“Carefully prepared provocation”: why the topic of “conspiracy” of the Russian Federation and the Taliban does not leave the US agenda

The US administration is not aware of the facts of the leadership of the Taliban * by the Russian intelligence. This was stated by Chairman of the Committee of Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Mark Milli, speaking at a hearing in the House Affairs Committee on House Affairs.

“There is a big difference between the supply of weapons and leadership (actions. - RT ). We know about weapons, weapons, support, and the like. But in the case of Russians, we do not have concrete and corroborated evidence or intelligence indicating any kind of "leadership" (from their side. - RT ). And this is a significant difference. If we had such data, then our answer would be different, ”Millie said.

At the same time, the general added that the US secret services did not "finish their search."

“We will closely deal with these“ rewards ”and get to the bottom of the truth. If any awards are really promised, then it infuriates me as a general. Like all people in shape. If the Russian government or any of their other institutions of power really offer rewards for the killing of US troops, this is very serious. More than serious. But we cannot yet speak with confidence about something like this and continue to study this issue, ”said Millie.

Russia's influence on the situation in Afghanistan has been actively discussed in the United States over the past few weeks. The reason for this was media reports that the Russian Federation allegedly could pay the Taliban for attacks on Americans and their allies in Afghanistan.

Questions on this topic were one of the most frequent at the committee hearings, despite the fact that the role of the US military in suppressing unrestless second month unrest in the country was officially announced on the agenda.

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who also participated in the hearing, shares Millie’s position. Responding to questions from congressmen, representatives of the military department, in particular, touched upon the death in Afghanistan in April 2019 of three troops of the US Marine Corps as a result of an attack by a suicide bomber near the military base in Bagram.

• Mark Esper answers Congressional question
• © Greg Nash / Pool via REUTERS

According to Esper, he has at his disposal a detailed report prepared by intelligence, which alleges the absence of any evidence confirming the existence of a link between the actions of the Russian Federation and the attacks on the Marines.

Mark Milli and Mark Esper also emphasized that the safety of American soldiers is a priority for them, and they are doing everything possible to ensure it. In this context, any credible evidence of a threat to the US military is always taken seriously. At the same time, Milli emphasized that in the situation with Afghanistan and Russia there were no such measures that "should have been taken, but they have not been taken."  

At the same time, both Pentagon representatives said that Russia was allegedly involved in the situation in Afghanistan and was pursuing its own interests there, but noted that the Russian Federation was only one of the players in the region.

“We have known for many years that Russians, in the interests of their own national security, are involved in the situation in Afghanistan. Russia is not our friend. Her involvement is a concern. We carefully monitor this and take appropriate measures. In addition to Moscow, China, Pakistan, Iran are also involved in the affairs of Afghanistan - a lot of countries are involved in its affairs. Many of them are hostile to the US, ”Millie said.

• Mark Esper and Mark Millie at congressional hearings
• © Greg Nash / Pool via REUTERS

Commenting on the issue of leaks in the media, Millie and Esper agreed that it poses a serious threat to national security.

“We are actively investigating cases of information leaks inside the Ministry of Defense. All this harms our national security, damages our troops and the security of military personnel, negatively affects our relations with other countries and undermines our national policy, ”the US Secretary of Defense said, adding that he initiated an internal investigation on this issue. 

Afghan scandal

Recall that at the end of June 2020, The New York Times published material claiming that Russian military intelligence allegedly prompted Taliban militants to attack international military coalitions in Afghanistan.

According to the publication, US President Donald Trump was notified of this, but did not take any measures. However, the article did not provide any evidence. As explained by NYT, the US intelligence received this information during interrogations of the captured "rebels."

A few days later, The New York Times again published material accusing Russia. It said that American officials allegedly recorded transfers of funds from Russian intelligence to the account associated with the Taliban.

Opposition Trump representatives of the Democratic Party hastened to use newspaper reports for new attacks on the head of state.

So, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, accused Trump of inaction and said that he ignores any accusations against Russia. According to her, in the case of Trump, "all roads lead to Putin." A little later, she called for the immediate introduction of new sanctions against Russia.

However, the American authorities immediately denied media reports. President Donald Trump accused The New York Times of distributing fakes and called for revealing the source of the leak. In addition, the head of state said that he was not informed about Russia's ties with the Taliban. Trump's words were also confirmed in American intelligence.

