan (and I doubt that they are!), they need to pull up their sleeves and jump in for the long haul. Only systematic eradication of ignorance through education of the masses and reverse brain-washing, the empowerment of indigenous democratic movements, an understanding of the fact that Human Rights is not a Western ideal, it is a universal one, can solve Afghanistan's major problems. It needs to be understood and propagated that only a secular Afghanistan can guarantee rights to its Page 411 It's all a conspiracy!!!! Kabulpress.org November 20, 2009
- 412. citizens and upholddemocracy. Theocracy leaves no room for democracy. For all of that, an actual commitment that is extended over a period that is at least as long as the time it took to fund and construct tens of thousands of Madrassas during the cold war, is a minimum requirement. Otherwise, there is no lack of conspiracy and blame game to go around. SUBJECT: CONSPIRACY (90%); POLITICAL ASYLUM (90%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (77%); TERRORISM (76%); IRAQ WAR (76%); REFUGEES (75%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (75%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (72%); SUICIDE BOMBINGS (71%); BOMBS & EXPLOSIVES (71%); OCEANS (69%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (60%); RELIGION (50%) PERSON: HAMAD KARZAI (91%); BARACK OBAMA (91%) GEOGRAPHIC: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (79%) INDIAN OCEAN (76%) AFGHANISTAN (97%); PAKISTAN (92%); IRAN (79%); TURKEY (79%); IRAQ (79%); ENGLAND (71%); UNITED KINGDOM (71%); GREECE (56%) LOAD-DATE: December 8, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Publication JOURNAL-CODE: 230 Copyright 2009 Kabulpress.org. All Rights Reserved Syndigate.info, Al Bawaba.com Page 412 It's all a conspiracy!!!! Kabulpress.org November 20, 2009
- 413. 147 of 214DOCUMENTS Pacific Free Press October 7, 2009 Wednesday 3:09 PM EST Does the Maple Leaf Need be There? BYLINE: Anthony Fenton LENGTH: 1653 words Oct. 7, 2009 (Atlantic Free Press delivered by Newstex) -- Great Game: 'The maple leaf needs to be there' by Anthony Fenton l Special to Vue Weekly Eight years into a war that many commentators are now calling a quagmire from which NATO should extricate itself as soon as possible, most Canadians are unaware of the link between the war and Canada's increasing involvement in the "Great Game" for the region's abundant natural resources. This lack of understanding is no surprise. The government's public relations strategy"echoed with few exceptions by Canadian media"purposefully avoids discussing the relationship between our presence in Afghanistan and the broader geopolitical interests of Canadian corporations in Central Asia. The focus is instead kept to more nebulous talking points such as "the effort to stabilize and reconstruct Afghanistan" in the interests of Canada's much-vaunted "3D" approach of defence, development and diplomacy. As one declassified government memo stated, "When presented in the 3D context, the majority of Canadians (68%) [show] support for the mission in Afghanistan." But behind the public relations façade looms a geopolitical context that finds Canada deeply enmeshed in what experts have long called the "Great Game" for the vast, untapped natural resources of the Central Asian region that Afghanistan bridges. On the anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan, Vue looks at Canada's deepening interest in the region's new In their acclaimed book Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia, authors Karl Ernest Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac define how "Pipelines, tanker routes, petroleum consortiums and contracts are the prizes of the new Great Game." In his 2008 report prepared for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, A Pipeline Through Troubled Land: Afghanistan, Canada, and the New Great Energy Game, energy economist John Foster draws attention to the fact that a long-proposed TAPI gas pipeline"so named for its 1680 kilometre planned path from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan, Pakistan, and, eventually, India"is slated to be constructed on the very soil that Canadian and US troops now occupy in southern Afghanistan. Foster notes that Canada has been closely involved in the negotiations and planning meetings for the pipeline via its membership on the board of the Asian Page 413
- 414. Development Bank, thepipeline's coordinating body. Arguing that "The TAPI pipeline proposal could have positive or negative impacts on Canada's role in [Afghanistan]," Foster contends that public debates concerning the matter have "ignored regional geopolitics and energy issues." Implications concerning the pipeline, construction of which is supposed to begin in 2010 according to the Afghan Ministry of Mines, are not the only questions being ignored. Three Canadian companies have recently been involved in attempts to bid on two gas fields and one oil field as part of the First Afghan Hydrocarbon Bidding Round. At least one of the gas fields is expected to feed into the TAPI pipeline. One of the Canadian companies to pre-qualify for the bidding is Calgary-based Nations Petroleum, whose CEO, John Imle, is the former Vice-President of UNOCAL, and the person