Afghan-Soviet war

[Caulfield]

What are your views on it? First a little bit of history on the subject:

1978 was the year that the leftist party in Afghanistan overthrew the government of president Daud Khan. Daud Khan had imprisoned and killed prominent leftist leaders which had helped him to overthrow the monarchy and install himself as the leader of the country.
As soon as the coup d'état had taken place, there was a shift in aid. Both Soviet-Union and the US had tried to make Afghanistan an ally of themselves by giving them financial and military aid. But the US didn't support the government anymore, but the upcoming Islamic rebels (Mujahedin/Taliban) that fought against the godless and communist government of Afghanistan.

In 1979 the Soviet-Union invaded because they were going to "help a neighboring socialist state in trouble". But was that the true and the only reason they invaded Afghanistan? The West has simply fucked it all up in Afghanistan by creating a monster, bringing them into power (until that power turned against them), and forgetting the Afghan people. Was it a wise step for the Soviets to enter Afghanistan? Share your thoughts with us.

[Dominicana_1965]

Before anything let me just say that the USSR had historically allied itself with Afghanistan even before the Saur Revolution of 1978. Since at least the 1950s the Soviets had been building roads for Afghanistan, which lacked railroads. On December 1955 the USSR had granted Afghanistan a $100 million long-term development loan which would be repaid through barter goods at a 2% interest over a 30 year period. This form of assistance started way back when Afghanistan declared its independence and leaned on Soviet economic and military aid to ensure that independence. Lenin accompanied his prompt recognition of Afghanistan as a sovereign state on March 1919 by sending a message to Amanullah Khan. In 1932, the USSR helped Afghanistan withstand the worst of the world depression by extending commercial relations on a favorable basis.

Now concerning the war...To me that was completely started by counter-revolutionary elements in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the U.S., Pakistan and other reactionary states who saw primarily a economic (and in some cases, a social) threat coming from the Saur Revolution. Afghanistan's big landlords and merchants quickly moved to oppose the reforms of the Saur Revolution. Many began to organize the counter-revolution due to the economic and social fear. Capitalists like Sayed Ahmed Gailani, the capitalist owner of a car dealership in Kabul, fled to Pakistan where he started the Afghanistan Islamic and Nationalist Revolutionary Council. Many of the reactionaries had studied in Egypt, and were members of the Muslim Brotherhood which promoted strict Islamic states. They were quickly backed by the Mullahs who were landowners themselves or were puppets of the rich. Landlords and Mullahs both wanted to maintain social "traditions", especially against women (of which the Saur Revolution had immensely favored). Some Afghanis had even joined the Mujahidden purely because of this reason!

The Mujahidden (or "Freedom Fighters as called by the U.S.) reactionaries attacked government offices, schools [especially co-ed schools] and clinics, primarily where land reforms were taking place. Literacy volunteers, teachers and state workers were murdered and tortured. Soviet officials, who were assisting the women's literacy program were also massacred.

The U.S. immediately moved to overthrow the Saur Revolution. All U.S. "aid" to Afghanistan was eventually stopped and the capitalist press attacked the Revolution as a "soviet-backed coup." Despite the fact that even Jimmy Carter's Secretary of State admitted that there were no evidence for such a claim. Washington had sent the Mujahidden $500 million at least 6 months before the Soviet intervention. Pakistan also served as a primary haven for the mujahidden and by 1979 the Pakistani state was already recommending Afghani rebel organizations for U.S. funding. In May 1979, the State Dept. reported that China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates had been lined up to provide millions of dollars to the mujahidden.

The Soviets didn't "invade" Afghanistan, instead they were requested by Taraki due to the amount of urgency. The USSR only responded when it was pretty clear that it was a last resort to prevent a U.S. pawn in the region. Even after Soviet advisers were killed in Afghanistan the USSR agreed only to military supplies and additional Soviet advisers but no troops. It took more than 8 requests by the PDPA state in order for the Soviets to step in.

Until 1988, the U.S. had blocked any negotiation between the PDPA and the mujahidden, encouraging them to fight one more battle. After Soviet troops left Afghanistan and were in the process of leaving, the U.S. & Pakistan continued unabated with its funding for the mujahidden.

[Sentinel]

I'm pretty much with the above poster here. The socialist revolution in Afghanistan was a huge leap of progress, and the arming and supporting of the islamist reactionary counterrevolution was one of US Imperialisms most disgusting crimes.

I'm of the opinion that we should side with progress against reaction, regardless of what we might think of the USSR or the specific nature of afghan socialism otherwise. The afghan revolution was a promise of something better that was crushed.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

There have been many threads on this. Do a search.

