Essay on THE SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR

Iran was a major supplier of oil and in 1977, President Carter went there to celebrate the shah’s rule. This caused internal opposition against America and in 1979, a revolution ensued, over-throwing the shah and declaring Iran an Islamic republic. Because of Carter’s close relationship with the shah, he allowed him to seek medical treatment in the US. As a result of this, Khomeini, Muslim cleric who over-threw the shah, followers attacked and invaded the American embassy in Tehran, seizing 66 hostages. This directly shows that Carter’s bleeding heart policy was not always successful and led to a rapid fall in this popularity. Another failure, sometimes referred to as a greater crisis than WWII, of Carter’s foreign policy also began in 1979 and was initially seen more as America losing power because of Carter’s policy, not a direct result of anything he did. In 1979, the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops to Afghanistan to support a government threatened by an Islamic republic. In the end, Afghanistan became Soviet Vietnam, “an unwinnable conflict whose mounting causalities seriously weakened the government at home.” However, when Carter funneled aid to Muslims in Afghanistan to fight against the Soviet Union, an alliance formed that had unexpected consequences. This aid essentially helped Islamic fundamentalists, also known as the Taliban, rise to power in Afghanistan and America has been fighting them ever

The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan just to see themselves as the big “Losers” of the war. The defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan was a serious blow to the prestige of the Army, to national pride and faith in the soviet political leaders. The scars it left on many of the remaining soldiers created social and political problems. A reform of the military was necessary. In the midst of all these turmoil, “there was also corruption and inefficiency within the states bureaucracy” (p.3 smitha.com) and nothing seemed to get done. The soviet people and some Eastern European countries were fed up of all these ongoing problems the Soviet Union was facing. The soviet people were fed up with the high communist party which stood ground and dominated the entire soviet politics, as this was the only party in the states since Stalin’s regime. The party had become rigid and corrupt which discouraged younger party members who saw little chance of advancement. At this stage corruption was the order of the soviet system of government which buoyed lack of commitment to the government.

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

Babrak Karmal replaced by Najibullah as head of Soviet-backed regime. 1988 - Afghanistan, USSR, the US and Pakistan sign peace accords and Soviet Union begins pulling out troops. Red Army quits 1989 - Last Soviet troops leave, but civil war continues as mujahideen push to overthrow

In 1979, the USSR took control of the Afghan capital, Kabul, and tried to gain control over the whole country and its people. The invasion was a failure, costing thousands of lives and having serious consequences.

When the soviet union invaded afghanistan the war lasted for 9 years 1979-1989. Between 1 million to 1.5 million people were killed in that war and millions of people when to a diffrent countries such as pakistan or iran as refugees. The United States supported Afghanistan by supplying arms to the Mujahadeen. Ronald Reagan sent billions of dollars to the Mujahadeen so he can help Jihad against the Soviet Union. “Reagan believed this defense shield could make nuclear war impossible. Reagan deployed CIA special activities division paramilitary officers to train, equip and lend the Mujahideen battalion against the Soviet army”. Reagan’s objective was winning the Cold War and the rollback of communism. The United States also offered financial and

To begin, Mujahidin was a rebel group during the 1980s that Ronald Reagan had funded. During the war the United States gave financial as well as military assistance to Mujahidin (Davis Moorhead). A reason why the U.S. helped Mujahidin was because of the relationship that they had with Great Britain. The Soviets had supported the Afghanistan government and Britain was also supporting the Mujahidin (Davis Moorhead). The main reason why the U.S. got involved was to support Mujahidin with military support. Mujahidin had then lead to the well know terrorist group

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.

As Russian forces pushed into Afghanistan seeking to conquer the nation, spread communism, and secure oil routes, the United States suspected Russia may be successful in its conquest. Moreover, President Carter’s administration took notice and produced presidential findings, allowing the United States to indirectly and mildly support Mujahidin rebel forces, who sought to confront the Russian forces and win back Afghanistan. President Carter utilizing the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) funneled small weapons and funding to associates within the Pakistan intelligence community who in turn provided the items to the rebel forces (Coll

After years of battle, the mujahideen caused a lot of casualties to the Soviet forces which made the war expensive for them. As a result, in 1989 the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan. Unfortunately, this was not the end of the bloodshed. The mujahedin began fighting against each other for control in Kabul.

This paper will be explaining the similarities, and differences, between the Vietnam War and the War in Afghanistan. There are many topics that bring these two wars together. However, I am only going to be talking about public support, policy objectives, military strategy, weapons, fighting spirit, links to home, and death totals. These topics have a lot of information about them, but there is too much to write about every little detail, so I will cover the broad overview of them. Each paragraph will be about one of the topics. There will also be a discussion about insurgencies and counter insurgency operations. These are two big topics in Vietnam and Afghanistan since almost all of the enemy in both wars were, and are, comprised of insurgents and different types of militia groups.

In late December 1979 during the midst of the Cold War, Leonid Brezhnev former General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, sent his Soviet troops to Afghanistan and intervened in support of the Afghan communist government attempting to resolve conflict with anti – communists called the Afghan Guerrillas. The Afghan soviet invasion sustained for over nine years until February 1989 having an extremely high death toll and later becoming known as one of the most influential wars of last quarter of 20th century having caused the rise of extremist group Al-Qaida and is sometimes referred to as the Soviet Union's Vietnam War.

The War in Afghanistan was a social, political, economic and military disaster for the USSR. It lasted 10 years (1979-1989) cost the Soviet Union over $80 billion which further weaken its already fragile economy. In addition, between 40,000 and 50,000 Soviet troops lost their lives, which weakened the population of its army needed to post any threat. Through the war in Afghanistan the Soviet Union found itself economically and militarily over-stretched and not able to cope with competition from the West. This factor also brought the Soviet Union to the brink of

By 1992, the Communist government had collapsed and the Peshawar Accord declared Afghanistan to be the Islamic State of Afghanistan. However, many groups refused to acknowledge the new government and the country soon fell into a civil war that lasted through the 1990s. Post the Soviet War, civil administration in Afghanistan descended into chaos and lawlessness because government departments, the police system, justice systems and education systems did not have time to reform. This led to areas being controlled by different armed factions, who in turn were supported amply by governments and groups in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and the US.