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WSWS : News & Analysis : The US War in Afghanistan
Britain: Reports admit this is a war for oil
By Chris Marsden
27 October 2001
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Britain�s media has hardly distinguished itself during the US bombing
of Afghanistan, other than for its willingness to parrot the official
line emanating from Washington and London. But it has proved
increasingly difficult for the press barons to maintain a united
journalistic front.
A combination of factors�the growing concern within Europe over the
direction of the US campaign, or lack of it; a fear that the US will
be the sole beneficiary of the war; and even a reaction against the
mounting absurdities that constitute the official raison d��tre for
targeting Afghanistan�have given rise to a number of reports that
depart from the formulaic invocation that the ongoing military
campaign is �a war against terrorism�.
The most significant of these reports was an item on the October 25
edition of Channel Four television�s flagship seven o�clock news
programme. Reporter Liam Halligan was introduced by the programme�s
anchorman posing the question, �But is there another, less well
advertised motive for the bombing of Afghanistan?� Halligan answered
in the affirmative, adding, �The Gulf War was largely about oil. You
won�t hear it said often but, inadvertently, this one is too.�
Halligan called oil �an important subtext to the struggle over
Afghanistan�.
He noted that the US, which consumes 22 million barrels a day, is by
far the world�s biggest oil importer. He remarked upon the present
reliance on the Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia, which produces
seven million barrels a day, but also drew attention to the
production of four and a half million barrels a day in the former
Soviet Union.
Halligan continued, �Apart from Russia, it�s these newly independent
Central Asian states that are key. Already 20 billion barrels of oil
reserves have been found in Khazakhstan�and there could be much more.
The oil and gas so far discovered in these parts is worth $3 trillion
dollars in today�s prices.�
Getting this oil to Western markets was, Halligan stated, �the
culmination of the Great Game. The struggle for influence in Central
Asia is the last great oil rush, as the West tries to reduce
dependence on the Gulf.�
Channel Four went on to explain the importance of Afghanistan in this
regard. Russia had built its own pipeline from Kazakhstan to the
Black Sea. In order to compete, Western oil corporations could build
pipelines along a number of routes. But by far the most economical
would be from Central Asia through Afghanistan, to Pakistan.
That, said Halligan, was �a major reason the US unofficially backed
the Taliban in the mid-90s, when American oil men were planning such
a pipeline. But when the Taliban turned it�s back on Uncle Sam,
Western oil money got scared.�
As well as Channel Four�s coverage, two articles have appeared in the
Guardian newspaper that deserve to be noted. The Guardian, which is
considered home to Britain�s liberal intelligentsia, is generally
supportive of the war, but critical of certain aspects of its
conduct. This was reflected in an op-ed piece by the radical
environmentalist George Monbiot entitled �America�s pipe dream�,
which sets out to explain how �A pro-Western regime in Kabul should
give the US an Afghan route for Caspian oil�.
Monbiot takes pains to reassure Guardian readers that he is on-
message as far as the Labour government�s rationale for supporting
the war is concerned. He concludes his article with the bizarre
couplet, �I believe that the US government is genuine in its attempt
to stamp out terrorism by military force in Afghanistan, however
misguided that may be. But we would be na�ve to believe that this is
all it is doing.�
The first statement is an expression of Monbiot�s political
cowardice, for his entire article contradicts the Bush
administration�s claim to be motivated by a desire to �stamp out
terrorism�. Again facing both ways at once, Monbiot insists, �The
invasion of Afghanistan is certainly a campaign against terrorism,
but it may also be a late colonial adventure.� He explains,
�Afghanistan has some oil and gas of its own, but not enough to
qualify as a major strategic concern. Its northern neighbours, by
contrast, contain reserves, which could be critical to future global
supply. In 1998, Dick Cheney, now US vice-president but then chief
executive of a major oil services company, remarked: �I cannot think
of a time when we have had a region emerge as suddenly to become as
strategically significant as the Caspian.� But the oil and gas there
is worthless until it is moved. The only route which makes both
political and economic sense is through Afghanistan.�
The West�s options for moving oil are limited by its desire to
prevent a strengthening of either Russia or Iran. It has an added
benefit, in that �pipelines through Afghanistan would allow the US
both to pursue its aim of �diversifying energy supply� and to
penetrate the world�s most lucrative markets� in south Asia.
Monbiot�s article acknowledges a debt to the work of Ahmed Rashid,
the author of the recently published, Taliban�Militant Islam, Oil and
Fundamentalism in Central Asia, and a correspondent for the Far
Eastern Economic Review and the Daily Telegraph. Rashid documents how
in 1995, the US oil company Unocal started negotiating to build oil
and gas pipelines from Turkmenistan, through Afghanistan to Pakistan
and on to the Arabian sea. This required �a single administration in
Afghanistan, which would guarantee safe passage for its goods.�
Monbiot notes, �Soon after the Taliban took Kabul in September 1996,
the Telegraph reported that �oil industry insiders say the dream of
securing a pipeline across Afghanistan is the main reason why
Pakistan, a close political ally of America�s, has been so supportive
of the Taliban, and why America has quietly acquiesced in its
conquest of Afghanistan.�
Relations with the Taliban were only broken off two years later,
after the US embassy bombings in east Africa. But US designs on
Afghanistan continued. Monbiot cites a statement by the US energy
information administration immediately prior to the September 11
outrages: �Afghanistan�s 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 the possible construction of oil and natural gas
export pipelines through Afghanistan�. He concludes his examination,
with the related observation, �If the US succeeds in overthrowing the
Taliban and replacing them with a stable and grateful pro-Western
government and if the US then binds the economies of central Asia to
that of its ally Pakistan, it will have crushed not only terrorism,
but also the growing ambitions of both Russia and China. Afghanistan,
as ever, is the key to the western domination of Asia.�
The next day, Andy Rowell wrote in the Guardian on the same theme in
his article �Route to riches�. He begins, �As the war in Afghanistan
unfolds, there is frantic diplomatic activity to ensure that any post-
Taliban government will be both democratic and pro-West. Hidden in
this explosive geo-political equation is the sensitive issue of
securing control and export of the region�s vast oil and gas
reserves.�
Rowell draws attention to an article in Military Review, the journal
of the US army, which states, �As oil companies build oil pipelines
from the Caucasus and central Asia to supply Japan and the West,
these strategic concerns gain military implications.� He cites
Unocal�s insistence that �construction of the pipeline cannot begin
until a recognized government is in place in Kabul that has the
confidence of governments, lenders, and our company.�
All three reports are based on information that is both freely
available and common knowledge within the media and the political
establishment. Indeed Rowell described Rashid�s work on the Taliban
and the US as �the book Tony Blair has been reportedly reading since
the conflict started.� Far from saving the mass media from
opprobrium, therefore, these reports stand as an indictment of a more
general readiness to regurgitate whatever lies and propaganda they
are asked to by the powers that be.
Copyright 1998-2001
World Socialist Web Site
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