Reuters reported today that Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has told the US Secretary of the Treasury John Snow that Russia would contribute aid to Afghanistan once the issue of Afghan debts owed to Russia was settled.

It is not known when did Russia give the loan to Afghanistan and for which purpose. The same report states: " It was not clear how Afghanistan, which was invaded by Russia, had incurred debts to Russia."

The world at large is hopefully not blind and nor forgetful of some of the recent events including the most important event of the end of the last century that led to the complete downfall of the communist regime in the former Soviet Union. The invasion of Afghanistan proved to be the beginning of the end of the communist system in Russia.

However, the Soviet invasion inflicted on the Afghan nation more than a million casualties in human life, and conditions that led to the complete destruction of the whole infrastructure of the country. The sustained and strong resistance to Russian occupation and to its puppet regime together with the flow of coffins of young Soviet soldiers killed in an unjust war plus the huge economic burden of the war made the rulers of the Kremlin withdraw their forces in shame from the small country of their then neighbor, Afghanistan. The world, the West and the United States watched the unfolding of events into the defeat of the red army with interest and jubilation. The Afghans, who had suffered greatly, took pride in regaining of their independence. But by then their country was in ruins because of Soviet military invasion and occupation. Historically, invasions of the same magnitude had prompted world conscious to force the invader in paying for war damages. It seemed natural that the invader was indebted to the invaded and obligated to pay indemnity, not the other way around. Could it be that the almost $ 10 Billion claimed by the Russian Finance Minister as owed by Afghanistan is the price accrued to the Soviet Union because of the Red Army invading Afghanistan and the many bomber aircraft that the Soviets lost to the Afghan resistance and the price of ammunition that killed one million mostly civilian Afghans. If so, then it is time that they should take their case to the International Court at the Hague. They might have a case that would say the Afghans have not paid us for the bullets we fired to kill them or the ammunition we supplied to our puppet regime to suppress their freedom.

As it is, it is not only laughable to entertain the theory, but it should be used as an awakening call for the Afghan administration and the true international friends of Afghanistan, if she has any, to come up with legal action against Russia for failing to pay war indemnity to Afghanistan. Afghanistan does not need aid from Russia at this time; it needs its rightful claim to war damage reparation inflicted by and because of the Soviet invasion. 9/20/03