Under The Radar

George wasn't the only guy our good buddy Nursultan visited during his recent stop. Why all the hubbub over Kazakhstan? In a nutshell, oil, gas, pipelines and China. "PetroChina operates three refineries in Xinjiang to process crude produced in the region and imported from Kazakstan." Gazeta.kz (09.29.06) (ed.: we have no idea why Gazeta puts company names in quotes):

"Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan, met heads of US biggest energy companies during his visit to the USA, Kazakhstan Today correspondent reports. In particular, after a meeting with Mr. Nazarbayev Rex Tillerson, CEO of 'ExxonMobil,' stressed that he was satisfied with the meeting." President of RK met heads of US biggest energy companies

Rex continued: "'We have discussed the role of the company in Kazakhstan as an important investor. And as 'ExxonMobil' participates in two projects - 'Tengiz Chevroil' and in the North Caspian, the company is going to become the biggest foreign operator in the country,' - he said." Hey! Look who else was there. "David Lesar, CEO of 'Halliburton' in his turn stated that his company planned a number of investment projects in Kazakhstan." Footnote: While Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton, one might say he tooks quite a shine to David. "Within a year of his arrival, Cheney had fired Tommy Knight—a 32-year Kellogg, Brown and Root veteran—and named Lesar the new CEO of KBR, in addition to his duties as CFO of Halliburton. In May 1997, Cheney elevated Lesar to President and COO. After Cheney's departure, in 2000, Lesar became CEO of Halliburton." Anyway, during his visit, Nursulatan was a very busy feller. He managed to work in a meeting with Dick. Like you should find that surprising? Footnote: While Nursultan was here, he also went to dinner at the Capital Hilton. The dinner was to honor Nursultan for his decision (back in 1995!) to remove all the nukes (1,400 nuclear warheads on SS-18 ICBMs) the Russkis left there. Praise was effusive. Gazeta.kz (09.29.06):

"The US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega (D - AS) proposed to nominate Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan, for the Nobel prize, Kazakhstan Today correspondent reports." US Congressman proposes to award Nobel prize to President of RK

WTF? Speaking of nuclear proliferation, wasn't old Bill Clinton President back in '95? Anyway, bear this in mind. In addition to cooperating in building pipelines, Kazakhstan and China have recently "conducted joint military operations in Kazakhstan in the context of the Shanghai Cooperation Pact." Tajikstan and China, too. Should be rather interesting how all this plays out, eh?