2/14, the 20th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops form Afghanistan.

[G_j]

http://quqnoos.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2555&Itemid=48

20 years after the withdrawal of the Red Army forces from Afghanistan, Afghans still remember those bloody days


Today, February 14th, is the 20th anniversary of the withdrawal of the former Soviet Union troops from Afghanistan.

The last unit of the red army troops left Afghanistan on the same day, through crossing Hairatan Bridge in the north.

February 14th is one of the most proud and everlasting days in the country’s history.

The former Soviet Union troops invaded Afghanistan, along with their fighter jets and heavy artilleries in 1979.

Analysts believe that the Soviet Union was the greatest military power in the world at that time.

The Russians suffered heavy casualties during their nine years war in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of Russian arms were destroyed or handed over to Mujahidden.

Some of these artilleries, such as fighter jets, are still used by the Afghan army.

According to some reports, 12 to 15 thousand Russian soldiers were killed during the Soviet-Afghan war.

The Soviet Union, which spent billions of dollars in their war against Afghanistan, left the country without a single political and military achievement.

..more..

[G_j]

1. thought it worth noting, anyway... nt

[Thothmes]

2. Sound a lot like our adventure in Viet Nam.

[SergeyDovlatov]

3. So how do you feel about US role in that war?

The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving Soviet Union forces supporting the Marxist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) government against the mujahideen resistance. The latter group found support from a variety of sources including the United States, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and other Muslim nations in the context of the Cold War.

The anti-communist rebels garnered support from the United States. As stated by the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and current US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, in his memoirs From the Shadows, the US intelligence services began to aid the rebel factions in Afghanistan six months before the Soviet deployment. On July 3, 1979, US President Jimmy Carter signed an executive order authorizing the CIA to conduct covert propaganda operations against the communist regime.

Carter advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski stated: "According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the mujahideen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, December 24, 1979. But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise." Brzezinski himself played a fundamental role in crafting US 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: "We didn't push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would...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."<[br />
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_in_Afghanistan

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Did it work out OK for you guys?

Was it worth 3,000 death on 9/11?
Was it worth 5,000+ dead americans in a bipartisan war effort in Afganistan and Iraq led by Bush the Conqueror?

Are you greatful to Carter, Brzezinski, Gates for their brave leadership that helped to bring out mujahideen insurgency against Marxist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan?

[G_j]

4. the mujahideen

creating future enemies, how convenient!