Winning!

Commentary By Ron Beasley

Fred Kaplan correctly states Obama's War begins.  He then correctly asks the question but where does it end?  We have asked what does winning look like?  The reality is war is profitable and it's a mistake to look for a win in the valleys and mountains of Afghanistan.  Victory will be found on the balance sheets of defense contractors.  Even when we leave Afghanistan, and leave we will with little or nothing to show for it as a country, the defense contractors will be winners.

And then there is the pipeline we discussed here. 

Is an Oil Pipeline Behind the War in Afghanistan?

On February 12, 1998, John J. Maresca, vice president, international
relations for UNOCAL oil company, testified before the US House of
Representatives, Committee on International Relations. Maresca provided
information to Congress on Central Asia oil and gas reserves and how
they might shape US foreign policy. UNOCAL's problem? As Maresca said:
"How to get the region's vast energy resources to the markets." The oil
reserves are in areas north of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan and Russia. Routes for a pipeline were proposed that would
transport oil on a 42-inch pipe southward thru Afghanistan for 1040
miles to the Pakistan coast. Such a pipeline would cost about $2.5
billion and carry about 1 million barrels of oil per day.

Maresca told Congress then that: "It's not going to be built until
there is a single Afghan government. That's the simple answer."

But it's probably not an oil pipeline that's driving the war but a gas pipeline.

Why is Afghanistan so important?

A glance at a map and a little knowledge of the region suggest that
the real reasons for Western military involvement may be largely
hidden.

Afghanistan is adjacent to Middle Eastern countries that are rich in
oil and natural gas. And though Afghanistan may have little petroleum
itself, it borders both Iran and Turkmenistan, countries with the
second and third largest natural gas reserves in the world. (Russia is
first.)

Turkmenistan is the country nobody talks about. Its huge reserves of
natural gas can only get to market through pipelines. Until 1991, it
was part of the Soviet Union and its gas flowed only north through
Soviet pipelines. Now the Russians plan a new pipeline north. The
Chinese are building a new pipeline east. The U.S. is pushing for
"multiple oil and gas export routes." High-level Russian, Chinese and
American delegations visit Turkmenistan frequently to discuss energy.
The U.S. even has a special envoy for Eurasian energy diplomacy.

Rivalry for pipeline routes and energy resources reflects
competition for power and control in the region. Pipelines are
important today in the same way that railway building was important in
the 19th century. They connect trading partners and influence the
regional balance of power. Afghanistan is a strategic piece of real
estate in the geopolitical struggle for power and dominance in the
region.

Since the 1990s, Washington has promoted a natural gas pipeline
south through Afghanistan. The route would pass through Kandahar
province. In 2007, Richard Boucher, U.S. assistant secretary of state,
said: "One of our goals is to stabilize Afghanistan," and to link South
and Central Asia "so that energy can flow to the south." Oil and gas
have motivated U.S. involvement in the Middle East for decades.
Unwittingly or willingly, Canadian forces are supporting American
goals.

Now the chances of that pipeline ever being built may be slim but the potential profits for pipeline contractors and energy companies is so great it makes the war worth fighting. 

So that presents us with another question - who made the decision to escalate the war?  Was it Obama or the shadow government of the coporatocracy.