who first proposed the creation of TAPI on the company's behalf in negotiations with the Taliban during the 1990s. Another of the Canadian companies that attempted to bid on the Afghan resource prizes was AfghCana Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:EGAS) In an email response to inquiries by Vue, the Afghan Ministry of Mines revealed that the person behind AfghCana is John Komarnicki, who is also the CEO of Alhambra Resources (TSXV:ALH) , a Calgary-based company that also holds gold exploration rights to 2.7 million acres in northern Kazakhstan. Laura Dalby, an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, said in an email reply to Vue that the Canadian government is "aware of the First Afghan Hydrocarbon Bidding Round and is providing information to Canadian companies at their request." Acknowledging that they were contacted by AfghCana, DFAIT would only say that their Senior Trade Commissioner "provided information" to them. Canada's economic interests in Afghanistan are handled by the embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, and "with a locally engaged officer in Canada's embassy in Kabul." Shortly after AfghCana failed in its attempt to pre-qualify for the bidding in Afghanistan, Komarnicki was in Kazakhstan, where his company received a favourable court decision enabling him to begin exploring for gold. Offering a sign of Canada's self-conscious stake in the Great Game, beside Komarnicki in the courtroom was a "senior representative of the Canadian ambassador to Kazakhstan." Komarnicki declined to be interviewed for this article. On the heels of Komarnicki's favourable outcome, International Trade Minister Stockwell Day travelled to Kazakhstan to bolster economic ties with "president for life" Nursultan Nazarbayev. In a subsequent press release, Day revealed that Alhambra Resources is just one of 170 Canadian companies which now have operations in the country, 40 of which have a permanent presence. Asked to provide similar data for the other countries in the region"Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan"DFAIT officials declined, stating that compiling such statistics is "rare" and was only done in this one instance in order to publicize Day's meetings. That Canada has a stake in the Great Game has been acknowledged for years by Page 414 Does the Maple Leaf Need be There? Pacific Free Press October 7, 2009 Wednesday 3:09 PM EST
- 415. government officials andparliamentarians. On the eve of the 9/11 attacks in the United States, a Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade study examined Canada's role in the region, publishing an extensive report in June 2001. Testifying to the Committee in April 2000, Dr. Rob Sobhani, president of Caspian Energy (TSX:CEK') Consulting, described how the region's vast resources presented lucrative opportunities for Canadian companies. "The opportunity for Canada is ... the fact that these are untapped resources. The 150 billion barrels of oil have yet to be discovered. The natural gas has yet to be discovered," said Sobhani. "This is a huge, huge opportunity for Canadian energy companies." Sobhani urged Canada to become "a participant and a player in this very promising part of the world." Today, Sobhani agrees that Canada, and NATO, are in the thick of a continuing Great Game. "Canadian companies have been more aggressive" in the region since his testimony, Sobhani pointed out in an interview with Vue. "There's no doubt that [Canada's military presence] obviously has changed perceptions." Sobhani adds that Canadian leadership on the question of the TAPI pipeline could help "depoliticize" the involvement of foreign companies in a way that the US or UK cannot. "Canada has the potential to beat [its] rivals because it has such a uncheckered history in that part of the world. People like Canadians, Canadians are apolitical," Sobhani argues. "If America puts [a plan] forward, it's going to get criticized. If the British put it forward, it's going to get criticized. Canada's loved by everyone, and so if the Canadians put it together I think the chances of it succeeding are greater." But Todd Gordon, professor of political science at York University and the author of a forthcoming book on Canadian foreign policy, argues differently. "Wherever Canadian companies go, especially in the natural resources sector, they leave a trail of human rights and ecological disasters behind them," Gordon says. "It's not a case of a few exceptions to an otherwise benign Canadian capital. It's systemic. Like their counterparts from other nations, Canadian companies are driven by one thing: the pursuit of profit." Gordon adds that this corporate history is all the more significant given the region's history. "When you add in the instability caused in the region by decades, and in some cases centuries, of foreign meddling"leading to poverty, internecine violence and so on"Canadian investment will only make matters worse." Gordon says that Canada's military presence in Afghanistan helps provide it with significant economic leverage in the broader region. "I don't think you can separate ... Canada's deepening economic presence and its military presence," argues Gordon. Page 415 Does the Maple Leaf Need be There? Pacific Free Press October 7, 2009 Wednesday 3:09 PM EST
