The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, 1979
- Soviets wanted to influence region and fit their southern expansion policy
- Sept. 1979, Soviets invaded and installed Babrak Karmal as a puppet President
- The West, China and India were alarmed and many boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of it
- The invasion and Reagan being elected are seen as the ends of détente
Soviets in Afghanistan, con't
- Soviets opposed by rebels called the Mujaheddin
- By 1985 Soviets had 100,000 troops here
- 1987 Karmal replaced by Mohammed Najibullah who was even more of a puppet
- Soviets accused of practicing inhumane types of warfare (ie. Chemical)
- Soviets eventually withdrew
- Many parallels to the U.S. in Vietnam
Summary
In Christmas 1979, Russian paratroopers landed in Kabal, the capital of Afghanistan. The country was already in the grip of a civil war. The prime minister, Hazifullah Amin, tried to sweep aside Muslim tradition within the nation and he wanted a more western slant to Afghanistan. This outraged the majority of those in Afghanistan as a strong tradition of Muslim belief was common in the country.Thousands of Muslim leaders had been arrested and many more had fled the capital and gone to the mountains to escape Amin's police. Amin also lead a communist based government - a belief that rejects religion and this was another reason for such obvious discontent with his government.Thousands of Afghanistan Muslims joined the Mujahdeen - a guerilla force on a holy mission for Allah. They wanted the overthrow of the Amin government. The Mujahdeen declared a jihad - a holy war - on the supporters of Amin. This was also extended to the Russians who were now in Afghanistan trying to maintain the power of the Amin government. The Russians claimed that they had been invited in by the Amin government and that they were not invading the country. They claimed that their task was to support a legitimate government and that the Mujahdeen were no more than terrorists.