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