War of Afghanistan (1979) - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

Context and unfolding

One year after the coup d'etat of 1978, the Communist regime with the capacity, still fragile, is in prey with the traditionalists supported by Iran. Moscow sends the Red Army in Afghanistan, the December 24th 1979, to bring back Babrak Karmal to the capacity (its predecessor Hafizullah Amin, carried to the capacity by a coup d'etat in September 1979, being considered to be unable to face the guerilla by the Communists and being eliminated by the Spetsnaz S).

The USSR justifies its intervention by the will to preserve the mode in place of islamist Afghan and to maintain the calm one in Central Asia. However, it appears today that this intervention was also justified by the presence of oil in this area, made all the more invaluable as the revolution in Iran started the second oil crisis.

In December 1979, the men of the general Sergei Sokolov take several Afghan cities after the GRU financed the death of Amin. In same time, Soviet troops airborne occupy of the cities of the center.

During the first three years, Soviet extended their control on the country but faces the desertion from two thirds of the Afghan Armée (120000 men). Quickly the moudjahiddin controlled 80% of the territory except for the principal cities. Soviets being tiny room to specific operations, protection of their convoys and dropping of million antipersonnelles mines.

In 1984, the Soviet troops counted 250000 men.

In 1986 Mohammed Nadjibullah replaces Babrak Karmal with the Afghan report heading and wants to negotiate with the rebels while following a national reconciliation process on the principle of a Afghan Perestroïka. Soviet sends raids of helicopters MI-24 Hind and hunters bombers towards the Afghan fortified towns, undergoing Spetsnazs of heavy losses on the ground.

In 1986 the Moudjahiddin started to receive ground-to-air missiles FIM-92 Stinger, which constrained Russian to lose the control of the sky upsetting the balance of the forces. In February 1988, Mikhaïl Gorbatchev decides to withdraw the troops supported by the truce negotiated with Ahmed Chah Massoud.

The truce became effective later one year, the February 15th, 1989, completion date of the Soviet withdrawal of Afghanistan.

Quickly, the Civil war settles between the various groups armed moudjahiddin and the army with the Communist government faithful to the president Mohammed Nadjibullah

The United States

During the Cold war, the the United States, via the CIA, spent 2,1 billion Dollar S during the ten years of the war of Afghanistan, to feed the anti-Soviet resistance incarnated by the Moudjahiddin.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, former adviser for the safety of Jimmy Carter, affirmed in January 1998 which it is “on July 3rd, 1979 that president Carter signed the first directive on the clandestine assistance with the opponents of the mode prosovietic of Kabul”, six months before the intervention of the Soviets ( Nouvel Observateur , 15 January 21st, 1998, p.76) with for objective involving the Red Army in the “Afghan trap”.

In January 1989, John Glassman, the American person in charge with Kabul, had announced at the time evacuation of sound Ambassade: “ I will reopen the shop in September ”. On its side, Marin Strmecki of the Center of sociology of the innovation explained: “ There will be a war and a fast victory of the rebels in the areas of the South and the East (…) Then the seat and the catch of the capital. Lastly, the conquest of North. The mode should thus crumble, six months after the departure of the last Soviet soldier ”.

This declaration of John Glassman was contradicted by the facts, the mode having held more than three years after the departure of the Soviets, indeed Kabul will fall to the hands from the rebels only the April 28th 1992 following resistance from the troops from the president Nadjibullah.

Assessment

On the whole, during their 110 months of military presence, more 900 000 Soviets were useful in Afghanistan, 14 000 were killed and 75 000 wounded, 800 Helicopter S and planes, 1 500 Armoured S and several thousands of vehicles were destroyed. The financial costs for the USSR are estimated between 2 and 3 billion dollars per annum.

The Afghan losses (all confused edges) are estimated at 1 242 000 dead including 80% of civilians. It is estimated that 30 percent of the population had left the country or had moved inside the borders. Since 1992, out of the 6 million Afghan expatriates, approximately 3 million had returned in 1998.

Reflected international

The invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union caused a vast protest movement among the governments pro-Westerners. One of the consequences was the boycott of the Olympic Games of summer of 1980 with Moscow by many countries pro-Westerners.

References

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