Thread: Russia helping Taliban and hurting U.S. in Afghanistan, top general says

Russia, Iran Supporting Taliban to ‘Undermine’ U.S. Mission in Afghanistan

Moscow working to 'publicly legitimize' Taliban

Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan

BY: Natalie Johnson
February 9, 2017 1:30 pm

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Thursday that Russia and Iran are supporting the Taliban in part to undermine the U.S. and NATO mission to attain peace and stability in the nation.

Army Gen. John Nicholson told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Iran is providing the Taliban in western Afghanistan with military and logistical support.

Tehran also is recruiting Shiite fighters in Afghanistan to fight against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, raising concerns that these militants will return and destabilize the nation, Nicholson testified.

Nicholson said Russia's involvement in Afghanistan has become "more difficult" over the past year, as Moscow has worked to "publicly legitimize" the Taliban.

Russian officials argue the Taliban is fighting the Islamic State while the Afghan government has done nothing, inaction they say threatens greater turmoil in the country.

Nicholson said this is a "false narrative" intended to give the group credibility.

A report published last month by the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction noted the Afghan government lost control or influence of 15 percent of its territory from Nov. 2015 to Nov. 2016.

"Russia, Iran, and al Qaeda are playing significant roles in Afghanistan—this wasn't the case a few years ago," Nicholson testified. “I believe [these actions] are in part to undermine the United States and NATO, and prevent this strong partnership that we have with the Afghans in the region.”

In December, Russia hosted a trilateral meeting in Moscow with the top foreign ministry officials from Pakistan and China to review the growing threat of ISIS in Afghanistan.

The discussions drew ire from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who questioned Russia's motives because it did not invite his government.

Nicholson said Afghanistan's exclusion from the meeting undercut U.S. and NATO efforts to hand over full authority to the Afghan government to map out a peace agreement.

Nicholson said an Afghan-led peace process would be more enduring than one crafted by external actors.

Russian Foreign Minster Sergei Lavrov announced Tuesday that the Kremlin had extended to Afghanistan an invitation to another round of talks set to begin later this month.

Senior officials from China, Iran, India, and Pakistan will attend the talks. The United States has not been involved in the Russian-led discussions.

Nicholson's testimony came as congressional leaders ramp up pressure on President Donald Trump to consider a new course for the 15-year war in Afghanistan. Trump has said little of the war since his inauguration last month, and hardly mentioned it while on the campaign trail.

Nicholson said U.S. and coalition efforts in Afghanistan are now at a "stalemate." With nearly 12,500 American and NATO forces on the ground in the country, Nicholson said he needed a "few thousand" more troops for the train, advise, and assist mission. He said the troop additions could come from the United States or its allies.

http://freebeacon.com/national-secur...n-afghanistan/

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

They can drive tanks down the streets but it will cause them to crack and deteriorate sooner than they would under normal wear and tear. Just like if they start running a lot of loaded trucks up and down a small neighborhood street that wasn't built to handle 80,000 truck all of the time.

A 1.5 mile parade with a tank in it would destroy DC roads? That's what the military said. Were they not being honest?

Tractor-trailers can legally weigh up to 80,000 pounds and use city streets all day every day.
(They can weigh more than that with an Overweight Permit.)

Interesting Facts About Semi Trucks and Eighteen-Wheelers

https://www.thetruckersreport.com/facts-about-trucks/

The legal weight for an eighteen wheeler is 80,000 lbs. .... Assistance Act of 1982 (STAA)) the state can still allow trucks heavier than the 80,000 lbs limit.

Pence: US will hold Russia accountable

LOL!! Yep, right up to the point where we sign a new deal with Russia, and I truly hope this happens. I'm sick and tired of our country hating on the Russians no reason.

Originally Posted by pkskyali

That's kind of bizarre or at least ironic since it was the US at one time that was backing the Taliban, including OBL himself, in confronting the USSR in Afghanistan.

The U.S. never backed the Taliban nor was Osama bin-Laden ever a Talib. The USSR left Afghanistan in 1989. The Afghan Taliban was formed in 1991 and didn't become active until 1994.

Origins of the Taliban

The Creation of Taliban goes back to 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. In 1973, The Soviet Union brought their soldiers into Afghanistan claiming to rebuild the crushing economy. However, the Soviet was resented by the Mujahidin (from whom the Taliban evolved from).

At the same time, the Soviet Union and United States were engaged in a cold war. The U.S. was genuinely interested in counter power against the Soviet Union. Thus, Soviet Union's entrance in Afghanistan signaled the Soviet's increase in power and strength gaining more power and strength so the United States decided to intervene.

Because the United States did not want to see the Soviet Union take control over Central Asia, the U.S. decided to fund troops to fight against the Soviet Union. These troops were called the Mujahedeen.


The Mujahedeen were armed and supported by several countries including, the U.S., Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.


Under Reagan's presidency Congress which was led by Democrats, decided to form a partnership with the ISI which would recruit the Mujahideen with the support of the Pakistani military extreme views of Islam, led the Mujahedeen to fight ferociously against the Soviet Union. these extremist succeeded in driving Soviet militants out (1989).


This unforeseen defeat caused the Soviets to lose billions of Dollars, and led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. After the war, Pakistan was left alone to deal with the problems associated with the post war. Following the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. declared a war against Afghanistan. at this point the U.S. realized the seeds they had sown. Taliban was a creation of the Pakistani intelligence agency (the ISI) but was funded by the U.S.


The U.S. provided $3 billion to build this Islamic group by providing ammunitions, which they forgot to keep track of after the Soviet war.


Thus, the U.S. was taken aback when the millions worth in weapons that they had provided were now being used against them. Since the Taliban was a creation of the Pakistani intelligence agency.


Pakistan has been reluctant to fight them. It is said that a lot of Pakistani and other military personnel were known to be siding with the Taliban.


It has further been said that the U.S. is responsible for providing the Taliban with logistical and military advice, along with military hardware .


Therefore the Unites States and Pakistan are accountable for the Creation of Islamic extremist Group called `Taliban'.


https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~amjad20s/classweb2/page2.html

This is a mixture of truth and supposition which provides no sources for any of the information. It does not support your claim that the U.S. backed the Taliban against the USSR. It doesn't mention Osama bin-Laden at all. It seems like someone at Mt. Holyoke is determined to pin the creation of the Taliban on the USA. I have yet to see any convincing evidence that the U.S. supplied money for the creation of the Taliban. Claiming that not keeping track of arms given to the mujahadeen is the same as arming the Taliban is ridiculous.

Take a look at the Wikipedia article on the Taliban. It is well sourced and fairly well differentiates between well supported facts and shaky ones.