With panic in North Waziristan over a NATO troop buildup along the border, the long promised offensive in South Waziristan, which the Pakistani military had declared formally launched in June, has stalled.
Reports are that the Pakistani government has delayed the operation to engage in a series of talks with Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Baitullah Mehsud. The Pakistani government has often engaged in diplomacy in the region, much to the chagrin of the US which has pressed them to launch offensives and demand unconditional surrenders.
The US had been openly critical of Pakistan’s last major peace effort in the Swat Valley, and was palpably excited when the nation scrapped the peace deal in favor of a massive offensive which destroyed much of the valley and drove millions from their homes.
The Waziristan move is likely to enrage the US, which has repeatedly called for the “elimination” of Mehsud. At the same time, the Pakistani government is reportedly concerned that the US offensive in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, will worsen the situation in the restive Balochistan Province, which is seeing a growing separatist movement.
Probably the game plan from day ONE, to get Balochistan for the pipeline from the "Stans" to the sea,
and eliminate Pakistan [transit fees] from the equation…….AND…cut China off at their Eastern border from the central Asian Bonanza !! What other reason for this costly, futile OCCUPATION of Afghanistan and the military encroachment into Pakistan?? Hungry Empires like hungry DOGs hang around while the food lastz
What's at Stake for Whom
Afghanistan
At a Glance:
Map of Afghanistan
CIA map
During the Soviets' decade-long occupation of Afghanistan, Moscow estimated Afghanistan's proven and probable natural gas reserves at around five trillion cubic feet. In the mid-1970s, production reached 275 million cubic feet per day.
But Afghanistan's significance to the balance of energy and power in Central Asia stems from its geographical position as a potential transit route for oil and natural gas exports from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea.
In January 1998, an agreement was signed between Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and the Taliban to arrange funding for a proposed 890-mile, US$2 billion natural gas pipeline project. The proposed pipeline would have transported natural gas from Turkmenistan's Dauletabad natural gas field to Pakistan, and most likely would have run from Dauletabad south to the Afghan border, through Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan, to Quetta, Pakistan. The line would then have linked with Pakistan's natural gas grid at Sui. U.S. oil company Unocal was to finance the bulk of the project. As it happened, Unocal pulled-out of the deal, citing political instability in Afghanistan.
In addition to the gas pipeline, Unocal also had considered building a 1,000-mile oil pipeline that would link Chardzou, Turkmenistan with Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast via Afghanistan.
Currently, a pipeline brings natural gas from Uzbekistan to Bagram and another brings natural gas to Shindand.
To know whatz really happenin…. You need to know someone in the know who works for UNOCAL
Hey FOLKS….It's a UNOCAL world !!! http://www.worldpress.org/specials/pp/afghan.htm
We watch as the American Empire crumbles. It has far overstretched itself and its client states have neither the will nor the resources to to comply with its demands. Meanwhile its arrogant, greedy, and stupid leaders continue to act as though they can marshall unlimited forces and control the world's natural resources for their own profit. It's a shame that the once free and great American people have lost all of the virtues that made them the greatest people on Earth. They stupidly send their children to "fight for America's freedom" when their own government has already destroyed that freedom at home! Oh, how the mighty have fallen!
Yeah, I was one of those stupid children. It's time to fight for freedom right here in the US. I don't see any Paks around here telling us what to do and if we didn't let everybody and their dog come into this country there wouldn't have been a 9/11! The Paks have to worry about getting along in their own hood.