Underlying the appearance of the Taliban movement, first of all, are factors internal to Afghan society, in particular the discrediting of the government and the “commandos” born out of the resistance to Soviet intervention. The rapid expansion of the militia, culminating with the conquest of...
merip.org
Washington’s haste stems from a gas pipeline project linking Turkmenistan with the Pakistani port of Gwadar via western Afghanistan. The head company of this project is the American firm UNOCAL, in partnership with a Saudi firm, Delta Oil. (The president of Turkmenistan chose their bid over that of the Argentinian corporation, Bridas.) The pipeline, which will cost $2 billion and will also serve as an oil pipeline, responds to two US priorities: first, an assured direct route for the fossil fuels of Central Asia and the Caspian, where US companies, Chevron among them, have invested massively; and second, to reinforce the isolation of Iran, which would be a natural candidate for the pipeline due to its proximity to the points of production and its existing infrastructure.
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UNOCAL and Delta Oil played a major role in “buying” the local military leaders, not to mention lobbying Washington and coordinating with Pakistan. UNOCAL’s American political adviser, Charles Santos, who was close to the Clinton administration, is now assistant to Mahmoud Mestiri, former UN special envoy for Afghanistan. UNOCAL’s support for the Taliban is barely disguised by its vice president, Chris Taggart, who described the Taliban advance as a “positive development.” Affirming that “events have tended to favor the project,” he recently envisaged recognition of the Taliban.
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