[JohnHuang2]

Hot off the presses:

Putin says will aid Afghan opposition -- lawmaker

MOSCOW, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ruled out sending troops to Afghanistan as part of U.S. operations there, but pledged to help the Northern Alliance opposition, a liberal parliamentarian said.

Putin, speaking to top parliamentarians in the Kremlin, said Russia "will not send our soldiers to Afghanistan, but we shall open corridors and we shall help the Northern Alliance," Boris Nemtsov, head of the liberal SPS, told Interfax news agency.

Putin was laying out his views of impending U.S. strikes, expected in response to the hijacked airliner attacks in the United States.

[Frohickey]

MOSCOW, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ruled out sending troops to Afghanistan as part of U.S. operations there, but pledged to help the Northern Alliance opposition, a liberal parliamentarian said.

Putin, speaking to top parliamentarians in the Kremlin, said Russia "will not send our soldiers to Afghanistan, but we shall open corridors and we shall help the Northern Alliance," Boris Nemtsov, head of the liberal SPS, told Interfax news agency.

I bet there are quite a few Russian soldiers that would like to go back to Afghanistan for payback.

[madrussian]

We need to be very careful here. I'd like to think we could truly work with Russia - to have a relationship based on trust. However, I'm a bit concerned with Russia's sudden surge in cooperation. My fear is another Yalta-like betrayal, where we let Russia get involved - only to have them remain behind once this is all over. The last thing we need is a Russian military presence on an eastward trajectory.

Russia's already involved in fighting the terrorism: it has been aiding the Northern Alliance for years, and it's been fighting the jihad international in Chechnya. While America facilitated the rise of islamic fundamentalism and terrorism by helping the "mujahedeen" in Afghanistan and by its tacit support of "good" terrorists in Chechnya and the Balkans.