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The Second Cold War Under the Sign of Oil and Gas

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Abstract

The attacks against the WTC and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, were not only a heinous crime against innocent and defenseless civilians. They represented an act of war. And war is a political instrument. That is, it’s the continuation of politics by other means, as the Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz famously put it, even if the traditional international understanding of war didn’t provide for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, since they weren’t committed by another State, as happened when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. Instead, they had been committed by terrorists. Nevertheless the attacks would serve as pretext so President George W. Bush could declare an endless war, or the war of good against evil, according to his Manichean Weltanschauung.

The war on terror was not only dissymmetric, as was the case of the Gulf War, but also asymmetric. The differences between the warring parties were not only quantitative, but also qualitative in nature regarding the means, the styles and the values employed by the enemy. Nevertheless the United States accused Usamah bin Ladin, the leader of al-Qa’ida, a diffuse, multi-ethnic, decentralized international organization without hierarchy, which the CIA itself had helped create in the 80s, and demanded his extradition form the Taliban.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Salih Dogan, “Tajikistan in the New Central Asia: Geopolitics, Great Power Rivalry and Radical Islam”. The Journal of Turkish Weekly. Ajay Patnaik, “Regime Change and US Geopolitical strategy in Central Asia”, Eurasia Critic, May 2008. See a map of Central Asia in: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GW_dDcbl7tc/T6ERlUjf8AI/AAAAAAAACRA/Yfz7yfid30c/s1600/Central-Asia-Political-Map.png. Accessed 11.03.2015.

  2. 2.

    “Der Imperialismus ist der politische Ausdruck des Prozesses der Kapitalakkumulation in ihrem Konkurrenzkampf um die Reste des noch nicht mit Beschlag belegten nichtkapitalistischen Weltmilieu”. Luxemburg (1990, p. 391).

  3. 3.

    Energy-Oil, available on: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/centralasia/uzbek-energy.htm

  4. 4.

    “Kazakhstan natural gas industry overview and features. About Kazakhstan”, available on: http://aboutkazakhstan.com/about-kazakhstan-economy/natural-gas

  5. 5.

    Scahill (2007, p. 189).

  6. 6.

    Bernard A. Gelb, “Caspian Oil and Gas: Production and Prospects”, CRS Report for Congress, Order Code RS21190, September 8, 2006, Resources, Science, and Industry Division EIA, Caspian Sea Region: Survey of Key Oil and Gas Statistics and Forecasts, July 2006.

  7. 7.

    Moniz Bandeira (2006, pp. 585–586).

  8. 8.

    A National Security Strategy for a New Century, The White House, December 1999, available on: http://clinton4.nara.gov/media/pdf/nssr-1299.pdf

  9. 9.

    Ibid.

  10. 10.

    After the collapse of the Soviet Union, an ethnic conflict flared up in Nagorno-Karabakh, the enclave situated in the southwest of Azerbaijan. There was ethnic cleansing, pogroms and thousands of people had to take refuge in neighboring countries. Armenia invaded and occupied the territory. Azerbaijan went to war with Armenia from 1992 to 1994, when Russia managed to broker a ceasefire. The enclave is under the de facto government of the Republic of Nagorno- Karabakh, although it’s not recognized, and it’s occupied by Armenian settlers, although the UN recognizes Nagorno Karabakh as belonging to Azerbaijan. Gerald Frost, “Azerbaijan—A Pivotal Nation in a Critical Region—A Study of Azerbaijan since Independence”, Caspian Information Centre, September 2011, pp. 30–40. Kleveman (2003, pp. 128–129) and Brzezinski (1997, pp. 128–129).

  11. 11.

    A National Security Strategy for a New Century, The White House, December 1999, available on: http://clinton4.nara.gov/media/pdf/nssr-1299.pdf. See also: Geopolitical Projections of the Caspian Sea. http://www.steinbergrecherche.com/20050927%20persien%20zentral.jpg, Accessed 11.03.2015.

  12. 12.

    The Silk Road or Seidenstraße, as the German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen named it in the nineteenth century, is probably the most ancient trade route in history. It dates back to thousands of years before Christ, probably to the eighth Millennium, and through it trade caravans flowed, establishing the connection between Asia and Europe. Marco Polo (1254–1324), a Merchant from Venice, traveled it in the thirteenth century going until China, where he met the emperor Kublai Khan (1215–1294). This 7000 mile-long route began in Chang’An (current X’ian), in China, crossed Asia, the north of India and the Middle East—Iran, Syria, Iraq, Jordan—until Europe.

