CHINA GETS THE CENTRAL ASIAN GAS PIPELINE INSTEAD OF U.S.

"China's President Hu Jintao on Monday unveiled a landmark pipeline to transport Turkmen natural gas to China, a key victory for Beijing in its drive for access to Central Asian resources.... The 7,000 kilometre (4,350 mile) gas pipeline is a significant victory for Beijing, marking the culmination of years of lobbying for influence over the region's strategic energy resources... It first runs for 1,800 kilometres in Central Asia -- snaking through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan -- before linking up with a further 5,000-plus kilometres of pipeline in China's far-west Xinjiang region. The China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) will eventually import up to 40 billion cubic metres of gas a year through the pipeline when it reaches full capacity in 2012-2013..."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h2ySwtf_yx7ojznvMBz0S0wmqFvg

"A common explanation for the US presence in Afghanistan is Washington's interest in Central Asian fuel sources-- natural gas in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and petroleum in Kazakhstan. The idea... was to bring a gas pipeline down through Afghanistan and Pakistan to energy-hungry India... For this reason some on the political Right in the US actually supported the Taliban as a force for law and order. If that was the plan, it has failed. Instead, China has landed the big bid to develop a major gas field in Turkmenistan, along with a pipeline to Beijing... So the US is bogged down in an Afghanistan quagmire, and China is running off with the big regional prize."
http://www.juancole.com/2009/12/china-wins-struggle-for-pipelinestan.html