- 416. This may nothave been what Sobhani meant when in 2000 he told the standing committee that "the Maple Leaf needs to be [in Central Asia]," but, as Gordon says, "Ask yourself this: were Canadian companies bidding on Afghan natural resources before the invasion? While Canada may not have joined the invasion and subsequent occupation of Afghanistan simply to promote economic interests, there's no doubt that a much stronger military and diplomatic presence will facilitate this." Gordon also disagrees with the notion that Canada is an "apolitical" actor in the region, arguing instead that Canada has an obvious stake in the geopolitics of the region. "Canada has its own specific economic interests in the region," he says. "It needs to ensure the region is compliant with the interests of Canadian foreign investors"that is, there is a strong rights regime for foreign capital, including liberalized markets, weak environmental protections and low royalty rates. At the same time, Canada is part of a TransAtlantic axis led by the US, the military arm of which is NATO." As questions loom over the matter of Canada's longer-term presence in Afghanistan"Canadian combat forces are slated to be withdrawn by the end of 2011"equally important if less publicized questions concerning how to protect Canada's deepening economic interests in the region are sure to arise. Anthony Fenton is an author, independent journalist and researcher based in Pitt Meadows, BC. He can be reached via his website, WebofDemocracy.org. source Newstex ID: ATFR-5311-38631530 SUBJECT: PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION (86%); SPORTS & RECREATION EVENTS (78%); TOURNAMENTS (78%); ENERGY & UTILITY POLICY (75%); PUBLIC RELATIONS (75%); OIL & GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION (73%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (72%); ANNIVERSARIES (72%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (68%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (67%); DEVELOPMENT BANKS (67%); INFRASTRUCTURE (65%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS (65%); ARMED FORCES (50%); NATURAL RESOURCES (89%) COMPANY: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (61%) ENERGY INC.; ALHAMBRA RESOURCES LTD; CASPIAN ENERGY INC ORGANIZATION: NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (58%) TICKER: ATB (ASX) (61%) EGAS (NASDAQ); ALH (TSXV); CEK (TSX) INDUSTRY: NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (61%); SIC6081 BRANCHES & AGENCIES OF FOREIGN BANKS (61%) GEOGRAPHIC: CANADA (99%); AFGHANISTAN (94%); ASIA (94%); CENTRAL ASIA (91%); NORTH AMERICA (79%); INDIA (79%); PAKISTAN (79%); UNITED STATES (79%); TURKMENISTAN (79%) LOAD-DATE: October 8, 2009 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its Page 416 Does the Maple Leaf Need be There? Pacific Free Press October 7, 2009 Wednesday 3:09 PM EST
- 417. re-distributors ("Blogs onDemand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2009 Newstex LLC All Rights Reserved Newstex Web Blogs Copyright 2009 Pacific Free Press Page 417 Does the Maple Leaf Need be There? Pacific Free Press October 7, 2009 Wednesday 3:09 PM EST
- 418. 148 of 214DOCUMENTS It's Getting Hot In Here February 3, 2010 Wednesday 3:40 AM EST Stop the Green Tech Coup, Military Industry on the Offensive BYLINE: sam daly LENGTH: 1894 words Feb. 3, 2010 (It's Getting Hot In Here delivered by Newstex) -- design: lizardelement.com Environmental NGOs have been uncritically thumping the green tech funding plank and theyre generating funding that could be harder to hold onto than a fistful of sand in the Iraqi oilfields. Theres a coup underway in the environmental movement. But the golpistas (coup-makers) arent exactly the usual suspects. Theyre not the consumer product manufacturers who co-opt our messaging and re-package the same old junk with green labels. The culprits are members of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA). War profiteers are charging, guns-drawn, into the green tech sector and eyebrows should be raised. This is a hold-up! The new gospel of oegreening the armed forces is drawing public money that makes domestic infrastructure handouts look like pennies in a fountain. oeGreen Jobs means something else entirely to these folks. But whats wrong with a greener military? Simply put, war is always an assault on the environment. The US military could become more fuel-efficient and drop from their status as the worlds largest single oil consumer. But that wouldnt change the fact that forcibly destabilizing states like Iraq and Afghanistan means a protracted collapse of civil infrastructure that results in mass pollution and environmental disasters, compounded by the toxic devastation wrought by military explosives. The expansionist problem More fundamentally, the militarys expansionist ideology runs counter to our basic interests as environmentalists. Climate recovery means transitioning to a non-expansionist economy based on real green technology and localized energy independence. Localization doubly addresses the problems of extracting finite fossil fuels and the resulting unstable temporary economies that create fleeting jobs and devastate communities. Mountaintop removal coal mining is a prime Page 418
