The true goal in Afghanistan has now been achieved
From a BBC article:
“An agreement has been signed in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, paving the way for construction of a gas pipeline from the Central Asian republic through Afghanistan to Pakistan.”
And here’s some commentary from Truthout:
“Since September 11th, 2001, there has been intense speculation regarding Bush administration negotiations with the Taliban regarding this very project prior to the attacks. American petroleum giant Unocal very much wanted this project for years, but it was stymied in 1998 after bin Laden blew up two American embassies in Africa, causing the Taliban to be diplomatically isolated. There are a number of reports that describe a reinvigoration of this pipeline plan after Bush took office, and further describe the Bush administration’s negotiations with the Taliban including threats of war if the project was not allowed to pass through Afghanistan. Some say these threats, in the name of the pipeline, triggered the 9/11 attacks. The Taliban is gone, Afghan President Harmid Karzai is a former Unocal consultant, and the pipeline deal is finally done.”
I’m not about to contend that the desire to build the natural gas pipeline was the only motivation for the war launched against Afghanistan, but I do believe that the Bush administration seized upon the 9/11 attack as a convenient excuse for removing the Taliban from power (and putting a cooperative puppet in their place).
