Afghan Press Author: Rooh-ul-Amin

[Read Part 1 of this article here.]

Back to the issue of the US invasion on Afghanistan and its oil diplomacy, the correspondent of ABC, Mr. John K Cooley in his book ‘Unholy Wars’ unearthed that America and its multi-national oil companies were covetous after the untapped fossil fuel reserves in Central Asian States and Caspian Basin.

In 1993, a Californian oil company UNOCAL, negotiated for signing an agreement with the government of Turkmenistan. Afterwards the company signed an agreement with Ashkabad in approval for exploring a feasible place for the construction of oil pipeline. It was decided that this pipeline would run through Pakistan, America’s non-Nato ally in contrast to its stanch opponent Iran that wanted to channel Ashkabad’s energy. The same year Turkmenistan and Pakistan also signed an agreement to work in collaboration for their natural resources and to carpet a pipeline between the two countries. Here the question is, why the Taliban agreed to have a trading agreement with the government of Pakistan? Shibergan—a northern province of Afghanistan has been pumping natural gas to the then Soviet through Uzbekistan. Its reserves were estimated at 1,1000 billion cubic meters. The flow of natural gas remained continue even during the chaotic days of 1979 up to 1989. It is a well-known fact that Pakistan has been providing stilts to the Taliban by putting its own security at stack as we are witnessing for the past few years but for these obvious reasons. Fist it was dictated by Washington to do so. Second it wanted to erect Taliban an adamant power in Afghanistan against Indian influence. Third it was aware of the fact that in case world community and in specific the US does not recognise Taliban’s government as legitimate then they would not be in the position to claim for the controversial Durand Line because of their civil war. An indeed the Musharraf-led government did the same by sending its military to those areas where they have never been since the creation of Pakistan whereas Taliban remained absorb in baffling with the US forces. Fourth the Taliban and Pakistan were allies against Soviet so they wanted to recover the flow of natural gas to Russia from Shibergan through Uzbekistan. In that connection the Taliban and Islamabad had signed an agreement but it was irrespective of the deal which company succeeds in getting the transit rights.

“Bin Laden: The Forbidden Truth which was published from Paris with the title “Bin Laden, La Verite Interdite” also endorsed the claim of Cooley that the Bush administration has struck many clandestine rounds of negotiation with the Taliban in August 2001. It says that behind all the efforts there was the only aim of clinching the belt of championship over the vast oil and gas reserves in Central Asia by meshing an oil pipeline from the rich oil fields in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, via Afghanistan, to Pakistan and Indian Ocean.

The co-authored book alleges if the Taliban had allowed the meshing and construction of oil pipeline and US monopoly over the huge reserves of the gas and oil, then America would have strode for the Taliban’s political recognition and economic assistance. The hurdle came when the Taliban refused to accept the US control over the reserves. During the negotiations the US representatives threatened the Taliban ‘either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we burry you under a carpet of bombs’.

During this course the Executives of UNOCAL oil company offered the Taliban a bounteous and generous cut of the profits of the oil and gas through the US clandestine official approval, in case they allow its pumping through the pipeline via Afghanistan to Pakistan and then through Indian Ocean to America.

BBC also has expounded the issue that radio Kabul had reported the representatives of the UNOCAL and BRIDAS have circumambulated Kabul. The report said that it was the tug-of-war between the two companies that created a political fray for Afghanistan. The Taliban minister for information and culture Muttaqi Khan in November 1997 explained ‘we have argued with both the companies on transit rights adding that by now it is not clear and the three neighbouring countries will decide collaboratively for a lucrative and fruitful deal with one of the two companies’.

At length the moment came when the Taliban nodded to the Argentine oil company BRIDAS for they wanted to mitigate the US monopoly. But this decision earned the wrath of Washington. The US apparently in pursuit of Al-Qaida, under ‘The Operation Enduring Freedom’, invaded Afghanistan on 7th October 2001.

Within a span of only three months the US forces carried out more than five thousand air raids wherein at least five hundred thousand bombs were rained including the most fatal bombs ‘Daisy Cutters’. It is a substantial reality that Bush and his administration have a strong oil background having close links with oil corporate.

For instance, Dick Cheney has been president of Halliburton, a company responsible for running the services of oil industry. Now there must not any doubt that it was the greed of the oil industrialists merged with the personal interest of Bush and his Vice-President Dick Cheney that Washington decided to cover Afghanistan under the carpet of bombs.

In this invasion there has been also a tinge of ‘new world order’, which was orchestrated by his father in 1992 after the fall of USSR. This new order was chalked out for the nourishment of the US dominance across the globe.

William Blum in his book ‘Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower’ claims ‘it is not the first incident the US unleashed a bloodbath through intrigue rather it has attempted to eradicate 40 countries from the surface of the globe’.

Blum alleges that America has invaded 20 countries of the world and almost supported dictatorship in every country, with a few exceptional cases. He has audaciously compared president George W. Bush with Hitler. The world witnessed his rule of great blood game and cried frantically for a human to be there in White House instead a devil. Now his political drop scene is hovering upon his head and the world especially third world community hoped that the advent of Obama would herald a positive change.

But Obama’s reiterations that he will send more troops to Afghanistan dashed their hopes to ground. Afghan president Hamid Karzia is rightfully demanding for the timeframe of the troop’s evacuation. And if Obama thinks that might is right then surly he is badly mistaken for might is not always right. And this use of might has been very deadly but for Afghans not the US or Al-Qaida.

And according to some allegations it will remain here till 1936, which shows that the future of this land is utterly bleak because of the imperialist designs of the US and it makes no difference for the inhabitants of the region that who is the president of the US—Bush or Obama. (Concluded)

The writer is a FATA-based freelance journalist.