The Russian foreign ministry has said that the country endorses U.S renovated strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Like the rest of the international community, Russia wants Afghanistan to quickly become an independent, prosperous and sovereign state, rid of illegal drugs trade and terrorism, said the statement from Smolensk Square. Moscow believes that such transformation can help to accelerate realization of the objectives contained in the new American Afghan strategy.
Moscow well understands the reason for the 30 thousand troop surge announced by U.S President Barack Obama. Beefing up of the military contingents and hardware is absolutely necessary to counter the Taliban which now controls 11 of the 34 provinces in the country. Extra servicemen and equipment are necessary to enable coalition forces to break Taliban stranglehold and to positively impact on/ the unhealthy public and political situation.
But it is clear that the Afghan problem can't be solved by force alone; support of Afghan citizens is vital. And US hence the statement about the plans to hand over to Afghan government full powers and responsibility for the situation in the country, should be welcomed. In the final analysis, it is the Afghan people and government that should tackle and solve all the difficult problems the country faces, and toward that goal, it is necessary to create combat ready armed forces as well as a strong economy, Azhdar Kurtov of the institute for strategic studies:
"In addition to troop surge, America is also focusing on training combat ready armed forces for Afghanistan, for which purpose few years will not be enough. It is not enough to train a soldier to handle and use modern weapons; long period of time will be needed to ensure that the armed forces being trained can exist under the harsh conditions of Afghanistan", said Kurtov.
Among the realities of today's Afghanistan is the existence of sharply opposite points of view pertaining to the presence of foreign soldiers in the country. Most Afghans see American and allied servicemen as occupying troops, a view being exploited by the Taliban.
Solving Afghanistan's myriad of problems requires large scale international involvement. In sharp contrast to previous U.S administration, the present one recognizes this bitter truth, partially, it thought it fit to inform U.S partners in the international coalition and Afghan authorities well in advance announcing about it's renovated Afghan strategy. In this connection, the Russian foreign ministry has spoken about readiness of Moscow to continue to contribute to efforts at stabilizing the Afghan situation as well as to the implementation of the programme of social and economic development of Afghanistan.
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