The Great Game Part One

Possibly more than 100,000 Iraqis have died since George Bush declared victory on the 1st of May 2003 aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The illegal war, which had been undertaken under the guise of a war on terror that was in fact a war for oil had been allowed to proceed because of tacit support from Russia and China in the U.N. security council where both countires refrained from using their vetos. A similar number have also died in Russia's own dirty war in Chechnya. However, the oil pipeline that runs from Baku, via Grozny, to the Russian city of Tikoretsk is under control and Chechnya's considerable oil sources - although declining for some time - have been secured. Similarly Xinjiang, China's most westerly province, has massive reserves of oil and gas and the area is also important as a potential pipeline conduit for crude oil from Kazakhstan. The rhetoric from Washington, Moscow and Beijing is all too similar as all three pursue their war on terror. The Great Game type competition that was briefly revived in the mid nineties appears to have subsided and, at least for the time being, there appears to be some sort of "gentleman's agreement" between the three. However, with the increasing demand and competition for oil this agreement cannot last and when the time comes the Chechnyans and Uighurs will become a cause celebre for the west, Beijing and Moscow's support for Iran will become more concrete and the US, Russia and China will play out their game in Central Asia. Ultimately, it is, of course, a game that cannot be won.

Above is a map of the playing field.