Oil and Democracy Don't Mix

By Frida Berrigan
In These Times
February 6, 2004

At a 1996 energy conference in New Orleans, ***** Cheney, then CEO of
Halliburton said, "The problem is that the good Lord didn't see fit to put
oil and gas reserves where there are democratic governments."

Laying the blame on the divine is a stretch, but it seems that the vice
president is right: Democracy and oil do not mix. Just look at the United
States' top 10 oil suppliers. Algeria, Angola, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia

repressive regimes with deplorable human rights records. Mexico and
Venezuela, while democracies, are marked by instability, inequality and
civil strife. Iraq remains at war and under occupation. Only Norway,

and the United Kingdom are fully functioning democracies.

Why don't oil and democracy mix? At least part of the answer can be found

Washington's policy of providing military aid and training to leaders who
guarantee an uninterrupted flow of oil, defending it against all threats -
even those coming from their own citizens.

Since the beginning of the war on terrorism in 2001, the United States'

10 sources of oil imports have experienced a 350 percent increase in U.S.
military aid and training. In 2003, the United States plans to provide

countries with $58 million in military assistance. In fiscal year 2001,
their military assistance totaled $12.2 million.

A large part of the increase is explained by Washington's rewarding of
regimes like Algeria and Nigeria for their ability to cloak domestic
repression in the rhetoric of the "war on terrorism." As the United States
looks ahead to a never ending war on terrorism and growing dependence on
foreign oil, this dynamic will become increasingly common.

Africa accounts for 16 percent of U.S. oil imports, and the National
Intelligence Council predicts an increase to 25 percent by 2015. Hunger

this oil, combined with the need to collect allies in the war on

led the Bush administration to adopt a "see no evil" position toward human
rights problems and inequality in the continent's oil-rich nations.

This policy is so entrenched that William Burns, assistant secretary of
state for Near Eastern and North African affairs, remarked with admiration
while on a 2002 trip there, "Washington has much to learn from Algeria on
ways to fight terrorism." Burns must not have read his own State

2002 Human Rights Report, which notes that Algerian "security forces
committed extra-judicial killings, tortured, beat or otherwise abused
detainees." Algeria has proven oil reserves of more than 9.2 billion

and is considered underdeveloped in terms of production, representing a
golden opportunity for U.S. companies.

And so, in spite of persistent human rights abuses, relations between
Washington and Algiers are warming. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has
visited the White House twice and officials are discussing establishment

an American military base in Algeria. Emboldened by this, Algerian

are pushing for access to previously denied lethal technology like combat
aircraft.

Nigeria is the fifth largest exporter of oil to the United States, and

the discovery of new deep-water oil reserves right off the coast U.S.
strategic interest is growing.

In July 2003, as President Bush departed for Africa, Gen. James Jones, the
U.S. commander responsible for African operations, announced that

was negotiating long-term use of a "family" of military bases across

and predicted a much bigger role for U.S. military in the Gulf of Guinea,
right off the Nigerian coast.

Washington's desire for Nigerian oil and territory triggered deeper

relationships. During the reign of Gen. Sani Abacha military ties were
frozen. But since his death in 1999, the thaw has been quick. That year,
Nigeria purchased $74,000 in U.S. weaponry. By 2001, the United States
delivered thousands of times that - a total of $3.1 million. Military aid
also skyrocketed, from $90,000 in 1999 to more than $4 million for 2003.

How increased military aid will improve human rights and efforts toward
democratization is unclear. The State Department's Human Rights Report

that the Nigerian "military and security forces committed extrajudicial
killings."

Military aid is also increasing in areas that do not supply the United
States with oil - yet. The seven countries that make up the Caspian

Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - are rich in oil, but the West is still

to figure out how to extract and transport it. In the meantime, the region
became strategically important for other reasons - its proximity to
Afghanistan and its eagerness to aid in the war on terrorism.

Uzbekistan granted the U.S. permission to establish a "semi-permanent"
military base in its territory, other countries offered "fly-over rights,"
troops, intelligence and rhetorical support for the war on terrorism. In
exchange, the handful of dictators, generals and presidents-for-life that
rule the Caspian nations were granted reprieve from their international
pariah status. Tens of millions in U.S. military aid quickly followed.

Collectively, these countries are slated to receive almost $40 million in
U.S. military aid in 2004. In 2001, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan were under
U.S. sanctions and received no military aid. The other five nations

a collective total of $12.3 million in military aid. In other words,
military aid from the United States will increase more than 200 percent in
just three years - not including Congress' $70 million Special

for Caspian countries in 2002.

In the Caspian, and in most of the other countries where U.S. military aid
and training markedly increased in the past three years, the weapons are

being used to defend borders from impending invasions. Rather, military
resources are used to squash indigenous movements for self-determination,
undermine campaigns for human rights, punish those who call for democracy
and government accountability, and protect leaders who came to power
illegitimately. There are a few exceptions to the "oil and democracy don't
mix" maxim, and they are instructive. Norway, the United Kingdom and

are major oil suppliers to the United States, but were established
democracies with diversified economies before getting into oil

Replicating these successes in other oil-rich countries will require a
radical revision of U.S. military and energy policy. Now would be a good
time to start.

Frida Berrigan is a senior research associate with the Arms Trade Resource
Center, a project of the World Policy Institute.

Oil and Democracy Don't Mix

By Frida Berrigan
In These Times
February 6, 2004

At a 1996 energy conference in New Orleans, ***** Cheney, then CEO of
Halliburton said, "The problem is that the good Lord didn't see fit to put
oil and gas reserves where there are democratic governments."

Laying the blame on the divine is a stretch, but it seems that the vice
president is right: Democracy and oil do not mix. Just look at the United
States' top 10 oil suppliers. Algeria, Angola, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia are
repressive regimes with deplorable human rights records. Mexico and
Venezuela, while democracies, are marked by instability, inequality and
civil strife. Iraq remains at war and under occupation. Only Norway, Canada
and the United Kingdom are fully functioning democracies.

Why don't oil and democracy mix? At least part of the answer can be found in
Washington's policy of providing military aid and training to leaders who
guarantee an uninterrupted flow of oil, defending it against all threats -
even those coming from their own citizens.

Since the beginning of the war on terrorism in 2001, the United States' top
10 sources of oil imports have experienced a 350 percent increase in U.S.
military aid and training. In 2003, the United States plans to provide these
countries with $58 million in military assistance. In fiscal year 2001,
their military assistance totaled $12.2 million.

...

This policy is so entrenched that William Burns, assistant secretary of
state for Near Eastern and North African affairs, remarked with admiration
while on a 2002 trip there, "Washington has much to learn from Algeria on
ways to fight terrorism." Burns must not have read his own State Department
2002 Human Rights Report, which notes that Algerian "security forces
committed extra-judicial killings, tortured, beat or otherwise abused
detainees." Algeria has proven oil reserves of more than 9.2 billion barrels
and is considered underdeveloped in terms of production, representing a
golden opportunity for U.S. companies.

...
In the Caspian, and in most of the other countries where U.S. military aid
and training markedly increased in the past three years, the weapons are not
being used to defend borders from impending invasions. Rather, military
resources are used to squash indigenous movements for self-determination,
undermine campaigns for human rights, punish those who call for democracy
and government accountability, and protect leaders who came to power
illegitimately.