Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (9316)	11/28/2001 3:46:26 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 23908

The "Molotov-Ribbentrop" carve-up of Afghanistan takes shape.... North-West (Kabul) to the Russkies, South-East (Kandahar) to the Pakis (and their US subcontractor): 12 Years After Retreat, Russia Returns to Kabul Peter Baker Washington Post Service Wednesday, November 28, 2001 This Time, Contingent Vows Only to Help KABUL Russians armed with Kalashnikovs returned here Tuesday, 12 years after the manhandled Soviet Army retreated from Afghanistan in defeat, but this time they vowed only to help. A contingent of 88 men from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations set up a small camp on a patch of dirt near the Bulgarian Embassy in central Kabul, drawing a large crowd of onlookers as well as the attention of foreign partners chafing that once again Moscow had taken them by surprise. Although officially not soldiers, the Russians dressed the part, wearing military-style blue uniforms with camouflage flak jackets and carrying assault rifles while guarding the perimeter of their new beachhead. Russian officials said they came at the invitation of the Northern Alliance, the coalition of Afghan guerrillas now in charge of Kabul, and planned to build a medical facility and rehabilitate their long-abandoned embassy. The unexpected move made the Russians the first foreign power to publicly send armed forces into the Afghan capital since the Taliban surrendered Kabul and retreated on Nov. 13. When a small troop of British soldiers flew into the Bagram air base north of Kabul, the Northern Alliance expressed its displeasure and the British have remained out of the capital and discreetly out of sight. U.S. Marines established a base near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan this week, but Americans have deliberately avoided any public military presence in Kabul. The rush by the Russians to establish a presence in Kabul appeared in part to be an attempt to lay down a marker as a player in determining the future of Afghanistan, a county in which they have had a troubled history for the past quarter-century. To some foreign officials, it recalled the 1999 episode when Russian peacekeeping troops seized the Pristina airport during the Kosovo war to the chagrin of U.S. and British commanders. Khaled Mansour, a spokesman for the United Nations, said Tuesday that the Russians did not notify the international body of the move to Kabul. Asked if it bothered United Nations officials, he said tersely, "I wouldn't characterize it that way, but it's not under UN mandate." The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said Monday that his government had consulted with the Northern Alliance and received U.S. help in bringing in 12 transport planes. "This action was carried out at the request of the Islamic State of Afghanistan," he said. For both Russians and Afghans, the arrival of forces sent by Moscow evoked bad memories. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 to ensure a friendly communist regime on its southern border, only to find itself mired in a devastating war that left 15,000 soldiers dead and punctured the Soviet Union's international image as a military superpower. The last Soviet troops withdrew in disgrace in 1989, leaving behind a chaotic political situation and a civil war that has not ended. But both sides insisted the world is different now. "From that time, the government has changed, the ideology has changed, even the purpose of coming has changed," said a Russian who identified himself as the group leader and gave only his first name, Vyacheslav. "We have already forgotten what happened then." Standing on the road staring at the Russian camp were hundreds of incredulous Afghans, many of whom had fought the Soviets. "I killed many Russian troops. We used to fire at their tanks, I had an RPG," said Abdul Qauium, an Afghan military officer, referring to a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. "But now they've come to bring peace," he added. "If their purpose is to interfere in our internal affairs, we'll fight them again." One internal affair that might generate discontent is the Russian plan to rebuild the old embassy, which Moscow abandoned in 1992 after the fall of the communist government. The embassy has been decimated by warfare since then and now serves as home to thousands of refugees living in the rubble. Russian officers came by the ruins of the embassy in the Kartese section of the city Tuesday morning to videotape and inspect the place, telling the refugees that they would have to move but promising help finding a place to go. "We're afraid of losing the building because we don't have any place to stay," said Mohammed Azim, 42, who lives on the embassy grounds with his wife and eight children. "It's getting colder every day," he said. "What can we do? I don't have anywhere to go." iht.com