Intelligence: December 13, 2001

Archives

Cooperation between the US and Russia during the Afghan War has been unprecedented both in its scope and in how much of it has been kept secret. Russian officers were sent to join the Northern Alliance armor and artillery units, improving their performance. Russian Spetznaz troops have been only too happy to raid camps of Chechen terrorists linked to bin Laden, and the US has quietly admitted that the best intelligence data it has on the top terrorists came by way of Russian commandoes capturing key documents and prisoners. The Russians have turned over much of the intelligence data they gathered during their own war in that country, as well as the data from a continuing intelligence operation almost unknown in the West. The Russians have been "keeping an eye" on Afghanistan since they pulled out, questioning refugees and buying information from local warlords. Even with this level of cooperation, the Russians are still in it for their own interests. The sudden deployment of a portable embassy into Kabul came without the prior knowledge or approval of Washington. American analysts are convinced that the Russians want to have a serious role in the formation of a new government in Afghanistan (one that is unlikely to harbor Islamic radicals who form a threat to the stability of the governments of the former-Soviet republics of Central Asia).--Stephen V Cole

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close