Right, I'm currently doing a Degree in International Contemporary and Military History at Salford Universtiy.... yes I said Salford University
. I've been assigned a piece of Courswork to do based on the Soviet Afghanistan war that goes a little something like this 'Why was the Soviet Army unable to secure victory in its war in Afghanistan in the 1980s?'
I've currently come up with several points on the Soviet Unions problems when in Afghanistan
- Ideology
- Soviets were Atheists
- Decrees setting forth changes in marriage customs and land reform were not received well by a population deeply immersed in tradition and Islam
- The Afghan rural society was still largely traditional, and the land reforms would have undermined its foundations;
- also the education reform and the liberation of women were perceived as an attack against Islam.
- Wide support from the local population as a result of such reforms, to the point where the Mujhadeen didn’t have enough weapons for all the volunteers.
- External Support – Operation Cyclone
- As stated by the former director of the CIA and current Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, in his memoirs "From the Shadows", the American intelligence services began to aid the opposing factions in Afghanistan 6 months before the Soviet deployment. On July 3, 1979, US President Jimmy Carter signed a directive authorizing the CIA to conduct covert propaganda operations against the revolutionary regime.
- Carter advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski stated "According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise." Brzezinski himself played a fundamental role in crafting U.S. policy, which, unbeknownst even to the Mujahideen, was part of a larger strategy "to induce a Soviet military intervention." In a 1998 interview with Le Nouvel Observateur, Brzezinski recalled:
"That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Soviets into the Afghan trap..." [...]"The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter. We now have the opportunity of giving to the Soviet Union its Vietnam War."[8]
- The U.S. viewed the conflict in Afghanistan as an integral Cold War struggle, and the CIA provided assistance to anti-Soviet forces through the Pakistani ISI, in a program called Operation Cyclone[15][16].
- After the Soviet deployment, Pakistan's military dictator General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq started accepting financial aid from the Western powers to aid the Mujahideen. The United States, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia became major financial contributors to General Zia, who, as ruler of a neighboring country, greatly helped by ensuring the Afghan resistance was well-trained and well-funded
- Terror Tactics and Guerilla Warfare
- Mujhadeens ability to meld into the landscape
- Had a lack of central command unlike the Vietcong in South Vietnam
The Mujahideen leaders paid great attention to sabotage operations. The more common types of sabotage included damaging power lines, knocking out pipelines, radio stations, blowing up government office buildings, air terminals, hotels, cinemas, and so on. From 1985 through 1987, over 1800 terrorist acts were recorded. In the border region with Pakistan, the mujahideen would often launch 800 rockets per day. Between April 1985 and January 1987, they carried out over 23,500 shelling attacks on government targets. The mujahideen surveyed firing positions that they normally located near villages within the range of Soviet artillery posts. They put the villagers in danger of death from Soviet retaliation. The mujahideen used mine warfare heavily. Often, they would enlist the services of the local inhabitants and even children.
Now what I wanted to know is what you guys thought of the points I have made and if you could add any of your own.
Any help and/or feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
PRM.