• US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
• © Tom Brenner / Reuters

According to the head of state, The New York Times could organize such a media campaign to denigrate Republicans. Trump also explained that intelligence did not inform him of their data about the alleged involvement of the Russian Federation in the attacks on the US military, as it itself recognized them as unreliable.

The Pentagon also said that they did not have evidence of cooperation between Russia and the Taliban, but they continued to study this issue.

Russia, in turn, has denied the data published by The New York Times. A spokesman for the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, called them a lie and an “absolute duck,” and the Russian Foreign Ministry called it an “unpretentious stuffing.”

The ambassador of Russia to the United States Anatoly Antonov also called the newspaper’s publication false. He also noted that after the appearance of these materials, threats began to come to the Russian diplomatic mission. In this regard, the Russian Embassy sent a note of protest to the State Department and demanded an investigation.

Denied this information in the Taliban itself.

Leaks in favor of the Democrats

According to experts, the publication of The New York Times was made specifically to accuse Trump of leniency and "soft" attitude towards Russia and thereby again raise the topic of collusion of his administration with the Russian Federation, which the US has already begun to forget.

“The New York Times series of publications was originally a carefully prepared provocation in the interests of opponents of the Trump administration from the Democratic Party. They need to support this anti-Russian hysteria and the intensity of the accusations against Trump. To do this, they needed something fundamentally new, which would surely excite American society. So there was a leak about the alleged links of the Russian Federation with the Taliban and the killing of the US military, ”said Sergei Bespalov, an employee of the Institute of Social Sciences of the RANEPA and a member of the Russian Political Science Association, in an interview with RT.

In this matter, the Democrats could find allies among the Republicans, too, because part of the American elite has long been hatching plans to tighten policy on the Russian Federation, the analyst said. 

“There is an idea to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. And this provocation again pours water on this mill, as it were, giving an “argument” in favor of this step in order to introduce new sanctions against Russia. Let the White House refute the statements of journalists, but the necessary information background has been created. And this topic will be raised further as elections approach, ”the expert believes.

In turn, political analyst Alexander Asafov takes a slightly different position. In his opinion, the Trump administration may be partially interested in maintaining the topic of Russia and the Taliban in the information field, because this issue is less "toxic" than the White House’s blunders in domestic politics.

“Now it’s important to keep this topic on the media agenda in order to remove other unpleasant topics, such as the situation with ongoing protests, coronavirus and so on,” the analyst said.

At the same time, both experts agreed that such leaks will continue in the United States and further, despite the fact that the Pentagon promised to fight them.

“There is a black market for compromising evidence. It is quite clear and famous. There are political beneficiaries from such leaks. As long as these things exist, the situation will not change, ”Asafov said.

In turn, Bespalov noted that before the election, Trump is unlikely to be able to correct the situation with leaks, since he did not succeed in four years of his presidency.

“Another thing is if Trump will be able to win the next presidential election, the likelihood of which has significantly decreased recently. In the event of his victory, one can expect that during the second term he will be able to strengthen control over the apparatuses of power and intelligence structures, ”the analyst believes.

"Russia and the US have the same interests"

As Sergei Bespalov emphasized, the information about the “conspiracy” of the Russian Federation and the Taliban is “pure speculation”, since the Russian Federation is not interested in worsening the situation in Afghanistan.

“Obviously, the news is fictitious simply because the situation in Afghanistan is that very rare case when Russia and the United States have much the same interests. We do not need destabilization in Afghanistan, because all this is fraught with further expansion of the terrorist network in this country, which already poses a great danger. If the situation gets out of control, all this can spread to the closest states that are part of the CIS, which is completely unprofitable for Russia, ”Bespalov said.

• US military in Afghanistan
• Reuters
• © Baz Ratner

He also noted that the Taliban do not need any rewards to attack US soldiers.

“Of course, the Taliban do not need any bonuses for attacks on the United States: they attack them for ideological reasons and will continue to do so. There has actually been a war going on for more than ten years. In addition, the Taliban leadership is not always able to control the activities of organization cells, which often act at its discretion, ”the expert said.

According to the analyst, Russia seeks to help resolve the situation in Afghanistan.

“Moscow is interested in establishing peace in this country. The Russian Federation at the official level is a mediator in the inter-Afghan dialogue. And the Taliban are not isolated in this respect: the United States is also negotiating with them, moreover, at the official level. Our diplomats maintain contacts with almost all the political forces of Afghanistan, ”Bespalov concluded.

* "Taliban" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.