Nous cultivons une particuli\u00e8re attention \u00e0 la position britannique pour la crise g\u00e9orgienne, essentiellement \u00e0 cause de son caract\u00e8re inattendu et peu explicable. On s’en est aper\u00e7u, notamment \u00e0 l’occasion d’un Bloc-Notes<\/em>, o\u00f9 nous convoquions m\u00eame Tocqueville<\/a> pour avoir une meilleure appr\u00e9ciation des caract\u00e8res g\u00e9n\u00e9raux de la politique britannique. Nous avons eu l’esprit \u00e9veill\u00e9 par la conclusion d’un texte de Mark Ames (auteur de Going Postal: Rage, Murder and Rebellion From Reagan’s Workplaces<\/em>, de Clinton’s Columbine and Beyond (Soft Skull)<\/em>, de The eXile: Sex, Drugs and Libel in the New Russia<\/em>), publi\u00e9 dans The Nation<\/em>, en date du 15 septembre 2008<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \tL’article concerne la position et le r\u00f4le suppos\u00e9 de Sarah Palin, dite Sarah-geddon<\/em> pour les besoins du titre de l’article, dans des affaires impliquant pour la candidate vice-pr\u00e9sidente du parti r\u00e9publicain des conflits d’int\u00e9r\u00eat.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00abThe issue of conflict of interest takes on a new and apocalyptic meaning when you consider the role of energy giant BP in all of this. Palin’s husband has spent most of his adult life, eighteen years, working for BP. The company is even more important to his wife, as BP owns Alaska’s (and America’s) largest gas and oil fields. BP hates Russia at least as much as their tools Palin and McCain: the company has been locked in a nasty battle over its 50 percent stake in Russian energy giant TNK BP’s stake in that company is key to BP’s stock price. If BP loses TNK to Putin’s goons, then billions could be wiped off the stock price. That’s something to go to war for.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbMeantime, BP all but controls Georgia thanks to the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, in which BP is the largest stakeholder. As Manana Kochladze<\/em> [who founded Green Alternative, a leading NGO backed by the US Embassy, the European Commission and others<\/em>] explained, the pipeline was supposed to bring in huge benefits to average Georgians, raising the country out of its dire economic straits. Instead, very little if any of those revenues have gone to social programs or environmental protection. Instead, the military budget has massively increased to 25 percent of the state budget. The BP pipeline has militarized the country.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbOne provision of Georgia’s agreement to allow the BTC pipeline to pass through its territory was that Georgia is obligated to protect and secure the pipeline which, Georgians allege, was bombed by Russian pilots during the August conflict.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbFrom the beginning, we said that Georgia would pay more defending this pipeline than we’ve received, and now look at our situation, Kochladze lamented.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbAnother figure tied to BP is, surprise surprise, Randy Scheunemann. He earned handsome fees lobbying for BP in 1999-2000, during McCain’s first run for President. More recently, Scheunemann lobbied for the Caspian Alliance, which represents one of the oil majors that pumps oil into BP’s pipeline.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbFrom BP’s perspective, things look very grim. It’s in danger of losing its largest source of booked reserves via its stake in Russia’s TNK. And now with the war, investors are worried about the BTC pipeline. What better way to kill two birds with one stone than by fomenting a war that would bleed Putin’s Russia until the regime finally collapsed thereby securing BP’s position in both countries. No wonder Big Oil is throwing its weight behind the McCain-Palin ticket. Those two understand the meaning of Better dead than having BP in the red.<\/em>\u00bb<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \tIl est acquis dans les milieux p\u00e9troliers internationaux que BP a des rapports tumultueux avec la Russie. Son comportement dans l’affaire TNK a \u00e9t\u00e9 l’objet d’hypoth\u00e8ses extr\u00eames, avec des attitudes et des actions qui ont peu de pr\u00e9c\u00e9dents notamment par certains aspects de violence, qui ont mis la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 dans une position tr\u00e8s d\u00e9licate, notamment vis-\u00e0-vis des autorit\u00e9s russes. La question semble ainsi d\u00e9passer une simple situation d’affaires et atteindre des dimensions politiques mais par l’aspect le plus incertain et le plus dommageable.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n