- 419. example. In Appalachia,the coal industry is stripping every mountain it can get its hands on with a minimal temporary workforce. As the folks in Coal River, WV have shown, wind farming those same ridges would create secure local jobs, leave mountains intact, and generate electricity and tax revenues until the wind stops blowing. Nothing that sensible figures into the military industrial agenda. oeGreening the military, by all indications, is a movement of false solutions. Struck with the overwhelming cost of oil-based fuel, the Air Force plans to transition to 50% coal-to-liquids and biomass synthetic fuel by 2016. Thats right, coal-fired bombers and fighter jets. Ingenious! The Navy is pushing a similarly backward approach: GMO biofuels for aircraft; hybrid and eventually all-electric ships. More coal, more nukes, and yet another subsidy for industrial agriculture, arguably the US most economically and environmentally unsustainable sector. This push for false solutions reveals the deep contradictions of oegreening war. The Economist gets to the heart of the matter, explaining that the new military industrial agenda oeis not a question of preventing climate change, reducing dependence on imported oil, or even complying with President Barack Obamas green agenda. The need for alternative sources of energy is a military necessity. In Afghanistan, it takes 7 gallons of fuel to deliver 1 gallon for use in battle. Fuel supply lines are the US greatest vulnerability there and in Iraq. oeA gallon of jet fuel that costs $1.05 ends up costing $400 by the time it gets to Afghanistan? reports the NDIA journal in articles with titles like oeGargantuan Thirst for Fuel Creates Logistical Nightmare for Marines and oeTough to Free Troops From Oppressive Tyranny of Fueloe. Its a cruel irony to claim that the military is oppressed by the oetyranny of fuel. In reality, US troops are acting under orders to enforce the tyranny of fuel and oppress Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis and whosoever else has the misfortune of living in the midst of strategic oil and natural gas reserves. My thanks go to the NDIA for letting me use this language without sounding like a total wing nut. The resource-grab behind the expansionist US War on Terror in the Middle East and Central Asia is the real tyranny here. Its a war for fossil fuels fought in the service of US-allied multinational energy corporations. I wont beat a dead camel and explain the oil agenda behind the Iraq war, but the resource interests behind the Afghanistan war bear repeating. Buried under the deception of anti-terror propaganda is the reality that Afghanistan is a key route for US energy interests seeking to access otherwise Russian-controlled Central Asian natural gas and oil. In a pre-war document that can be recovered from internet archives, The US Dept of Energy, Energy Information Administration explained, Afghanistans significance from an energy standpoint stems from its geographical position as a potential transit route for oil and natural gas exports from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea. This potential includes proposed multi-billion-dollar oil and gas export pipelines through Afghanistan, although these plans have now been thrown into serious question ¦ low oil prices and turmoil in Afghanistan ¦ making the pipeline project uneconomical and too risky. (DOE, 2000) Oil and natural gas prices are up and the growing US occupation aims to Page 419 Stop the Green Tech Coup, Military Industry on the Offensive It's Getting Hot In Here February 3, 2010 Wednesday 3:40 AM EST
- 420. stabilize the country.Hamid Karzai, the US-backed president of Afghanistan since 2004, famous for his 2009 election fraud, was in on the pipeline project years before 9/11. In the late 1990s, Karzai served as an adviser to Unocal (since acquired by Chevron) when it was planning the pipeline cited by the DOE above. Therein lies the real oppressive tyranny of fuel behind the US war in Afghanistan. Bringing the war home Back on the home front in Washington DC, where I live and organize against climate chaos and the War on Terror, the NDIA and friends are jockeying for green funding. Recently, our city played host to the Military Energy Alternatives (OOTC:EGAL) Conference where the wrong people were taking aim at green tech funding. The website announced that, oeDiscussion will focus on the renewable path to energy security and how funds in the stimulus package have been appropriated towards a clean energy goal. These events should be considered important points of intervention for the anti-war and climate movements. The Marine Corps hosted a similar conference recently. Meanwhile, the recession rages and DC Green organizations are still pushing climate legislation as a jobs bill, S1733, the oeClean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. Putting carbon trading and the maddening weaknesses of the bill aside, greening the economy is still the only logical path to sustainable recovery. Green jobs are a hard sell after Obama conceded defeat to the racist red-baiting campaign to depose Van Jones, the administrations green jobs adviser. And even harder since the State of the Union address. But the military