Once again, it all comes down to oil. It's all about the oil.

[CatWoman]

Russia-Georgia Conflict Fueled by Rush to Control Caspian Energy Resources

JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, talk to us about the pipelines and the energy aspect that has received almost very little attention in all the coverage of the Russian-Georgia conflict.

MICHAEL KLARE: Well, I believe that this is what really underlies the conflict, and it has to do with the fact that the US has eyed the Caspian Sea, which lies just to the east of Georgia, as an energy corridor for exporting Caspian Sea oil and gas to the West, bypassing Russia. And this was the brainchild of Bill Clinton, who saw an opportunity, when the Soviet Union broke apart, to gain access to Caspian oil and gas, but he didn’t want this new energy to flow through Russia or through Iran, which were the only natural ways to export the energy.

So he anointed Georgia as a bridge, to build new pipelines through Georgia to the West. And it was he who masterminded the construction of the BTC pipeline, which is now the outlet for this oil, with new pipelines supposedly following for natural gas. And he chose Georgia for this purpose and also built up the Georgian military to protect the pipeline, and Russia has been furious about this ever since. And I think that’s the reason that they have clung so tightly to Abkhazia and South Ossetia ever since.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re not hearing very much about this conflict, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to the area—I mean, the energy oil politics behind this conflict.

MICHAEL KLARE: No, but if you study very closely the history of US ties to Georgia, it’s unmistakable. Even under the Clinton administration, when Eduard Shevardnadze was the president of Georgia, who was hardly a paragon of democracy, President Clinton said that we need Georgia as an energy ally of the United States. And that was the basis on which the US forged a military alliance with Georgia.

And since then, we’ve poured hundreds of millions of dollars into beefing up the Georgian military. And this is unmistakable in the State Department and military Department of Defense justifications for arming the Georgian military, specifically to protect the BTC pipeline against sabotage and attack. So, looking into the Pentagon and State Department documents, there’s no question that this is about energy security, not about democracy or human rights or the other justifications that have been given.

Michael Klare, author of thirteen books, including Blood and Oil and Resource Wars. His latest is Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy. He is the defense analyst for The Nation and the director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/8/15/russia_georgia_conflict_fueled_by_rush

[gatorboy]

1. We’ve poured hundreds of millions of dollars into beefing up the Georgian military?

They were demolished in a day. How embarrassing is that?

[scarletwoman]

2. I am shocked -- SHOCKED -- that there's gambling... oops -- I mean, that oil

has anything to do with this.

Yup. Just shocked.

[stillcool]

3. it's just a coincidence..

The Geopolitics of Oil Pipelines in Central Asia
by James Fishelson
http://www.sras.org/geopolitics_of_oil_pipelines_in_central_asia

[Dover]

4. It almost always does...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3795600

[Oilwellian]

5. Well I didn't choose this screen name for nothin'

:):hi:

[Zomby Woof]

6. It's not just about the oil

According to that interview, it's about the CLENIS! :D

[taterguy]

7. Maybe if people didn't drive so much there wouldn't be so many oil wars

Just a wacko thought

[mmonk]

8. Actually, it goes back further than Clinton.

It's a policy of both parties. The bush administration just took off the veil with it's more agressive 19th century approach.

[dkf]

9. Renewable energy will save us from having to fight wars over oil.

And as long as we fill our cars with gas, we will never be free.