The Soviet invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan in December 1979 sparked
a bloody nine-year conflict with the Mujahideen until Soviet forces
withdrew in 1988-89, dooming the communist Afghanistan government to
defeat by Afghan popular resistance backed by the USA and other powers.
The Soviet invasion had enormous implications on the global stage; it
prompted the US Senate to refuse to ratify the hard-won SALT II
arms-limitation treaty, and the USA and 64 other countries boycotted the
1980 Moscow Summer Olympics. For Afghanistan, the invasion served to
prolong the interminable civil war that pitted central government
against the regions and faction against faction. The country remains
locked in conflict over 30 years later, with no end in sight.
For over a year before the invasion the communist Afghan government,
installed following a coup and intent on forcibly modernizing the
country's civil law in the face of centuries of feudal practices, had
called for Soviet armed assistance in its efforts to overcome the open
rebellion of the Mujahideen. Fearing the international consequences
should the Afghan government be toppled, the Soviets decided to invade.
From the outset, though, they failed to understand that communist
principles were incompatible with traditional tribal relationships -
especially in a country notorious for its poor communications and
resistance to centralization.
The Soviets found that their forces, largely made up of conscripts
untrained in mountain warfare and counter-insurgency - and deploying
'conventional' weapons such as tanks and helicopters - could not defeat
guerrillas enjoying the support of both the local population and
powerful foreign allies such as the USA, and operating in harsh
mountainous and/or desert terrain that favoured the defenders. The
Soviets decided to stage a phased withdrawal of their own forces and
concentrated on building up the Afghan government forces, but the
Mujahideen soon prevailed, ushering in a new era dominated by the
Taliban, an Islamist militia group that controlled large parts of the
country from the mid-1990s.
Featuring specially drawn mapping and drawing upon a wide range of
sources, this succinct account explains the origins, history and
consequences of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, thereby shedding
new light on the more recent history - and prospects - of that troubled
country.
