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Afghanistan clears oil deal with China’s CNPC

justabubba

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Afghanistan clears oil deal with China’s CNPC | The Raw Story

maybe now it will become clear to many the objective we have been fighting toward in afghanistan
how many lives of America's youth have been wasted?
how many more in this folly?


a commentor offered a salient observation:
A difference in diplomacy here.

Americans sacrifice thier children and minimise the death of other people's children in the name of petrol, and the Chinese pay for it with money.
 
Afghanistan clears oil deal with China’s CNPC | The Raw Story

maybe now it will become clear to many the objective we have been fighting toward in afghanistan
how many lives of America's youth have been wasted?
how many more in this folly?


a commentor offered a salient observation:

I actually don't see a problem with this, in fact I think its a good thing. Foreign investment, regardless of where it comes from, is good for that country, that Chinese company is working with an Afghan company as well, that means jobs for the Afghan people. The story cites concern in poor infrastructure, that means improvements to their infrastructure to move trucks and oil, which can be used by locals as well. Of course a lot of things could go wrong as well, the adventure could be plagued by violent attacks by insurgents, which may scare off the Chinese and other foreign investors, corrupt officials in the government or the Afghan company could have their mind more on kick backs than development. They could not find any oil at all and the thing could fall apart.

Of course oil is always a true and honest concern to any strategist planner, there's no denying its importance to the global economy and the lives of every American beyond just filling up their car at a petrol station. However that doesn't mean this war was about oil from the beginning, nor does it mean that oil is the only concern in this war. Personally I think solutions which involve economic development, stuff that creates jobs, gives people money for their work, which thus improves the standard of living, makes people less tempted to radicalize because now they have something to lose, an improved lifestyle with their new job and new roads, and the potential for it to get better. That's what the Afghans need more than ANYTHING, is hope and confidence in their own future as individuals, as their local community(all important in Afghan cultures), and their country as a whole. We want people to be focused on things that improve their lives, and new investments bring those opportunities to improve their lives if its implemented correctly. We want people to look at their lives and say, its getting better I have a good job, to look at their communities and say, its getting better all of us have new jobs, more money, a new road that we helped built, that we can have pride in. Then they will naturally start to look at the Taliban and start to think "These guys want to destroy it, why would I support them."

Of course that's not the entire solution to the whole Afghan problem, heck I don't think there will ever be a solution to every problem a nation has thats just impossible. For example if Achmed gets a new job he may be happier with his life and less tempted to support the Taliban because their radical religion gives his life purpose, now that he's found purpose supporting his family and community, but it might not convince him to let his wife go outside without a male family member, or in a Burka, or let his daughters go to school. Thats another problem that should be addressed, and this investment probably won't help it, but it doesn't mean its a bad thing.

And I'm not just saying it because its oil they think they can exploit, it could literally be anything, a mineral mine for example would have the same effect and I'd support our troops fighting to protect it the same as I'd support them fighting to protect this oil adventure, if the Afghans are smart they'll do the same thing. Hell if I was there, I'd be glad to protect people who are building a new lives for themselves using the resources under their land. Of course if it was plagued by corruption, a real risk, I wouldn't be too pleased at all.
 
That salient observation applies to Iraq too. That same state owned chinese company has even a bigger oil deal in Iraq.


shouldn't we then feel better borrowing money from the chinese and allowing our youth to be killed in an effort to make these countries safe for china to then engage in business there
 
shouldn't we then feel better borrowing money from the chinese and allowing our youth to be killed in an effort to make these countries safe for china to then engage in business there

ummmm....Anyway China is the biggest financier of US debts.
 
From Business Week:

PetroChina Co.’s parent won the auction in August after offering to pay more royalty than rivals from Australia, the U.K., the U.S. and Pakistan, and proposing to build a refinery in the north. The deal will bolster China’s position as Afghanistan’s largest foreign investor after Metallurgical Corp. of China won the right in 2007 to develop the nation’s biggest copper deposit.

