Russia Retakes Afghanistan

This Los Angeles Times article says that Russia has been supporting the Northern Alliance forces with weapons and armour since its original invasion of Afghanistan more than 20 years ago. And it was Russia that prompted them to push south to take Kabul. Now in the “peace” talks in Germany, Russia is supporting the North Alliance’s claim as the rightful government of Afghanistan, thus cleverly retaking most of Afghanistan more than a decade after they withdrew.

It’s all about oil. Russia has lots and world demand is due to double within a generation because of Chinese and Indian development. This leaves them sitting pretty, due mainly to the machinations of Viktor Kvashnin, Chief of the Russian General Staff. It was he who directed the Northern Alliance into Kabul, against the direct wishes of Bush and Blair.

This is not your average conspiracy thoery, it’s the opinion of Eric Margolis, whose book War at the Top of the World : The Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tibet is like a complete guide to the complex geopolitics of this bizarrely complex region.