> http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/intlrel/hfa48119.000/hfa48119_0f.htm
>
> "From the outset, we have made it clear that construction of the pipeline we
> have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized
> government is in place that has the confidence of governments, lenders, and
> our company."
>
> Mr. John J. Maresca, vice president of international relations,
> Unocal Corporation
I don't recall seeing the attached posted here yet - what a roster! This was posted in one of the Free Republic forums, but originally came from:
http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/
--
/ dave /
Politicians who are Cashing in on the Caspian Foreign Affairs Opinion (Published) Keywords: KOSOVO CASPIAN OIL Source: Drillbits and Tailings Published: 7 October 1999 Author: Project Underground Posted on 06/17/1999 09:20:08 PDT by Hamiltonian
Kings Of The Caspian
Less than a decade after the final diplomatic skirmishes of the Cold War, the men who led the battle on both sides have joined forces to exploit the oil reserves of the Caspian Sea. The Caspian, which is the world's largest inland sea, is estimated to contain as much as 200 billion barrels of oil alone plus another 100 billion barrels' worth of gas under the neighboring Kara Kum Desert and other sites. At average price levels for the 1990s, that adds up to a treasure chest of roughly US$5 trillion.
Today Amoco, British Petroleum, Chevron, Exxon, Mobil and Unocal are leading a multi-billion dollar frenzy to extract these reserves from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, the three countries that surround the Caspian together with Russia and Iran.
The former Cold Warriors from the East, who are profiting from the oil riches, include Azerbaijan president Heydar Aliyev, former Communist Party Secretary and KGB chief in Baku; Turkmenistan president Saparmurat Niyazov, the former chairman of the Supreme Soviet in Ashkhabad; Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev, a former member of Soviet Politburo; as well as Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, former Soviet foreign minister and Politburo member.
Cutting deals with them, on behalf of the oil companies, are a formidable array of former top Western Cold Warriors, drawn principally from the cabinet of George Bush, the former United States president, who hailed from an oil family in Texas. The dealmakers include James Baker, Brent Scowcroft, Dick Cheney and John Sununu; the Secretary of State, National Security Adviser, Secretary of Defense and chief of staff respectively for Bush.
Also cashing in on the deal are Lloyd Bentsen, former Treasury Secretary under President Clinton, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Adviser under President Carter, Tim Eggar, former British Energy Minister and Malcolm Rifkind, former British Foreign Minister under the Conservatives.
Brzezinski, one of the older men among the Central Asian dealmakers, oversaw a major American push to destabilize the Soviet Union in this region, when he worked for Carter, during the invasion of Afghanistan. Today he is a consultant to Amoco.
Many of the other men played key roles in the dismantling of the former Soviet Union in the final days of the Cold War. Baker and Shevardnadze, who were the foreign policy chiefs for the two superpowers under Bush and Gorbachev respectively, became close friends in this process. Baker now runs his own law practice in Houston doing business for the oil companies where he is able to use his highly placed friend in Georgia.
Brent Scowcroft earns US$130,000 dollars for advising Pennzoil and the multinational Azerbaijan consortium. Sununu's management consulting firm, JHS Associates, has also been welcomed in Azerbaijan. Likewise Bentsen who recently likened Azerbaijan's struggle for independence to that of his home state of Texas. Bentsen is a shareholder in Frontera Resources, an oil services company working in Azerbaijan.
And Cheney, who played 'bad cop' to Baker's 'good cop' in the last days of the Soviet Union, advising Bush to be harder with Mikhail Gorbachev, is now chief executive of Halliburton of Houston, the world's largest oilfield services company.
Azerbaijan is also a favorite destination for the British oil companies like Monument and Ramco. Eggar, who as British Energy Minister led a delegation to Baku in 1994, is now chief executive of Monument Oil while Rifkind, sits on the board of Ramco.
SOURCES: Project Underground research especially Frank Viviano, "Black Gold, Iron Rule" San Francisco Chronicle, August 13, 1998 and David Ottaway and Dan Morgan, "Former Top U.S. Aides Seek Caspian Gusher" Washington Post, July 6, 1997.