  13. 13.

    Silk Road Strategy Act of 1999, 106th CONGRESS—1st Session—S. 579.

  14. 14.

    Ibid.

  15. 15.

    The Supreme Court of the United States handed the victory to George W. Bush against his opponent of the Democrat Party, Albert Gore, by a 5-4 decision. Blumenthal (2004, p. 771).

  16. 16.

    Brzezinski (1983, pp. 443–446).

  17. 17.

    Blix (2005a, p. 278).

  18. 18.

    “US ‘planned attack on Taleban’”, BBC News, September 18, 2001.

  19. 19.

    Jeremy R. Hammond, “Ex-ISI Chief Says Purpose of New Afghan Intelligence Agency RAMA Is ‘to Destabilize Pakistan’”, Foreign Policy Journal, August 12, 2009.

  20. 20.

    “Armed UAV Operations 10 Years on”, Stratfor—Global Intelligence, January 12, 2012.

  21. 21.

    Brzezinski (1997, p. 25) and Ruppert (2004, p. 575).

  22. 22.

    Farmer (2009, pp. 91–92).

  23. 23.

    Clarke (2004, p. X).

  24. 24.

    Farmer (2009, pp. 54–55).

  25. 25.

    Ibid., p. 337.

  26. 26.

    Ibid., p. 337.

  27. 27.

    Michael Hirsh, “We have hit the targets”, Newsweek, 13/9/2001. Evan Thomas and Mark Hosenball, “Bush: “‘We’re at War’. As the deadliest attack on American soil in history opens a scary new kind of conflict, the manhunt begins”, Newsweek, 24/9/2001.

  28. 28.

    The 9/11 Comission Report—Final of National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Authorized Edition, p. 198.

  29. 29.

    Ibid., pp. 128–129, 198, 254–262, 272.

  30. 30.

    Zegart (2007, pp. 160–161).

  31. 31.

    Ibid., p. 161.

  32. 32.

    Griffin (2004, p. 67).

  33. 33.

    Bülow (2003, pp. 44–54).

  34. 34.

    Schwartz (2002, p. 238).

  35. 35.

    Christopher Bollyn, “European intelligence experts not believing Bush’s war on terrorism is all it is claimed to be because 9–11 was ‘not’ just the work of terrorists—Euro intel experts dismiss ‘war on terrorism’ as deception”, American Free Press, December 4, 2001, December 10, 2001, Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG), globalresearch.ca, December 12, 2001. Vidal (2002, p. 52).

  36. 36.

    Saeed Sheikh was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl, reporter of the Wall Street Journal. According to the former president of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf, he also worked for MI6 when studying at the London School of Economics, in London, and he was sent to the Balkans (Kosovo) to join the operations of the jihadis and “at some point, he probably became a rogue or double agent”. Musharraf (2006, pp. 224–225).

  37. 37.

    Chidanand Rajghatta, “US to try KSM for Pearl murder”, The Times of India, October 14, 2006.

  38. 38.

    Sibel Edmonds was obstructed twice (2002 and 2004), by George W. Bush’s prosecutor-General John Ashcroft, from testifying in the Senate Judiciary Committee on the attacks of September 11, citing the principle of “State secrets privilege”.

  39. 39.

    “Bombshell: Bin Laden Worked for US Until 9/11”, a partial transcript from an interview Sibel Edmonds gave to Brad Friedman, guest-hosting the Mike Malloy Show (audio), Daily Kos, Jul 31, 2009.

  40. 40.

    Ahmed, “Al Qaeda: Enemy or Asset?”, CounterPunch. http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/05/20/al-qaeda-enemy-or-asset/

  41. 41.

    Ibid.

  42. 42.

    Josh Meyer, “Report Links Saudi Government to 9/11 Hijackers, Sources Say”, Los Angeles Times, August 2, 2003.

  43. 43.

    Eric Lichtblau, “Saudi Arabia May Be Tied to 9/11, 2 Ex-Senators Say”, The New York Times, February 29, 2012.

  44. 44.

    Ibid. Rym Momtaz and Trevor J. Ladd, “Ex-Senators Say Saudi Arabia May Be Linked to 9/11”, ABC News, March 1, 2012.

