Zhenya primary source

Title:
Nuclear plan and pipeline geopolitics
Source:
Toronto Star (Canada); 04/16/2010
ISSN:
0319-0781
Accession Number:
6FP3904899585
Persistent link to this record (Permalink):
http://http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=6FP3904899585&site=src-live
Database:
Newspaper Source
Nuclear plan and pipeline geopolitics

Obama's nuclear initiative riddled with contradictions, April 15
Section: Editorial, pg. A22
Obama's nuclear initiative riddled with
contradictions, April 15
I applaud Haroon Siddiqui for exposing the link between Barack Obama's nuclear initiative and pipeline geopolitics in the Middle East. The U.S. focuses on Iran's alleged nuclear weapons ambition but fails to mention that Iran has the world's second largest reserves of oil and gas.
Also ignored is the fact that U.S. military bases encircle Iran. Energy concerns have underpinned U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East for decades.
By drawing attention to geopolitics, Siddiqui looks beyond the superficial to the essence. Pipeline geopolitics are immense but seldom discussed. Pipelines link trading partners and affect the balance of power in the region. Against U.S. wishes, Pakistan has agreed to a pipeline from Iran. The U.S. favours TAPI, a project to import gas from Turkmenistan via Afghanistan to Pakistan and India. Turkmenistan has the world's fourth largest reserves of natural gas. The TAPI project is in the Afghan Development Plan (2008) and in documentation referenced by G8 foreign ministers at their Gatineau meeting in March. And now there's a troop surge in Afghanistan along the route of the proposed pipeline. A coincidence?
John Foster, Kingston