>>The New York Times or some other major newspaper reported that a US company (maybe Unocal, I don't remember exactly) had signed an agreement with the Afghans to finally build the pipeline.
So some US company may have signed some agreement regarding some plan to build some pipeline through Afghanistan? I think you would agree that this is a rather thin reed upon which to hang the various conspiracy theories that have been floating around.
>>So, if the pipeline is not something very important, why would US companies rush to sign agreements about it
I've seen no evidence that US companies have "rushed" in to sign any such agreements. More significantly, even if any agreements had been signed, I've not seen any evidence that US companies have put any real money into such a project. Until that happens, this is all much ado about nothing.
As for why any company (American, British, French, Russian, etc.) might consider or sign an agreement regarding a pipeline, they are likely trying to curry favor with the governments of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan in order to increase their chances of getting a piece of the action when it comes to developing the gas reserves in those countries.
by Al Czervikjr on September 26, 2002 at 11:33 AM