  45. 45.

    Edmonds (2012, pp. 97–98).

  46. 46.

    Terrorism: Growing Wahhabi Influence in the United States, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology And Homeland Security of the Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate—One Hundred Eighth Congress—First Session June 26, 2003- Serial No. J-108-21—Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary—Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office—91–326 DTP 2004. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-108shrg91326/pdf/CHRG-108shrg91326.pdf. Accessed 16.10.2014.

  47. 47.

    Ibid., p. 15.

  48. 48.

    Ibid., p. 15

  49. 49.

    Ibid., pp. 17–19.

  50. 50.

    Ibid., p. 22.

  51. 51.

    President George W. Bush himself, who owned the company Arbusto Energy, was involved in the transactions, which were denounced as irregular and illegal, with the firm Harken Energy in the early 90s, together with the broker James R. Bath, director of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, representative of Saudi interests, including the bin Ladin family. Jonathan Beaty e S. C. Gwynne, “A Mysterious Mover of Money and Planes”, Time Magazine, October 28, 1991. Wisnewski, 2003, pp. 328–332.

  52. 52.

    Wahhabism is one of the branches of Sunni Islam, founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792), who wanted to purge Islam of the impurities and contamination by the more modern customs exported by Europe. The terms Wahhabi and Salafi, just as ahl al-Hadith (people of Hadith), refer to practically the same current, but Wahhabism is an even more conservative perspective predominant in Saudi Arabia. It has great influence in the Middle East and influences the education of various Shaikhs because of the traditional alliance between political and financial power of the house of Abdul-Aziz (1876–1953), known as Ibn Saud and a follower of the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was under his tyranny that the large-scale exploitation of oil (discovered in 1938) by Standard Oil of California and other American companies began in 1944.

  53. 53.

    Baer (2003, pp. 205–207) and Ahmed (2002, pp. 194–197).

  54. 54.

    Pape (2005, p. 43, 51 e 182).

  55. 55.

    Van Linschoten and Kuehn (2012, p. 227).

  56. 56.

    Scott (2010, p. 194).

  57. 57.

    Jeremy R. Hammond, “Ex-ISI Chief Says Purpose of New Afghan Intelligence Agency Rama Is ‘to Destabilize Pakistan’”, Foreign Policy Journal, -August 12, 2009.

  58. 58.

    Brzezinski (1997, p. 30).

  59. 59.

    “Former German Defense Minister Confirms CIA Involvement in 9/11: Alex Jones Interviews Andreas von Bülow”, Prison Planet. Bülow (2003).

  60. 60.

    Sousa Lara (2005, p. 635).

  61. 61.

    Wright (2006, pp. 194–197).

  62. 62.

    Kissinger (2001, p. 364).

  63. 63.

    House (2012, pp. 25–26, 68–69).

  64. 64.

    Ibid., p. 25.

  65. 65.

    Ibid., p. 26.

  66. 66.

    Ibid., p. 49.

  67. 67.

    Huntington (1997, pp. 109–112).

  68. 68.

    Rodinson (1980, p. 33).

  69. 69.

    Spengler (1991, p. 307).

  70. 70.

    Frum and Perle (2004, p. 115).

  71. 71.

    Brisard and Dasquié (2001, p. 15, 270–323).

  72. 72.

    Clausewitz (1998, p. 674).

  73. 73.

    For this subject, see Moniz Bandeira (2006, pp. 635–665).

  74. 74.

    Yousaf and Adkin (2001, p. 34).

  75. 75.

    Sebastian Fischer and Veit Medick, “Bundeswehr in Afghanistan. Köhler entfacht neue Kriegsdebatte”, Der Spiegel, May 27, 2010.

  76. 76.

    “Bundeswehr am Hindukusch. Ex-General erklärt Afghanistan-Einsatz für gescheitert”, Der Spiegel, 7/10/2011. “Ten Years in Afghanistan German General Says NATO Mission Has ‘Failed’”, Der Spiegel, 7/10/2011.

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  1. Emeritus professor for History, University of Brasília, St. Leon-Rot, Germany

    Luiz Alberto Moniz Bandeira

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Moniz Bandeira, L.A. (2017). The Second Cold War Under the Sign of Oil and Gas. In: The Second Cold War. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54888-3_3

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