Former presidential candidate calls US arming of Mujahideen in 1980s ‘the model’ for helping Ukraine defeat Russia
Hillary Clinton has likened the Russian military operation in Ukraine to the Soviet Union’s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, saying a similar outcome might be achieved by helping to arm Kiev’s resistance just like Washington backed Mujahideen fighters against its Cold War rival.
“Remember, the Russians invaded Afghanistan back in 1980 (sic),” the former US presidential candidate and ex-secretary of state said on Monday in an MSNBC interview. “And although no country went in, they certainly had a lot of countries supplying arms and advice and even some advisers to those who were recruited to fight Russia.”
As Clinton noted, the Afghanistan war “didn’t end well” for the Soviet Union, despite its status as a military superpower. “There were other unintended consequences, as we know,” she added with a smile – apparently referring to the fact that arming radical Islamists in Afghanistan gave rise to Al-Qaeda and led to 9/11 attacks in the US – “but the fact is that a very motivated and then funded and armed insurgency basically drove the Russians out of Afghanistan.”
The CIA’s “Operation Cyclone” program funneled billions of dollars in weaponry to Islamist fighters in Afghanistan in the 1980s. In fact, aid to the Mujahideen continued to flow in even after Soviet troops completed their withdrawal in 1989, helping the insurgents to battle Afghan government forces in a civil war.
Clinton, who has long accused Russia of helping Donald Trump steal the 2016 presidential election from her, conceded that the Afghanistan-Ukraine comparison is problematic. For instance, the terrain and urban fighting in Ukraine are nothing like what the Soviets encountered in Afghanistan.
But I think that is the model that people are now looking toward, and if there can be sufficient armaments that get in . . . that can continue to stymie Russia.
Weaponry should be supplied to both Ukrainian government forces and volunteer fighters, Clinton argued. She said arms shipments should be able to get through Ukraine’s borders with some neighboring countries.
“Let’s be clear that Russia has overwhelming military force, but of course, they did in Afghanistan, as well,” Clinton said. She added that, even with ample air power, it took years for Russia to defeat anti-government forces in Syria.
Clinton’s stint as secretary of state had ended by the time Russia intervened in the Syrian civil war in 2015. Also a former senator and first lady, she urged President Joe Biden’s administration to provide sufficient arms to Ukrainian fighters and to “keep tightening the screws” against Russia.
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Paris stated that 488 Russian oligarchs are already under European sanctions
Bruno Le Maire, France’s Minister of the Economy, has pledged that his country will “wage a total economic and financial war on Russia,” outlining how Europe will seek to punish Moscow and President Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to Franceinfo on Tuesday, the government minister was clear that sanctions will be “applied” to individuals and entities until “Vladimir Putin returns to better intentions in Ukraine.”
Stating that “488 personalities” have been added to the list of individuals currently under European sanctions over the conflict, Le Maire says France will “target the heart of the Russian system,” including Putin and oligarchs, making clear that the “Russian people will also pay the consequences.”
“The sanctions are effective, the economic and financial sanctions are even extremely effective,” Le Maire said, claiming “Russian foreign exchange reserves are melting like snow in the sun,” as the “ruble has collapsed by 30%.”
Beyond the sanctions that have already been imposed, Le Maire outlined how Europe is seeking to move from freezing assets to the seizure of assets, as the European Union (EU) seeks to make sure “no oligarch will slip through the mesh of our nets.”
While not divulging specific details, Le Maire floated military concerns across the EU, claiming that, in the wake of “this deliberate aggression,” Europe has “become aware of the need to arm itself militarily.”
The comments from the French minister come after Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, claimed that Moscow has no plans to occupy Ukraine following last week’s military assault on its neighbor.
“Occupation of Ukraine is not part of our plans. The purpose of this special operation is to protect people, who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for the past eight years. This is why it’s necessary to demilitarize and de-nazify Ukraine,” Nebenzia said, reiterating Putin’s earlier justification for the conflict.
After three days of intense clashes across areas in parts of Ukraine, the number of civilian casualties and damage to critical infrastructure are growing, and the United Nations and its relief partners are working day and night to care for the injured, the Security Council heard on Monday during an urgent meeting on the humanitarian situation in the country.
