Subject:       [du-list] U.S. Policy Towards Taliban Influenced by Oil
     Date:      Wed, 5 Dec 2001 20:02:05 -0800 (PST)
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Published on Thursday, November 15, 2001 by the Inter Press Service
U.S. Policy Towards Taliban Influenced by Oil - Authors
by Julio Godoy

PARIS - Under the influence of U.S. oil companies, the government of George W. Bush initially
blocked U.S. secret service investigations on terrorism, while it bargained with the Taliban the
delivery of Osama bin Laden in exchange for political recognition and economic aid, two French
intelligence analysts claim.

In the book "Bin Laden, la verite interdite" ("Bin Laden, the forbidden truth"), that appeared in
Paris on Wednesday, the authors, Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, reveal that the
Federal Bureau of Investigation's deputy director John O'Neill resigned in July in protest over
the obstruction.

Brisard claim O'Neill told them that "the main obstacles to investigate Islamic terrorism were
U.S. Oil corporate interests and the role played by Saudi Arabia in it".

The two claim the U.S. government's main objective in Afghanistan was to consolidate the position
of the Taliban regime to obtain access to the oil and gas reserves in Central Asia.

They affirm that until August, the U.S. government saw the Taliban regime "as a source of
stability in Central Asia that would enable the construction of an oil pipeline across Central
Asia", from the rich oilfields in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, through Afghanistan
and Pakistan, to the Indian Ocean.

Until now, says the book, "the oil and gas reserves of Central Asia have been controlled by
Russia. The Bush government wanted to change all that".

But, confronted with Taliban's refusal to accept U.S. conditions, "this rationale of energy
security changed into a military one", the authors claim.

"At one moment during the negotiations, the U.S. representatives told the Taliban, 'either you
accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs'," Brisard said in an
interview in Paris.

According to the book, the government of Bush began to negotiate with the Taliban immediately
after coming into power in February. U.S. and Taliban diplomatic representatives met several times
in Washington, Berlin and Islamabad.

To polish their image in the United States, the Taliban even employed a U.S. expert on public
relations, Laila Helms. The authors claim that Helms is also an expert in the works of U.S. Secret
services, for her uncle, Richard Helms, is a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA).

The last meeting between U.S. And Taliban representatives took place in August, five weeks before
the attacks on New York and Washington, the analysts maintain.

On that occasion, Christina Rocca, in charge of Central Asian affairs for the U.S. Government, met
the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan in Islamabad.

Brisard and Dasquie have long experience in intelligence analysis. Brisard was until the late
1990s director of economic analysis and strategy for Vivendi, a French company. He also worked for
French secret services, and wrote for them in 1997 a report on the now famous Al Qaeda network,
headed by bin Laden.

Dasquie is an investigative journalist and publisher of Intelligence Online, a respected
newsletter on diplomacy, economic analysis and strategy, available through the Internet.

Brisard and Dasquie draw a portrait of closest aides to President Bush, linking them to oil
business.

Bush's family has a strong oil background. So are some of his top aides. From the U.S. Vice
President Dick Cheney, through the director of the National Security Council Condoleeza Rice, to
the Ministers of Commerce and Energy, Donald Evans and Stanley Abraham, all have for long worked
for U.S. Oil companies.

Cheney was until the end of last year president of Halliburton, a company that provides services
for oil industry; Rice was between 1991 and 2000 manager for Chevron; Evans and Abraham worked for
Tom Brown, another oil giant.

Besides the secret negotiations held between Washington and Kabul and the importance of the oil
industry, the book takes issue with the role played by Saudi Arabia in fostering Islamic
fundamentalism, in the personality of bin Laden, and with the networks that the Saudi dissident
built to finance his activities.

Brisard and Dasquie contend the U.S. Government's claim that it had been prosecuting bin Laden
since 1998. "Actually," Dasquie says, "the first state to officially prosecute bin Laden was
Libya, on the charges of terrorism."

"Bin Laden wanted settle in Libya in the early 1990s, but was hindered by the government of
Muammar Qaddafi," Dasquie claims.  "Enraged by Libya's refusal, bin Laden organized attacks inside
Libya, including assassination attempts against Qaddafi."

Dasquie singles out one group, the Islamic Fighting Group (IFG), reputedly the most powerful
Libyan dissident organization, based in London, and directly linked with bin Laden.

"Qaddafi even demanded Western police institutions, such as Interpol, to pursue the IFG and bin
Laden, but never obtained co-operation," Dasquie says. "Until today, members of IFG openly live in
London."

