posted 05-22-2006
MPG
US Sets up £215m Deal for Afghan Arms - from Russia
OH…. this is hilarious, if it’s true, it’s divine comedy.
The Bush administration diverted its troops and Special Forces
from the ‘hunt’ (read public relations spin) in Afghanistan for their
‘enemy’ (read former friend and comrade) Osama bin Laden to invade
Iraq. A country that never attacked the U.S. (but one that has
lots of oil). As a result of course Osama has never been caught
(read ‘how fortuitous’) and the Taliban have been gaining in strength
ever since.
They now plan to bug-out and abandon Afghanistan leaving the mess they
created for NATO to clean up.
But in order to ‘help’ Afghanistan Bushy and Pals (read the American
taxpayer) are now going to pay the Russians (sincere congratulations to
Putin & by the way what did you do for Bushy for this largess?) to
leave a stockpile of half a billion dollars in small arms there in that
chaotic and divided land.
After finding out they’ve been fooled and left as cannon fodder by the
Americans, NATO (read the enraged European public) will quit
Afghanistan leaving the country to the tender mercies of the
increasingly powerful Taliban and other Jihadist groups.
No doubt these groups will sincerely thank Bush and his Pals for the
Guns, Ammo and RPG’s graciously purchased by the American taxpayer’s by
demonstrating what they can do with these weapons…..against the
American taxpayers.
Hummmmm…… this sounds so familiar. Let’s see if I can remember
this. I know we've ‘helped’ Afghanistan once before, then we
abandoned that devastated and destroyed country leaving huge piles of
armaments behind which were later turned against us….. what was it
called? Nine something or other wasn’t it? Gosh gee-wiz I’m an
American so you know what that means, I’m totally incapable of
‘connecting the dots’ and I just can’t remember anything that happened
more then six months ago.
But I do know as Mrs. Middle America says “we had to get ‘them’, all of
them” after that thing called nine something or other.
I guess will just have to do it again….and again….and again….and
again….and again…..and again…...and again...... and again......
MPG
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Published on Monday, May 22, 2006
by the Telegraph
/ UK
posted at CommonDreams.org
US
Sets up £215m Deal for Afghan Arms - from Russia
by Thomas Harding
Web address for article -- Telegraph / UK
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/22/warms22.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/05/22/ixnews.html
American defence officials have secretly requested a "prodigious
quantity" of ammunition from Russia to supply the Afghan army in case a
Democrat president takes over in Washington and pulls out US troops.
The Daily Telegraph can disclose that Pentagon chiefs have asked arms
suppliers for a quote on a vast amount of ordnance, including more than
78 million rounds of AK47 ammunition, 100,000 rocket-propelled grenades
and 12,000 tank shells - equivalent to about 15 times the British
Army's annual requirements.
The Bush administration is said to want the deal because of worries
that the next president could be a Democrat, possibly Hillary Clinton,
who may abandon Afghanistan.
White House insiders fear that Afghanistan could "drift" and
consequently, they want heavily to arm President Hamid Kharzai's
government before the 2008 US presidential election.
Diplomatic sources also believe that the US may be offering the
estimated $400 million (£215 million) deal, including transport
costs, to the Russians as an inducement to embargo its arms and nuclear
technology exports to Iran.
Defence specialists said Russian arms chiefs at first "fell about
laughing" because they thought the order was a joke when it arrived
this month.
But with the Americans said to be pressing for a price and earliest
delivery date, the request is being rapidly processed and exports could
begin before the end of this year.
The "decade's worth" of ammunition will give the Afghan National Army a
vast arsenal to deal with Taliban or drug warlords if Washington
withdraws its troops.
It would allow Kabul to defend its borders against outside interference
but could also be used for offensive operations against neighbours such
as the old enemy, Pakistan.
"This is a request for a price indication from the Pentagon to the
Russians," said an arms source connected to Russia. "After that comes
back they will look at their budget and turn it into an order - and it
will be an order of huge magnitude.
"The operations and planning staff at the Pentagon came up with numbers
for their wish list.
"The final order may be more or may be less but the broad aim is to
spend the budget while they can. They want to stack the country up with
ammunition.
"It's the equivalent of buying yourself a plane to fly to Le Touquet
for lunch and you get yourself a 747 jumbo instead of a light aircraft."
All of the material will come from Rosoboron Exports, the sole state
intermediary agency for Russia's military exports.
Most Afghan weaponry is either Soviet era or compatible with Russian
munitions, making shipments from Western countries unnecessary.
Rosoboron is one of a few companies that could handle such a big order
and should give favourable prices.
The Afghan army is 35,000 strong but is expected to grow to 70,000
trained soldiers by 2009.
Its troops are already beginning to receive advanced infantry training
- the American order includes 50 million blank rounds - with soldiers
specialising in artillery and special forces work.
The order also suggests the Afghan army will be equipped with T62
tanks, Mi24 Hind attack helicopters and Spandrel anti-tank missiles.
If fully trained it will provide a formidable force against insurgents
and potential foreign aggressors, including Pakistan where tensions are
high on the southern border.
"This is completely refitting the Afghan army for the long term and it
should stop a resurgence of the Taliban in its tracks," a British arms
expert said. "The order will take a year to make and deliver but the
Russians are used to large quantities."
A senior British officer said: "The point of getting Afghanistan up and
running is so they can take on their own operations.
"This deal makes sense if we are going to hand over military control to
them."
Some observers pointed to the irony of the deal, because when the
Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan the Americans sold Stinger
surface-to- air missiles to the Mujahideen to enable them to shoot down
Moscow's aircraft.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006
End.