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The Significance Of The Soviet-Afghan War

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In order to understand the rise of Jihadist movements and the War on Terror, it is imperative to analyze the significance of the Soviet-Afghan war. Beginning in the late seventies and continuing throughout the eighties, the Soviet-Afghan war was a strife that ensued on Afghan soil as the Soviet response to a growing civil war between conventional Muslims and the Communist leaning government of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). The conflict became a decisive incident that ultimately led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. (To be clear, it was not the reason why the Soviet Union collapsed but a major event that led Soviet leaders to question the relevance of the Soviet model for other countries.) Not only did this mark the …show more content…

“[T]he Cold War world was dominated by the superpower rivalry but not by the superpowers. Moscow and Washington saw themselves as the puppeteers pulling the strings. More often than not, however, they were manipulated by clients who had their own agendas.” This especially applies to the Soviets and their skewed alliance with the PDPA. This PDPA gained power as a result of a coup d’état that took place under the leadership of Mohammad Nur Taraki and Hafizullah Amin. Together, the two became the president and prime minister, respectively, of the new communist government. The implementation of rushed reforms struck a nerve with a large portion of the Afghan population. Groups of Islamic guerrilla factions, known informally as the Mujahideen, wanted nothing more than to displace the communists. In the form of counsel and provisions, The Soviets decided to give military support to the PDPA, which ultimately led to the onset of their proxy war. It is clear that the war harbors parallels to the failure that was the Vietnam War. By the time they got out of there in 1989, the Soviet Army had taken several losses, economically and through troop malaise. The strain of international pressure felt by the Soviet Empire ultimately led to its …show more content…

A figurehead in all of this was no other than Osama Bin Laden, who at first operated as an intermediary for the CIA and the Mujahideen. After the Soviet-Afghan war, the Mujahideen dissolved into the various groups notably Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Their rise to power created a safe space for the likes of terrorists (Osama bin Laden) and dictators (Saddam Hussein). The U.S. initially perceived the Taliban as a good thing. A devoutly Islamic agenda made them seem as if they were maintaining the peace and making sure that oil relations with the West were fine:

"The U.S. didn't provide arms or anything to them, but the U.S. was very sympathetic to them because they were anti-Iran, anti-Shiite. And the U.S. at that time was looking for allies in its confrontation with Iran. The U.S. at that time was also looking for pipeline routes out of the Gulf, which would be under the control of U.S. allies. And they hoped [it would be] through Pakistan to the Gulf. So that was their other

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The mujahedeen were actually better equipped than the Afghan Army they were fighting against. On 27th March 1985, Reagan passed Presidential Directive 166, in which he clearly outlined his objective for the war in Afghanistan: “to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan, by all means available.” He also stated in the Directive that “Our support of the Afghanistan resistance demonstrates our commitment to resisting Soviet aggression.” Not only that, but also that the US government would co-operate with the ISI: “[Relations will include] responding to Pakistani security requirements arising from the support to the resistance.” Before continuing further into the topic, it is important to understand that although US foreign policy was clearly despicable on the part of Reagan, that it was the Pakistan army that originally set up ISI cells within Afghanistan (aid to terrorists) in the 1960s on order of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, longer before any Soviet soldier had crossed the Amu Darya

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Prior to the Soviet invasion in 1979, a civil war was already present in Afghanistan because the Prime Minister, Azifullah Amin, wanted to westernize Afghanistan and

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The use of proxy wars were to ensure that a third world countries government would be a government approved by a major superpower such as the U.S or U.S.S.R.. In the secret war in laos the U.S supported the royal lao government against the Pathet Hao (doc 1b). This is significant because the people of laos did not have a say in what they wanted to do. This affected Laos because they should be able to choose what they want to believe and they should not have ideas crammed down their throats. On december 27th, 1979 afghan leader Amin was shot and killed by the soviet union, he was replaced by a soviet accepted leader Babrak kamal (doc. 9).

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However, Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev believes the United States created these alliances to secure their position as a capitalist nation and not to keep peace (Document 5). The United States are fighting to stay dominant in the arms race, but this is seen as threatening to the Soviets and there is fiery tension of a war. This demonstrates that the two nations had a rivalry because the United States and Soviet Union created these alliances to prevent the other from succeeding in their own policies. NATO was created to protect Western Europe, have a military supply at the ready, and contain communism. The Warsaw Pact was created to protect Eastern European countries from Western attacks and spread communism.

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He knew how to collaborate with others, forge alliances, and require agents by preaching his values. Osama bin Laden’s journey from country to country has been well-documented. Each stop along bin Laden’s journey he adapted to the local culture and developed a strong network of allies. He, with the help of the Taliban Regime, became a hostile force against non-devotees of Islam, especially The United States. At the end of the 1990s, Americans finally become cognizant of the radical Islamist Taliban that had established their government in Kabul.

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On December 25th, 1979 Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan in order to bolster a Marxist government under attack by tribal and religious rebellion. Carter recalled the U.S. ambassador from Moscow, instituted a grain embargo against the USSR, and banned American athletes from participating in the summer Olympics in Moscow. But none of these moves had any visible effect on the Soviet intervention. Onto this dreary scene will step a former movie actor who still saw America and the future in bright Technicolor hues (Collins 25-27).

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And yet, what Reagan and all the others who have worked sleepless nights to ensure, the domestic tranquility that all deserves, the plans did not work out in the way for which they were intended. The USSR, a Communist country, bombarded Eastern Europe with their radical ideals being forced upon innocent civilians via military occupation. This ignited the Cold War, a time period for which political hostility rocked the US and the USSR lasting for 45 years. Reagan transitions into a different tone when talking about this subject. He shifts into an urgent and angry tone when he states that, “Soviet troops that came to the center of this continent did not leave when peace came.

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President Ronald Reagan helped to start the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden because he was trying to fight the soviet union and trained and equipped and funded the islamists Mujahideen Fighters in Afghanistan. His plan backfired when they became the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden recruited the top fighters of that

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In the 1980’s the US Government trained, armed, funded and supported Osama Bin Laden and his followers in Afghanistan during the cold war. With a huge investment of 3 billion dollars, the CIA effectively created and nurtured Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network using US taxpayer money. US citizens would be horrified that one of America’s worst enemies had been trained and supported by their own Government In 1982, Saddam Hussein was given money and arms by the US Government. The US Government also knew he was using chemical weaponry such as mustard gas that they kept quiet. The US wanted to build up Iraq as a military counterweight to Iran and wanted Iraq as an ally.

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The Afghanistan War initially commenced because of the acts of Osama Bin Laden. The Afghan leaders were put under international pressure to hand the terrorist over. When the Taliban failed at handing Osama Bin Laden over, the United States took in upon their armed forces. In October 2011, the United States of America targeted Bin Laden's fighters, the Taliban and began bombing Afghanistan. The conflict when Osama Bin Laden gained the audacity to attack the World Trade Center and pentagon, justifies the causes of this war.

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