What caused the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979 - Essay Example

? CAUSES OF SOVIET INTERVENTION IN AFGHANISTAN Causes of Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan Introduction In this research report, the main of discussion is to highlight and expand upon causes of Soviet invasion in Afghanistan. There are various events that show the purpose of their invasion in Afghanistan. This paper will be presenting different arguments, which led to the atrocities carried out by Soviets and the impact of the war in Afghanistan and its implication in the history of the Soviets and the whole region. In the first part of the essay, a background of the Afghanistan before the invasion of the Soviets will be discussed which would highlight the circumstances, which made it easier for the Soviets to access Afghanistan. In the second part, the role of Brezhnev and Troika to invade Afghanistan will show us the behavior, which compelled them to initiate a risk taking behavior. In the third part, analysis of the whole events will be presented. The Evaluation of the situation, which will help us understand the causes of Soviet invasion in Afghanistan. In the end, a conclusion will be provide which will sum up the political events happening in Afghanistan projecting the role of United States in South Asia and the aftereffects of the war on Soviets1. At the time of invasion, there were two important systems of government, which were having their rule. The capitalist countries like United States where the resources are in the hand of few influential people and Communism in which there is the distribution of all its resources to bring equality, which Soviets tried to spread throughout their region and Afghanistan2. Causes of invasion given to Soviets A War of Liberation: The soviet people were given the reason of their invasion of Afghanistan was for the liberation of the Afghan communists. They had carried out the same actions in Vietnam, Nicaragua, Cuba and Eastern Europe so they justified their actions by giving these examples. Also, it was the Soviet ideology to defend communist state. However these reasons failed to convince the Soviets when the atrocities reached in USSR3. A battle against Islamic Extremism: Soviet when invaded Afghanistan gave a reason that there was Islamic extremism, and they justified their atrocities that they wanted to bring a change in their set-up, as they were ignorant. The Soviet ideology was Atheism, so they wanted to create a stable communist society, portraying that the system needs to be reformed, and they need to safeguard the government from Islamic fundamentalism4 (Cordovez 1995). Analysis through political events: In reality these were not the cases. In order to understand the causes of the Soviet invasion we are projecting all the events that took place due to which the war was fought which resulted in devastation for both, the Soviets and the Afghani’s. Afghanistan: Early Years (1971-1978) During 1971-1978, Afghanistan was considered as one of the most under developed nation of the world. There was a terrible drought in the region during 1971-1973 due to which there was a breakdown in their economy, and Afghanistan had to turn to other countries like West Germany, Iran, United States and USSR for support. During this time besides economic crises, there was also a lot of political unrest in the country. This political instability also contributed in increasing the country’s problems5. At that time a political party - “People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)” was the most popular party, which had a major role, is causing distress in the country. This party was formed in 1965, which constituted of 30 Afghans and most of the members of PDPA had got their military training in the USSR. It was seen that there were many issues between its two leaders, Nur Mohammad Taraki and Babrak Karmal. Both the parties strived for power and due to the differences in 1967, Karmal formed his own party by the same name PDPA, but its identification was named as ‘Parcham’ (banner). The two parties started to compete with each other, and by early 1970’s the Taraki’s administration had curbed and arrested Parcham’s party members and closed their newspaper and administration, , Karmal’s kept protesting against them6. During this time, Mohammad Daud Khan gained his power in the government, and he had an authoritarian rule and was able to alienate the different groups, which were Afghanistan’s socialists and other fundamentalists. During his time in 1975, Daud continued to make contributions in maintaining stability in the region but there were still many groups who were against him. Formation of Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA): United States and other foreign countries were happy with Daud’s administration, but the Parchami’s and the PDPA members grew very impatient with his rule and by 1977, the two groups united again, they were apparently supported by the Soviets. The rivalry between the Daud and PDPA went to this extent that by 1978 Mir Akbar Khaibar, a member of PDPA, was assassinated. This resulted in protest by the PDPA group, which conducted rallies to mourn the death and after a series of arrests, the military with collaboration of PDPA was able to execute Mohammad Daud Khan. The new government formed was a socialist and pro-Soviet and was called the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA)7. Taraki and his team members dominated this government. They were backed by Soviets and had control over the military of Afghanistan. Involvement of Russian military in Afghanistan has a long history; it began in the early years when there were events when Russian seized Afghan territory, which created crises between Russia and Britain. After World War II, Afghanistan increased its relationship with the Soviet Union for support after they saw United States create military ties with Pakistan. To sum it up, the political unrest in the country caused the Soviets to intervene in the government functions8. During this time when Soviets were gaining access in Afghanistan, in 1978 a treaty was also signed between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union to allow more aid and military assistance in the country. This Act shows how the Soviets gradually made its