Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

US pressing Pakistan against Iranian gasline

Bush’s master plan for world domination is contingent upon controlling the supply and transit of the world’s oil especially to China who is considered the number one threat to U.S. hegemony.

In a world that runs on oil, the nation that controls the flow of oil has great strategic power. U.S. policy-makers want leverage over the economies of competitors -- Western Europe, Japan and China -- that are more dependent on Middle Eastern oil.
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The U.S. is not interested in Caspian oil to supply its own internal industry. The U.S. is grabbing for control of the Caspian oil fields because other countries need this oil--and because the U.S. wants to dontrol them. Other imperialist rivals--including Germany and Japan--are "energy poor" and need access to oilfields outside their borders. Most Third World countries are heavily dependent on imported oil.
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In order to control the world's oil the United States must block 'north/south' pipelines.


Background:

The Caspian Sea is landlocked, and far from any of the world industrial centers. This oil must be transported out of the region by pipeline--through politically explosive and contested areas. Whoever controls the pipes ultimately controls the oil.

Russia proposed to build a new northern pipeline parallel to the old pipeline from Baku to Novorossisk--and to expand companion pipelines from Tengiz to Novorossisk.

Iran proposed a southern pipeline over its territory--from Baku to the Iranian oil terminal on Kharg Island. This route would make the Caspian Sea into a hinterland of the Persian Gulf--and would secure the position of Iran and other Persian Gulf countries in the center of the world oil economy.

Some oil companies supported this Iranian plan because the Iranian route was estimated to be the cheapest. They also argued that this pipeline would give them more power within Iran--strengthening imperialist control over that important country.

The U.S.--and specifically the Clinton White House--was determined to oppose any "north/south" pipelines. The White House adopted a plan, cooked up by long-time ruling class strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski, to create an "east-west" pipe which would bypass both Russia and Iran.

The U.S. intends to strip Russia of control over this oil. And the U.S. wants the Caspian oilfields to be completely independent of the Persian Gulf--to diminish the importance of Persian Gulf states in the world economy.

The U.S.-proposed pipeline would start in Baku--traveling west through Azerbaijan. It would deliberately take a detour around Armenia--a country allied with Russia. The pipeline would circle into Georgia, and then travel southwest across Turkey. Most of its length would be through the Kurdish areas of Turkey--where there has been ongoing armed struggle against the Turkish oppression of Kurds. And the pipeline would end in a port near Ceyhan on the eastern Mediterranean.

U.S. planners propose a second pipeline --for natural gas--traveling over 1,000 miles from Turkmenistan to the Turkish city of Erzurum.
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-Am

US pressing Pakistan against Iranian gasline

December 29, 2004

* Senior Pakistani official says Islamabad will take ‘own decision’

Daily Times Monitor

ISLAMABAD: In another twist to the proposed Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, the US is believed to be pressuring Pakistan not to push for the project with Iran, as the latter is under scrutiny for its alleged nuclear programme, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday. It, however, quoted a senior Pakistani official as saying that Islamabad would take its “own decision” on the matter.

The issue was expected to be part of the talks between Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi, who was in Pakistan on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported. “Islamabad is very keen on the pipeline project, but has not made much headway,” it added.

“We need gas and, in any way that you contemplate, the cheapest way to West Asia or Central Asia, or in any case that you consider, Pakistani territory has to be traversed. India will have to go through Pakistan,” Mr Kasuri told the paper.

“Pakistan’s suggestion to treat it as a ‘stand alone’ project was prompted by its own need for economic growth,” it reported. “Today, we know that our reserves will not be sufficient and we need the gas,” The Indian Express quoted Mr Kasuri as saying. India had said that for the pipeline to materialise, Pakistan needed to reciprocate by allowing transit facilities or trade benefits, the paper reported, adding that New Delhi was also willing to explore the possibility with Tehran of directly buying the gas from them.

As the pipeline’s fate became even more uncertain, the Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries met on Tuesday to review the progress made in the first round of the composite dialogue and to take the process further.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-12-2004_pg7_36