Russians+in+Afghanistan

What were the Russians doing in Afghanistan? How did communism find a doorway into this very God fearing country? What did the Russians have to gain and why was the United States so interested in keeping Russia out? Who did America side with in order to make this secret mission possible?


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COMMUNISM STRIKES! SOVIET WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

__Russia's Involvement in Afghanistan:__
The main reason the Russians invaded Afghanistan was to try and expand their influence in Asia both politically and economically. Their biggest concern was their attempt to spread their Communist views throughout Afghanistan, since Communism was beginning to lose support throughout their nation other than with the military.

Most importantly though, Russia wanted to take control of Afghanistan simply to prevent the U.S. or other Western Nations from gaining control over the land due to the cold war we were involved in.

In order to gain control, Russia took extreme measures almost immediately after invading. They would sometimes bomb areas in Afghanistan so bad that they would wipe out entire cities in a matter of hours. Those that survived the bombings would then be left without homes, crops, or any type of irrigation, leaving them to starve to death.

Sometimes, the children would mistake the land mines the Russian soldiers had set up for toys, resulting in a terrible death.

__Communism Destroying Religion:__
PDPA (People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan) established on January 1, 1965
 * Khalq and Parcham
 * In Kabul, the initial cabinet appeared to be carefully constructed to alternate ranking positions between Khalqis and Parchamis
 * Taraki was prime minister (Khalq)
 * Karmal was senior deputy prime minister (Parcham)
 * Hafizullah Amin was foreign minister (Khalq)
 * Khalqi purge of Parchamis began with Karmal dispatched to Czechoslovakia as ambassador
 * Amin appeared to be the principal beneficiary of this strategy
 * The regime also issued a series of decrees, many of which were viewed by conservatives as opposing Islam, including one declaring the equality of the sexes.
 * Internal rebellion against the regime began in Afghanistan (1978)
 * A number of attempts by Parchamis to oust the Khalqis were reported.
 * The intense rivalry between Taraki and Amin within the Khalq faction heated up, culminating in the death (murder?) of Taraki.
 * The Soviets had a hand in Taraki's attempts on Amin's life and were not pleased with his rise, believing that he was too rigidly Marxist-Leninist to survive politically in a country as conservative and religious as Afghanistan.
 * Amin assumed power in Afghanistan.
 * Many Afghans fled to Pakistan and Iran and began organizing a resistance movement to the atheistic and infidel communist regime backed by the Soviets.
 * Amin began unfinished attempts to moderate what many Afghans viewed as an anti-Islam regime.
 * Promised...
 * more religious freedom, repairing mosques, presenting copies of the Koran to religious groups, invoking the name of Allah in his speeches, and declaring that the Saur Revolution was totally based on the principles of Islam.
 * Many Afghans held Amin responsible for the regime's harshest measures
 * The Soviets, worried that their huge investment in Afghanistan might be jeopardized, increased the number of advisers in Afghanistan.
 * The Soviets began their invasion of Afghanistan on December 25, 1979.
 * Within two days, they had secured Kabul, deploying a special Soviet assault unit against Darulaman Palace, where elements of the Afghan army loyal to Amin put up a fierce, but brief resistance.
 * With Amin's death at the palace, Babrak Karmal, exiled leader of the Parcham faction of the PDPA was installed by the Soviets as Afghanistan's new head of government.

__Russia's Goal: __
Russia’s goal was to take over the entire country of Afghanistan in order to spread their communist views. If Russia would have been successful in their invasion, they would have had quite an advantage in the cold war due to their sheer man power. By capturing Afghanistan, their army would have grown significantly in size and power, giving them more of a chance to take over the countries around Afghanistan, which would have allowed them to spread their communism even more.

__Who did America Support?__


Upon first hearing of the Russian’s invasion of Afghanistan, the U.S. immediately intervened by sending medical supplies and weapons to the Mujahideen refugees. The reason for the involvement of the U.S. was most likely not because it was the “right” action for us to take, but rather because of our involvement in the cold war with Russia. If we would let Russia and the Communists take over Afghanistan, then we would have lost a serious amount of leverage in the dispute. However, by intervening, we not only halted the Soviet’s invasion of Afghanistan, but eventually weakened their armed forces to the point that they had to remove themselves from the country, resulting in the U.S. having a greater leverage.