way in Afghanistan to take control over them9. Intervention of the Soviets: Soviets gained access in Afghanistan for their own motives. It was comprehended through various studies that they hoped to access the warm waters, the Indian Ocean by creating a stable communist government and also improve their naval fleet and military troops in Afghanistan. The warm waters access would provide trade routes to India and the Middle East. Besides this, Soviets also wanted to have control of important natural resources of the country such as natural gas, uranium, iron ore, and copper etc.10. It was also seen that in 1978, when President Daud Khan’s reign came to an end and Soviets launched a coup bringing in their spies and other intellectuals in Afghanistan, they succeeded in getting into the government. However, rebellious groups were already formed which made it difficult to make peace and tranquility in the country. The violent activities resulted in the death of a president, Nur Muhammad Taraki in 1979 who was a leader of the Afghan communist party before being elected11. According to some sources, the death of Nur Muhammad Taraki affected Brezhnev, his close associate, to such an extent that he wanted to take avenge and decided to invade Afghanistan. Hence, resulting in a 10-year war in which majority of the Afghans suffered along with the Soviets12. The Soviet Invasion and the Resistance At that time, Hazifullah Amin the communist leader of Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) had its rule in Afghanistan when Soviet intervened. Troika who were Soviet governing officials had initially recommended Brezhnev to invade Afghanistan. The Soviets, upon entering into Afghanistan imposed new military and social reforms due to which tribal leaders faced immense difficulty. The poor people suffered, and there were mass arrests, tortures and various executions to curb and control ethnic revolts of the tribes. The atrocities carried out by the Soviet were lamentable and caused unrest in the whole region13. The United States and other countries were not happy with the approach of DRA and the new government and the radical reforms they carried. Moreover, when the U.S ambassador, Adolph Dubs was killed, and the DRA did not investigate into the matter, United States refused to replace Dubs with another ambassador and also gave them a warning that they would impose sanctions to the aid which was provided to the DRA. There were a lot of protests, and it was decided that United States and other countries would provide aid and support to the rebel groups of Afghanistan. By late 1979, there was a lot of bloodshed and warfare between the rebellions and the DRA14. Initially Soviets were not aware of the sources provided to the alliances, which were backed by United States and the west. They thought that they could improve the use of military equipment and provide a platform for training their soldiers in Afghanistan, but this was not the case, the alliances came back strong and it was difficult for Soviets retain their position in the region15. The Soviet War: The Soviet war in Afghanistan started in December 1979 and lasted for about nine years till February 1989. On December 24, 1979 the Soviet forces began their operation in Afghanistan. At that time, Hazifullah Amin was the communist leader of DRA and the military of Afghanistan was completely oblivious to the events that were about to take place in Kabul. Hazifullah Amin was poisoned so that the invasion of the Soviet could take place during the time he was unconscious and upon regaining consciousness he would either be put into exile or would be disposed of by his duties as the head of a state. Even though Amin was able to get medical treatment, but he was later killed. At this time Moscow was also maintained its support to military of Afghanistan, which constituted of the Soviets. After the death of Amin more military assistance was brought from USSR and Babrak Karmal was replaced as the head of state. It is important to lay down this fact that initially Troika were resisting to use military force in Afghanistan, as they perceived it as being a very risky operation. Their outlook changed when they learnt that Amin killed Taraki and at that time Soviets decided to invade Afghanistan16. Analyzing the events: There were many reasons put forth so as to analyze the reason why the Soviets decided to invade Afghanistan in short notice especially when apparently they took it as a risky behavior. One of the first reasons was that the Soviets did not trust Amin as they saw that Amin wanted to reorient Afghanistan by introducing reforms, which were influenced by the west, specially the United States. Andropov also linked Amin to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat stating that they were more inclined towards getting the foreign policy reformed with its inclination towards the West. Thus, they thought it was necessary to remove Amin and regain their power in the region. In reality, Amin only wanted to have good relations in the United States. It was when Taraki died by the hands of Amin, it compelled Brezhnev to order invasion. Taraki was a good associate of Brezhnev and his death provoked him to take this step to invade Afghanistan17. The role of Troika in the invasion Ustinov was supposedly the first member of Troika group who wanted to exercise control over Afghanistan by military action. According to some sources Ustinov perception to invade Afghanistan occurred during the time when there was a seizure of U.S embassy in Tehran by Islamic fundamentalists. Soon after, Andropov began to support Ustinov to invade Afghanistan. The Soviet Foreign Minister, Andreyevich Gromyko, did not openly argue with Andropov and Ustinov, but he also did not want to go against their decision. Hence, Troika took it upon itself to impose such policies, which supported the invasion without taking any advice from other groups. It was basically the Troika’s role through which Brezhnev responded to deploy the Red Army in Kabul. Even though there were many protests by individuals who were against these invasion policies, but Troika did not take any notice. All they wanted was to intervene in Afghanistan and take control over them and restore reforms by military action. In this regard it is important to mention that Soviets