NATO Fails to Get Russian Commitment for Afghan War

Secretary General Warns Russia in Danger From Afghanistan

In another sign of just how desperate the international alliance is for help in the floundering war, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen asked the Russian government to provide military helicopters as well as air force training personnel for the Afghan War.

Having already fought their own disastrous decade long war in Afghanistan Russia was, needless to say, none too eager to enter into NATO’s occupation. That fact that Russia and NATO still aren’t on particularly friendly terms likely didn’t help either.

Secretary General Rasmussen insisted that the war was critical for Russia’s interests, and that Russia would be at an increased risk of terrorist attack if the NATO war ends in failure.

This line of argument is likely not to be a convincing one, as similar predicts of disaster after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan never came to fruition, and the Afghan militants seem to have little interest in picking fights with Russia, so long as it is keeping its nose out of the nation’s business.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.