W.A.M. Sample Article

One of the new 'Linka' that I added this month to the FAVORITES page of http://www.truthquestonline.info was:
'WORLD AFFAIRS MONTHLY'. Below is a typical monthly lead article from that publication:

THE THIRD INVASION OF AFGHANISTAN:
ISLAM, CASPIAN ENERGY, AND NUCLEAR WEAPONRY

September 2001

In the long sweep of history it is a bitter truth that there has never been equality among the masses of humanity. While many pretend to think otherwise, for we ourselves could in certain circumstances become victims as well, the central underlying truth of the human condition is a frightening and painful one: we are relentlessly judged by deeply arbitrary and even hateful standards, and if we are to defend ourselves, and our dignity and independence, then we must come to terms with the source of our suffering, and with the truth that all life is dispensable, and that only violence and lies rule the world.

The 27 million people of Afghanistan are no doubt now reacquainting themselves with these horrible realities of human life. They must be learning to accept once again that they risk being overwhelmed -- or even systematically exterminated -- simply for an idea, and perhaps more importantly, for wealth and power.

Afghanistan is now facing the third invasion in recent history. Central Asia is an undeveloped and unexploited land, the crossroads between East and West, and these are the main attractions which have tempted, first the British in 1839 and then the Russian “soviets” in 1979, to invade the beautiful and mountainous land of Afghanistan. The British army was routed, and expelled in horrific violence and humiliation; the Russians retreated from Afghanistan in much the same way, though their success was palpable: they managed to massacre in ten years of occupation at least 1.5 million Afghans, mutilated many millions, and drove even more into exile.

The Struggle for Power and Booty

Why precisely did the British and Russians attempt to subjugate Afghanistan? Historians will go to great lengths to debate this question, yet the answer is in fact quite simple, and obvious: power and booty. This is the immense power that comes from extracting and then harnessing the natural wealth in the soil and land; from exploiting to the fullest extent the labor of the people; and from employing the land as a property from which to build a military fortress, and beachhead for the next conquest. Whether human beings are destroyed in this gruesome process is clearly irrelevant.

Afghanistan is a valuable land. It is a potential pathway for oil pipelines from the oil-rich region of the Caspian Sea. It could become a major producer of gas and many important minerals. It is a strategic property because it sits high among its neighbors and its rugged and inaccessible mountains provide both a vantage point and natural fortress for military operations.

It is for these reasons that Afghanistan -- though it was already thoroughly destroyed by the Soviet Union and then by the horrendous civil war that immediately followed -- is being targeted once again for destruction. This time, however, it is the Americans, Israelis, and western strategists who are the conspirators, and who lust for the wealth of Afghanistan. At stake are three highly valuable assets: Islam, Caspian energy resources, and the nuclear weaponry of Pakistan. That all three assets threaten the very existence of Israel makes this confrontation over Afghanistan all the more exciting -- and dangerous.

The United States, with its powerful Zionist lobby leading the way, has recently imposed punishing economic sanctions on Afghanistan. The Taleban regime, which really began its sharp ascent to power in 1996, is a refuge for Muslim “freedom fighters” who devoted their lives to fight against the armed forces of the Soviet Union. This of course was an armed struggle which was strongly supported by the United States. American leaders employed Afghans and Arabs from every corner of the Muslim world to defeat the Soviet army.

Now, however, the Taleban’s leaders are beginning to perceive, and no doubt correctly, the ugly truth, and it is one that causes them great distress. They now see that their former ally and patron, the US, was never interested in promoting their freedom and rights, nor in promoting Afghanistan’s economic development. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and resulting civil war devastated the country, creating unimaginable poverty and suffering. There is now little left in Afghanistan, only reminders of the war -- the dislocation, the death, and the mutilation of millions of innocent Afghans.

In the Wake of Destruction

Decades ago, during the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger relentlessly carpet-bombed Cambodia. The result, which should really have been expected, shocked the world: a form of madness took over in Cambodia, creating for Pol Pot and others ample opportunities to wage war on their own people.

Ten years of a calculated and systematic Soviet “genocide” resulted not surprisingly in havoc and civil war in Afghanistan. The Taleban militias are well aware that when society is torn apart, savagery becomes acceptable, even desirable. Their “extremism”, however repulsive to westerners, has united the country, and defeated the Afghani allies of Russia. As vilified as they are in Washington and European capitals, it is clear that the men and the militias who make up the Taleban are a rather benign expression of the horrifying conditions which invariably prevail after long periods of war and civil conflict.

