West rejects Gorbachev Afghan warning, confirms Russian role (Roundup)

By Anna Tomforde Oct 27, 2010, 17:18 GMT

London - NATO Wednesday dismissed a warning by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that the Afghan war was unwinnable while also confirming that Russia will play a bigger role in Afghanistan in the future.

In an interview with BBC TV, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Gorbachev's warning that Afghanistan could turn into 'another Vietnam' resulted from the former Soviet leader's 'own negative view of things.'

In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was impossible to draw parallels between the current international effort in Afghanistan and the Soviet involvement there more than 20 years ago, let alone with the Vietnam War.

Both Rasmussen and Hague confirmed that the role of the current Russian government in Afghanistan would increase in the future.

NATO was in talks with the Russian government about 'further Russian contributions' in Afghanistan, which would be high on the agenda of the NATO summit in Lisbon next month, said Rasmussen.

'For historical reasons, there will not be Russian boots on the ground in Afghanistan,' said Rasmussen. But Russia could provide helicopters, conduct training and cooperate in many areas, including the anti-narcotics fight, he said.

Earlier Wednesday, Hague told the British parliament: 'There is a good deal of unity about what needs to be achieved in Afghanistan with the Russian government.'

'Certainly we can expect to see a larger proportion of NATO's supplies coming from a northerly direction over the coming months,' said Hague, who visited Moscow earlier this month.

In a quarterly update on the situation in Afghanistan, Hague also warned that violence against international troops in Afghanistan was expected to rise as 'steady progress' was being made against the Taliban insurgency.

The number of violent incidents, especially direct shootings, had risen sharply recently, said Hague, without giving precise figures.

Rasmussen said a 'new start in relations between NATO and Russia' would be made at the Lisbon summit.

In an interview with the BBC on Wednesday, Gorbachev urged NATO to withdraw from Afghanistan if a 'another Vietnam' is to be avoided.

The former leader, who was in power when the ex-Soviet Union pulled its troops out of Afghanistan after a 10-year war in the late 1980s, praised the decision by US President Barack Obama to begin withdrawing troops next year.

'Victory is impossible in Afghanistan. Obama is right to pull the troops out. No matter how difficult it will be,' said Gorbachev.

'But what's the alternative - another Vietnam? Sending in half-a-million troops? That wouldn't work,' said Gorbachev.

However, Hague said the current situation in Afghanistan was 'quite different.'

While the Soviet Union in the 1980s had sought to 'impose its will' on Afghanistan, the current, internationally-backed coalition was in Afghanistan to 'let the people of Afghanistan determine their own future.'

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