The Real Reason The U.S. Is At War

Abstract

This paper poses a number of questions: Do we really know what happened on September 11, 2001? Why were the events of that fateful day not more thoroughly investigated? Why was certain information overlooked? How did the events of 9/11 lead to our current foreign policy? I attempt to point out the many flaws and inconsistencies in the official story of what happened that day as well as showing the repercussions on foreign policy. The events of 9/11 have enabled the U.S. government to enact policies over night that it has been working on for years, namely the development of an intercontinental oil pipeline in Afghanistan, and the privatization of Iraqi oil. I cite The Wall Street Journal, The movie No End In Sight, The New Internationalist, The Christian Science Monitor, and the New Statesman.

911

The events of September 11, 2001, or 9/11 as it has come to be known have forever changed the face of politics, world views, and even popular vernacular. The way we refer to time now is pre and post 9/11. The events of 9/11 had such an impact on the psyche that I believe everyone above the age of eighteen remembers exactly where they were when the events unfolded. Not only have the events of that day effected people’s perception of personal safety, but governmental policy and personal liberties as well. Such far reaching implications has this change had on every aspect of American society and U.S. foreign policy, that I ask you, do we even really know what happened on September 11, 2001?

What most of us know or choose to believe is what we have been told by our government and mainstream media outlets. Popular consensus has it that a group of militant Islamists attacked the United States in the Greatest act of terror the world has ever known. So sensitive is this topic, that even asking questions about the validity of this claim are fighting words to some. It appears that the events of this most memorable day have struck a deep nerve in people, which draws a knee jerk reaction when their beliefs are questioned. It is said that it is not wise to talk about religion or politics with friends or family members. It appears we may add 9/11 to this list as well.

In a murder case, there is an investigation focusing on who would benefit from the crime. Many questions would be raised. Was there a life insurance policy? Did the deceased have any enemies? Had there been any threats made to the victim? There would be a thorough search of the crime scene and any evidence would be safely removed and preserved for further investigation. Bank accounts would be reviewed. Eye witnesses would be questioned and their statements put on record. One would assume that the more serious the crime the more thorough the investigation would be. Why then do there appear to be so many un-answered questions about 9/11.

The list of inconsistencies is long and disquieting. How do two 100 story buildings hit by passenger jets both collapse at nearly free fall speed into their own footprint? How does a building that was not hit by an airliner (building number seven) collapse in the same manner while other buildings that received more damage are still standing? How does a slow moving passenger plane get anywhere near, let alone crash into the Pentagon, the most protected building in the U.S., without being intercepted or photographed? Lastly in the case of flight 93 where the passengers apparently fought the hijackers, how does a Jet liner crash in the woods and not leave a single trace of either the airliner or human remains? Is it possible that the events of that day were used to usher through legislation that otherwise might not have been passed?

The response to the events of 9/11 was swift and furious. The U.S. began bombing Afghanistan in October of 2001, and invaded Iraq in March of 2003. We were told that this was in response to Afghanistan harboring terrorists, and Iraq presenting an imminent threat to the U.S. with Weapons of Mass Destruction. In a post 9/11 climate of mourning and fear it was easy to rally Americans to support a war that would deter future attacks and keep Americans safe. However, when we peel back the layers of propaganda, we see that the ground work for both of these wars had been laid years prior to 9/11.

Afghanistan

We were told that the reasons for military action in Afghanistan were to hunt down Osama Bin Laden and to replace the repressive regime of the Taliban with a more just and humane government. However Ahmed (2009) quotes that Senior Member of the House International Relations Committee Dana Rohrabacher testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Sub-committee on South Asia “this administration has a covert policy that has empowered the Taliban and enabled this brutal movement to hold onto power” the assumption was “the Taliban would bring stability to Afghanistan and permit the building of oil pipelines from Central Asia through Afghanistan to Pakistan”. Ahmed (2009) states, that Unocal and Enron were among the U.S. companies involved. He continues that Unocal had plans as far back as 1996, for an intercontinental gas pipeline, named TAPI due to its route from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan ending in Pakistan. What is more disturbing is that according to Ahmed (2009), U.S. officials apparently held numerous meetings with the Taliban from 2000 through the summer of 2001with the goal of creating a joint federation between the Taliban and their enemy, The Northern Alliance. The U.S. threatened military action if a desired resolution was not reached. Ahmed (2009) continues that Niaz Naik, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan who was present at the meeting between U.S. and Taliban officials, said October 1, 2001 was even mentioned as a possible date for attacks on Afghanistan.