is still on board and thats reason for concern. War loves a recession. Following the great depression, WWII helped rescued the US economy and provided near full employment. Todays situation is different. The War on Terror is one of the driving factors behind the recession and unemployment is at a terrible high. The winners here are the war-profiteering industries, turning record profits, and military recruiters. I wrote my undergrad senior thesis on youth recruitment and the lessons of history carry on. Since the draft was closed in 1973 and the military became an oeall volunteer force, youth unemployment has been the most important factor feeding recruitment. In the early 1980s, recruiters seized upon the recession and developed todays high school recruiting strategies. They brought in the most new recruits in the history of the all-volunteer force before 2009. While we call for green jobs, the recession is killing young peoples prospects and recruiters are circling like vultures over our peers. Youth unemployment is at a record high 50%, with twice as many black youth as white youth jobless. The crisis-level recruiting shortfalls of the Bush-era are over and recruiters are bringing in more soldiers than the all-volunteer force has ever seen. Aided by a $20 billion recruiting budget, 2009 was the first year that recruitment numbers exceeded quotas in all the military services. Its a racist poverty draft, which is worth noting because racial and economic justice are among the founding ideas of the green jobs movement. Obamas 2009 stimulus provided $500 million to fund civilian green jobs and $420 million to fund military oegreening. That was part of the $7.8 billion defense portion of the stimulus added to the $500 billion 2009 military budget. Its also disturbing to compare those numbers to the $256 million in the stimulus for Americorps and Job Corps. I havent found a thorough analysis of the $708 billion Page 420 Stop the Green Tech Coup, Military Industry on the Offensive It's Getting Hot In Here February 3, 2010 Wednesday 3:40 AM EST
- 421. 2010 military budgetor the $33 billion in additional funds that Obama requested for war in Afghanistan. Such research is especially challenging because the military stopped using words like recruitment and accessions in its public filings, presumably to insulate itself from due criticism. I would be remiss to ignore the larger sums in the stimulus for green energy, like the $11 billion for oesmart grid improvements. And the NDIA folks arent ignoring that money either. In Washington, DC, Lockheed Martin, the infamous hi-tech arms developer, won the contract to manage the $12.7 million to manage commercial energy efficiency programs. They also have similar contracts with New York State Energy R&D and PG&E. (NYSE:PCG) If the administration pumps increasing funding into military green tech, then the corporations that benefit will undoubtedly keep putting those developments to work in the civilian sector. Maybe that still doesnt sound so bad to some readers. So, lets get to the core of the ideology that would excuse a corporate-militarized green grid. oeIt is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. Right, Adam Smith? Hopefully by now, Ive made it clear that the oeinterest behind the NDIA agenda is about oegreen profit by any means. If we leave it to them, then endless resource wars and false solutions is whats for dinner. Moving forward Theres been a major shift in Washington since the days of the 2009 stimulus and only time will tell where politicians and corporations go with the green doctrine this year. Obama is turning away from his election-year green rhetoric and the supreme court just opened the floodgates to a multinational corporate buyout of congress. The 2011 federal budget proposal for green energy education could be a glimmer of hope. Or it could be yet another subsidy to military industry research. Whatever is to come, the war profiteering corporate green push is still on. Royal Dutch Shell just launched a green tech greenwash advertising campaign thats dominating the DC Metro. Fortunately, young peoples Anti-war Anti-Warming organizing is heating up too. Lets the keep the pressure on and take the fight to the Fossil Hawks. Coal-fired fighter jets, biofuel bombers, and an armed green jobs corps advancing on the horizon? Thats not my clean energy future. design by lizardelement.com Filed under: , , , , , , Newstex ID: IGHH-5249-41738698 SUBJECT: DEFENSE INDUSTRY (91%); RENEWABLE ENERGY (90%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (90%); ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT (90%); ENVIRONMENTAL & WILDLIFE ORGANIZATIONS (90%); ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES (90%); ENVIRONMENTALISM (90%); ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION (90%); ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY (90%); COUPS (90%); BIOMASS (89%); COAL INDUSTRY (89%); DEFENSE SECTOR PERFORMANCE (89%); JOB CREATION (88%); ARMED FORCES (88%); GLOBAL WARMING (79%); PUBLIC FINANCE (78%); CONTRACTS & BIDS (78%); ENERGY EFFICIENCY & CONSERVATION (78%); NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (78%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (78%); Page 421 Stop the Green Tech Coup, Military Industry on the Offensive It's Getting Hot In Here February 3, 2010 Wednesday 3:40 AM EST
