[Peace-discuss] The new supply line through Russia...

[Randall Cotton]

At last Sunday's AWARE meeting, I made mention of how the US was sending
its first supplies to Afghanistan through Russia, bypassing the supply
routes through Pakistan (in particular, avoiding the Khyber pass which had
been the route for 75% of US military supplies to Afghanistan, but is now
consistently under attack by resistance fighters). I said the first
shipment was underway from Latvia, headed down through Russia, Kazakhstan
and Uzbekistan. I also made mention of how the Taliban are saying they've
sent 1000 fighters to intercept these new supplies. I was asked where I
was
getting my information.

After looking through my browser history, I was able to dig up the sources
for this:

Both articles below are from Feb 19, 2009:

"A train carrying non-lethal supplies for the U.S. military in Afghanistan
has left a cargo terminal at the Latvian port of Riga for transit through
Russia, a source in the port administration said on Thursday ... The
'northern corridor' for U.S. transshipments through Russia would likely
cross into Kazakhstan and then Uzbekistan before entering northern
Afghanistan."
http://en.rian.ru/world/20090219/120221767.html


"The former government official, who is now a Taliban commander and member
of the movement's Military Council, pointed to the drawn-out war Russian
forces fought to win control of Afghanistan, only to be turned back by a
relentless insurgency. ... 'The more troops that the U.S. and NATO send,
the more they will get deeper stuck in Afghanistan,' said the former
minister, who spoke to CBS on condition that he not be identified. ...
America and NATO are "certainly losing their minds," by increasing their
troop presence, "while we almost blocked the supply routes coming via
Pakistan, and have already sent about 1,000 Taliban to cut new supply
routes from the north into Kabul, via central Asia and Russia," he said.
http://wcco.com/politics/taliban.afghanistan.united.2.938801.html

I gather the straight-line distance from Riga to Kabul is about 2600
miles. So perhaps a 2 or 3 week journey. Something to watch. Of course,
they may just observe the first one go by and use what they learn to get
ready for later runs. Incidentally, it's not like there *already* weren't
jihadists (even Al-Qaeda jihadists) in Uzbekistan to begin with. It just
seems like a harebrained idea to me, but I'm no expert...

R