[winner3000]

It sounds like Putin is trying to take some credit for "allowing" the US to defeat the Taliban so quickly. Bush wisely allowed him to take whatever credit he wanted. All Bush cares about are results. He doesn't seem to care about taking credit.

[Destro]

We used Russia's Northern Alliance to win. We had our allied the Pakistanis backing the Taliban. Kiss Putin's ass.

[RightWhale]

It sounds like Putin is trying to take some credit for "allowing" the US to defeat the Taliban so quickly.

Both Iraq and Afghanistan are in the old Soviet sphere, and it was the collapse of the USSR that made this rise of Islamoid terroristic fundamentalism possible. The US had to fill the gap, and will withdraw eventually. There is no need and no desire for America to stay permanently inside the sphere of Russian influence past the time Russia regains its strength.