Al Qaeda, U.S. Oil Companies, and Central Asia

Afghan War ended in 1989.
The Najibullah regime fell in April 1992
MEGA Oil 1991
1993, Heidar Aliyev replaced the elected president.
Revolution of Roses, November 2003
January 23, 2005, Orange Revolution
March 2005, "Tulip Revolution


Al Qaeda activities in Central Asia in the 1990s. U.S.-protected movements of al Qaeda terrorists into regions like Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Kosovo have served the interests of U.S. oil companies. It also provided pretexts or opportunities for a U.S. military commitment and even troops to follow

since the Afghan War ended in 1989. The Najibullah regime fell in April 1992
Tajiks behind Massoud and Pashtuns behind Hekmatyar began to fight.

Arab Afghans were no longer welcome. With pressure from America, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, the new president Mojaddedi set policy that Arab Afghans should leave. January 1993 Pakistan followed.

some Uzbek and Tajik mujahedin began fleeing north across the Amu Darya. cross-border raids continued. Hekmatyar and Massoud rasupported the Tajik rebels. Ahmed Rashid documents further support for Tajiks from Saudi Arabia and ISI.

These raids into Tajikistan and later Uzbekistan led to destabilization which was an explicit goal of U.S. policy in the Reagan era, to hasten the break-up of the Soviet Union, and gain access to the Caspian Basin. The collapse of the Soviet Union was disastrous Islamic Republics. in 1991, they began to hold talks with Western oil companies and ongoing negotiations between Kazakhstan and Chevron. The first Bush
supported U.S. oil companies dealing into the Caspian region and a pipeline not controlled by Moscow. In the next administration they were escalated to matters of national security by Clinton.

The threat by Islamist rebels persuaded Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan to allow U.S and also Russian bases. The result was to preserve the status quo small elites grow wealthy and corrupt while most citizens suffer a sharp drop in living conditions.

Donald Rumsfeld was sent to Kyrgyzstan March 2005, "Tulip Revolution".

Azerbaijan, Arab Afghan jihadis clearly assisted. 1991, Richard Secord, Heinie Aderholt, and Ed Dearborn, veterans in Laos, and Oliver North's operations with the Contras. They operated under the cover of a oil company, MEGA Oil. MEGA engaged in military training, passed cash and set up an airline after the model of Air America
picking up mujahedin mercenaries in Afghanistan.

Hekmatyar, still allied with bin Laden was recruiting Afghan to fight in Azerbaijan against Armenia and its Russian allies. The heroin flooded from Afghan through Baku into Chechnya

"Over the course of the next two years, [MEGA Oil] procured thousands of dollars worth of weapons and recruited at least two thousand Afghan mercenaries for Azerbaijan - the first mujahedin to fight on the territory of the former Communist Bloc."

1993, Heidar Aliyev replaced the elected president.