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Originally Posted by Brush Okie
Im not an expert here but isn't working with Russia in Afganistan a bit counterproductive to our goal of winning the trust of the Afgan people? I have no problems with the raid per say but come on folks we helped kick the Russians out of there in 1989 is our memory that short or does the pentagon and other people in the puzzle palace just that damn stupid?
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A reasonable question, while there is likely latent sensitivity to Russian involvement, is it possible before we can win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people we need to curtail the power of the Taliban, and the poppy fields are their capital base?
If it is true 90% of the heroin consumed in Russian comes from this area their security and police forces are likely well informed and motivated allies against a common enemy. I wonder what percent of the financing and guerilla personnel for the Chechens and other breakaway republics Moscow is conflict with come from Afghanistan?
The world has also obviously changed since 1980, the Soviet Union is gone, along with the current threat for opportunistic Soviet expansion. In contrast Russia is struggling to retain population and congruency instead of sharing the fate of the Soviet Union. If republics in the Russian Federation continue to break away, or oil prices drop Russia is in deep kim chee.