www

[The Independent, U.K.]

 

 

Argumenty i Facty, Russia

For Once, NATO Forces Fight for Russians, Too

 

"The people of the Alliance are fighting and dying in rocky deserts there for, among others, you and me. Because it's Russia that is the largest importer of Afghan heroin; it is us and our children who buy this poison from the plantations across which American tanks now roll."

 

By Mikhail Melnikov

 

Translated By Yekaterina Blinova

 

February 16, 2010

 

Argumenty i Facty - Russia - Original Article (Russian)

 

Taliban exult over the hanging of Dr. Mohammad Najibullah, former president of Afghanistan under the Soviet occupation, September 27 1996.

 

BBC NEWS VIDEO: Kabul citizens explain what they think of NATO's ongoing military offensive in Helmand Province, Mar. 8, 00:02:41RealVideo

Exactly 21 years ago, after being there more than 10 years, Soviet forces left Afghanistan for good. But the "load is there unto this very day.” And now, Anglo-American forces are in the midst of a large-scale offensive against Islamist positions. These are the same Islamists that they armed against President Najibullah and the Soviet Union. The grimaces of history …

 

Operation “Moshtarak” is the largest operation conducted on Afghanistan soil since the allied invasion. Its name translates as “Togetherness” or, if you please, “Unity.” The goal of the offensive is more than simply ambitious: the creation of a kind of “United Afghanistan,” without the Taliban or drug traffickers.

 

One mustn't doubt that the situation is serious. Barack Obama ran for office under the slogan of peacemaking, but after his victory he unexpectedly ordered an increase of forces in Afghanistan - precisely for the purpose of delivering the decisive blow.

 

Fifteen thousand soldiers from the international coalition, backed by the Afghan National Army, have to “clear” southern Helmand Province of militants. According to NATO, resistance to allied forces may amount to 1,500 rebels. But no significant resistance has been met by NATO's numerically larger force. Nor are they likely to, because wars like this soon turn into guerrilla warfare, even if they begin as traditional confrontations.

 

The main stronghold of the Taliban in the south - the city of Marjah - capitulated almost without a fight. But just capturing it may turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory for the coalition, not to mention the civilian population. The trouble is that Marjah is riddled with landmines. All of it. Many people simply can't leave their homes - the mines are buried under their thresholds, pavements, on roofs and attics - essentially everywhere.

 

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:

Argumenty i Facty, Russia: Is Russia Preparing to Join NATO?

Gazeta, Russia: Only with America's Help Can 'Northern Civilization' Be Saved

Kommersant, Russia: Madeleine Albright Instructs Russians to 'Know their Place'

Gazeta, Russia: 'Un-European' Obama Demonstrates Why Europe Needs Russia

Le Monde, France: The Danger to the West of Not 'Helping Russia'

Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Russia: Gorbachev to NATO - 'Learn from Our Mistakes'

 

Bookmark and Share

 

So now Marjah is “occupied” by combat engineers and trained dogs who day and night destroy the terrible Taliban “surprises.” In a certain sense, the brutality of these uncompromising religious fanatics may be useful to NATO forces (the Afghan operation is conducted under the auspices of the Alliance): civilians have to choose between their bearded compatriots who wire their homes with mines, and polite strangers who are ready to offer help, assist with supplies and restore housing. At least, those are the instructions given to soldiers involved in the offensive: they are prohibited, under the threat of a military tribunal, from displaying any kind of cruelty. A sort of humanitarian action on tanks, under the cover of aircraft and artillery.

 

The current offensive is unlikely to be the last or a decisive battle - its too easy for guerrilla fighters to rouse the local population, and the other way around. We are well-acquainted with this from the Chechen conflict. But if the invaders really were able to convince people that they and not the Islamist zealots are agents of good, then the operation may be considered a success.

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

A complete military success, it seems, wasn't the plan. Operation Moshtrak was ostentatiously announced in advance so the local population would have plenty of time to escape the fighting. Of course, the militants carefully prepared for the coming of the “Western devils.” The word “Taliban” isn't written on the bearded unemployed who peacefully drink tea in Afghan villages.

 

Official “voices” in NATO are already reporting success: “The locals are enthusiastically greeting us. I think they're glad that international forces and local troops, and subsequently the Afghan government, will restore order in the country and prove that the Taliban has no future,” reported Colonel Matt Basley. [Translated quote].

 

Regular soldiers, however, note that no one greeted them in Marjah. But fear of landmines could be at least partially to blame for that.   

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

 

* * *

 

We love to gloat when things don’t go well for NATO. This alliance really doesn't harbor friendly feelings toward us, and many NATO operations have infringed and will infringe on Russian interests. But Afghanistan is a special case. The people of the Alliance are fighting and dying in rocky deserts there for, among others, you and me. Because it's Russia that is the largest importer of Afghan heroin; it is us and our children who buy this poison from the plantations across which American tanks now roll.

 

Is it possible that now, 21 years after the USSR admitted failure, the United States will do better?

 

CLICK HERE FOR RUSSIAN VERSION

blog comments powered by Disqus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US, Mar. 8, 6:28pm]

 

 







Bookmark and Share