Still, the presidents were able to smile and shake hands over one key "deliverable": an agreement that would allow the United States to transit lethal military cargo via Russian airspace to Afghanistan. That deal was said to mark an important uptick in bilateral cooperation on stabilizing Afghanistan, a goal that both sides emphasize is in their strategic interests.
Speaking a few days after the summit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized the grand scale of the accord, saying, "the U.S. military plans to carry out a significant number of flights, up to 4,000-and-something per year."
But six months later, that agreement has produced no significant results, despite the growing insecurity of U.S. supply lines to Afghanistan through Pakistan and the dramatic increase in the number of coalition forces deployed in the region.
You'll recall that our administration claimed that the supply issue success was a direct result of our giving up the Bush-era missile defense plan for eastern Europe. Russia saw it as the other way around.
And either way you look at it, Russia isn't allowing supplies to flow to our forces in Afghanistan, which are growing every day. And you wonder why I worry so much about our supply lines when Russia has their hand firmly on one of the lines we are counting on? And seem in no hurry to loosen their grip? Heck, I suspect the Russians are enjoying themselves too much to easily stop.
It's like that Clinton reset button doesn't work at all!
