by Enver Masud
The Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (TAPI) pipeline project
moved closer to implementation with the with the signing of an agreement on
December 11.
The agreement was signed by the presidents of Turkmenistan, Pakistan and
Afghanistan in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat. India was represented by
Energy Minister Murli Deora.
The agreement commits the four nations to providing government support,
including security for the pipeline.
The proposed 1,680 kilometer TAPI gas pipeline is favored by the U.S. over the Iran, Pakistan, India
natural-gas pipeline -- the so-called "peace pipeline".
According to physicist James Gordon Prather -- who served as legislative
assistant for national security affairs to U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, R-Okla
(Dr. Prather helped deflect political pressures on me when I was directing
the U.S. National Power Grid Study):
Back in 2005 Secretary of State Condi
Rice had whizzed down to New Delhi to prevent India's finalizing technical
and commercial contracts for a $4.5 billion Iran-Pakistan-India natural-gas
pipeline that is to provide Iranian natural gas mostly to India.
In return for India canceling the "peace pipeline," Condi held out the
possibility that we would (a) lift sanctions imposed by Congress on India
(as a result of the nuclear weapons tests India conducted in 1998), (b)
allow India to be supplied with NPT-proscribed nuclear materials and
equipment -- to be subjected to special IAEA Safeguards -- we had previously
blocked , and (c) get the Nuclear Suppliers Group to completely disregard
guidelines on restrictions to be applied to NSG exports to India.
U.S. bases in
Afghanistan are expected to play a role in securing the TAPI pipeline
venture.
The publicly stated rationale for the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq has long since been debunked.
The TAPI pipeline is a boost for Israeli oil and natural
gas ventures in Turkmenistan, and U.S. wars have been a boost for
Israel's "security".
Jewish writers have claimed that
"powerful zionists drove USA into mid-east war for sake of Israel".
[The war on Afghanistan was planned before September 11, 2001--Enver
Masud, "What Really Happened on
September 11 Remains a Mystery," The Wisdom Fund, April 27, 2002]
Syed Fazl-e-Haider, "India backs
gas link across Afghanistan," atimes.com, December 14, 2010
[Kabul will expect the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to
provide security cover, which, in turn, leads to the formalization of the
long-term Western military presence in Afghanistan.--M K Bhadrakumar, "Pipeline
project a new Silk Road," atimes.com, December 16, 2010]
[TAPI is the finished product of the US invasion of Afghanistan. It
consolidates NATO's political and military presence in the strategic high
plateau that overlooks Russia, Iran, India, Pakistan and China. TAPI
provides a perfect setting for the alliance's future projection of military
power for "crisis management" in Central Asia.--M K Bhadrakumar, "NATO weaves
South Asian web," atimes.com, December 23, 2010]
[More than 740 million cubic feet of gas per year will start flowing to
Pakistan from Iran's giant South Pars field in the Persian Gulf by 2014.
. . .
What IP will do is to embolden Islamabad even more - with Pakistan finally
becoming a key transit corridor for Iranian gas, apart from using gas for
its own needs. If India finally decides against IPI, China is ready to step
on board - and build an extension from IP, parallel to the Karakoram
highway, towards Xinjiang.--Pepe Escobar, "Pakistan
'punished' in Pipelineistan," atimes.com, July 13, 2011]
[Having developed strong interests on the two sides of the Persian Gulf
divide - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and Iran - China is taking an
awesome leap as a big-time player in the geopolitics of the Middle East by
elevating its ties with Israel to a strategic partnership.--M K Bhadrakumar,
"A dragon
dance in the Negev," atimes.com, July 13, 2011]
[Last week, the union cabinet affirmed India's participation in the
Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) 1,700-kilometer pipeline,
which envisages a flow of gas from Central Asia into the Indian
heartland.--Zorawar Daulet Singh, "India
struggles with pipeline geopolitics," atimes.com, June 1, 2012]