Or, as another poster summed up [1]: Syria sits right in between the oilfields in the Middle East and the oil consumers in Europe, so when a pipeline is built

Or, as another poster summed up [1]: Syria sits right in between the oilfields in the Middle East and the oil consumers in Europe, so when a pipeline is built connecting the two, Syria has a vote for or against its completion. Since oil pipelines are both necessary and quite profitable, this can lead to very large disputes. Al Jazeera covered this last year here [2] where it was suggested that the West would be inclined to usurp Assad for someone more favorable to the West's long term energy interests. It seems their prediction was correct as the US (along with Britain and Turkey) is escalating relations with Syria, using chemical attacks and civil rights violations as justification. The Guardian also has a great summary of the issue here. [3] [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6313628 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6313628 [2] http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/08/20128513344.. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/08/20128513344.... [3] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/au.. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/au....