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Posted on 09/14/2001 6:16:03 PM PDT by oxi-nato
YEREVAN, Armenia, Sept. 14 — Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Friday tried to squelch speculation that a U.S.-led anti-terrorist operation could be launched against Afghanistan from formerly Soviet Central Asia. “I DON’T SEE any basis for even the hypothetical possibility of NATO military operations on the territory of Central Asian nations that belong to the Commonwealth of Independent States,” Ivanov told reporters in the Armenian capital Yerevan.
He announced that the chiefs of the army general staffs of the 12 countries of the CIS — a loose grouping of formerly Soviet states — would meet in Moscow on Sept. 26 to discuss coordination of military steps against terrorism. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is scheduled to hold talks on joint anti-terrorist efforts in the Russian capital next week.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said Friday he could not comment on media reports that Washington was allegedly talking to Moscow about staging strikes from Central Asia. He was meeting in Almaty, Kazakstan with his counterparts from four Central Asian republics and China. Speculation that Russia might allow, and even join, a U.S.-led strikes against Afghanistan from its Central Asian backyard has been fuelled by Moscow’s shared view that bin Laden and the Taliban are responsible for fomenting widespread unrest in the region including in Chechnya, where Moscow is fighting a separatist rebellion.
TAJIK ROLE The prime minister of Tajikistan, Akil Akilov, said his country would consult Russia if Washington asks for air corridors for strikes on neighboring Afghanistan. Gen. Anatoly Kvashnin, the head of the Russian General Staff, said it was unlikely that the Russian armed forces would take part in “acts of revenge” for this week’s deadly attacks against the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the Interfax news agency reported.
“The United States has powerful enough military forces that it can cope with this task on its own,” Kvashnin was quoted as saying. He added that there had been no talks on the military level between the United States and Russia about Moscow’s participation in any operation. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday that alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden was the top suspect in the attacks. Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban have given bin Laden refuge in their country.
Kvashnin said that according to his information, bin Laden is now hiding in the mountains around Kandahar, the southern Afghan city where the Taliban headquarters is located. Russia has about 25,000 troops stationed in Tajikistan, which borders Afghanistan and is one of the few countries from which an offensive could be launched. Impoverished Tajikistan is still trying to recover from a five-year civil war between mostly Islamic opposition forces and the hard-line secular government, and it is frequently wracked by violence.
ELUSIVE BIN LADEN Nikolai Kovalyov, the former head of Russia’s Federal Security Service, the KGB’s main successor, warned Friday that a U.S. attack on Afghanistan would fail to reach bin Laden and would backfire on the United States. “In Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain, it takes a trainload of explosives to destroy three militants,” he said at a news conference. “The chance of hitting bin Laden is zero.”
Russian Colonel Yuri Shamanov, who spent half a decade fighting in Afghanistan, warned the United States against deploying in Afghanistan. “If the Americans go to war, I pity those boys. And their mothers and sisters and brothers. It will be 10 times worse than Vietnam. Vietnam will be a picnic by comparison,” he said.
“In Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain, it takes a trainload of explosives to destroy three militants,” he said at a news conference. “The chance of hitting bin Laden is zero.”
Russia is well known for their love of artillery. Russian artillery/planes backing Afghan rebels... that would be wonderful.
Watch the diplomat speak carefully and read between the lines...
Probably the most important thing that the Russians can offer us in the circumstances that we now find ourselves, is information. They have a wealth of information that is based on many years of dealings in the area. They can probably also provide a few good language interpreters.
My thought exactly. There's going to be a lot of intentional misdirection leading up to the attack...
It is especially suited to urban warfare because the shock wave can penetrate underground bunkers and shelters.
Victims are killed either by the force of the blast wave, or by the subsequent vacuum, which can cause their lungs to collapse. People on the edge of the blast wave may suffer internal injuries like burst eardrums and ruptured lungs.
The bombs are not explicitly banned under the Geneva Convention on warfare, though the convention does require signatories to use proportionate force and avoid killing civilians.
In other words, they're rather nasty, though limited in scope.
I also sense a lot of pride in their not wanting NATO troops on their soil, which is understandable. I would prefer the US farm out as much of the work as possible to otber nations, just so we don't go taking on the Islamist world alone. We should still pull more than our share, though. We've got an example to set.
National Petition for a Congressional Declaration of War
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I bet it really sucks then. What does it sound like when it goes off? "!MOOB"
I was briefed by a United States Army Colonel who had been an advisor to bin Laden during the war with Russia.
He told me in 1998 that if we had to go to war against the Taliban it would be Vietnam times 10. We do not have weapons designed to work in very steep mountains with very narrow valleys. He said the Russians tried Migs, choppers, carpet bombing, and fire bombs. he said they tried everything they had to try and it all failed. The briefer said in 1998 it would take nukes. He was well aware of every weapon we had in 98. I doubt if we have added much since then although it is a possibility. I certainly hope we have.
That is what perked up my ears when Clinton's secretary of Defense Cohen said we might have to use nukes. I figure he had a much later briefing I did. Unless Cohen was doing disinformation, we may not have the stuff to do it now.
I figure he was doing a trial baloon for nukes.
Hmmmm.
They call it the fog of war... and both sides often use very large fog machines.
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