Soviet/Afghan war (http://www.revleft.com/vb/soviet-afghan-war-t78491/index.html)

What happened to Afghanistan in the 80's? (http://www.revleft.com/vb/happened-afghanistan-80s-t69914/index.html?t=69914)

More.. (http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1070957&postcount=33)

[Caulfield]

Dominicana_1965,

I sincerely thank you for your most informative post.

Let me start by saying that I agree with the biggest part of your text. But there are still a number of questions on this subject that keeps striking my mind. For example:

-How big was the influence of the SU on the leaders of the PDPA and why was it so big?
-Why was Taraki assassinated (with the help of the Soviets) if he had invited them in the first place according to your text?
-Was there any imperialistic thought behind the move of the Soviets
-Why did the KHAD (secret police which was under control of the KGB) do so much harm against innocent people and abuse their human rights?
-Why couldn't the Soviets support the Afghan government, like the US was supporting the Mujahedin, and had to invade for themselves?
-etc.

PS: Could you recommend some books on this subject?

[Yehuda Stern]

Yes, there was an attempt at progress in Afghanistan. But the Soviets did not want progress. As always, their role was to prevent revolutions in the guise of being a revolutionary state, when in fact they were an imperialist power which had no interest in any revolution. That's why they had to assassinate Amin and install Karmal in his place - Amin failed to restrain the revolution and Karmal was more reliable in the eyes of the Soviets.

Here (http://www.lrp-cofi.org/PR/AfghanistanSV9.html) is a pretty good article on the subject.

[ComradeOm]

[COLOR=black]-Why was Taraki assassinated (with the help of the Soviets) if he had invited them in the first place according to your text?Taraki was assassinated by Hafizullah Amin in an inter-party power struggle. Given Moscow's deep reservations over Amin (deposing of him was a principle reason for later military intervention) I would be extremely surprised if they were involved in the assassination


Here is a pretty good article on the subject.So... Moscow was working towards "an alliance between Islam and the Kremlin"? Even though Andropov, KGB chief at the time, was paranoid enough to suspect that the US was working towards a "new Great Ottoman Empire" that would include substantial chunks of the USSR? Even though the whole point of removing Amin and sending in ground forces was to prevent the disintegration of the country and the spread of radical Islamist ideas?

Incidentally, while the Amin was unlikely to have been a CIA agent, this was not merely a "crude excuse" used by the Soviets. KGB fears that he was working for the Americans were significantly stoked by five private meetings that Amin held with Amstutz (US charge d'affairs) in autumn 1979. Certainly it appears that Moscow was convinced that there was about to be a sudden realignment to the West

Although its always good to get Trotsky's perspective on events...

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

How big was the influence of the SU on the leaders of the PDPA and why was it so big?

There was certainly influence. Many communist parties looked to the USSR for guidance, even in the 70's and 80's, due to the fact that the first successful socialist revolution in history took place there. Years of bureaucratic degeneration severely tarnished, but did not eliminate, the prestige of the October Revolution.


Was there any imperialistic thought behind the move of the Soviets

The USSR wasn't imperialist. The USSR had no material interests in Afghanistan.


Why was Taraki assassinated (with the help of the Soviets) if he had invited them in the first place according to your text?

That was a result of fighting inside the Khalq faction. Taraki's supporters had made attempts on Hafizullah Amin's life. His followers acted in kind. The difference was they were successful.


Why did the KHAD (secret police which was under control of the KGB) do so much harm against innocent people and abuse their human rights?

In the midst of a counterrevolution, things are never pretty. Still, there were certainly excesses (though nothing along the lines of what the U.S. backed reactionaries did, e.g. throwing acid in school girls' faces).

The KHAD based itself on the methods of the KGB, which was itself an apparatus of a proletarian state that had long become bureaucratized.


Why couldn't the Soviets support the Afghan government, like the US was supporting the Mujahedin, and had to invade for themselves?

The Mujahideen was not just made up of people from Afghanistan. All sorts of reactionary elements flooded into the country. Besides, it was receiving funds, arms, training, etc., from not only the U.S. (which was then as it is now the most powerful country in the world), but also China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

It wasn't simply a civil war. It was a proxy war by the U.S., et. al., against a fragile new revolutionary state.

The USSR finally sent in ground troops to prevent the establishment of a reactionary, anti-communist neocolony on its doorstep.


Could you recommend some books on this subject?The revolution in Afghanistan by Emine Engin

The Arc of Socialist Revolutions: Angola to Afghanistan by Suzanne Jolicoeur Katsikas