The+Soviet+Invasion+of+Afghanistan

By: Mason Kinkopf

=**The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan** = ==**Background and Overview** == After the Saur revolution in Afghanistan, the pro-Soviet government of Nur Taraki began making socialistic reforms. The more militaristic branch of the People’s Democratic Party, led by Hazifullah Amin, assassinated Taraki and set up a new government. After much growing dissent from the highly traditional Afghan society, violent counter-communist guerrillas formed called the Mujaheddin. In response to the Mujaheddin uprisings, Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev sent troops into Afghanistan to maintain the stability of the communist regime there. ==**Soviet Deployment into Afghanistan** == In order to achieve a rapid response, Brezhnev sent in the elite Soviet airborne forces to the capital, Kabul. Afterwards, other infantry units, including the infamous Spetznaz entered Afghanistan through the Soviet-Afghan border. Amin used the newly arrived Soviet troops to arrest hundreds of political rivals and muslim religious leaders. A few months later in december, Amin was shot by the Soviet occupiers. His replacement was a man the Soviets found more submissive to the Soviet occupation, Babrak Kamal. Initially, the Soviet army experienced very little resistance from partisans and muslim fundamentalists. This would change very soon.

 **The Mujahedeen** The Mujahedeen were a series of rag-tag guerrilla fighters who opposed the Soviets. The Mujahedeen consisted mostly of Muslim fundamentalists and conservatives who had opposed the Afghan People's Democratic Party from the start. Although they usually had inferior equipment, inadequete supplies, and little training; their knowledge of the Afghan countryside and mountains gave them a huge advantage over the the ill-informed Soviet forces. It is for this reason that by 1982 the Mujahedeen controlled around 75% of Afghanistan (4). Noting the success of the Mujahedeen in resisting Soviet pressure, many western countries looked to Afghanistan as an oppurtunity to deal a blow to the Eastern Bloc. The Carter administration expressed interest in exploiting the situation in Afghanistan, but it was the Reagen administration that actually got around to it. Efforts to provide the Mujahedeen with material support from the U.S. was spearheaded by US congressman Charles Wilson. These efforts culminated into Operation Cyclone, which provided the Mujahedeen with ammunition, money, and new experimental anti-aircraft weapons known as Stinger Missile Launchers (5).

**Soviet Anti-Insurgency Methods**  In order to attempt to combat the Mujahedeen more effectively, the Russian army developed many counter-insurgency tactics. Many of these have been described as brutal and inhumane, other methods have pioneered modern anti-insurgency tactics. One operation the Soviets devised that proved very effective were hit-and-run raids against Mujahedeen encampments. Helicopters would drop small units of //Spetsnaz//  special forces around enemy encampments by cover of night. The units would then ambush the Mujahedeen camps, their main advantage being the element of surprise. However, not even this could win the war for the Soviet Union.

**Conclusion and Aftermath** As the casualties began to mount up for the Soviet army, about 14,450 by the Soviet withdrawal(7), there was increasing unrest within the Eastern Bloc. Many would argue that all of the dissent conjured by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan directly lead to the Soviet Union’s collapse. Ten years after the beginning of the conflict, in 1989, the Soviet Union had withdrawn. In that same year, the Berlin Wall would collapse and many eastern European countries would break away from communism. Two years later, the Soviet Union itself collapsed. Many historians refer to the Soviet-Afghan war as the “Soviet Union’s Vietnam” due to the similar insurgency troubles experienced by American soldiers operating in Vietnam.

**Sources and Citations** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(1) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__<http://www.trueknowledge.com/images/thumbs/180/250/Nur_Muhammad_Taraki.jpg>__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nur Taraki image (2) < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__http://www.boerner.net/jboerner/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/BMD-1_in_Afganistan.jpg>__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Soviet Paratroopers in Kabul (3) < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__http://www.thewe.cc/thewei/&/&/bbc4/_40453511_mujahideen203.jpe__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">> Mujahedeen Fighters in Afghanistan (4) Guide to Russia, Various Contributers. "Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan." <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Guide to Russia// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2011. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__http://www.guidetorussia.com/russia-afghanistan.asp__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(5) Heymann, Phillip (2008). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Living the Policy Process.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195335392. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">__(6)<__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Evstafiev-spetsnaz-prepare-for-mission.jpg/250px-Evstafiev-spetsnaz-prepare-for-mission.jpg>] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Spetsnaz soldiers preparing to raid a Mujahedeen hideout. (7) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3366bb; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__http://www.vfw.org/resources/levelxmagazine/0203_Soviet-Afghan%20War.pdf__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__(8)<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/AfghanAirForce1.jpg/250px-AfghanAirForce1.jpg>__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Mujahedeen Victory Day parade in Afghanistan.