Soviet Union Invasion of Afghanistan - Research Paper Example

? and Section # of Introduction: The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to install and establish the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) in power. This invasion lasted a whole 9 years and culminated in the soviet-afghan friendship treaty which was signed in 1978. This treaty allowed Afghanistan to ask for military assistance from USSR. The USSR invaded Afghanistan in December in an attempt to rescue and save their failing communist regime. Before the attack, the government and president of Afghanistan had been overthrown in 1978 because of which a bloody rebellion reform started mostly in the rural areas. After the invasion, the Soviet Union killed the existing president of Afghanistan, Hazifullah Amin, and then installed their own puppet government and President Babrak Kamal. However, Kamal failed to bring peace and balance in the country because of which he was replaced by Dr. Najibullah in 1986 and was President until 1992. There were many reasons behind the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The strategic reason could be the fact that Afghanistan was centrally located as a gateway to the entire Asian world. Occupying Afghanistan would have given it a “global reach,” because it was connected to almost all parts of the Asian world. Also, the warm water of the Indian Ocean attracted the Soviets. By gaining control of Afghanistan they would have had access to the Arabian Sea. Trade would also have been easier through Afghanistan as it had access to economies and markets of the middle East. Afghanistan was also very rich in natural deposits and resources which also had the attention of USSR. The political or ideological reason is that the communist regime in Soveit Union wanted to expand and spread its philosophy throughout the entire world. Also, Daud khan was breaking away and rebelling against the Soviet influence; they saw this as alarmingly dangerous for USSR. Aftermaths of the war: With the collaboration of America-Pakistan against the USSR, Afghanistan saw an emergence of ongoing guerrilla warfare. The United states, through Pakistan, funded the Afghan insurgents and Mujahideen, financing them with weapons as well as money. (Meher 2004) The Soviets suffered enormously through the hands of these mujhahideen. The soviets had to pay a huge price because of this ferocious resistance as it turned out to be disastrous in terms of military, financially as well as diplomatically. In 1988, the Geneva accords were signed and it included in it a time table which ensured a full Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989. Estimates of the Afghan death vary from 1 million to around 2 million. 15000 soviet soldiers were also injured and killed in the war. Around 10 million Afghans fled to Pakistan as well as Iran. Another 2 million Afghan people were displaced within the country. The Aerial bombing by the soviets destroyed important structures like irrigation canals which were extremely crucial to the agriculture in and arid climate. Most of the farmers who decided to stay in Afghanistan had their fields and irrigation systems bombed and live stocks destroyed. The Land mines alone killed 25000 Afghans during the war and another 10-15 million land mines have been left scattered throughout the country. Even today, Afghan people die or are critically injured as a result of these land mines. In 1994, The International committee of the Red Cross estimated that it would take around 4500 more years to remove all the land mines placed by the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. A year after the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the USSR collapsed. Similarities between the USSR and US war in Afghanistan: Of course, there are many similarities between the Soviet strategies and policies of their Afghan war of 1979 and the American tactics in Afghanistan since 2001. In 1980s, the USSR was failing in Afghanistan even after a new leadership was emerging the capital of the Soviet Union. The new leadership started to make new strategic changes in order to rescue whatever they could from Afghanistan. Firstly, they changed their military strategy from fighting the insurgents to controlling the population centres that connected them. Secondly, they introduced a reconciliation program in order to change the unpopular and disliked puppet government that they had installed. They took measures to enhance its popularity in the eyes of the public. And thirdly, the soviets worked hard on building a good competent Afghan army so they could be handed the job of Afghan security. If one looks at it, they will realize that the United States is doing all three of them. General McStanley, who was the commander of US forces in Afghanistan in 2009, focused on a new strategy to be implemented in Afghanistan. This strategy meant that the US and NATO forces will focus their entire attention on “key districts” of the Afghan population as well as all the road and infrastructure network that connects them. Apart from that, the Program Takhim-e-Sohl was established in 2005 by President Hamid Karzai in order to call for national reconciliation and agreement with the Taliban and other insurgents. This can be seen as an attempt by the US to bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan. The United States and NATO also realized that a strong and effective Afghan force will bring a solution to many problems. In 2001, a “security sector” reform was introduced in order to create a better Afghan security force structure. Disarmament, demobilization and Reintegration program was led by Japan and it was introduced to free the country of private militia groups. Afghan national policy was introduced, led by Germany, in order to transform and renovate the security sector of Afghanistan. Also, in 2010, USA planned to “Afghanize” the battle by increasing the number and size of Afghanistan’s National Security forces. Conclusion: Presently, the US strategy of the Afghan war does not promise success if we look and compare it with the Soviet invasion. Since the attacks of September 11, USA has spent much of its budget and economy in deploying increasing numbers of US forces and the use of latest technology. Works Cited: Meher, J. America's Afghanistan war: the success that failed. Gyan books (2004) Al-Ahram weekly online/Alam, S. “USA and USSR: accidental parellels”. Accessed on December 2, 2011. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/987/special.htm Center for strategic and international studies/CSIS/Kuchins, A. “The soviet and IS experience in Military intervention in Afghanistan and current US-Russian Cooperation”. Accessed on December 2, 2011. http://csis.org/publication/soviet-and-us-experiences-military-intervention-afghanistan-and-current-us-russian-coope Read More