Buildup of U.S. force in Afghanistan won't affect situation, can only keep Kabul govt afloat - Russian diplomat
MOSCOW. June 23 (Interfax) - A possible buildup of the U.S. troops in Afghanistan by another 3,000-5,000 servicemen will have no effect on the situation in the country but could only help the incumbent government in Kabul 'stay afloat', Russian Foreign Ministry Second Asian Department Director and presidential representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said.
"A buildup of the U.S. contingent will have absolutely no effect on the situation. This could only help the incumbent government in Afghanistan stay afloat, but won't resolve Afghanistan's real problems," Kabulov told Interfax.
"Since we said that the 100,000 U.S. troops plus 50,000 [troops] of its satellites could not cope, then what's 4,000? What can they decide? They can't decide anything," he said.
The United States and NATO have stayed in Afghanistan for 15 years, but they "have still not set up any stable government, either deliberately or by mistake," he said.
"There are suspicions - and not only I but also especially the Afghanis have such suspisions - that this is being done deliberately, so that this institution should require permanent American military presence. There is the impression that they have been creating this situation artificially," he said.
"All this is being done artificially, so that the Afghan leadership that was set up by [former U.S. Secretary of State] John Kerry and that [U.S. President Donald] Trump has inherited couldn't handle the situation," he said.
"And, so that the situation doesn't collapse, some number of troops has to be added. In order to keep this project afloat," Kabulov said.
The Taliban has been fighting for the past 15 years, and if they need, they would fight for another 15 years or more and the bloodshed would continue, he said.
The media had reported earlier that the U.S. planned to increase the foreign troops staying in Afghanistan by another 3,000 to 5,000 people and that some of them would be servicemen from countries that are the U.S.' partners in NATO.
However, the Pentagon officially announced later that no final decision had yet been made on the number of U.S. troops to be sent to Afghanistan.
