NATO head calls on China, Russia to help fund Afghan forces

[Sasquatch]

The head of NATO called on China and Russia on Thursday to help fund Afghan security after 2014, as the alliance tries to rally contributions from a wider range of sources before most foreign combat troops pull out of Afghanistan.

NATO estimates that the annual cost of maintaining Afghan security forces will be some $4 billion, and the United States is hoping for contributions worth 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) from other NATO allies and partners. But so far only Britain has publicly pledged an actual amount of cash, $110 million a year.

"We would welcome financial contributions from Russia, China and other countries to ensure a strong sustainable Afghan security force beyond 2014," Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference in Brussels, where NATO foreign and defense ministers were meeting to prepare for a summit next month in Chicago.

The United States and NATO, keen to douse fears Afghanistan could face renewed civil war when foreign troops pull out, want to use the summit to demonstrate a long-term commitment to Afghan stability that will endure well after 2014.

China has significant economic stakes in Afghanistan and is also a close ally of neighboring Pakistan, making it potentially a strong partner in helping to foster stability.

With the world's biggest foreign exchange reserves, it is also better placed than many western countries struggling with economic downturn to help pay for stability in Afghanistan.

Analysts have suggested, however, that China would be wary of becoming too sucked in to problems in Afghanistan, and would not want to be seen to taking sides if this were to make it a target for Islamist militants.

On Thursday, NATO ministers met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and tried to narrow differences with Russia over Syria, Afghanistan and missile defense - all areas where NATO allies would like Russian support to promote stability.

Lavrov did not respond at the meeting to Rasmussen's request for financial help, according to a western diplomat familiar with the talks.

But Russia's cooperation with western troops in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is expected to expand soon. Currently Russia allows ISAF to use a rail route through Russian territory to transport equipment.

Rasmussen said Russia had offered the use of a new transit route, which will allow ISAF to send supplies in and out of Afghanistan using both the Russian rail network and air transport. The route is expected to pass through the town of Ulyanovsk, said two officials, one in Russia and one in Brussels.

The United States and its allies have been building up alternative routes in and out of Afghanistan, reducing its dependence on Pakistan, which suspended supply routes after a NATO cross-border air attack in November killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

However, despite the progress on expanding supply routes through Russia, President-elect Vladimir Putin is likely to turn down an invitation from NATO to attend the Chicago summit.

"I have talked with President-elect Putin, and we agreed that due to a very busy domestic political calendar in Russia, just a few weeks after his inauguration as a new president of Russia, it's not possible and not practical also to have a NATO-Russia Summit meeting in Chicago," Rasmussen said.

Russian diplomats have said Putin was unlikely to attend in the absence of an agreement bridging deep differences over U.S. and NATO plans for a European anti-missile shield.

Lavrov repeated complaints over the missile defense system, which Russia says risks tipping the balance of nuclear power between itself and the United States in NATO'S favor. NATO says the shield is meant to protect against a potential Iranian threat and not against Russia.

"We need clear guarantees that it is not targeted against us," Lavrov said.

Question is should we ?

 

[Audio]

You are damned either way.

If you do, there is a risk of attracting extremists, if you don't there is a risk everything will collapse after 2014 and spill it's vile influence closer to China.

Russians already mad lol.

Russia slams NATO withdrawal plans from Afghanistan, calls them ‘artificial’

BRUSSELS — Russia’s foreign minister sharply criticized NATO’s plan to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan by 2014, saying Thursday that coalition troops should remain in the country until Afghan government forces are capable of ensuring security.

 

[Sasquatch]

You are damned either way.

If you do, there is a risk of attracting extremists, if you don't there is a risk everything will collapse after 2014 and spill it's vile influence closer to China.

Russians already mad lol.

