Controversial new movie (Fahrenheit 9/11) repeats old and false allegations about Unocal

Unocal.com ^ | June 30, 2004

[Shermy]

In his new movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore reviews the Bush administration’s publicly stated rationale for the war against terrorism in Afghanistan – it was part of the U.S. response to the attacks of September 11, 2001 – and then suggests that the real reason for the war was, at least in part, to enable Unocal to proceed with a natural gas pipeline project in Afghanistan and for other U.S. energy and oil-service companies to participate in various projects in that country.

Unocal has absolutely no intention of participating in an Afghanistan pipeline project nor are we in discussions with any parties about doing so. We had no “understanding” with the Bush Administration that once U.S. military forces removed the Taliban from power we would proceed with such a project. Further, Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, was never a consultant or adviser to Unocal, as Moore erroneously asserts.

During the mid-1990s, a Unocal subsidiary joined a consortium that proposed to build a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan. Negotiations concerning this project proposal were never concluded with representatives of these governments and no construction ever began.

In August 1998, Unocal ended its active participation in the proposed project, a full three years before the terrorist attacks of September 11, and nearly four years before the U.S. action in Afghanistan. The company formally withdrew from the project consortium in December 1998 (see news release). Our withdrawal from this business consortium was made on a commercial basis and has not been reconsidered.

[Destro]

The Patriot Act is so despised by leftists like Moore....

Wasn't Bush against the Patriot Act before he was for it?

[Peach]

I do believe you are incorrect and don't remember ever hearing that Bush was opposed to the Patriot Act.