were able to invade Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968 so they thought that they would be able to have their control over Afghanistan also18. A Soviet Perception towards the Invasion During the time when Soviet decided to invade Afghanistan, there were many political events happening around the globe, which were having an impact on the political leaders. It is hence necessary to analyze those events, which gave rise to their decision to take control over the region. The first event was when the Shah of Iran was over thrown and there were fears across Moscow that the Iranian Revolution would spread across the regional boundaries. These fears should not have been there were Sunni Muslims around that region and they had nothing in common with the Shiites of Iran. USSR however, always perceived Islam as a menace and did not want its spread in Afghanistan and beyond. The second event was when the U.S embassy was taken over in Tehran and American diplomats were taken hostage. United States deployed its forces in the Persian Gulf region. As a result, the Soviets viewed the whole scenario as America’s involvement in Afghanistan to win its rule over them as they had lost Iran. The Soviets perceived this as a threat towards them so these events influenced Troika to carry out their plan of invasion19. Media Coverage During the 1980s the Soviet through their media conveyed the message that government of Afghanistan required military assistance from Soviet military for humanitarian reason and not for warfare. However, this time when Gorbachev was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), many causalities and deaths were reported. The conflicts arose to a level that the stories started to appear in spite of the censorship on media coverage. The cold war deteriorated the relations between the Soviet Union and the West especially the United States20. The War This war was fought between the Afghan forces lead by Soviets against a multi-national group who called themselves the Mujahedeen. Mujahedeen comprised of two alliances, the Peshawar Seven and Tehran Eight. In order to fight back with the Soviets, the resistance groups Mujahidin and Peshawar Seven had to take support from foreign countries. United States, United Kingdom and other countries provided military and financial support. In order to get assistance from these countries they had to open their country’s border for military aid and as well as other forces and spies to enter the country without any accountability i.e. to check visas or passports21. The Peshawar Seven constituted of forces that received trainings from Pakistan and weapons and aids from the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Tehran Eight was the shia group receiving support from Iran. The United States and the west expressed its opposition by supporting the Mujahidin. They provided anti-air crafts missiles, which caused losses to Soviet troops and aircrafts. They also provided psychological support to them22. According to a report, during this period, about 1 million Afghans died and about 8000 people executed after being put on trial between years 1980-1988. By late 1986, the impact of the war started to have an impact on domestic politics of Soviets23. (Hilali 2005) The locals of Afghanistan also ignored borders and most of them illegally crossed into Iran and Pakistan for refuge. During 1980 and 1988, United States imposed sanctions against USSR and also restricted their Russian airline ‘Aeroflot’ to land. Besides this there were restrictions on grain sales, which affected their economy. By 1988, Soviets perception regarding their military hold in the area changed and their army became vulnerable. The lootings and plundering carried out by the army could not hold the legitimacy and the survival of the Soviet Union. The non-Russians in the army of the Soviets showed an ambivalent attitude and revolt against the Afghans. There was drug abuse and the solders also started to sell equipment to obtain their necessities of life24 . Effects of War on Soviets The effect of warfare on Soviet breakdown can be categorized into four types, which have been discussed; 1. Perception effects: The Soviets leaders were having this perception that their military actions would help them retain the diversity of their country together. From 1979 to 1986, they were portraying through media coverage that there was no combat and they were performing their duties as a good neighbor to promote communism and eradicate Muslim extremists25. However, this perception changes by 1986 when much of the warfare had reached everywhere, Gorbachev addressed the Afghan war as a ‘bleeding wound’ and later it was characterized as the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan as a ‘sin’. During this time most of the political leaders started to distance themselves from intervening in Afghanistan crises. Before the Afghan war, it was perceived by the Soviet that the Soviet leadership had the capacity to employ military to destroy or suppress non-Russian movements. But this perception changed as their army failed to show its reliability and brought a downfall to their invasion26. 2. Military Effects: The Soviet army had shown their strength and role in World War II. The army consists of soldiers coming from different nationalities playing an effective role in promoting communism. This military service was perceived as being ‘invincible’ containing diversified ethnic groups. Hence, when the army’s performed poorly, it came as a shock to the generals and citizens. The death causalities in the warfare demanded a change in the military’s role. Due to this, few generals hastily accepted their mistakes and role during the war. By 1980, a commission was established by the Congress of People’s Deputies, which required the reasons of the causes of Afghanistan war. This took the army aback because in the past they had never justified for their actions and this time their performance was being evaluated by a civilian body. Army was deeply affected by this scrutiny and it was reported that there were signs of unhappiness and crises among the army officials. Moreover, when the weakness of the army became public the conditions became worst, there were guerilla warfares, corruption, smuggling of army equipment and other atrocities on villages and civilians. These acts of military further declined their moral ground among the Soviet citizens. The guilt of their cruelty still pertains in the soldier’s minds and many have spoken about it. Hence, as a consequence of Afghan war, a division was created between the army and Soviet Union. The division was also created between the citizens and the army. The legitimacy of their military service to safeguard the oppressed was at stake. Finally, there were many other party’s formed which started to challenge Soviet Union27. 