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Political
Objectives in Afghanistan and Elsewhere
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Drilling
for oil in the world’s oceans. |
The
international press has put the war in Afghanistan on the back burner to make
space for reports on the Palestinian situation. However, as international
attention is turned from Afghanistan to Palestine, the war continues and many
people still wonder why. Some experts wonder if it is the world’s insatiable
appetite for oil that is beginning to control the world political situation.
History
shows that this may be happening. Undermining the sovereignty of nature and the
sovereignty of states, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) aided the overthrow
of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossdegh in 1953, for example. The “last
straw in this case” was his avocation of the nationalization of the
country’s oil supplies (Hertsgaard, p.2).
The
intense concern over the world’s oil supplies is fueled by our dependence on
oil in almost every aspect of our lives. Oil is fundamental to modern
transportation systems, generates electricity and has provided the raw material
for the modern chemical industry. And of course, the modern transportation
industry is what makes the food supply circulate and trade continue. Because of this, oil has shaped policies both domestic and foreign. Referring to
the oil price hikes of the late 1990’s – Winona Hauter – executive
director of Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy Project viewed them as
‘sinister forces’ with an intention to change the domestic agenda of the oil
companies that drill in the U.S. to reduce environmental regulation (Motavilli,
p.2). However, while we as consumers become more and more shaped by an oil
driven economy, we remain largely unaware as to whom or what is paying the
price. Most people know that without the precious resource of oil they may
not be able to get to work, their local grocers may become depleted in food
supplies and their heaters and air conditioners may not work. However, not many
people realize what happens when we do have the oil.
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An
oil refinery |
Globally,
over 706 million gallons of oil ends up in the ocean annually, from used engine
oil being poured down the drain, run-offs from the city streets and air
pollution particles from offshore oil drilling. About 37 million gallons spill
from oil tankers alone and 15 million from oil drilling rigs (Motavilli, p.5).
This is a shocking amount considering the amount of food for human consumption
that comes from the sea and the heavy recreational traffic humans enjoy at the
seaside. Scientists also note that a mere one-degree increase in temperature has
caused melting glaciers and more catastrophic natural disasters around the
world. Yet the hunt for more oil, a major contributor to global warming, goes on
(see The Real Price for the Insatiable Appetite for Oil: Part One on
www.islamonline.net). However, global warming and environmental issues are
perhaps the least of the world’s concerns where oil is involved.
The
political effects of the race to control the world’s oil supply can sometimes
be worse for the environment than the oil itself. History shows that there are
military implications for Afghanistan as oil companies build oil pipelines from
the Caucasus and Central Asia to supply Japan and the West (Yechury, p.2). During
the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Russia estimated gas reserves of five
trillion cubic feet and production had reached 275 million cubic feet daily in
the mid-seventies. However, since the mujahideen [Afghan fighter] were financed
and armed by the U.S. to force Russian withdrawal, this resulted in closing-down
nearly all gas production by 1989 and saw the end of supply deals to Europe (Devraj,
p.3).
In
January 1998, the Taliban delegation had visited UNOCALS’s offices in Texas to
meet with company executives. Long criticized for doing business with repressive
regimes, UNOCAL had courted both the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. At the
time, Toni Marshall from the Washington Times stated, “U.S. interest in the
lucrative gas pipeline gave the appearance in public that world democracy and
women’s rights are being defended. However, commercial interests may really
drive U.S. policy towards the Taliban.”
The Taliban had signed an agreement that would allow a proposed 890-mile, two
billion, 1.9 billion cubic-feet-per-day natural gas pipeline project led by
UNOCAL. UNOCAL denies this had taken place; nonetheless US retaliatory attacks
in August 1998 had put an end to that (Biggs p.2, 3). UNOCAL left with a 46.5%
stake in Central Asia (Devraj, p2, 3).
It
is estimated that 15 billion barrels of oil and nine trillion cubic meters of
natural gas exist beneath the soil of Afghanistan’s neighbors: Azerbaijan,
Kazakhistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan sits between the oil and
the gas fields of its neighbors with huge markets waiting in Pakistan, India and
beyond (Biggs, p.1). In fact, the Turkmenistan’s Karakum Desert holds the
world’s third largest gas reserves. And the Caspian Basin may hold 200 billion
barrels of oil. This is enough to meet the American energy requirements for
thirty years (Yechury, p.2).
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Oil
spills from tankers and rigs cause irrevocable damage on the
environment. |
In
March 1999, a testimony before the U.S. House of Representative by the
conservative think tank Heritage Foundation showed that Afghanistan’s
neighbors do indeed possess the above reserves. A study by the Institute for
Afghan Studies placed the value of oil and gas reserves in Central Asia at three
trillion U.S. dollars at last year’s prices (Devraj, p.1).
This
of course has raised concerns. On the radio program Living Earth, journalist
Ahmed Rashid referred to the U.S.’ willingness to look the other way in the
interest of profit. It is this policy that helped the Taliban and other
authoritarian regimes in the region gain legitimacy (Biggs, p.2). This was
echoed by author of Resource Wars Michael Klare on Radio Free Europe who stated:
“We [the U.S.] view oil as a security consideration and we have to protect it
by any means necessary, regardless of other considerations or other values” (Yechury,
p.2).
Referring
to the “War on Terrorism”, strategic analyst and former General in the
Indian army, V. Raghavan said, “If the coalition succeeds, it has the
potential of reconfiguring substantially the energy scenario for the 21st
century” (Devraj, p.1). American lives have paid for it once with their
health, their environment and twice on September 11th. Afghani lives have been
paying for it in the past until now. The world continues to suffer as the
eco-system breaks-down and climatic changes wreak havoc. What is the real price
for maintaining a lifestyle that the world can ill afford?
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Also:
Sources:
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