The Cold War during the 1970’s saw a brief period of calm and eased tension, known as détente, between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev had signed arms limitation treaties, and the two superpowers even looked like they might be able to coexist. During the façade of peace however, the two super powers continued to exert their influence through indirect means, especially in the Third World. One event in particular would see the U.S.A carry out the largest and most successful covert operation in history (Johnson, 2012), which would have repercussions for millions of people and effects that would be seen decades later. The U.S. covert action to help the Afghans during the Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan left the Soviets defeated, but without any intention of rebuilding the nation and selfishly pursuing the downfall of the Soviet Union the U.S. left Afghanistan open to, arguably, worse regimes than the Soviet ‘Red Menace’.
In April 1978 the Afghan communist party the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) takes control of the government via a coup, and renames the country the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) (BBC, 2009). As the PDPA initiate radical far left change perceived as western values in the form of prohibition of forced marriage & bride price; increases to minimum wage; education for the population including both men and woman; land reallocation of farm land that was enforced by a ‘Godless communist’ ideology (Saika, 2004), a resistance begins to form around traditional Afghan Islamic tribal groups. By October 1978 there is mass resistance to PDPA policy as civil unrest continues to grow (BBC, 2009). With political...
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“Over the past century, Canadian attitudes towards the use of force and the exercise of military power in support of national aims have fundamentally shifted”. This is a quote written by Major Todd Strickland in his article, titled, “From the Boers to the Taliban: How Canadians Attitudes towards War Have Changed”. This article reviews Canada’s history within the wars and also Canadian’s thoughts on war. The Afghan war began in 2001 and is still ongoing today. The war began due to the terrorist attacks that took place in the United States on September 11th, 2001, also known as 9/11. The purpose of this war was to invade Afghanistan and to disassemble an organization, known as the al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Another objective was to dismantle the Taliban government. The Taliban government was simply to blame for the deaths of so many Americans on 9/11. The leader, brains and financial support behind this organization was one by the name of Osama bin Laden. Because his country did not surrender him, the United States made the decision to declare war on Afghanistan and fight for those who lost their lives in 9/11. Canada became involved in the Afghan War very quickly after the attacks of 9/11. Because the Afghanistan war is a war that is constantly covered by the media, it makes the information overwhelming. To narrow the topic down, this paper will focus mainly on the Canadian’s involvement in the Afghanistan war. Violent political wars have been reoccurring for as long as anyone can remember, and the intensity of this violence continues to rise. The magnitude of political violence involved, the main interpretations on the causes of political violence, and the prospects for conflict resolution are all topics that will be covered...
Due to the ethnocentrism of American culture and ideas, the tribal group known as the Taliban may seem like a sociological disgrace to law-abiding citizens of the United States. The Taliban is made up of Pakistanis and Afghans who are said to be the “Holy Warriors of Allah” and rigidly adhere to a set of standards set out by the prophet Mohammed himself. They are considered one of the most radical groups that exist in the world today and are looked upon as dishonorable and even appalling by less radical Muslims. However, the reality is that the group has its own culture, sociological structure, and interactions which are simply different than those of the United States.
On December 24th 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. On that day began a war which wreaked incredible havoc and destruction on Afghanistan for 10 long years. The Soviets stormed in with thousands of troops at the request of the troubled Afghan Communist regime. The Russians believed this be a neat surgical military operation. They were wrong.(Boggs) The only resistance to the Soviet invasion were men known as the "mujahideen" known to many as freedom fighters. They are multinational; some even from America, doing everything in their power to repeal the Soviet horde. The Soviet invasion frightened neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, so they unofficially allied with the United States. The U.S. provided the weaponry, training, etc., Saudi Arabia recruited the fighters (mujahideen) which were sometimes based in Pakistan. They all agreed on the need for armed resistance against the Soviets. The U.S. decided to tap the religious vein of the rebels, creating a zealous religiously driven guerrilla organization; well armed and trained by CIA officers with the goal of returning Afghanistan to Islamic purity.
Odd Arne Westad, Director of the Cold War Studies Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science, explains how the Cold War “shaped the world we live in today — its politics, economics, and military affairs“ (Westad, The Global Cold War, 1). Furthermore, Westad continues, “ the globalization of the Cold War during the last century created foundations” for most of the historic conflicts we see today. The Cold War, asserts Westad, centers on how the Third World policies of the two twentieth-century superpowers — the United States and the Soviet Union — escalates to antipathy and conflict that in the end helped oust one world power while challenging the other. This supplies a universal understanding on the Cold War (Westad, The Global Cold War, 1).
