Is Afghanistan All About Oil

[planeterotica]

Well its something that we have all given thought to, is the real reason that we are in Afghanistan as much to do with oil as it is with terrorism, here is a piece written back in 2001 that makes interesting reading !bookworm!

[Dave Wells]

Of course ! Rich people demand new sources of income so the 'poor' squaddies pay for it with their lives !

[Essex Lad]

No.

[planeterotica]

Essex Lad wrote:

> No.

planeterotica wrote:

Clever reply it makes for stimulating conversation !nerd!

[frankthring]

An interesting and intelligent article.....and no, Dave, your view, as
cynical as always, is also too narrow.
I cannot believe anyone but a dunderhead believes wars are fought
in the 21st century just for moral imperatives - like freeing Afghanistan
from an oppressor etc. The motives for Western , and especially US
involvement, are much more murky and obviously connected with their
own foreign policy goals. This is realpolitik. Its what countries do. The
British have done the same for hundreds of years.
Oil may well be the main reason motivating the US administration, but
it clearly is not the only one....
The problem, or stumbling block, is that this is truly an unwinnable war.
The British have fought 3 previous Afghan wars - they wiped us out
first time, we won the 2nd (though it included the massacre of the
British Residency and the second worst defeat of a Victorian army) and
the third was a kind of draw.
The Russians lost heavily in the 1990s and nothing makes one think the
Americans have a hope in hell of doing better because in their own way
they misunderstand the real situation and the Afghans just as much as
the Soviets.
It is an utter utter waste of British lives.... and horrible to think that oil
is the dirty reason our boys are fighting and dying so bravely there.

[planeterotica]

The piece in the article that caught my attention is the bit about the U.S. company Unocal inviting the Taliban in 1996 to talks in Houston and offering them 15 cents for every thousand cubic feet of oil they pumped through Afghanistan, im wondering if a deal previous agreed was welched on and sowed the seeds as to where we are today.

[Dave Wells]

My view although cynical says exactly what yours says, only in one sentence !