- 422. GREEN MARKET (78%);OIL EXTRACTION (77%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (77%); COAL FIRED PLANTS (77%); ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS (77%); FOSSIL FUEL POWER PLANTS (77%); BOMBS & EXPLOSIVES (76%); AEROSPACE INDUSTRY (76%); AIR FORCES (75%); DEFENSE CONTRACTING (75%); WAR & CONFLICT (75%); MILITARY WEAPONS (75%); DEFENSE & MILITARY POLICY (75%); RIOTS (74%); ENERGY & UTILITY POLICY (73%); LABOR FORCE (72%); TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT (72%); BIOFUELS (71%); WATER POLLUTION (70%); ECONOMIC NEWS (69%); COAL MINING (67%); SURFACE MINING (67%); OIL & GAS PRICES (66%); PUBLIC CONTRACTING (59%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (52%); TAXES & TAXATION (50%) International Affairs; Oil; Poverty; Renewable Energy; global warming; green jobs; greenwashing; climate militarism; energy security; military industrial complex; Asia; unrest; conflicts and war; environmental issues; GeoCodes; economy; business and finance; politics; North America; weather; Events; Afghanistan; Iraq; energy use and policy; global warming; Global; United States; energy and resources; company information; economy (general); defense; armed conflict; civil unrest; war; United States of America; global change; Economy; Middle East; Arabian Peninsula; District of Columbia; energy resources; renewable energy; energy saving; armed forces; rebellions and revolutions; natural gas; oil and gas; coal; defense & government contracts; economic outlook and indicators COMPANY: ENERGY ALTERNATIVES INC; LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP; PG&E CORP TICKER: EGAL (OOTC); LMT (NYSE); PCG (NYSE) GEOGRAPHIC: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (94%); IRAQ (94%); AFGHANISTAN (92%); NORTH AMERICA (79%); ASIA (79%); GULF STATES (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%) LOAD-DATE: February 3, 2010 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs on Demand®") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs on Demand® are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs on Demand® is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs on Demand® shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs on Demand®. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs on Demand® shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion. PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Blog Copyright 2010 Newstex LLC Page 422 Stop the Green Tech Coup, Military Industry on the Offensive It's Getting Hot In Here February 3, 2010 Wednesday 3:40 AM EST
- 423. All Rights Reserved NewstexWeb Blogs Copyright 2010 It's Getting Hot In Here Page 423 Stop the Green Tech Coup, Military Industry on the Offensive It's Getting Hot In Here February 3, 2010 Wednesday 3:40 AM EST
- 424. 149 of 214DOCUMENTS The Washington Times (Washington, DC) March 15, 2011 When operatives fall in love; COMMENTARY; BOOK REVIEW; Column SECTION: Pg. B04 ISSN: 0732-8494 LENGTH: 815 words Byline: Joe Goulden, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES Dayna Williamson was bored silly both at work and home. A strikingly pretty Berkeley graduate born into an upper-crust family in Coronadel Mar, Calif., she joined the CIA seeking adventure. Instead, she found herself relegated to an office in Los Angeles, tasked with boring personnel-security background interviews. Her marriage, to a municipal court judge whose main outside interest is golf, was stale. Then comes a chance to go through the CIA's six-month course for shooters and bodyguards assigned to protective operations. She accepts, even though she realizes that the separation likely will end her marriage. She finds herself at a secret training camp 90 minutes west of Washington, learning to fire weaponry ranging from Glocks to shotguns, and doing 80-mile-an-hour skid-turns. Her first assignment is a stint in Houston, guarding the queen and princess of an Arab royal family. Then she becomes part of a deep-cover team that travels the globe, trying to stay out of trouble rather than get into it. In due course, she is ordered to fly into Croatia, where she meetsan operative she knows only as Bob. She is not impressed. "I think Bob is joking when he points to the station wagon parked out front of Split airport, the one we're about to drive into Sarajevo. It's lime green with a tangerine Orangina painted down the side. .. It just makes no sense to me, driving a billboard on wheels into a city the Serbs have been pounding with artillery and sniping at since the civil war started in 1992 Does he want to give them something to shoot at?" They barely speak duringthe five-hour drive. Here commences one of the better insider accounts of life in the modern CIA that I have encountered. Bob, of course, is Robert Baer, known for years as one of the agency's premier operators in the Middle East and elsewhere. Dayna is using the work name Riley, and they do not learn one another's true identities for some time. The story is told in chapters that alternate between each partner's perspective. Their work alternates between tension and tedium, withdanger ever-present. (A Page 424
