The Oil Connection--Looking for REFUTATION of French book

Progressive Review (Undernews) ^ | 9/16/01 | JULIO GODOY, INTER PRESS SERVICE

[Interious]

[The book "Bin Laden, la verite interdite" ("Bin Laden, the forbidden truth"), is getting a lot of attention on the left. The following review captures the essence of it. I'm searching for the rightist assessment and hopeful refutation of this book and the implications included therein.]

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THE OIL CONNECTION

*** JULIO GODOY, INTER PRESS SERVICE - In the book "Bin Laden, la verite interdite" ("Bin Laden, the forbidden truth"), the authors, Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, reveal that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's deputy director John O'Neill resigned in July in protest over obstruction. Brisard claim O'Neill told them that "the main obstacles to investigate Islamic terrorism were U.S. oil corporate interests and the role played by Saudi Arabia in it".

The two claim the U.S. government's main objective in Afghanistan was to consolidate the position of the Taliban regime to obtain access to the oil and gas reserves in Central Asia. They affirm that until August, the U.S. government saw the Taliban regime "as a source of stability in Central Asia that would enable the construction of an oil pipeline across Central Asia", from the rich oilfields in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, through Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the Indian Ocean . . . Confronted with Taliban's refusal to accept U.S. conditions, "this rationale of energy security changed into a military one", the authors claim. "At one moment during the negotiations, the U.S. representatives told the Taliban, 'either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs'," Brisard said in an interview in Paris.

According to the book, the government of Bush began to negotiate with the Taliban immediately after coming into power in February. U.S. and Taliban diplomatic representatives met several times in Washington, Berlin and Islamabad. To polish their image in the United States, the Taliban even employed a U.S. expert on public relations, Laila Helms. The authors claim that Helms is also an expert in the works of U.S. secret services, for her uncle, Richard Helms, is a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The last meeting between U.S. and Taliban representatives took place in August, five weeks before the attacks on New York and Washington, the analysts maintain. MORE

*** BEN ARIS & AHMED RASHID, TELEGRAPH, LONDON - For all the talk of international alliances and the future of Afghanistan, the real game in Central Asia is control of the region's lucrative oil supply. .......Rest of Article

[Eva]

Please, this is not even worth arguing. So what if Bush was already putting together an anti-terrorism coalition? I'm not sure that it's true, but I would give him credit if he was thinking along those lines.

As for including any Taliban members in the Afghan gov't, you can be sure that they will be members who opposed Bin Laden.

Now, about the pipeline. Any plans for a pipeline take years to formulate. This would put it well back into the Clinton administration. As I pointed out, many of the oil companies have closer ties to the Democrats than they do the Republicans. Don't believe everything that you read.

[Eva]

Look, they ran a couple of high jacked airplanes into the twin towers and killed several thousand people. The Bush administration doesn't need any other reason for attacking Afghanistan. Sorry if that's not enough for you.

[Eva]

You are delusional! Bin Laden and his buddies killed thousands of people! They are murderous terrorists! There is no other explanation, even the article on Slate admitted that the libs who are trying to connect the war in Afghanistan to oil, are way off base. Give it up.

I know it is hard to accept that the sheeple have broken out of the group think mold and enbraced patriotism and valor as the mode du jour, but it's a fact of life and you may as well accept it. The religion of environmentalism is passe.

People feel good about themselves again. They like the feeling of camradrie and working together toward a positive goal that has replaced the negativity of the Democratic party. People are tired of the divisiveness and petty accusations that accompanied the political correctness campaign.

The United States is once again the marvelous melting pot.

[Eva]

What is reality to you, appears to be a delusion to most. Your facts are skewed to or "spun" to reach the conclusion that fits your viewpoint. It reminds me of a remark that Rumsfeld made to a reporter about basing a question on and illogical premise, broadening with logical statements and then bringing it to an illogical conclusion. It's really typical liberal circle logic.

[Eva]

You have been under the spell of the liberal spin so long that you are dizzy and don't even know what direction you're going.

You are looking for the Bush administration to pull the same kind of tricks that were so familiar under the Clinton administration. The Democrats talk about "caring", but in reality all they care about is power for the elite. They will do and say anything to hold on to that power.

Thank goodness that no one is listening any longer. They know now, after 9-11, that the liberals were lying about George Bush.

[Eva]

Your pre-occupation with oil, as the root of all evil, labels you as a leftist of the extreme sort.

I guess there are some members of the Buchanan Tin Foil Hat Brigade who take a dark view of the oil companies, also.

My husband has worked in the oil industry for 25 years. I think I have a pretty good idea of what the oil companies are doing. It may not all be for the good of the USA, but it is definitely not what you are painting it to be, and Cheney and Bush are not the oil movers and shakers that you think they are.