Afghanistan Post Imperialism

When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on December 1979, the goal was to help Afghan communist forces set up a communist government. The Soviet Union felt Afghanistan had key resources and a foothold in the Middle East to spread communist ideas. The result would be a war that the Soviet Union wishes it never got involved in and likened to their “Vietnam War”, meaning winning a number of battles but not the war like what happened to the U.S. in Vietnam. The background of the war, outcome of the war, and impact on the United States are key to understanding the Soviet-Afghan War.

For over 2 centuries, Afghanistan has known virtually no time without war. Beginning around 326 B.C. with the conquests of Alexander the Great, to the Persians, British, Russians and most recently, America and our NATO allies, Afghanistan has been cultivated into the country that it is today through a trial by fire. Regardless of this relentless onslaught of foreign military power, the Afghan people have tirelessly defended their homeland with no outside power ever being able to subdue them completely. Following the withdrawal of the Soviet Union in 1989, the country fell into civil war, torn even further apart by fiercely dedicated tribal warlords. This power vacuum led to the rise of a group called the Taliban. Led by a one eyed man

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan- In 1979, the USSR invaded Afghanistan to support the communist government in Afghanistan against noncommunist guerillas supported by the Americans and West. The war began when the USSR began land reforms that were resented by many people, which The war dragged on, costing thousands of Soviet lives despite the fact that the Soviet troops were not able to achieve their objectives, hence the reason why the war was called “Russia’s Vietnam.” Osama bin Laden was among the anti-Communist guerillas and would later lead the terrorist organization that orchestrated the 9/11 attacks.

After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, Islamic fighters rushed to Afghanistan to support their brothers and fight against the communists. Most Arab nations and the U.S. facilitated the

Afghanistan was once a country of peace and stability. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 everything

til September 11, 2001 the Northern Alliance had lost almost all footing in Afghanistan. Post 9/11 Afghanistan became a hotspot for terrorism, the Taliban support for Al-Qaeda(group responsible for 9/11) and their loyalty to Osama Bin Laden made way for the US to intervene. The US made allies with the Northern Alliance and helped diminish Taliban forces. Today Afghanistan is still war torn throughout and full of corruption, all while trying to recover and move forward.

Already in a middle of a war, Afghanistan was in trouble times. On December 24,1979 the soviet of russia surprisingly attacked Afghanistan and their citizens. Prior to the attack, the Soviet Union had a long history of supporting and providing aid to Afghanistan, which is surprising since they helped Afghanistan. The Soviet Union invasion had a huge impact on Afghanistan and mostly their citizens. So they were very confused and scared.

During the 19th century there was a rivalry for power and domination in Asia between the United Kingdom and the Russian Empire. The British were fearing that the Russian Empire would use Afghanistan as a staging area to initiate an invasion of India, which was the pride of the British Empire. The British send out troops to Afghanistan in order to establish an alliance with them, but the Afghan people felt that the British were invading Afghanistan. The British forces set up a poorly defended cantonment about a mile north of Kabul. The dispute between the Afghans and the British started because a British officer was having an affair with an Afghan woman. The British cantonment was constantly attacked and their supply routes were cut off.

When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, it led to a war lasting from 1979 to 1989 which led

Genghis Khan then invaded Afghanistan, completely destroying the agriculture set in place. Many powers and dynasties, including Persia, gain control Afghanistan through constant territorial and political wars. During the years of 1774 and 1921, tribal fighting continues with the capital being transferred from Kandahar to Kabul. This is the start of the first of three Anglo-Afghan Wars. The British attempt to gain control of Afghanistan and fail, leaving them with around 16,500 casualties. The British respond with taking Baluchistan and landlocking Afghanistan. During the second Anglo-Afghan War, the British managed to take some territories and began to run their foreign affairs, leaving Afghanistan the internal affairs. Russia then takes Afghanistan in the north starting the third Anglo-Afghan War where the Afghanistans win and gain full control of all of their own foreign

They invaded on the 27th of December, 1979, killing the Marxist head of state.They used as many as 100,000 troops for this invasion. The United States viewed this as a very disrespectful violation of international law, therefore taking the Soviet’s actions as a threat to their resources such as oil, vital sea lanes, etc. Because of this, in 1980, The United States and various other countries such as Egypt and Pakistan saw this as a great opportunity to prove to the Afghans that they are the “good” countries. Consequently, they decided to help them out. The countries (mainly the United States) provided aid for the Afghans in one of their lowest moments in all of history. They Afghans accepted their generous help and decided to join the cause. The Soviets viewed this alliance as the US just trying to strengthen their army (which it was) which was taken as an offensive gesture. Not everything went according to plan however, a plague of sickness swept through the lands of Afghanistan, once again giving the USSR the advantage point. As the Cold War continued, so did the age of decivilization. Although they did fall many times to the Soviets, the Afghans played a major role in helping the United States throughout the Cold

The instability, created by a decade of internal conflict in Afghanistan, allowed for outsider groups, such as the Soviet Union and later the Taliban, to seize power there. Even before the Soviet Invasion, Afghanistan was burdened with political instability, which stemmed from a lack of leadership at the presidential level and a power struggle between America and the USSR for access to the Afghan elites. This period of instability began under President Mohammed Daoud, who himself took power through a military coup against the previous leader, when he attempted to shift Afghanistan away from Soviet influence and towards America and the West. Daoud’s political maneuvering was faced with severe criticism from his main political opponents: the

In the year of 1979, after helping to establish and maintain a communist government in this nation, the Soviet Union engaged in a bloody war with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, or the DRA (Unknown Author. (Unknown Date). Encyclopedia: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Retrieved April 4, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Soviet-Invasion-of-Afghanistan.). This 10 year conflict caused massive amounts of destruction and mayhem for the country, but in the end was a military disaster (Unknown Author. (Unknown Date). Encyclopedia: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Retrieved April 4, 2004 from the World Wide Web:

As the animosity grew more between the groups, people of Afghanistan gets separated from each other. The novel The Thousand Splendid Suns explains how one group rules over others created destruction in peoples relationship. For example, in a quote from Babi There were plenty of different ethnic groups in Afghanistan which create plenty of tension between them. In this quote Babi states that a person should not be determine by their background since they all are humans means they must be treated equally. No matter what cast or ethnicity you belongs to if you represent the same nation that means you are united.

To stabilize Afghanistan an attempt to close tie up with taliban is very natural. Other issues includes the drawback the role of US in Afghanistan. US and Chinese rivalry are known issue and world focus has been shifted in between these two countries. Russia is also aligned with Afghanistan with strategic partnership and also with China are red alert for Americans as per the fear of communist expansion. China is also encouraging the Pakistan to continue state patronage of cross border terrorism. Beijing also focuses to make India on its bay to keep control over Pakistan by sidelining the enemy.