December 2001/
January 2002

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Blood for Oil?

From a statement submitted by C.T. Palmer to Senator Alan Specter (R-PA) at an October Town Meeting.

I support an energy plan which takes into account the problem of terrorism.

1. We should lessen our dependence on foreign oil. Drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge is not the way to do it (see reference at the end of this letter). The pipelines bringing oil to us are terribly vulnerable as anyone knows who saw the TV pictures of oil gushing out of a tiny hole caused, they said, by a shot from a drunk. Increased efficiency (as in cars, air conditioners, etc.) and increased research in alternative renewable energy resources is a way to go. We should invest heavily in this. It will help our economy to grow.

2. The centralization of our power system and our electric system is a potential danger. The more independent power sources we have, as in solar and wind power for homes, businesses, and institutions, the more our infrastructure can continue to function after terrorist attack.

3. An energy plan that will reduce greenhouse gases will improve our standing with other countries on which we are dependent now and in the future.

4. An increase in public transport which is an alternative to airplanes will decrease our oil needs. It is also essential for our infrastructure at a time of terrorist attack. Congress has given a great deal of money in response to the September events as well as over time to the airline industry. We must increase funding again to our railroad system. This will also be good for the economy. It is shocking the number of states which have no passenger service. An aging population also needs trains as an alternative to cars and airplanes.

5. Some people have pointed out how important for our country it is at this time to have a sense of shared sacrifice. I believe this. At present it seems that those on top are profiting from the decisions of Congress and those at the bottom are suffering.

[Note the recently-released report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, "Clean Energy Blueprint" (www.ucsusa.org/energy/blueprint.html). It found that America could produce at least 20 percent of its electricity from wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass energy sources by 2020. If implemented, these policies, when combined with policies to save energy, would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by two-thirds from by 2020, as well as save more oil in 18 years than can be economically recovered from ANWR in 60 years.]

From the UK Mirror, 10/29/01, by British correspondent and filmmaker John Pilger.

....When the Taliban took Kabul in 1996, Washington said nothing. Why? Because Taliban leaders were soon on their way to Houston, Texas, to be entertained by executives of the oil company, Unocal.

With secret US government approval, the company offered them a generous cut of the profits of the oil and gas pumped through a pipeline that the Americans wanted to build from Soviet central Asia through Afghanistan.

A US diplomat said: "The Taliban will probably develop like the Saudis did." He explained that Afghanistan would become an American oil colony, there would be huge profits for the West, no democracy and the legal persecution of women. "We can live with that," he said.

Although the deal fell through, it remains an urgent priority of the administration of George W. Bush, which is steeped in the oil industry. Bush's concealed agenda is to exploit the oil and gas reserves in the Caspian basin, the greatest source of untapped fossil fuel on earth and enough, according to one estimate, to meet America's voracious energy needs for a generation. Only if the pipeline runs through Afghanistan can the Americans hope to control it.

So, not surprisingly, US Secretary of State Colin Powell is now referring to "moderate" Taliban, who will join an American-sponsored 'loose federation' to run Afghanistan. The 'war on terrorism' is a cover for this: a means of achieving American strategic aims that lie behind the flag-waving facade of great power.

...Far from being the terrorists of the world, the overwhelming majority of the Islamic peoples of the Middle East and south Asia have been victims--victims largely of the West's exploitation of precious natural resources in or near their countries.

Previous Article    Next Article