The Other Surge

The Iraq surge has it supporters and detractors.

Regardless another surge is in the works, this time its for Afghanistan.

US plan for Afghan troop surge

The conservative Washington think tank that devised the “surge” of US forces in Iraq has come up with a plan to send 12,000 more American troops into southern Afghanistan.

A panel of more than 20 experts convened by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has also urged the administration to get tough with Pakistan.

There are several things to keep in mind about this development and the players involved.

The AEI is a neo conservatve hot bed. Also the AEI is often funded by oil giant EXXON.

For example, regarding the AEI and EXXON: Exxon linked to climate change pay out

A think tank partly funded by Exxon Mobil sent letters to scientists offering them up to $10,000 to critique findings in a major global warming study released Friday which found that global warming was real and likely caused by burning fossil fuels.

The American Enterprise Institute sent the letters to scientists offering them $10,000, plus travel and other expenses, to highlight the shortcomings in a report from the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group widely considered to be the authority on climate change science.

A final and significant part of the EXXON to AEI to Surge II to Afghanistan movement is, OIL and GAS.

The 'Stans', Turkmenistan, etc etc, the Central Asian countries plucked from the former USSR and presently and generally under the control of dictators of the ruthless sort, are awash in gas and oil.

One of the shortest routes for that gas and oil to take on its way to export and India, is through Afghanistan via a pipeline.

For example: Afghanistan's pipeline

THE DEADLY PIPELINE WAR: U.S. AFGHAN POLICY DRIVEN BY OIL INTERESTS

Pipeline Politics: Oil, gas and the US interest in Afghanistan - Richard Tanter

Iraq is certainly about oil. Iraq is awash in oil.

Afghanistan is not so awash in oil, as far as I know, but they are unfortunately the closest thing to a vast untapped supply of both gas and oil in Central Asia. A stable or well controlled Afghanistan is necessary for big oil.