Strategic imperialist interests in Afganistan
The investigation had yet to yield results, but US imperialism has already pointed its finger at Osama bin Laden as its number one suspect in the September 11 attacks. The US' mobilization of military forces for its "war against terrorism" is focused mainly on waging war against Afghanistan. Beyond the declared objective of capturing and punishing bin Laden, there is a more strategic objective behind launching a war against the Taliban government and strengthening US presence in the Central and South Asian region. At present, US influence is weakest in this area.
Afghanistan lies in the southern part of Central Asia. On its west is Iran; on its north, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan; on its east, China; and on its south is Pakistan. Since the Soviet-supported government collapsed in 1991, Afghanistan has been in the midst of a civil war fought by the different groups supported by the imperialists in the 1980s. In 1996, the Taliban group seized Kabul, the center of Afghan government. At present, the Taliban controls most of the territory except for some parts in the north which is under the control of the Northern Alliance, an aggregate of various groups now supported by the US.
Until recently, the Taliban enjoyed the US' full backing. In fact, the US welcomed the Taliban's seizure of power in 1996 as "a good thing" because it viewed the latter as anti-Iran and pro-US.
The US placed more value on its relationship with the Taliban when Unocal - an American monopoly oil corporation - still had prospects of laying a 1,300-kilometer oil and natural gas pipeline between Central Asia and the Arabian Sea. A large portion of the pipeline would have passed through Afghanistan, from Chardzhou in northern Turkmenistan, towards the shore of Gwadar in Pakistan along the Arabian Sea. The project was forged in an agreement between Unocal and the government of Turkmenistan and would have cost $8 billion.
But in 1997, the Taliban set side the agreement and granted the project to Bridas Oil, an Argentine company. The US has since been antagonistic, using Osama bin Laden as pretext.
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