Since early September the controlled media has been abuzz with reports that Washington and its NATO allies are planning an unprecedented increase of troops for the war in Afghanistan. This increase being in addition to the 17,000 US and several thousand NATO troops that have been committed to the war so far this year. According to unsubstantiated reports troop increases range from 10,000 to 45,000. The similarity of the estimates indicate that a number has been agreed upon and America’s obedient media is preparing domestic audiences for the possibility of the largest escalation of foreign armed forces in Afghanistan’s history. Only seven years ago the US had only 5,000 troops in the country, but was scheduled to have 68,000 by December of this year, even before the reports of new deployments surfaced.
An additional 45,000 troops would bring the U.S. total to 113,000. There are also 35,000 troops from some 50 other nations serving under NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in the nation, which would raise combined troop strength to 148,000 if the larger number of rumoured increases materializes.
As of October 1st the British contingent had suffered 219 deaths. The vast majority of fatalities have taken place since the redeployment of British forces to the Taliban stronghold of Helmand province. Prior to deployment in this area only five men died between April 2002 and early March 2006. Interestingly, although Helmand may well be a “Taliban stronghold” it is also destined to have a hugely important gas pipeline build through it – linking the gas/oil-terminal ports of India with the vast natural gas resources of Turkmenistan. Indeed, the Russian ambassador to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, would appear to have knocked the nail on the head when he was reported as claiming last month that “the U.S. and its allies are competing with Russia for influence in the energy-rich region….Afghanistan remains a strategic prize because of its location near the gas and oil fields of Iran, the Caspian Sea, Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.”
Surely that can’t be true! After all, the controlled media have been assuring us for years that Operation Enduring Freedom is about the “War on Terror” and delivering “democracy to the Afghan people”! The official message is that our troops have been dying “fighting terrorism” and liberating the downtrodden-Afghans from extremists. Not that either pretence has been too well received by the British public. However, the realisation that our boys (and girls) are dying to secure a chunk of Afghanistan to ensure the security of a proposed international gas pipeline and, thus, the bloated profit margins of international oil and gas corporations, will go down even less well we suggest!
For the benefit of those not aware of the fact, the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline is a proposed natural gas pipeline being developed by the Asian Development Bank arising out of the growing recognition of the consequences of Peak Oil and the associated need to secure the world’s oil and gas resources. The two largest share holders in the bank are the United States and Japan. Britain is also a member! The pipeline will transport Caspian Sea natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India. According to reports the corrupt Afghan puppet government is expected to receive 8% of the project’s revenue. The new deal on the pipeline was signed in December 2002 by the leaders of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Construction of the Turkmen part was supposed to start in 2006, but the overall feasibility is questionable since the southern part of the Afghan section runs through territory which continues to be under de facto Taliban control. In other words, the Taliban has to be removed – not to win the “War on Terror” but to provide a safe route for the planned gas pipeline and the untold riches it will bring to a relatively small handful of corrupt individuals in corporate boardrooms and in legislatures in Washington, London, Kabul etc etc.
At the present time, of course, Britain’s corrupt Labour regime, being only too aware of the growing unpopularity of the war amongst voters just six months ahead of a General Election, are ignoring calls for yet more British cannon fodder. However, Land & People confidently predicts a swift increase in Britain’s troop numbers following the General Election, regardless of whoever wins. The Tories, after all, are every bit as much the pawns of the Globalists as are Labour.
The corrupt politicians and controlled media would have us believe that the “War on Terror” has nothing to do with “Peak Oil” and the appropriation of global oil and gas assets. They also want us to believe that our troops are dying in the cause of democracy and in combating terrorism! Strange then, is it not, that “War on Terror” operational zones all seem to have something in common. Iraq and its vast oil/gas reserves, Kosovo with a major gas pipeline and predicted huge gas deposits, Afghanistan with its proposed gas pipeline, Georgia (war by proxy) – having a major gas pipeline linking the vast Caspian Sea reserves with the Black Sea. Then, of course, there is the ultimate prize – Iran, with its immense oil and gas reserves?
So what, exactly, are our troops dying for?
http://landandpeople.bnp.org.uk/
