On 08/08/08, Georgia was invaded by Russian troops. Why? Once again, it’s all about oil just like Iraq was all about oil. The following map provides us a view of Georgia’s proximity to the oil pipelines:
Source: Kleveman, Lutz, The New Great Game, Atlantic Monthly Press, September 2003
Notice Georgia is between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (sometimes abbreviated as BTC pipeline) is a crude oil pipeline that covers 1,768 kilometres (1,099 mi) from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field in the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It connects Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia; and Ceyhan, a port on the south-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, hence its name. It is the second longest oil pipeline in the world after the Druzhba pipeline. The first oil that was pumped from the Baku end of the pipeline on May 10, 2005 reached Ceyhan on May 28, 2006. Russia understands the need to control energy supply. Europe knows all too well how an interruption in energy flow can cause major problems.
Recently, the Kremlin distributed the following:
A shirtless Vladimir Putin is brandishing a hunting rifle. Putin has been building his war chest with higher priced oil & gas revenues. He picked a perfect day to invade. NATO was on vacation and all other eyes were focused on the Olympics. The U.S. helped Putin build his war chest by becoming the ultimate consumer of energy (roughly 25% of total global oil) any by depreciating its relative financial and economic strength. In the 1980’s Ronald Reagan used America’s economic strength to win the cold war against the Soviet Union. His military spending plan forced the former Soviet Union to attempt to keep up. The Soviets lost in the 80’s. Putin was a KGB agent back then and understood how the country was broken up by the U.S. macroeconomic strategy.
It appears that he will use what we taught him against us.