The Vietnam War: The Soviet-Afghan War

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.

The soviets invaded to install a communist government in Afghanistan, but faced steep opposition. Sticking to the Truman Doctrine president Bush Sr. sent military aid to the Afghans, and after 10 years, the soviets withdrew because they were on the verge of collapse. When the soviets left a power vacuum was created, with Al-Qaeda eventually becoming the strongest power. Unlike the afghan rebels the US supported, Al-Qaeda was hostile to any western power, and began a Jihad against the West. The rise of Al-Qaeda allowed events like 9/11 and the London train Bombings to occur. Because of the Soviet invasion, radical terrorist groups became powerful, with the effects of them still being felt

Similar to other countries President Reagan was helping fight the Soviets by providing the guerrillas with an extensive amount of military assistance in their fight against the invading Soviets. In part due to the financial, weapons and military training support from America the Afghan rebels were able to eventually defeat the Soviet Union’s military. Some critics are criticizing President Reagans doctrine and claim that in no way did it help the situation in Afghanistan, many of them claim that it was an epic failure. Others believe the doctrine was instrumental in helping bring an end to communism. One specific advantage that has been credited to the doctrine was “the lack of direct involvement of American troops, which allowed the United States to confront Soviet allies without sustaining casualties” (Reagan Doctrine, 2014). In addition it has been argued that it was President Reagan’s pursuit of the Strategic Defense Initiative that bankrupted the Kremlin leadership, prompting a liberalization of the Soviet political economy that brought down the entire

Just as civil conflict led to international conflict, international conflict lead to additional threats from other countries. Although GB only became involved with Afghanistan to prevent Russia from invading, within two centuries their involvement became futile. In 1979, Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Even after a long period of independence in Afghanistan, Afghan troops were unable to defeat the Soviets. The war was brutal, and lasted for an entire decade. Afghanistan remained a weak state from the Soviet-Afghan war, which made them susceptible to intervention from the U.S in 2001. Both events, the Soviet invasion and the arrival of American troops, can be traced back to the border. The border led to complex issues which occurred in quick succession, therefore Afghanistan and Pakistan had to pay attention to the issues that were right in front of them, because they were so apparent and pressing. However, as Af and Pak were distracted, more powerful countries like America and Russia were able to invade. It was an awareness of surrounding political climates that kept Russia and GB out of Afghanistan during the first Anglo-Afghan war, but with their own borders and issues to worry about Af and Pak paid no attention to other

Background information about the War in Afghanistan is absolutely necessary in order to discuss the withdrawal of United States ' troops from Afghanistan. The history intertwining the United States and Afghanistan is a long and complex chronology. For full transparency I

“Afghanistan was a monarchy ruled by King Zahir Shah. On July 17, 1973, when the king was on away on vacation, a man by the name of Mohammad Daoud Khan attained power. The military takeover did not cause any bloodshed, but as we see through Amir's story, it was still a frightening time for the people of Kabul who heard rioting and shooting in the streets. For six years, Mohammad Daoud Khan was President and Prime Minister of Afghanistan. Then, on April 27, 1978, he was violently overthrown by the PDPA, People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. Daoud was killed in the coup along with most of his family. Even though Afghanistan had long insisted on maintaining its independence from Russia, the PDPA was a Communist party and therefore held close ties to the Soviet Union. The PDPA instituted many

The Afghani experience with the Soviet Union is nothing like Central Asian-Russian relations. Ideologically Russia had the same goal for both Central Asia and Afghanistan, hoping that one day both Central Asia and Afghanistan will eventually become Communist nations. The route chose to accomplish this goal did not pan out as planned. Central Asian countries were first invaded in 1715 and again in 1865, there was little to no resistance. Russia came with economic interest and nothing else, the search for gold and the prospect of the Fergana Valley cotton industry. They lived parallel lives, did not mix with the locals or even attempt to implement themselves in Central Asian government. Central Asia never had the ability to defend itself from Russia and Russia had a legitimate geostrategic interest in controlling the region keeping it safe from any ground

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.

The modern nation of Afghanistan, as we come to know it today emerged during the eighteenth century. Pashtun tribes in response to the depletion of the Indian and Persian empires within their lands began to band together to form its very own nation, the nation of Afghanistan. “Afghanistan has been a strategic prize for foreign empires for more than two hundred years. The British, Russians the United States have all fought across its inhospitable terrain, in conflicts variously ruthless, misguided, and bloody. This violent history is littered with broken promises and underestimations” (Loyn 1). Many other nations have tried to conquer this rugged region of the world. All of which involved great nations far more superior in weapons and technology than Afghanistan.

The Soviet invasion was futile in terms of advantages and eventually lethal. It demoralized their troops, punctured the economy and instead of ensuring stability within the Soviet sphere, it instigated their downfall. Furthermore, the role of the United States cannot be overlooked, as the central intelligence agency (CIA) funneled weapons and money to Mujahideen forces through the ISI (Pakistani intelligence) and eventually left Afghanistan to their disposal. The repercussions of such actions evolved into the terrorist attacks on September 11th and still affect American policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Moscow had a very tough decision to make on whether to send troops to Afghanistan to assist Afghan soldiers; ultimately, Soviet troops were

Some Background to the Afghanistan War is that during 1970’s Afghanistan became pro-soviet and a communist nation. However the fundamentalist Islamic group known as the Mujaheddin strongly opposed the government. The Soviets wanted to help their ally resist this threat but did not particularly want to send soldiers. However in 1979 when Hafizullah Amin came to power in Afghanistan he started to look towards the West, in particular America to help deal with this threat.

The Soviet-Afghan war being a piece of the reason why the Soviet Union collapsed is still a huge effect, but the the piece is still small in comparison to the main reason the USSR collapsed was Gorbachev's promise to curtail Soviet occupations of the Eastern Bloc, and non interventionist policies he installed which allowed nations to start peaceful protests. So the war being a piece, but not the piece that solves the puzzle of the collapse of the

Although the European countries were not nearly as alarmed as the United States, the Soviet’s “friends” like the Italian PCI, and the Warsaw Pact countries were concerned about the polarizing effect on East-West relations and the collapse of détente which brought tension among them. Damage to the prestige of the Soviets within the Third World was evident by the fact that Arab states and traditional allies like Iraq provided resources and military assistance to the mujahdin, who was actively fighting against the Soviets. A vigorous covert aid program consisting of money, military equipment, and even anti-aircraft missiles to the Afghanistan resistance groups were funded and supported by the USA, Britain, France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and China . The United Nations attempted a diplomatic solution with the key parties as early as 1981 and throughout the nine years of the conflict; however, the Soviets did not withdraw from Afghanistan until February of 1989. A major factor keeping the Soviets from a diplomatic solution was the American support of the Afghan

It is unlikely that the Soviet Union would have made the agreement to withdraw from Afghanistan unless there were going to get something major in return. Based on our study of coercive diplomacy, it is extremely difficult to convince a country to halt an invasion or action due to the prospect of ruining their reputation. The Cuban Missile Crisis, is the rare case of success. The United States was able to convince the Soviet Union to remove their missiles from Cuba due to the US’s ability to threaten the USSR and by giving the USSR something they

Alluding to Afghanistan as a "draining wound", Gorbachev conceded thrashing and in 1988 proclaimed the Soviet Union's withdrawal from a clash that had turned into their 'Vietnam'. A year later, in February 1989, the last Soviet fighter left Afghanistan.