Russia-Afghan Talks Focus on Dope Fight, Reconstruction

May 14 (EIRNS)—A delegation of officials from Afghanistan is visiting Moscow, timed with the 90th anniversary of the establishment of Soviet-Afghan diplomatic relations in 1919. The highest-ranking official in the delegation, second Vice President Karim Khalili, took part in a May 13 session of the Russian State Anti-Narcotics Committee's working group on Afghanistan, which was the first time an Afghan delegation had done so. Khalili heads the Hezb-e-Wahdat (Unity) party, which is close to Iran. He is accompanied by Gen. Khodaidad, Afghanistan's minister for combatting narcotics trafficking; Sai Ishak Gelani, the deputy head of the Afghan Parliament's International Affairs Commission; Presidential advisor on nationalities policy Wahidullah Sabaun; Presidential candidate Abdul Ali Seraj; and other members of Parliament, businessmen, and scholars.

Russian state TV Vesti ran a six-minute segment on the session, featuring statements by Khalili and Russian Federal Anti-Narcotics Service head Victor Ivanov on the need for urgent joint action to shut down the flow of heroin from Afghanistan. Ivanov emphasized that the surge in dope production coincided with NATO's arrival in the country, while Khalili put the matter in terms of the dope-terrorism link. Since the beginning of the year, Ivanov has been calling for a shift to substantial Russian-American cooperation against dope production in Afghanistan, but this emphasis in his public statements has faded in recent weeks, in the absence of a decisive response from the U.S.A.

A second event for the delegation was today's Russia-Afghanistan Forum, announced as the launch of a "strategic dialogue" between Moscow and Kabul. Its main organizer is the Institute for Demography, Migration, and Regional Development, whose head, Yuri Krupnov, called, in today's Moscow Times, for a "Marshall Plan" approach to the large-scale economic development of Afghanistan. As in the IDMRD's pamphlet "Russia's Policy Will Determine the Path to Peace in Afghanistan" (excerpted in EIR, Feb. 27, 2009), Krupnov called for the Russian government to pursue a policy of "exporting development," as against "the bankrupt doctrine of 'exporting democracy,' " promoted from Washington.

Victor Ivanov, in his address to the Forum today, used similar language, saying that "Afghanistan 'critically requires a Marshall Plan.' " RBC.ru reported that Ivanov called for Russia to engage in reconstructing Soviet-built infrastructure and industry in the country, while Afghan Senator Kamar Khosti told RBC, "We need Russia to help rebuild destroyed facilities and roads in Afghanistan, which were built by Soviet specialists." Ivanov also demanded that foreign forces present in Afghanistan take part in physically destroying the narcotics industry—plantings, laboratories, and shipping capacities.

LaRouche Russian-language Publications Spread

May 16 (EIRNS)—Lyndon LaRouche's April 23 article, "Soon, Hyperinflation," continues to be at the center of hot debate in Russia, as reflected in the publication of its Russian translation on 30 different websites and blogs over the past 10 days. The article also appeared in the May 20 issue of the newspaper of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine.

Other Russian outlets are translating material from LaRouche and Helga Zepp-LaRouche, as well as articles from EIR. Among the latest:

* BFM.ru, a major economic news outlet, yesterday published a Russian translation of Helga Zepp-LaRouche's recent interview with German economist Prof. Wilhelm Hankel, on the need for a "good bank," rather than "bad banks." Published in EIR of May 1, this interview leads with the threat of hyperinflation. An earlier interview of Hankel by Zepp-LaRouche was one of BFM.ru's most-read publications ever.

* Inoforum.ru, a foreign press translation and discussion forum, has translated the "Dialogue with LaRouche" on the Nazi doctors brainwashing President Obama, from EIR of May 15.

* Two LPAC-TV videos on American-system infrastructure development vs. the British Empire, released by LaRouche PAC with Russian voiceover, are being viewed by hundreds of people on the RuTube Internet channel. They are "NAWAPA-PLHINO: The Future of the Americas" and "The Future of Africa." Viewers have begun posting links to them in various online forums.