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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRussia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says
WASHINGTON American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan including targeting American troops amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The United States concluded months ago that the Russian unit, which has been linked to assassination attempts and other covert operations in Europe intended to destabilize the West or take revenge on turncoats, had covertly offered rewards for successful attacks last year.
Islamist militants, or armed criminal elements closely associated with them, are believed to have collected some bounty money, the officials said. Twenty Americans were killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2019, but it was not clear which killings were under suspicion.
The intelligence finding was briefed to President Trump, and the White Houses National Security Council discussed the problem at an interagency meeting in late March, the officials said. Officials developed a menu of potential options starting with making a diplomatic complaint to Moscow and a demand that it stop, along with an escalating series of sanctions and other possible responses, but the White House has yet to authorize any step, the officials said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/politics/russia-afghanistan-bounties.html
Turbineguy
(37,295 posts)Doodley
(9,048 posts)doc03
(35,299 posts)no_hypocrisy
(46,031 posts)1. Russia wants the abundant and rare trace minerals in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has over 1,400 mineral fields,[1][2][3] containing barite, chromite, coal, copper, gold, iron ore, lead, natural gas, petroleum, precious and semi-precious stones, salt, sulfur, talc, and zinc, among many other minerals.[1][4] Gemstones include high-quality emerald, lapis lazuli, red garnet and ruby. According to a joint study by The Pentagon and the United States Geological Survey, Afghanistan has an estimated US$3 trillion[5] of untapped minerals.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_Afghanistan#:~:text=Afghanistan%20has%20over%201%2C400%20mineral,lazuli%2C%20red%20garnet%20and%20ruby.
2. Russia can get those rare minerals if it makes a deal with the Taliban.
3. By putting the Taliban in charge, #2 can be achieved.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)China has been safely opening there for a few years.
Maybe we can reframe our relationship with the country, but Trump does not have the skill to properly do that.
leftieNanner
(15,067 posts)We now have an example of the Constitutional Definition of Traitor.
We have troops in Afghanistan. They have been targeted by bounty hunters being paid by Russia.
The Idiot-in-Chief KNOWS this and he "gives aid and comfort" to our enemy.
He has officially crossed over into the actual definition of Traitorous behavior.
BComplex
(8,019 posts)But this is proof. And he needs to be tried as a traitor.
sop
(10,106 posts)Trump has never once criticized Putin, going out of his way to publicly kowtow to him at every opportunity. This is treason.
BlueLucy
(1,609 posts)who get paid to help Russia's reputation around the West. Not just Russia but Turkey, Assange in Syria and others. They have even gone as far as to report leaks from NSA to the FBI in an effort to shut people up.
C_U_L8R
(44,991 posts)And did nothing. It's ridiculous how unfit he is.
Republicans, this clown is taking you down with him.
struggle4progress
(118,236 posts)LiberalArkie
(15,703 posts)soldiers in Afghanistan and form a little known club called the Talibans?
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)IronLionZion
(45,380 posts)it all makes sense