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| On January 25,2010 |
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MOSCOW: The United States is repeating the mistakes that the Soviet Union made in Afghanistan, Russian veterans say, convinced the USSR's
Twitter Facebook Share Email Print Save Comment disastrous near decade-long war there harbours deep lessons for Western forces.
"It is now (nearly) nine years since the coalition invaded Afghanistan and nothing has changed," said retired Lieutenant General Ruslan Aushev, 55, who served five years in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation there from 1979-1989.
However, Aushev, who was made a Hero of the Soviet Union after being wounded on his third Afghan deployment, admitted that NATO and US troops face a fiercer enemy today than did Soviet troops.
Then, the Red Army untrained for the mountainous terrain found themselves bogged down in an unwinnable guerrilla war against Mujahedeen Islamist fighters backed financially and militarily by Washington.
"Today, the situation is more complicated. The Mujahedeen were more moderate than the Taliban, who are radical. In our era, there were no suicide bombers," said Aushev, who now heads the Afghan veterans committee.
Major General Makhmud Gareyev was a former deputy chief of the Red Army general staff and a top military adviser to Afghan President Najibullah, who was overthrown by Islamic insurgents in 1992 and hanged by the Taliban four years later.
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| On January 25,2010 |
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An eatery set up by an Indian entrepreneur here, which does not use butter, cream or ghee in its preparations and serves fibre-rich meals to its customers, has been adjudged the best healthy-eating UK restaurant by BBC's food channel.
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| On January 25,2010 |
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| NEW DELHI: If environment experts had high hopes from Sunday’s meeting of BASIC countries, they were in for disappointment.communicating their “voluntary mitigation actions”, minister Jairam Ramesh skirted all ‘glacial’ controversies and pledged the collective support of BASIC countries towards the “Copenhagen Accord which is in the nature of a political agreement” and recalled the important contribution of the BASIC countries in its finalisation.
Though decisions taken by the BASIC countries have no legal standing in the G77 group, the four members are regarded as the most powerful lobby among the developing nations. In a joint statement released by the BASIC countries, Ramesh said, “The ministers also maintained their intention to communicate information on their voluntary mitigation actions to the UNFCCC by January 31, 2010.”
Earlier in the day, however, PM Manmohan Singh rejected the UN deadline of January 31 for submission of emission targets and climate actions under the Copenhagen Accord. According to sources, the PM was particularly unhappy over the repeated prodding of Danish PM Lars Lokke Rasmussen and UN secretary general Ban ki-Moon to accede to the January 31 deadline for target submission.
The PM’s statement assumes significance in the light of remarks made by Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on January 20. Boer had said the January 31 deadline was not binding upon western countries. Only four countries — Australia, Canada, Papua New Guinea and Maldives — have signed the Copenhagen Accord while Cuba has rejected it. Ramesh said after the Copenhagen Accord was signed in December 2009, the rich countries were expected to set substantial targets and funds to the tune of $10 billion towards the poor and developing countries.
However, this had not been achieved. “If the promised $10 billion do not flow to Africa, small islands and LDCs, then the developing countries will show that they are not serious in their intent,” Ramesh said.
Adding that the BASIC countries had a commitment to fulfil, South African water and environment minister Buyelwa Sonjica said, “We hope the US will come up and lead the process of climate change. They were lagging behind at Copenhagen. Now, the US has a moral obligation to take the leadership so that we can deliver effectively at Mexico in December 2010.”
The second meeting of ministers of the BASIC group — Brazil, South Africa, India and China — concluded on Sunday. On Saturday, Carlos Minc, minister of environment in Brazil, Sonjica, and Xie Zhenhua, environment minister of China had met PM Manmohan Singh. The current chair of G77 Yemen was also invited to the BASIC meeting. |
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