The book confirms earlier reports that the U.S. Government worked closely with the United Nations
during the negotiations with the Taliban.

"Several meetings took place this year, under the arbitration of Francesc Vendrell, personal
representative of UN secretary general Kofi Annan, to discuss the situation in Afghanistan," says
the book.

"Representatives of the U.S. Government and Russia, and the six countries that border with
Afghanistan were present at these meetings," it says. "Sometimes, representatives of the Taliban
also sat around the table."

These meetings, also called "6+2" because of the number of states (six neighbors plus U.S. And
Russia) involved, have been confirmed by Naif Naik, former Pakistani Minister for Foreign Affairs.
 

In a French television news program two weeks ago, Naik said during a "6+2" meeting in Berlin in
July, the discussions turned around "the formation of a government of national unity. If the
Taliban had accepted this coalition, they would have immediately received international economic
aid."

"And the pipe lines from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan would have come," he added.

Naik also claimed that Tom Simons, the U.S. representative at these meetings, openly threatened
the Taliban and Pakistan.

"Simons said, 'either the Taliban behave as they ought to, or Pakistan convinces them to do so, or
we will use another option'.  The words Simons used were 'a military operation'," Naik claimed.

http://www.truthout.com/12.06C.Book.Oil.htm
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes.)
Julio Godoy
 
 

Mazer E Sharif
Subject:    Re: Independent: CIA threatened to let prisoner be killed
   Date:   Sat, 08 Dec 2001 21:59:10 -0800
   From:  "Russell D. Hoffman" <rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
     To:     Doug Salzmann <doug@talkpath.com

Dec. 8th, 2001

Hi Doug,

I too have been rather baffled by this lack of concern for what the CIA
agent was saying on the tape.  It seems that the following was his basic
claim to the Taliban prisoners at Mazer E Sharif:

1) Everyone of you is going to die soon except those the Red Cross learns
about.
2) The Red Cross isn't going to learn about everyone -- they can only take
a few of you.
3) We are only going to tell the Red Cross about the ones that talk to us.
4) The rest of you are all dead meat.  You'll die here -- and soon --
unless you start talking to us.

Now, that's what it sounded to me like he was saying to the
prisoners.  Talk now or die soon.

Personally, I think this incident might be the beginning of the end of the
CIA.  That tape is damning, is it not?

Yours,

Russell  Hoffman
Carlsbad, CA

At 09:26 PM 12/8/01 , you wrote:

This, of course, was clear from the MSNBC/Newsweek story on the Die Welt
footage I circulated the other day.  It didn't, however, seem to have
occurred to the reporter or editors of that piece that death threats
against POWs were a problem -- just as it doesn't seem to concern the
American public.  After all the guys are terrorists, aren't they?

         -Doug

---
Video evidence has emerged that CIA operatives were threatening Taliban
prisoners they would be left to die if they did not co-operate under
interrogation.

In an exchange captured on video by an Afghan cameraman, two officers
threatened the American Taliban fighter John Walker, who was being held at
a prison fortress near the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif two weeks ago.
One of the officers is Mike Spann, a member of the special activities
division of the agency's directorate of operations ­ the paramilitary wing
of the agency's secret espionage branch ­ who was killed in an uprising at
the prison only hours later. Nearly 400 Taliban prisoners were also killed
as the uprising was put down.

The precise nature of the threat ­ raised by Mr Spann and a CIA colleague
called Dave ­ is unclear, but on the video Mr Spann, 32, wearing jeans and
a black jumper and with an AK47 assault rifle strapped across his back, is
seen nodding towards Mr Walker, 20, and then saying to Dave: "I explained
to him what the deal is". The video shows Mr Walker kneeling on the
ground, emaciated, filthy, wearing loose black trousers and a tunic, with
his elbows tied behind his back, and cowering as Mr Spann remonstrates
with him. Mr Walker stares at the ground throughout.

"Dave" then replies: "The problem is, he's got to decide if he wants to
live or die. If he wants to die, he's going to die here. Or he's going to
f****** spend the rest of his short f****** life in prison. It's his
decision, man.

"We can only help the guys who want to talk to us. We can only get the Red
Cross to help so many guys."
The mention of the Red Cross appears to be a reference to a representative
of the international charity who was trying to register the thousands of
Taliban and al-Qa'ida fighters in the prison.

<http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia_china/story.jsp?story=108988

---
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have
been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him;
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to
have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

E-mail: stgvisie@xs4all.nl

15 november 2001

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