The latest whopper comes from the mouth of James “Mad Dog” Mattis, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, who claims the Russians are providing weapons to the Taliban, in Afghanistan. The charge is insane.
If there is one major power in the world that has consistently fought against Takfiris, in Afghanistan and everywhere else, it is Russia. And, the major power most responsible for the rise of the Taliban and other Takfiri outfits, is the United States, which teamed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to create the international Takfiri network in order to force the Soviets out of Afghanistan, almost 40 years ago.
Despite that history, beginning in 2009, the Russians allowed the U.S. to use Russian airspace to supply American troops in Afghanistan. It was a vital lifeline for the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, which could not be adequately supplied through Pakistan.
The Russians were hoping that the new American president, Barack Obama, would make an honest effort to improve relations with Moscow – which, of course, never happened. But mainly, Russia was acting in its own interest. Afghan heroin devastated Russian society, and Takfiris have killed thousands of people on Russian soil.
Takfiris from Chechnya have done the most damage, but Russia has a vital interest in combating Takfiris in the Muslim former Soviet Republics, especially Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan, which all border on Afghanistan.
For Russia, the war in Afghanistan is a domestic issue, with a direct impact on the drug trade and terrorist attacks on Russian cities. The suicide bomber that blew up a subway train in St. Petersburg, Russia, killing 14 people earlier this month, was from Kyrgyzstan.
Nobody has to tell the Russians about the threat of Takfiri terror.
The Russians finally shut off U.S. military access to their airspace near Afghanistan, in 2015, after the Obama administration fomented the coup in Ukraine and decided to make Russia its main adversary in the world.
But, it is the Russians, along with the Syrians and the Iranians, that continue to be the main obstacle to the spread of Takfiri terror in the world, today – while the Americans, the Saudis and Pakistan remain the bulwarks of Takfiri terror, providing billions in arms and training for Takfiri terrorists all around the region.
The United States and its NATO allies provided the air force for Takfiris in Libya, and then did the same thing in Syria for al Qaida, which became so powerful that it split, with one branch becoming ISIS. ISIS now vies for influence and territory in Afghanistan.
The ISIS terrorists that the U.S. targeted with the biggest conventional bomb in its inventory, a MOAB, in Afghanistan, this month, came from Pakistan, Washington’s longtime ally, which is also continues to be the home base for the Afghan Taliban.
So, when the United States makes the outrageous charge that Russia is aiding the Taliban, it’s like the Mafia complaining about organized crime.
