Mannie, it was to establish a safe and secure route for a natural gas pipeline from the oil and natural gas-rich Caspian region through Afghanistan to Dabhol, India. The pipeline was to be built by Unocal to supply a natural gas plant run by Enron in Dabhol. They had been dickering with the Taliban back in 1997, but someplace along the line, the Taliban squelched the deal. Not to be put off, when the opportunity presented itself (9/11), they got their errand-boy in the White House to go to Afghanistan, throw the Taliban out, and get the route for them. The fact that the Taliban was an oppressive regime and that there were terrorist training camps in Afghanistan didn't really bother us much until the Taliban said "no" to Unocal and Enron. They just provided convenient excuses to cover the real reasons—like much of what the Bush administration has done so far.

This gives a few clues as to the real reasons for going into Afghanistan. Links to other information once you get there.

Don Firth