Crude Politics : How Bush's Oil Cronies Hijacked the War on Terrorism

In Crude Politics, Paul Sperry presents alarming evidence that the Bush administration diplomats resumed talks with Pakistani officials over gas and oil pipelines in Afghanistan while the United States was still reeling from the horror of September 11, 2001.

Paul Sperry contends that, true to America's energy-based foreign policy of the last half-century, the Bush administration seized the opportunity to use the attacks as reason to oust the Taliban-the major obstacle blocking plans for the precious pipelines linking Caspian reserves to hot Asian markets. With journalistic integrity and painstaking research, Sperry will enlighten readers on:

• How commercial gain within the current oil-friendly administration has undermined our nation's war on terror.
• How our safety has been jeopardized because of an overriding effort to charge ahead with a new "Silk Road" through Afghanistan, making the capture of Osama bin Laden a secondary concern.
• The nature of war and the politics behind the major decisions being made in the current administration, including those regarding Iraq and other "axis of evil" countries.
• Crude Politics also pulls back the veil on Bush's behind-scenes operator for regime change in both Afghanistan and Iraq -- former energy consultant Zal Khalilzad.

"Paul Sperry is the Washington bureau chief at WorldNetDaily.com, a position he previously held at Investor's Business Daily, where he wrote for 12 years. A Hoover Institution media fellow, his reports on national security issues have been picked up by virtually every major news agency in the world. Sperry's journalistic courage and integrity are backed by years of experience, including extensive reporting and editing on national affairs, economics, manufacturing, real estate, and general business coverage." - WorldNetDaily.com website.

For those who haven't visited the site, WorldNetDaily.com website is usually a very right-wing news group, often posting stories that support a right-wing agenda.

The position of the author is important because he says in his book that he voted republican in the last few elections and even for now President Bush. The website also reinforces how conservative this reporter is by recounting Sperry's 1999 clash with President Bill Clinton on questions over the "Chinagate" fund-raising scandal that led him to be banned from the White House for the duration of the presidency.

So why then has this author written a book denouncing the Bush administration's agenda on the war on terror? Has he flipped sides? Hardly. He is just one of many who have growing concerns that the legitimate war on terror has been hijacked to serve the personal, economic interests of a few oil barons.

Sperry gives a great deal of attention not to Iraq (as this book was being written at the time the US was just about to invade Iraq), but to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia; three countries that have been working to secure an oil and natural gas pipeline in the Caspian Basin for over a decade. Sperry shows how the Bush administration transformed the war on terror as an "in" to this same pipeline deal that will prove to be one of the world's most wealthy oil and natural gas sources.

For those who claim that Bush and his administration are only concerned with the American public's safety, this book will enlighten them that, although they may indeed care about us, they care more about their pocket-books and long-term oil ventures.

Why would people like Bush, who comes from a long line of oil men, who have many decades of strong allegiances with Saudi oil men, suddenly stop all pursuits of oil, just to serve the American public for a few years? Why would Vice President Cheney, former CEO of Halliburton, one of the biggest oil contractors in the world, suddenly ignore the prospect of buried oil treasures overseas? And why would national security advisor Condoleezza Rice trash a decade of serving the Chevron Corp (who liked her work so much they named an oil tanker after her) just to fight some terrorists?

It doesn't add up. These people have oil coursing through their veins, and to suggest they've given it all up on purely moral grounds is like saying I don't need air to breathe anymore.

Sperry's book is a must for those seeking a solid investigation of the war on terror and its obvious ties to oil. Unlike most of the political books littering the shelves today, Paul Sperry presents a thoughtful and non-fanatical approach that asks simple questions to subjects that have been spun by our Commander in Chief and his oil-soaked cronies.


A Great Read   September 27, 2003
29 out of 31 found this review helpful

The general theme of the book is that practically every action that has been taken by the United States government since September 11 has been directed toward gaining access to lucrative oil and natural gas rights as opposed to seriously trying to find Osama bin Laden and eliminate the rest of Al Qaeda. This book is exceptionally well documented. The author, Paul Sperry, is a conservative Republican.

In the book Sperry introduces us to Zalmay Khalilzad a native Afghan who earned a doctorate in political science from the University of Chicago and ended up working for Paul Wolfowitz at the State Department and later the Department of Defense during the Reagan administration. During the Clinton years Khalilzad worked as a consultant for Unocal and became its principal strategist in trying to facilitate the construction of an oil and natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan and other countries in Central Asia, through Afghanistan to the Pakistan coast where it could be loaded onto tankers to serve the growing East Asia market.

Khalilzad ended up heading the Bush Cheney transition team for the Defense Department and later was appointed special presidential assistant and senior director for Persian Gulf, Southwest Asia, and other regional issues of the National Security Council. He reports directly to Condoleeza Rice. He essentially authored the administration strategy for dealing with Afghanistan and Pakistan after September 11. He directly intervened during the loya jirga that was held after the ouster of the Taliban to ensure that Hamid Karzai was elected the new leader of Afghanistan (two other candidates dropped out of consideration after speaking with him).

The strategy that Khalilzad came up with stressed the replacement of the Taliban with a stable government that would be receptive to construction and operation of the pipelines. In addition, despite considerable evidence that the madrassas in Pakistan were the most prolific incubator in the world for terrorists, that Pakistan was winking at the arrival of Osama bin Laden and other senior Al Qaeda leaders into that country after the Tora Bora battle, and had done little to aid in the war against terrorism, Pakistan was to be identified as a strong ally in the war against terrorism and showered with aid. Evidence was also presented that Osama bin Laden was being clandestinely treated for kidney problems in a Pakistani military hospital the night before September 11. The cooperation of Pakistan was also necessary to make the proposed pipelines feasible, of course.

