[Roebucks]

Here's an interesting tidbit:

Source article

As the lady pointperson for South Asia, she also had to be mindful of what many cynics call here the "Robin Raphel fever." Ms. Raphel was sitting in Ms Rocca's seat during the first term of President Clinton from 1992 to 1996.

Those were very intense days of the freedom struggle in held Kashmir. But many in New Delhi kept suspecting as if the Americans were "fanning the trouble there" with conspiratorial winks and nods to various Kashmiri leaders.

Dr Fai, a US based "communication strategist" of Kashmiri origin, was considered the "conduit" and Raphel "the culprit." During Rocca's stay in New Delhi, Harish Khare, another writer on South Asian affairs, almost addressed her by concluding in another article for The Hindu: "The...task is to ensure that there is no outbreak of a Robin Raphel fever, once again in Washington (over Kashmir). Any show of American interest would complicate (things)."

[Zorobabel]

Think Unacal and pipeline. There's alot more going on here than meets the eye. The Caspian sea is rich in oil and natural gas deposits. And who gets to tap them, and through what countries the pipelines run will have alot of effect on the conduct of this "war." There's alot of geo-political strategy going on for control of these resources. As always, it's wise to follow the money."