- 425. female officer withwhom Dayna is paired on a surveillance of a Hezbollah safe house is critically wounded when the auto in which she is riding is ambushed.) Bob tries to stir up a coup in Iraq. Given the nature of agency work, of course, anything approaching anormal life is impossible. And, inevitably, Dayna and Bob are drawn together. In the narrative, Dayna is the first to admit to an emotional attachment. At this point, there is no romantic involvement, so she is chagrined when a rich Middle East friend of Bob's who insists that they stay at a hotel he owns books them into a single room. (They stay elsewhere.) It dawns on me that Ali and his family must think I'm Bob's mistress. .. I can't decide whether I'm embarrassed or not And this is when she learns that Bob is married and has three children,although his years of overseas assignments has estranged him from his family. Their involvement becomes serious when they share a skiing jaunt in Switzerland and when they are reassigned to Washington, they set uphouse together and marry. (The timeline is murky, but both have divorced.) As they settle into marriage, Dayna is offered a slot in the operations course at the Farm, the CIA's training facility in rural Virginia. As she writes, It's the first step to becoming an operative, something I've dreamed about for a long time. Not only will a lot more jobs open up for me, but I'd be qualified to run informants, and even learn a third language. But she looks into the future. Bob's career path means he is slated to become a chief of station. And under agency rules, a wife or husband cannot work under a spouse. We'd be lucky to work in adjoining countries. Meanwhile, the pressure would be on me to take an overseas assignment apart from Bob. Soon enough, Bob and I would be leading separate lives. So they do the sensible thing and retire in 1997. Bob lines up a consulting contract with an Argentine oil company, and they settle in Beirut. One early deal was for the Argentines to sign an agreement with the Afghanistan Taliban to partner with Unocal and build a $1.9 billion pipeline between Turkmenistan and Pakistan. (The deal was aborted, which proved to be a blessing for the people who would have put up the money.) In addition to his continuing consulting work, Bob wrote three books on the Middle East, all best-sellers; one was made into the movie Syriana. And the couple went into a Christian slum in Islamabad and adopted an infant daughter - the ultimate commitment to their lives together. An updated edition of Joe Goulden's book, Spyspeak: The Dictionaryof Espionage, will be published by Dover Books this autumn. ++++++ THE COMPANY WE KEEP: A HUSBAND-AND-WIFE TRUE-LIFE SPY STORY By Robert and Dayna Baer Crown, $26, 305 pages SUBJECT: FAMILY (77%); LAW COURTS & TRIBUNALS (71%); BOOK REVIEWS (67%); MOTOR VEHICLES (65%); HEZBOLLAH (50%) General Page 425 When operatives fall in love; COMMENTARY; BOOK REVIEW; Column The Washington Times (Washington, DC) March 15, 2011
- 426. INDUSTRY: BUSN Business;GENI General interest GEOGRAPHIC: LOS ANGELES, CA, USA (92%) CALIFORNIA, USA (92%) UNITED STATES (92%); SERBIA & MONTENEGRO (79%); IRAQ (78%); CROATIA (75%); BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA (75%); MIDDLE EAST (70%) LOAD-DATE: March 25, 2011 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ACC-NO: 251465076 DOCUMENT-TYPE: Column PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: 0AXV ASAP Copyright 2011 Gale Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved ASAP Copyright 2011 The Washington Times LLC Page 426 When operatives fall in love; COMMENTARY; BOOK REVIEW; Column The Washington Times (Washington, DC) March 15, 2011
- 427. 150 of 214DOCUMENTS Phil's Stock World October 4, 2010 Monday 3:37 AM EST An Evening With the Chinese Intelligence Service BYLINE: Zero Hedge LENGTH: 2173 words Oct. 4, 2010 (Phil's Stock World delivered by Newstex) -- Courtesy of madhedgefundtrader I normally avoid the diplomatic circuit, as the few non committal comments and soggy appetizers I get arent worth the investment of time. But I jumped at the chance to celebrate the 61st anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China with San Francisco consul general Gao Zhansheng. When I casually mention that I survived the Cultural Revolution and interviewed major political figures like premier Deng Xiaoping, who launched the Middle Kingdom into the modern era, and his predecessor, Zhou Enlai, modern day Chinese are enthralled. Its like going to a Fourth of July party and letting drop that I palled around with Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Five minutes into the great hall, and I ran into my old friend Wen, who started out her career with the Chinese Intelligence Service, and had made the jump to the Foreign Ministry, as all their best people did. She was passing through town with a visiting trade mission. When I was touring China in the seventies as the guest of the Bank of China (OOTC:BACHY) , Wen was assigned as my guide and translator, and we kept in touch over the years. I was assigned a bodyguard who doubled as the driver of a tank like Russian sedan. The Cultural Revolution was on, and while the major cities were safe, we ran the risk of running into a renegade band of xenophobic Red Guards, with potentially fatal consequences. I asked Wen when China was going to float the Yuan? She explained that this is something China knew it had to do, but it wasnt going to be rushed into by some opportunistic foreign politicians. If it moves too soon, millions will lose jobs, creating political instability, something the central government wants to avoid at all costs. Many of the largest scale employers were only marginally profitable, and a hike in the renminbi of only a few percent would force them out of business. I pointed out that that was exactly what was happening in the US. I warned that if the Middle Kingdom waited too long, Washington would force them Page 427