Afghanistan accepted the best bid. That makes good economic sense for Afghanistan. PetroChina's parent company was simply "hungrier" for the rights and pursued them more aggressively. In the global context, China's companies are increasingly becoming more aggressive in seeking development rights. If U.S. or other companies wish to compete, they will also have to become more aggressive. Passivity will not produce winning outcomes. Neither will appeals to sentimentality or legacy.
 
ummmm....Anyway China is the biggest financier of US debts.


corrected for accuracy:

.Anyway China is the biggest financier of US wars it cannot afford
 
shouldn't we then feel better borrowing money from the chinese and allowing our youth to be killed in an effort to make these countries safe for china to then engage in business there

Well why not China? The goal is to set up a sovereign state, not a state which is an American puppet or only does business with American or western countries. Imagine how pissed people everywhere would be if they saw America sucking all the resources out of a country. Even you have said this war is about oil, wouldn't you be even angrier if it was only American companies getting these contracts, there wouldnt even be a pretext of creating a sovereign state. If the goal really is to make this state a member of the international community, then it will deal with the international community. Besides, what the hell is wrong with a Chinese company? China is America's second largest trade partner, if we can buy and invest in them why would we have a problem with someone else buying and being invested into by them?

I really never understood the fear of China in the United States, is it a communist thing? They are hardly communists anymore. Is it a more pragmatic fear of a potential rising power challenging the established power?
 
corrected for accuracy:

.Anyway China is the biggest financier of US wars it cannot afford

In view of the EU crisis China can perhaps offer some discount for the imminent war with Iran.
 
I guess I should give up hope of getting any kind of response :( And I put so much thought into my post, maybe that was my mistake....
 
I guess I should give up hope of getting any kind of response :( And I put so much thought into my post, maybe that was my mistake....

It was well reasoned and didn't leave room for debate.
 
our energy policy is suicidal.
 
Maybe Obama can negotiate a few 'green' contracts with them. Anyone that thinks Muslims respect pansy ass diplomacy and meek/weakness in thyeir business partners knows nothing about Muslims. This administration has given no one a reason to believe anything from them. Why would anyone want to engage w/ the US in oil seeking contracts when they see how we dop things in our own country?
 
hey, if the govt. gets a good share of money through taxes from the project, and those taxes get spent wisely, its a great thing,

The very definition of an oxymoron. It's the "wisely" that comes into question.
 
Afghanistan clears oil deal with China’s CNPC | The Raw Story

maybe now it will become clear to many the objective we have been fighting toward in afghanistan
how many lives of America's youth have been wasted?
how many more in this folly?


a commentor offered a salient observation:

Wait a minute.........I thought we fought this war so U.S. companies could go in and steal the oil.

At least that's what the left has been saying for almost 10 years.
 
Wait a minute.........I thought we fought this war so U.S. companies could go in and steal the oil.

At least that's what the left has been saying for almost 10 years.

Typical maroon! Take a look at Iraq. Before the war our Big Energy corporations had a 0% share of the Iraqi OIL, development, services and distribution. Probably about 60% now. What's that work out to in dollars and that;s not Euros anymore? The same thing going on in Afghanistan!
 
Typical maroon! Take a look at Iraq. Before the war our Big Energy corporations had a 0% share of the Iraqi OIL, development, services and distribution. Probably about 60% now. What's that work out to in dollars and that;s not Euros anymore? The same thing going on in Afghanistan!

Then you should easily be able to provide some type of proof rather than your opinion.
 
Wait a minute.........I thought we fought this war so U.S. companies could go in and steal the oil.

At least that's what the left has been saying for almost 10 years.

Not really the oil cuz you can't have the best of both worlds. War to destroy the country and then you get rebuilding contracts. Oil job goes to China.
 

Imports of Iraqi oil does not mean that the oil was produced by American companies.

Try again.

This is what I found:

Those who claim that the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 to get control of the country's giant oil reserves will be left scratching their heads by the results of last weekend's auction of Iraqi oil contracts: Not a single U.S. company secured a deal in the auction of contracts that will shape the Iraqi oil industry for the next couple of decades. Two of the most lucrative of the multi-billion-dollar oil contracts went to two countries which bitterly opposed the U.S. invasion — Russia and China — while even Total Oil of France, which led the charge to deny international approval for the war at the U.N. Security Council in 2003, won a bigger stake than the Americans in the most recent auction. "[The distribution of oil contracts] certainly answers the theory that the war was for the benefit of big U.S. oil interests," says Alex Munton, Middle East oil analyst for the energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie, whose clients include major U.S. companies. "That has not been demonstrated by what has happened this week."

Read more: U.S. Companies Shut Out as Iraq Auctions Its Oil Fields - TIME
 
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