After Afghanistan was secured, arrangements for the construction of the pipelines went forward at a rapid pace, with a final deal being signed within a year.

The book also quotes Dick Cheney as saying several years ago that military action against Iraq might be justifiable because of Iraq's "manipulation of world oil prices" by turning the tap on and off. Fast-forward to 2003, when Iraq, which has practically no connection to Al Qaeda, is being invaded in the name of the war against terrorism while Pakistan, the de facto headquarters for Al Qaeda, is being succored.

The book makes a compelling case that is oil that is driving the war on terror, and that the destruction of Al Qaeda is not high on the priority list of the Bush administration.


Informative View of Oil and Politics   October 11, 2003
18 out of 23 found this review helpful

This book was an amazing indictment of the Bush administration's foreign policy. Basically, the book detailed numerous linkages between the oil industry and the administration's war or terror and then made conclusions that the war on terror has really been driven by oil politics rather than by national security policies. This is a fascinating inside look at the politics of power and money.

When a book like this makes such an indictment against a present administration, indictments that have largely been ignored by the main-stream media, I think it is important to rigorously check the references and sources listed in the book. As such, I actually followed some of the author's (Paul Sperry) sources and came to the conclusion that he was extremely detailed in his source information and documentation.

I would highly recommed this book to anyone who wants to get an inside view of money and power and special interests in the American political scene. I think its best read with a completely non-partisan viewpoint if you can.


Worrying revelations   June 8, 2004
Marc Lowe (Perth, Australia)
17 out of 22 found this review helpful

Like a lot of people all over the world, we wondered why the U.S. needed to go to war (and with the wrong country) when Europe had dealt with its terror problems in the past (I.R.A., E.T.A., Algerian separatists, Red Brigade etc.,) through old-fashioned police-work, choking off finance, intelligence gathering and arrests. We (allies and non-allies alike) also weren't buying the 'WMD's on every corner' and 'links with U.B.L. and terror' thing either. It was all a bit too flimsy, and the reasons for war changed every month as the prior ones got picked to shreds.

So rather than being an ill-informed 'Bush-basher', I devoured books by the barrow load (including this one) to try to get to the bottom of it all. The sources all seem to check out (I looked up several) and there doesn't seem to be any 'selective interpretation' of the facts either.

But as any good journo would tell you, cross-check your facts! I recommend you also read:
Owen Harries - 'Benign or Imperial?'
Noam Chomsky - 'Hegemony or survival' (I know his politics are left of centre, but that doesn't entirely invalidate some facts and insights he gives)
George Soros - The bubble of American Supremacy'
Clyde Prestowitz - 'Rogue Nation'
Greg Palast - 'The best democracy money can buy' (requires some filtering - he ocassionally draws too long a bow)
Bob Woodward - 'Plan of Attack'

Balance these against books from 'the right', but avoid the literary 'Genghis Khan is a wimp' types (I.E. Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter et al).

This president has changed your country from being one of the most sympathised with post 9-11, to THE most hated nation on the planet. If you want to know why, read this book and the others, and don't swallow that rubbish about 'it's because they envy our democracy and freedom' etc. Scandinavia has the same freedoms and an arguably higher standard of living than the U.S. yet doesn't have a tenth the problems.

I urge you to read this book and others before you vote - it's a real eye-opener.


Sensationalist, pandering   September 15, 2003
Seth J. Frantzman (Jerusalem, Israel)
14 out of 58 found this review helpful

On 9/11 America was suddenly and brutally attacked. We sturck back quickly, whipping recalcitrant nations to our side, like Pakistan, and toppling the Taliban in Afghanistan with the help of the N. Alliance. Soon after the Bush admin racheted up the rhetoric against Iraq. This book makes the (not startling or new) argument that the war on terror(a rieghtous war in whcih we confront a new enemy worse then communism) was 'Hijacked' by Bush's oil policy. Kets get this strait, we have already heard the accusations about Bush's invasion of Iraq.
1) Bush wants for revenge becaused Saddam tried to kill his dad.
2) Bush wants to give the American public something to watch on TV, rather then falling stocks(he learned this from CLinton who bombed Iraq duing Liwinsky).
3) Bush wants Iraqs oil.
4) The armed forces have nothing better to do and Bush wants to kill some more Muslim kids(since he coulndt kill enough civilians in Afghanistan).

These spurious claims are now presented in a new format. This book purports itself to be solidly behind the war on terror but feels bush hasnt been strong enough in pursuing it. Case in point(so goes the argument) is Saudi. Saudis made up most of the hijackers on 9/11 and Saudi finances most of global terror and of course Al-Quaeda is headed by a Saudi. We all know Saudi is a threat to the world(at least now we are waking up to this fact) and that Suadi pretends to be our friend while financing attacks on us.

This book is in line with the argument that we arnt doing enough to combat global terror. Now this is probably true, in order to truly confront global terror we need to invade Pakistan, Saudi, the West Bank, Syria and maybe a few more nations(including France too). Now this just isnt possible. Bush's war in Iraq was founght not only to make a peaceful Iraq that will be a loyal oil supplier, but also to rid Suadi of our troops so that Bin laden can no longer claim we are occupying the holy land. Once Iraqs oil is up and running we can wean ourselves of Suadi oil and then we can topple the saudi regime or terror sponsoring. The author just doenst understand that these long term goals will take time. We destroyed the immediate training ground: Afghanistan. Now having taken Iraq the terrorists are coming to us and our soldiers are dying, but thats preferable to having the terrorists attacking our civilians here.

THis books conclusions are incorrect. While it is true the Bush regime is pro oil it is not truee that Bush sold us out to get oil, he is merely making long term strategy.