>>Depends. Do you know that the Afghan >>invasion was planned as early as
March
>>in line with the requests of Unocal and other >>oil interests from the US
Congress and are >>discounting the implications thereof, or have >>you never
heard about this?
>And Doug H asks
>How do you know?
I don't know about Unocal, but you can be sure stuff like this is in the training scenarios and 'planning'. The region is far too strategic not to get this consideration and treatment. Oil and gas are most definitely considered 'strategic' resources as well.
A menu of options is offered to the president whenever a crisis occurs. This is the same with the use of tactical nukes to cave in OBL's home away from home. It's most likely been on the drawing boards for a while--perhaps even presented to Clinton when he decided to go with the cruise missile option.
Charles Jannuzi