Women are segregated by the Taleban not because the mullahs wish to deny women their rights, but because the Afghan women prior to the period when the Taleban government assumed military control over most of the country were the helpless victims of rape, gang rape, physical abuse, and even murder.

War-torn Afghanistan was ruled by various feuding factions, all interested in little more than their power, and the pleasures which this power could bring. Banditry and lawlessness prevailed, and many of these horrors were perpetrated by Russian-supported Afghans and the so-called “Northern Alliance.” For these reasons, according to my friend Hassan Kakar, a well-known Afghani historian who was imprisoned by the Russians for five years during their occupation of the country, “the Taleban in fact enjoy considerable popular support, even though they have been severe.” Kakar recently spent several months in Afghanistan, returning for the first time since he was released from prison.

The strategists in Washington have a clear agenda -- to build oil and gas pipelines from Turkmenistan (and the Caspian region) south through Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the Indian Ocean. Iran’s regime, which was originally expected to accept the American Israeli hegemony in the region, has remained implacably opposed to Washington’s aggressive foreign policy. Pipelines through Iran are therefore not possible. American strategists have become obliged to move their plans eastward, to the weaker and poorer states of Afghanistan and Pakistan, states which can be molested and destroyed.

The confrontation we are now witnessing in the first years of the 21st century is essentially a repeat of the 19th century “great game” between Russia and Britain, though it is a struggle which is obviously far more lethal and gruesome. While the infamous “Zionist lobby” in Washington may have provided the US government with much of the inspiration to aggressively provoke and then target Afghanistan, American strategists are no doubt seeking to destroy the Taleban regime along with its ally Pakistan, and hoping to install “friendly” and compliant governments, or regimes which will tolerate the ambitious American energy plans. (1)

Western Goals and Eastern Outrage

American strategists are targeting the Taleban and Afghan people for four rational, logical, and easily identifiable reasons, though it is quite possible that the “feminist lobby” in the United States and Europe, which can be seen regularly denouncing the “evil” Taleban as the scourge of mankind, provides good cover as well as justification for this third invasion of Afghanistan:

1.) Prevent Russia from rebuilding its influence in the region and gaining access to the plentiful oil and gas reserves of the Caspian Sea and Central Asia. The United States and western powers consume a majority of the world’s energy, and as improbable as it may seem, their consumption is even rising. Discoveries of oil and gas outside the OPEC zone are few, and have been since the 1960s. Caspian energy reserves are thought to represent a significant portion of non-OPEC oil and gas. While Russia possesses some of the largest known reserves of oil and gas, America’s oil reserves are dwindling fast, with imports making up a rapidly growing percentage of US consumption.

The United States became drawn into a “cold war” conflict with the Soviet Union mostly because Americans leaders were terrified of being “wedged out” of the game of nations -- or the relentless struggle for resources and influence -- in Eurasia. But the Soviet Union’s collapse a decade ago changed Washington’s strategy. Americans would like to now establish a military presence in Central Asia, and then work methodically to establish deepening relations with the former Soviet colonies in Central Asia, including war-ravaged Afghanistan.

That these Central Asian states are predominantly Muslim has given American politicians considerable anxiety. Strategists in Washington hope to be able to moderate the religious sentiments of the masses of impoverished Central Asian Muslims, and so ensure that they do not adopt the rising anti-American and anti-western political views now common in the Middle East. According to most accounts, Muslims make up some 85% of the population in Tajikistan; 97% in Pakistan; 94% in Azerbaijan; 92% in Turkmenistan; 58% in Kazakhstan; 88% in Uzbekistan; 75% in Kyrgyzstan; and 99% in Afghanistan.

Before 1999 and OPEC’s reemergence as a powerful cartel, American leaders felt no great urgency to access the Caspian energy reserves. Now that OPEC has revitalized itself, American strategists are panicking, and hoping that they will soon be able to exploit this valuable energy.