Sabrosky, Alan Ned (1990), 'Red Star falling? The Soviet ‘small war’ in Afghanistan', Small Wars & Insurgencies, 1 (1), 11.
The Taliban, a forceful political association against women’s rights, ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 (Hayes, Brunner, and Rowen). Predominantly, they believe in the religion of Islam, as do most Afghans, and that males are the dominant gender (Hayes, Brunner, and Rowen). They controlled Afghanistan under their “version” of the Islamic laws which many others did not agree with (Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls). The Taliban is composed of Afghan men of various ages who did not grow up in Afghanistan, therefore know little about their country’s culture (Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls). The leader of the Taliban from 1994 to 2001 was Mohammed Omar, a religious leader that, over time, gained more and more followers (Bellamy). Eventually he ousted the Afghanistan government and gained control of the country (Bellamy). The Taliban only ruled for five years, but what they did has left a scarring mark on the country of Afghanistan.
2. From 1979 to 1989, the former Soviet Union fought against Afghan insurgent groups called the Mujahideen. When the Soviets withdrew in 1989, warring factions of Mujahideen fighters clashed for power in Afghanistan. “In 1994, the Taliban emerged as a major force in the fight for control of war-torn Afghanistan...the Taliban wanted to wrestle control from the many entrenched warlords and to establish a religious society based around a strict interpretation...
Witte, Griff. "Afghanistan War (2001-present)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan began pursuing what became known as the Reagan Doctrine: “Freedom is not the sole prerogative of a lucky few, but the inalienable and universal right of all human beings” (Smith 130). This renewed the US’s appeal to moral authority to fight Communism. Reagan backed up this doctrine with drastic increases in defense spending and massive projects like the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). This required the Soviet Union to also increase their defense spending in order to remain militarily competitive with the United States. However, the Soviet Union was in a much worse place to do so as they already had considerable debt and a much weaker economy. Paradoxically, the USSR’s push for new military spending ended up only weakening their power by destabilizing their economy further. SDI was particularly worrisome to the Soviets because it completely threatened the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) whose balance of power had prevented nuclear war for the past 40 years (Smith 133). The United States also used the CIA to funnel money and arms to rebels and dissenters in Communist countries (Smith 130). While in most cases only a minor cause of the end of Communism, this support was especially important in Poland where it helped keep Solidarity alive during its years underground and in Afghanistan where the United
In late 1979 the Soviet Union launched an invasion of Afghanistan, for the next ten years the country would be occupied by Soviet forces. The wheels began to roll in Russia after Hafizuallh Amin came
Since the year 2001, Afghanistan’s history with the United States has been very rough and destructive due to the Afghanistan War. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, then-President George W. Bush signed a joint law resolution authorizing the use of force against those responsible for the 9/11 attack (“U.S. War in Afghanistan”). On October 7th, 2001, the US launched missile strikes against Taliban military starting the official “War of Afghanistan” (Afghanistan Profile - Timeline). Twelve days after the airstrikes, the first wave of conventional ground forces arrive in Afghanistan (“U.S. War in Afghanistan”). In August 2003, two years after the start of the war, there are now over 10,000 American soldiers fighting in Afghanistan (“U.S. War in Afghanistan”). A few years passed by without any major events during the war, until September of 2008 when President Bush sent an extra 4,500 troops to Afghanistan (Afghanistan Profile-
The Soviet Invasion from 1979-1989 led to nearly one million civilians being killed not including any of the soviet or afghan troops. The remaining afghan citizens who survived were left with very little and in a weak and poor government. The Soviet invasion led to the taliban gaining control of the country shortly following the soviets puling final troops out of Afghanistan. The Soviet invasion in Afghanistan and the forced transformation into a communist state led to the killing of civilians, military and social reforms, and a weak Afghan Government, which all led to the decimation of the Afghan Society.
Endersby, A. (2011, February 20). Afghanistan, invasion of. Retrieved May 23, 2011, from International Debate Education Association: http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=145
Lopez, Brendan CDT H-4 ’12. Assistance given to the author, verbal discussion. CDT Lopez edited my paper and gave me feedback on style and format. He recommended that I reword the intent behind the Soviet contributions to Afghan infrastructure. He also recommended that I discuss the lengths that the American government had gone to build cell towers in Afghanistan.