Out of curiosity...Upon googling why the Russians waged a 9 year war in Afghanistan back in the 80s................... A WAR OF LIBERATION The prime minister, Hazifullah Amin, tried to sweep aside Muslim tradition within the nation. He wanted a more western slant to Afghanistan. This outraged the majority of Afghanistanis as a strong tradition of Muslim belief was common in the country. The Soviets were told by its KGB spies that Amins rule was a threat to the part of Central Asia that was Soviet. They also suspected that Amin, although communist, was not loyal to the Soviet Union. They found some information about Amins attempt to be friendlier with Pakistan and China. The Soviets also suspected that Amin was behind the death of president Nur Muhammad Taraki. Finally, the Soviets decided to remove Amin. The Soviet people were told that in fact this action was about the liberation of the Afghan communists. That all the Soviet soldiers were there to fulfill their duty as stated in the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Good Neighborliness of 1978. Soviet people were used to this type of reasoning from earlier actions in Vietnam, Nicaragua, Cuba and Eastern Europe. Under Soviet ideology it was imperative to defend and proliferate any exsisting communist state. The air portion of the war was fought using napalm, poison gas and helicopter gun ships against the Mujahdeen. Estimates of Afghan civilian deaths vary from 850,000 to 1,500,000. The United Nations had condemned the invasion as early as January 1980 but a Security Council motion calling for the withdrawal of Russian forces had been vetoed......by Russia.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 13:15:10 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015