- 428. into an appreciationthrough punitive import duties and anti dumping actions, as we did with Japan 40 years ago. It was Nixons surprise ban on textile imports in 1971 that finally persuaded Japan to float the yen, then at ¥360. If that didnt convince the Chinese, then imported inflation would. The longer China delays, the bigger the pop when their currency is finally set free. Wen then went on the offensive, claiming that Chinese workers were being exploited by American companies keeping wages low. The product that China made for $1, and sold for $2, was then sold by Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) (WMT) for $20, which kept all the profits. She pointed out that the Walton family had a combined net worth of $100 billion, more than the total worth of the lower 40% of the US population. This could never happen in China. I told her that by selling the product at $20, Wal-Mart wiped out another US company that used to make that product domestically and sold it for $40, throwing those people out of work. I then asked Wen what were her countrys plans for its massive foreign exchange reserves, now at $2.5 trillion? She agreed that this was a problem because the reserves were pouring in so fast, at an embarrassingly high rate of $10 billion a month, and that it was the most rapid accumulation of wealth in history (click here for the data at http://www.chinability.com/Reserves.htm ). While it had more than enough Treasury bonds, any attempt to sell might cause their value to collapse and freeze relations with the US. I suggested China should start hedging its gigantic holdings without selling them, or some managers would be facing a firing squad in the future. China has therefore begun directing new reserve inflows into other instruments, like gold, Japanese government bonds, and PIIGS bonds in Europe. While the Europeans were more than happy to take the money, the Japanese were complaining that Chinas modest purchases were driving up the yen, further depressing their own economy. We all know what has happened to gold. China tried to recycle its surpluses by buying foreign companies that produce the natural resources it desperately needs. But takeover attempts were fought tooth and nail as a foreign invasion, or on national security grounds, such as the attempt to buy Californias Unocal in 2005 and Australias Oz Minerals (OOTC:OZMLF) (OOTC:OZMLY) last year. It was now using a strategy of buying low profile minority stakes in foreign resource companies. China took a big stake in the recent Petrobras (PBR) secondary equity offering, and Wen would not be surprised if they took a run at Potash (POT), now that it is on the table (click here for oeBHP Billiton (OOTC:BHPLF) (NYSE:BHP) Develops an Appetite for Potash at http://www.madhedgefundtrader.com/august-19-2010.html ). I asked her about the real estate bubble in China that was causing so many foreign investors to lose sleep. She said it was true that sales were slow at some luxury buildings in Beijing and Shanghai, but the great majority of developments were aimed at working people, and were filling up as soon as they came on the market. The 40% down payment demanded by the Peoples Bank of China headed off the rampant speculation that brought the American financial system down. Wen then complained about the aggressive military stance the US was taking towards China, ringing it in with the Seventh Fleet. Holding a knife so close to the countrys foreign supply line jugular vein made them nervous. China was basically indefensible. All it would take was the sinking of a few grain ships, Page 428 An Evening With the Chinese Intelligence Service Phil's Stock World October 4, 2010 Monday 3:37 AM EST
- 429. and 100 millionwould starve within a year. President Bush was rattling his saber as soon as he moved into office, until 9/11 diverted his attention to Afghanistan and Iraq. Wen told me there is a school of thought in Beijing that as the countrys economic power grows- it is passing Japan to become second in GDP this year" that the US will increasingly perceive it as a military threat. That would lead America to mete out the same hostile treatment to China as it did Russia during the cold war. I assured her that the Seventh Fleet was there to watch and listen, but to do nothing. It was really in position to provide a security blanket for allies, like Japan and South Korea, but nothing more. China wasnt engaging in the belligerent behavior that Russia was at the height of the cold war, like blockading Berlin, basing missiles in Cuba, stationing fast attack nucle