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----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard N Hutchinson" <rhutchin at U.Arizona.EDU> To: "Talmadge Wright" <twright at orion.it.luc.edu> Cc: "George Snedeker" <snedeker at concentric.net>; "psn" <psn at csf.colorado.edu>; <wsn at csf.colorado.edu> Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 12:02 PM Subject: oil
> I just took a look at "Taliban" by Rashid yesterday, as well as the piece
> on Caspian basin energy in the Sept/Oct Foreign Affairs.
>
> Neither provides any strong evidence that the U.S. is intervening in
> Afghanistan for oil. Yes, Unocal would like to build a pipeline (for
> gas, not oil), but Rashid describes their lack of ability to influence
> U.S. policy. The main pipeline routes from the Caspian do not go through
> Afghanistan -- the U.S. has been trying to establish a route through
> Azerbaijan and Georgia and mainly Turkey, the BTC line
> (Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan). The CPC line, from the Tengiz oil field in
> Kazakhstan to the Black Sea, is in service, a joint venture of Russia,
> Kazakhstan, Oman and several oil companies, including Chevron, ExxonMobil,
> and LukArco. Not the remotest connection to Afghanistan.
>
> When the U.S. starts joining Russia in subduing Chechnyan rebels, or
> pacifying Nagorno-Karabakh (an Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan) we'll know
> we have a war for oil going on, as those spots abut planned pipelines
> running west from the Caspian.
>
> RH
>
>