Köhler was telling the truth or at least pointing to it:
Murray asserts that the primary motivation for US and British military involvement in central Asia has to do with large natural gas deposits in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. As evidence, he points to the plans to build a natural gas pipeline through Afghanistan that would allow Western oil companies to avoid Russia and Iran when transporting natural gas out of the region.
Murray alleged that in the late 1990s the Uzbek ambassador to the US met with then-Texas Governor George W. Bush to discuss a pipeline for the region, and out of that meeting came agreements that would see Texas-based Enron gain the rights to Uzbekistan’s natural gas deposits, while oil company Unocal worked on developing the Trans-Afghanistan pipeline.
“The consultant who was organizing this for Unocal was a certain Mr. Karzai, who is now president of Afghanistan,” Murray noted.
“There are designs of this pipeline, and if you look at the deployment of US forces in Afghanistan, as against other NATO country forces in Afghanistan, you’ll see that undoubtedly the US forces are positioned to guard the pipeline route. It’s what it’s about. It’s about money, it’s about oil, it’s not about democracy.”
– Köhler under fire for ‘economic war’ remarks:
German President Horst Köhler sparked a political storm on Thursday by suggesting Germany’s military involvement in Afghanistan was partly motivated by its economic interests rather than solely to guarantee its security.
In an interview he gave during his recent visit to the strife-torn country, Köhler appeared to say that the public debate about the war in Afghanistan was gradually facing up to the fact that protecting foreign trade was a legitimate reason for military action.
The remarks from Saturday to broadcaster Deutschlandradio, which have just now been seized on by opposition politicians, have prompted a furious debate about Germany’s military deployment – and whether Köhler has damaged the image of the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
President Köhler resigns
German President Horst Köhler announced his surprise resignation on Monday after appearing to suggest the country’s unpopular Afghanistan mission was partly motivated by commercial interests.
“I announce my resignation from the office of the federal presidency with immediate affect,” Köhler said in Berlin.
He said the decision came after withering criticism of comments he made connecting Germany’s military deployment in Afghanistan with the country’s economy.
“This criticism had absolutely no justification,” said the 67-year-old former head of the International Monetary Fund.
Looking emotional, Köhler asked for his supporters to understand his surprising resignation. The conservative Christian Democrats was nominated to be the country’s largely ceremonial head of state in 2004 and re-elected in 2009.
“It was an honour for me to serve Germany,” he said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said she regretted his departure.
“I tried to get the president to change his mind but unfortunately I was unsuccessful,” Merkel told reporters.
Read moreGerman President Horst Köhler had to resign for telling the truth