In her feature for The Atlantic, journalist Antonia Juhasz argues that struggles for natural resources–oil and gas in particular–could be responsible for an increase in violence in Afghanistan during 2012, and that the Pentagon has thus far failed to recognize this new reality.
I experienced the Taliban surge firsthand this past November, and can offer a cause not cited in the Pentagons report: oil and gas.I was there as part of a three week investigation into the growing efforts of both the US and Afghan governments to develop Afghanistan’s oil and gas sector. I prepared my itinerary to include what are supposed to be among the safest regions….I was tracking an oil and gas trail across Western and Northern Afghanistan. But so too, it became increasingly apparent, are the Taliban….
