The Last Battlefield of the Cold War

Does this war ring a bell?  Can you name the players? Even the time period? Neither could I until recently.  I first learned of this war when I read Khaled Hosseini’s novels, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns.  As mentioned in my previous post, Hosseini (an Afghan native) is an incredible writer who uses fictional characters to explain important history in his beloved homeland. 

In 1978 and in the midst of the Cold War, the Soviet Army stepped foot on Afghan soil in an effort to protect their communist interests in this country.  I use the term stepped foot because initially, despite popular belief, the Soviet Army simply responded to an invitation from the Afghan government. The newly instated, yet wildy unpopular communist government in Afghanistan was fighting strong resistance from mujahideen rebels and needed military support from the Soviet Army to contain them.   Unfortunately for Afghanistan, the Soviet leaders had alterior motives. By December 1979, 100,000 Soviet troops were stationed in Kabul and a full-fledged military invasion had begun. 

Eager to combat the spread of communism and the atrocities being committed on innocent Afghan civilians, the United States (with the help of Saudia Arabia and Pakistan) launched one of the biggest covert operations of the time… sending 2 billions dollars worth of military aid to the mujahideen rebels. With US-made shoulder-launched antiaircraft missles, the mujahideen were able to turn the tide on Soviet air tactics, shooting down planes and helicopters with virtually one shot.  By 1989, USSR’s forces pulled out of Afghanistan demoralized and beaten. And while the Afghans themselves did the fighting and dying, many critics of the United States’ involvement admit our monetary support had a significant impact in Afghanistan’s victory over the Russian communists. Many could also argue our support played a sizeable role in the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union. 

So why, in what seems like such a pivotal point in history, is this war not in our history books? Perhaps it is and we just never get that far before the last bell rings. Regardless, I believe it’s worth it to American citizens to understand why this war started and how it ended, because as fate would have it, our triumphant efforts to rescue the mujahideen would come back to bite us 20 years later…

~ by jolie3203 on September 1, 2008.