Russia slams NATO withdrawal plans from Afghanistan, calls them ‘artificial’

If the Current Government of Afghanistan Collapses it will be right back to where it started The Taliban against the ANA, Northern Alliance or whoever backed by Central Asia and Russia, the taliban has been weakened and Influence won't get to China ,a civil war will take place but yes stability is needed.

well they want to get rid of the Taliban and Bleed the US.

Russians already mad lol.

Russia slams NATO withdrawal plans from Afghanistan, calls them ‘artificial’

Heh Thanks.

 

[Raphael]

Pointless use of funds. The Taliban is indomitable. The only thing we can do is convince them to moderate their ideology.

 

[blackops]

Pointless use of funds. The Taliban is indomitable. The only thing we can do is convince them to moderate their ideology.

a wise man once said or twice (they dont speak much)

YOU CAN KILL A MAN BUT NOT HIS SOUL AND THINKING OR FOR WHAT HE STANDS FOR

 

[Audio]

If the Current Government of Afghanistan Collapses it will be right back to where it started The Taliban against the ANA, Northern Alliance or whoever backed by Central Asia and Russia, the taliban has been weakened and Influence won't get to China ,a civil war will take place but yes stability is needed.

All valid points, but i dont think any leadership wants to have a chaotic country next to them.

Pointless use of funds. The Taliban is indomitable. The only thing we can do is convince them to moderate their ideology.

Any ideas on to how you would do such a thing?

 

[53fd]

You are damned either way.

If you do, there is a risk of attracting extremists, if you don't there is a risk everything will collapse after 2014 and spill it's vile influence closer to China.

Russians already mad lol.

Russia slams NATO withdrawal plans from Afghanistan, calls them ‘artificial’

The US/NATO Forces have stirred the hornet's nest unfortunately, which is exactly what they wanted.

 

[fd24]

The US/NATO Forces have stirred the hornet's nest unfortunately, which is exactly what they wanted.

After stirring the hornets nest and systematically sending the country into anarchy with the "self appointed police strategy" they want China and Russia to take over the funding of the mess? China and Russia have not become successful and fruitful empires by going around the world with their dustpan and brush to sweep up the mess created by third party morons.
I think its a bit rich of them to make such senseless statements of request.

 

[S10]

All valid points, but i dont think any leadership wants to have a chaotic country next to them.



Any ideas on to how you would do such a thing?

China had decent relationship with Taliban under the table prior to American invasion, from bridges built during Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Fight your own battles and take your own losses.

 

[53fd]

After stirring the hornets nest and systematically sending the country into anarchy with the "self appointed police strategy" they want China and Russia to take over the funding of the mess? China and Russia have not become successful and fruitful empires by going around the world with their dustpan and brush to sweep up the mess created by third party morons.
I think its a bit rich of them to make such senseless statements of request.

Well, that is what happened in Iraq. Iraq, which was free from AQ terrorism pre-2003 is the hotbed for AQ terrorism today. It's the same situation in Afghanistan. The US will leave the mess for others to clean, & will sidetrack themselves. They stir the hornet's nest as per their strategic geopolitical strategy, giving them pretext to be involved in the region (building military bases or consulates to have a lasting presence/influence), & proving as a hindrance for the neighboring countries in the region to progress.

 

[Audio]

After stirring the hornets nest and systematically sending the country into anarchy with the "self appointed police strategy" they want China and Russia to take over the funding of the mess? China and Russia have not become successful and fruitful empires by going around the world with their dustpan and brush to sweep up the mess created by third party morons.
I think its a bit rich of them to make such senseless statements of request.

In some form, im sure they would both contribute even if noone asked.

NATO made a really big blunder at the start of the Afghan campaign...namely Russians were supplying the Northern Alliance until told to stop for some reason, probably a brain fart between Bush Jr. and Rumsfeld....

 

[Raphael]

Any ideas on to how you would do such a thing?

Threaten them with invasion once again?

