[Originally sent 13 Nov 2001: The it's about oil issue (plus laughs)]

Hi people,

It's been a while. I hope you enjoyed the break. Tonight let's start with a couple of questions:

If we want to get the folks that blew up people in New York, and the Taliban didn't do that, then why are we at war with the Taliban? Are we really in such a huge hurry to get Osama bin Laden that we'll wage a whole war over it? And Rumsfeld says we may never get bin Laden or the top guys anyway...

If bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization is in 60 countries, then why are we at war with the Taliban? Do we really think that we can eliminate terrorism this way?

Or maybe we're we going to press this "war on terrorism" home in all those bad sponsor countries. Like Iraq. Or Egypt. Or the Philippines.

So why are we at war with the Taliban? Is it because they're repressive fundamentalists like the Saudis? (Oh, oops they're our friends.) It turns out that we've had plans to strike the Taliban for quite a while... and these plans may even have precipitated the 11 September attacks...

"Osama bin Laden and the Taliban received threats of possible American military strikes against them two months before the terrorist assaults"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/wtccrash/story/0,1300,556279,00.html

Maybe there's something else going on here: what could it be?

In his prophetic 1998 interview "Osama bin Laden Is a Sign of Things to Come", Eqbal Ahmad notes, among other things, that "Texaco, Amoco, Unocal, Delta Oil-all of these are now going into Central Asia to get hold of these oil and gas fields."

http://www.dnai.com/~awfuchs/ahmad1998interview.html

To review how important Afghanistan is for petroleum exploitation, refer to the US Dept of Energy briefing on the subject:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/afghan2.html

And here's a historical perspective on the importance of oil in the politics of the region:

http://alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11860

Remember, with a military budget many times larger than anyone else, our armed forces are explicitly in the business of protecting our interests and investments across the globe! (Did you read the Vision 2020 in my Star Wars issue?)

The worst part, for now

Meanwhile, we pour bombs and arms into the conflict, preventing aid from getting through, while winter approaches fast. As Geov Parrish points out, "The world will not forgive us":

http://www.tompaine.com/features/2001/11/06/4.html

Jewish voices against the occupation

I won't go into detail in this issue about the relationships between the Israel/Palestine problem and the wider political problems the US is entangled in. But if you're a jew, or know a jew, who disagrees with the occupation, here's something you can do about it:

http://www.jvao.org/

The lighter side

(From "This American Life" radio show) You know how awkward it can be when you have to call someone you've been avoiding? Imagine Washington's embarassment to have to make those calls to get the coalition together:

http://www.thislife.org/ra/198.ram

Fast forward to about 24 min 30 sec to get the second lesson.

(I also like the first lesson, but it's nothing to do with our topic.)

Be excellent to each other,

Andy