MOSCOW. July 10 (Interfax-AVN) - Afghanistan prefers the Russian military policy to the U.S. military doctrine, a high- ranking Defense Ministry official told Interfax-Military News Agency Thursday on condition of anonymity.
"The Russian military policy is better to Kabul than the American one. Afghan Defense Minister Marshal Fahim's visit to Russia is another proof of the fact that the Kabul administration prefers Russian military policy to the American one," he said.
"Now the Afghan authorities can actually compare the Soviet- then-Russian military presence in the country with the results of American activity there. There is a great difference," he added.
"The Americans leave it to others to recover (the life in Afghanistan - Interfax-AVN). The Soviet military presence was quite a different thing - tankers delivered fuel not only for tanks and aircraft; they also supplied local residents. Various kinds of aid were rendered," he also said.
At the same time, Russia has to be very cautious about military cooperation with Afghanistan the official went on. Russia should not embrace the Afghan Defense Ministry, he said, because the current Karzai-led Afghan government is universally considered to be interim. No one can say for sure at the moment who will head the country in the near future, he emphasized.
Another point is money, the official said.
"Military cooperation is aimed either at creating a 'satellite country' to set up military bases there, or at earning money. Russia intends neither to set up bases in Afghanistan nor to make it a satellite. As to the money, Kabul's main source of currency, which the world community does not deny, is narcotics. Will Moscow become a laundry for drug dollars? This role hardly suits Russia," the source said.