3. Legitimacy Effects: Even though The Soviet Union comprised of people from diverse nationalities and religions but the non-Russian minorities, Asians and European resented the invasion by Russians. So during the war the resentments of non-Russians in the Soviets increased and they took it as a war fought by non-Russians soldiers. They also realized that non-Russians Soviets were also oppressed in the same way as other parties so this gave rise to movements against the Russian domination. There were many -anti-war demonstrations that severely affected the legitimacy of the Soviet system28. 4. Glasnost effects: The soviet afghan war was so devastating that its impact was felt throughout the world. The media coverage was intense showing all signs of the war. There were four phases in which the media was able to transform their reporting. The first phase (1979-80) there was censorship and media only maintained that the Afghan forces supported by Soviet Army with no role in it fought the war. In phase two (1981-1985), the media was able to publish facts that there was the involvement of the Soviet Army in the war. The third phase (1985-89) there was a flood of reports indicating the details, letters to newspapers against such violence in the region. The last stage (1989 onwards) was a time when the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan. During this time there was media coverage of Army generals who blamed politicians for taking a part in the war. The role of media was intense and they provided opinions from different agencies and public. The crux of this activity was that the relationship of citizens with the Soviet State got defined and also among the different organs of the state and affected the image of the Soviet Union29. Withdrawal of Soviet Forces The resistance put by the Mujahidin was a success and in 1988, Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbahev withdrew all his forces from the country. Many of the Soviet men showed all signs of losing a war. They were struggling people with very low morale with an increase of drug and alcohol abuse. The Soviet Union started to face economic crises. Initially Gorbachev was taking assistance from Moscow also but later in 1986 he stated that his commitment with Moscow was limited. He also announced a ceasefire but the after effects of the war remained for quite some time. The Soviet Union also tried to negotiate a power-sharing agreement with the rebellions but they refused and they were forced to withdraw their forces30. The treaty, which was signed by the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan, stated that there would be non-interference policy and a time was given for the withdrawal of Soviet forces, which was a success. The impact of the war in Afghanistan resulted in the breakdown of the Soviet Union. Even after Soviet withdrawal the civil war continued in Afghanistan till 1992. This civil war affected the country’s economy31. Conclusion and Aftermath Through this essay we have analyzed all-important events taking place, which caused a beginning of a devastating era in which there was widespread destruction and chaos in Afghanistan. The severity of it affected the whole region of South Asia. The political events happening around the globe had a profound impact on Troika to enforce this invasion policy, which brought more devastation to Soviets than they imagined. To sum up the essay, we can comprehend that the main cause behind the Soviet Invasion was to have control over Afghanistan. They wanted to promote communism and gain access to natural resources and the Indian Ocean. However, the consequences of the war are still entrapped in the minds of the soldiers who took part in the operation. The people of Afghanistan suffered in the hands of the Soviets but it is not wrong to say that the soldiers of the Soviets also suffered badly during the whole ordeal. USSR lost thousands of its troops and billions of dollars, which were spent on the troops was wasted. The Soviets lost their image in the global world. The Soviets had never anticipated that the war would turn on them and will have its effects not only on the people and the soldiers but also in the economy of USSR. The Soviet Union was also crippled and psychological traumas still remain among all the soldiers. Moreover, the long-term invasion of Soviets in Afghanistan gave rise to a breeding ground for terrorist activities, which took place later in that region. After the war, United States and other countries abandoned Afghanistan and Pakistan had to create a settlement with them. Pakistan helped Afghanistan by creating Taliban to take its control over region but there were a series of events later, which led to the terrorist attacks all over the world32. BIBLIOGRAPHY Amstutz, J. Bruce. Afghanistan: The First Five Years of Soviet Occupation. Washinton D.C: Diane Publishing, 1994. Arnold, Anthony. Afghanistan, the Soviet Invasion in Perspective. New Delhi: Hoover Press, 1985. Artem, Borovik. The Hidden War: A Russian Journalist's Account of the Soviet War in Afghanistan. New York: Groove Press, 1990. Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. Cordovez, Diego. Out of Afghanistan. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Isby, David. Russia's War in Afghanistan. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1986. Hilali, H. US-Pakistan Relationship: Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. Bodmin: Ashgate Publishing, 2005. Maley, William. The Afghanistan Wars. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Saikal, Amin, and William Maley. The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Reuveny, Rafael, and Aseem Prakash. “Afghanistan War and breakdown of Soviet Union.” Review of International Studies, 1999: 6-7. Read More