2.) Prevent Muslim nations from gaining access to the abundant uranium in the mountains of Afghanistan, uranium which would then be used in nuclear weapons. In 1998 Pakistan detonated a nuclear weapon, proving that a Muslim nation has the technology and expertise to build “weapons of mass destruction.” Geologists have confirmed that significant amounts of uranium lie in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan. This test detonation deeply alarmed the United States and Israel, and Washington immediately imposed economic sanctions on Pakistan.

Israel, which is America’s nuclear-armed forward military base in the Middle East, does not of course wish to see any of its Arab or Muslim neighbors obtain nuclear weapons, and therefore threaten its ability to expand its power -- and borders -- in the region. The Urdu-language newspaper Jasarat in Pakistan sees the current confrontation between the United States and Afghanistan in these terms, and bluntly states (as reported by BBC on 18 September 2001): “The real target is Pakistan...[and what we are seeing is] part of a pre-planned project under which Israel wants to militarily occupy the only nuclear power in the Islamic world. We must understand that the Zionist lobby in the United States has started a worldwide war against Islam.”

3.) Capture Osama bin Laden, the Arab nationalist who is now committed to fighting a Holy War against the US and its military presence in Saudi Arabia. Mullah Omar, the Afghani leader of the Taleban, and Arab nationalist Osama bin Laden -- who is accused by the United States of masterminding the bombing of American embassies in east Africa and, more recently, of financing and organizing the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York -- are attempting to lead a revolutionary pan-Arab and pan-Muslim movement in the Middle East and Central Asia against the United States and Israel. While many of the regimes in the Middle East require the support and backing of the United States, the masses of Arabs and Muslims feel neither free to express their complaints and participate in government nor able to improve their standard of living and quality of life. Their world is a colonial construction, first established a century ago by Britain and France, and now maintained with force by the United States, Israel, and the western powers.

What is imposed from the outside is of course artificial and will not last forever. It is this natural decay of the Arab regimes, which are propped up by American military power, that is attracting the attention of Islamists and Arab nationalists in the Middle East. They clearly wish to obtain the stupendous powers of the Persian Gulf, namely its vast oil wealth. They clearly wish to re-establish an Islamic civilization, and one which is fully independent of the western powers.

New governments in the Middle East will certainly appear in the years ahead, and this may be as spontaneous and unexpected as it is natural. There are already subtle signs of profound change in the Middle East, and this can be seen in the manner in which Arab and Muslim governments interact with their colonial masters in Washington. It is probable that two forms of governments now exist in the Middle East: the governments which present a facade, and which practice a traditional and non-confrontational diplomacy with the United States; and the real governments which exist in the shadows, and which desperately seek to represent the true interests of the masses of Arabs and Muslims.

Foreign occupation is always resisted, particularly when the grievances are so strong and the rewards so large. The Persian Gulf is clearly the world’s greatest “prize.”

4.) Build oil and gas pipelines and bring the large energy reserves of the Caspian region to the world market, thus lowering the price of crude. With the world’s largest economy and the world’s greatest appetite for energy, the United States is facing a quandary, and could very well in the coming years become the victim of uncontrollable events around the world. This is already apparent to some degree, as the member states of OPEC have resolved once again to make their power felt in both the global economy and international affairs.

American politicians have, since the first months of 1999 when the price of crude was lifted to nearly $30/barrel (a price which is, in fact, inexpensive if adjusted for inflation), strenuously objected to the “cartelization” of the world’s oil industry. They wish to have cheap energy, for they are acutely aware that not only are their economies highly dependent on energy, but that their economic might was built in the 20th century on affordable and inexpensive oil and gas. If the authorities in Iran will not allow western pipelines to be built through their territory, bringing the Caspian energy resources to the world markets, then Afghanistan and Pakistan must come to accept these pipelines. All other pipeline routes out of the region are impractical and uneconomical, so there are really few options.

The people of Afghanistan and Pakistan could have expected, then, that their countries would at some point become the targets of western conspiracies. Israeli politicians are eager participants in these conspiracies because they wish to prevent the Arabs and Muslims from earning a reasonable and fair income from their oil and gas exports.

It has therefore become imperative for the western powers to make a concerted effort to drive down the price of crude oil, thus triggering bankruptcy and economic decline in OPEC member states. Success at this effort would destroy OPEC as a cartel, and compel the Arabs and Muslims to sell their valuable energy to the West at a much lower price.

Taunting World War

Standing in the way of Washington’s plans are some 170 million people, the combi