If we examine the facts a picture starts to emerge. Aburasulov (2010) writes, Turkmenistan is home to the fourth largest known gas reserves in the world. He continues that the TAPI pipeline as it has come to be named competes with a rival Iranian project known as the IPI, a pipeline from Iran to India. The IPI pipeline has been delayed due to security concerns and by the U.S. contention to Iran’s nuclear program. Among concerns raised are who will protect the workers, and the TAPI pipeline itself from attack given the fact that in Afghanistan it will travel right through Kandahar and Helmand, which have a strong Taliban presence. John Roberts, oil and gas expert from Platts, a company that analyzes the energy market states;”that although economically the project will be beneficial for all participating states, the security remains unresolved” Aburasulov (2010).

Iraq

We were told that we invaded Iraq to search out weapons of mass destruction or WMDs, and to oust Saddam Hussein. However the first places our soldiers secured were the Ministry of Oil and the Iraqi oil fields. According to the documentary No End in Sight (2007), we had no intention of stabilizing Iraq and may have set out to do the opposite in order to justify long term occupation of the country. The movie points out how we sent an ambassador who systematically dismantled the government, destabilized the country, and disbanded the Iraqi military. Overnight 500,000 Iraqi soldiers were out of work, and Iraq had no stabilizing force to keep order during the transition to a new government. This created chaos and hostility, which led to insurgency. Iraqi soldiers with access to large stores of weapons soon directed their hostility at U.S. soldiers. If our goal was to stabilize Iraq why would we set the mission up for failure from the beginning? It appears that there was another motive for the invasion all together.

According to Smith (2005, p20) The U.S. and Britain waged an illegal covert war on Iraq weeks prior to seeking UN approval. It has been documented that Blair declared in a meeting with Bush in April of 2002, that Britain “would back regime change” (Smith 2005, p20). Smith (2005, p20) states that Britain and the U.S. used a bombing campaign to try and provoke Saddam Hussein into aggression, that would then be used as justification for war against Iraq. When Saddam did not react as planned, Britain and the U.S. just increased the bombing, essentially starting the air war against Iraq in April of 2002. In September of 2002, 54.6 tons of explosives were dropped on Iraq. On September 5, 2002 the allied air forces attacked with 100 aircraft destroying the H-3 air field, the main air defense in western Iraq, enabling forces to invade Iraq from neighboring Jordan without detection (Smith 2005, p20).

As Gold (2010) states, Iraq has the third largest oil reserve in the world, after Saudi Arabia and Iran. At approximately 115 billion barrels of oil with an estimated value of $9.5 trillion. In 1972 Iraq nationalized its oil supply banning foreign corporations from extracting their precious commodity. For the first time in over thirty years, contracts have now been awarded to foreign corporations to extract Iraqi oil. BP has been awarded contracts to drill in the Rumaila, and other oil fields. He continues “if successful, the effort at Rumaila and several other oil fields near Basra could be one of the largest expansions of crude- oil production ever achieved anywhere”(Gold2010).

Iraq's Oil Fields Privatized

This is only the beginning, more contracts are expected to be issued to a number of foreign corporations including; BP, Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, among others. Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson is quoted “The security situation will continue to be a challenge for some time period” (Gold 2010). As Chon (2009) states “only 20 of the known 80 oil fields in Iraq have been developed”, so there is plenty of incentive for profit driven oil corporations to lobby the U.S. government to maintain a presence in Iraq. The Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani is under attack for giving foreigners “too much access” to Iraqi resources and is being brought up on charges of corruption and mismanagement (Chon, 2009).

In conclusion I think it is safe to say that the first casualty of any war is the truth. It appears that there have been ulterior motives for both the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. We the people have been lied to in order to gain public approval for unjust wars that line corporation’s pockets. Far from being about restoring democracy or humanitarian relief, the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are about one thing, securing precious energy resources. I believe that Ahmed (2009) sums this up beautifully in the following quote. “Islamist terrorism cannot be understood without acknowledging the extent to which its networks are being used by western military intelligence services, both to control strategic energy resources and to counter their geopolitical rivals”(p20).

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References

Abdurasulov, A. (2010, December 10). New TAPI gas pipeline could boost Afghanistan, regional stability. Christian Science Monitor , n. Retrieved February 7, 2011, from Middle search Plus.

Ahmed, N. M. (2009, October). Our terrorists. New Internationalist , 16-20. Retrieved February 7, 2011, from Academic Search Premier.

Chon, G., Mustafa, M., & al-Obedi, J. (2009, June 24). Big Oil Ready for Big gamble in Iraq. Wall Street Journal -Eastern Edition , 253 (146), pp. A1, A10.

Ferguson, C. (Director). Scott, C. (Narrator). (2007). No End In Sight [Motion picture]. USA: Magnolia Pictures.

Gold, R., Hafidh, H., & Coke, M. (2010, March 31). BP Begins Big Push To Revive Iraq's Oil. Wall Street Journal - Eastern Edition , 255 (255), pp. A1, A20. Retrieved February 7, 2011

Smith, Michael. (2005, May 30). The war before the war [Electronic version]. New Statesman , 134 , 20-21.