The Commander of U.S. Forces in Europe, General Curtis Scaparrotti, says that Russian influence in Afghanistan is growing and that Moscow is possibly even supplying the extremist insurgency. The general did not say what type of supplies Russia might be providing the rebels.
“I’ve seen the influence of Russia of late – increased influence in terms of association and perhaps even supply to the Taliban,” Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, who is also NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, reported Reuters.
For its part, Russia says it has conducted limited contacts with the Taliban to attempt to bring them to the negotiating table. The Taliban was kicked out of power by the United States after the turn of the century but now control almost half of the country after U.S. President Obama removed most of the troops in the theater.
“NATO and the United States, in my view, must win in Afghanistan,” remarked the NATO officer.
Reuters reported also that the top U.S. commander in the country, General John Nicholson, said last month that Afghanistan was in a “stalemate” and that thousands more international troops would be needed to boost the existing NATO-led training and advisory mission.
President Obama was forced to leave more troops in Afghanistan than he desired towards the end of his presidency as the Taliban was growing stronger in the country. The greatest failure of the incompetent Obama foreign policy was the removal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan before stability was established after the American invasions.