It's important to note that the Afghan resistance is not one monolith. The entire country was in civil war for a long time after the Soviet withdrawal. They're currently united because of the foreign presence, but this alliance could very well break down after the US withdrawal. The Taliban is only one faction - others important factions include the Haqqani network and HIG. If the US is smart, it can play the different factions against each other in a divide-and-rule way, and ensure that a somewhat moderate group (though still very Islamist) comes to power.

One thing is certain though: the Karzai government is finished and there is nothing to be gained in propping up his regime. The Northern Alliance may be able to hold some of the northern slices of the country that are predominantly Tajik/Uzbek/Turkmen, but it will have no role in the governance of the rest of the country.

 

[Sasquatch]

Russia slams NATO withdrawal plans from Afghanistan, calls them ‘artificial’

Russia’s foreign minister sharply criticized NATO’s plan to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan by 2014, saying Thursday that coalition troops should remain in the country until Afghan government forces are capable of ensuring security.

“As long as Afghanistan is not able to ensure by itself the security in the country, the artificial timelines of withdrawal are not correct and they should not be set,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

NATO plans to hand over lead responsibility for the war against the Taliban to the Afghan army and police by the middle of next year, then withdraw its troops by the end of 2014. The alliance already has started drawing down its forces, which reached a peak of about 140,000 last year.

NATO leaders say that Afghan forces are improving rapidly and will be able to counter Taliban guerrillas after 2014. But critics have pointed to widespread drug use and the high desertion rate among government forces as signs that it remains unprepared to handle the insurgents.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the alliance’s secretary general, responded to Lavrov’s criticism by saying the Afghan government has agreed with the withdrawal schedule, and that it is “definitely not artificial.” He also urged Russia, China and other non-NATO countries to help fund the post-2014 Afghan armed forces.

Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said that initially he also was worried about the drawdown. “Fortunately enough flexibility has been built into the plan ... so there will not be so much of an impact as many people were thinking,” he said.

The Afghan army and police are scheduled to expand to more than 350,000 members in the next several months. NATO has already handed over to them responsibility for security over half of the country’s population, and the transition is set to continue.

Lavrov, who attended a meeting of NATO defense and foreign ministers in Brussels, said China and other countries in Asia also are worried about the withdrawal schedule.

Moscow views NATO’s military effort in Afghanistan as crucial for its own security, including helping to prevent instability from spreading into ex-Soviet Central Asia.

Russia, which is not a NATO member, has provided the alliance with air corridors and railway routes for carrying supplies to and from landlocked Afghanistan. The link has become particularly important since Pakistan blocked NATO supplies from crossing its territory following an alliance airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani border troops in November.

On Thursday, Lavrov and NATO ministers discussed a plan to give the alliance a new logistics facility on Russian territory to transfer military cargo to and from Afghanistan.

The proposal, now being considered by Russian lawmakers, would for the first time allow alliance members to set up a logistics facility in Ulyanovsk, Russia, for troops and cargo.

Officials said there were “no differences” between the two sides on the use of the air base in Ulyanovsk.

“We expect to expand the transit options offered to us by Russia ... to Afghanistan,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after the meeting. “We appreciate very highly Russia’s contribution, which is based on our shared interests and contributes to our shared security.”

The former Cold War rivals remain sharply at odds, however, over a U.S.-led NATO missile defense plan in Europe that Washington says is aimed at deflecting a potential Iranian threat. Moscow fears it will eventually become powerful enough to undermine Russia’s nuclear deterrent.

Despite those differences, Russia has also cooperated with the alliance in suppressing piracy off the Somali coastline and in such areas as anti-terrorism, counter-narcotics and search-and-rescues at sea.

NATO didn't call India to fund as well ?

 

[junk]

Russians want US&Nato to bleed to death in afghanistan

 

[King Solomon]

Afghanistan is in a mess from the revolution in 1978. But if US DOES leave, China and russia would have to do something about afghanistan. Again the country would plunge into civil war.

Or we can just supply weapons to participants in civil wars, and earn some money.