> > Russia, India and Iran were against Taliban regime
> > and were supporting the Northern Alliance before
> > 9/11. US joined this struggle after 9/11. Thus there
> > has been no change in anti Taliban POV of Russia,
> > India and Iran. It's US position that has changed
> > after 9/11.
>
> Yup. If I recall correctly there were attempts made at the time to
> completely ignore this and explain the ardent support of the US
> invasion by those countries (and all the 'stans) as a result of
> being bribed, threatened, or quid pro quo'd by the US. For
> instance, Russia was supposedly "acquiescing in exchange for
> American silence on Chechnya," completely not noticing that a)
> Afghanistan and Chechnya are linked and b) Russia does not care
> what the United States says about Chechnya.
At the very least, don't you think that Iran's support for the invasion of Afghanistan turned out to be contrary to its national interest? With the US and other troops now in Iraq and Afghanistan, the country is practically surrounded.
As for Russia and the Central Asian states, they seem to be having second thoughts about US bases there:
<blockquote>/6/05 US Urged to Quit Bases in Central Asia By Lisa McAdams, VOA, Moscow
An organization grouping Russia, China and Central Asian nations is urging the United States to set a timeline for withdrawing its military bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The appeal comes at the start of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) two-day Summit in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana.
<http://www.payvand.com/news/05/jul/1036.html></blockquote>
Putin's invitation to Hamas in Moscow and his effort to mediate between Iran and the Washington-Brussels axis also indicate a more assertive and independent policy on the part of Moscow than before.
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org>