Prelude to WarThe beginning of the period of instability in Afghanistan began with the Saur Revolution in 1978. The Saur Revolution in Afghanistan was a socialist and Soviet backed rebellion against the monarchy, although the country’s former monarchy was also opposed by many tribal leaders. However, the new government that took power was entirely socialist. Even within the socialist rank of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan, there was division between the more extreme marxists, called the “Khalq”, and the less extreme socialists called the “Parcham” . The new president Nur Muhammad Taraki, who also led the revolution, soon began reforms that were viewed by the tribal peoples in rural Afghanistan as anti-Islamic tradition. Furthermore, he was assassinated in 1979 by rebel groups. His successor, Hafizullah Amin, who also helped lead the rebellion, tried to ally with the Soviets, soon finding himself assassinated by the KGB, and Babrak Karmal, former leader of the PDPA, was installed as the new leader. The Soviets, who now knew they had a strong socialist ally, deployed troops to Afghanistan to support the spread of socialism.
|
Outbreak of War/Early US intervention:
|
The CIA, and more so the US government, saw this action by the Soviets to a threat to their interests in the region. They soon teamed up with Pakistan, and their intelligence service the ISI, to begin to train guerilla fighters, who opposed the new government. This group of fighters was called the Mujahideen. The US wanted to find covert ways to arm the Mujahideen, and also to train them. Some of this training was done in Pakistan. Furthermore, the USSR was diplomatically condemned by many on the international stage. The US led a boycott of the Moscow Olympics, and halted grain deliveries to the USSR. The Soviets simply pushed forward. By 1980, they had deployed around one hundred thousand troops to Afghanistan. In contrast, the US and Pakistani effort had led to the recruitment of around thirty five thousand fighters from 43 Islamic nations. One of these fighters was Osama Bin Laden. While the resistance was strong enough to not be stopped, it was not strong enough to defeat their enemy. They even fought each other, divided by tribal and ethnic lines. Due to these pitfalls, they could not win the fight against the Soviets.
|
The Stinger Effect:
|
Many historians attribute the turning point in the conflict to be the arming of the Mujahideen with FIM-92 Stinger Man-Portable-Air-Defense-System. The Stinger allowed the Mujahideen to strike at Soviet helicopters, which were typically the backbone of transportation in the Soviet operations. The helicopters allowed easier transportation through the mountains of Afghanistan. However, the Soviets reacted by slightly restricting their air operations. They also equipped their helicopters with flares to avoid the missiles. The disaster that was the Soviet’s “Vietnam” left thousands of Soviet soldiers dead, and the appeal for the war in Moscow’s government deteriorated. Karmal had been deposed in 1986 for the lack of success in the war. Furthermore, the war took a toll on the Soviet Economy, something that some historians attribute to their demise. The US and Soviet Union had signed the Geneva accord in 1988, and the Soviets were completely out of Afghanistan by February, 1989.
|
Collapse of
|
While the Soviets departed in 1989, the Socialist Government held on for four more years, until the resignation of the government in March 1992. The New government emerged out of the many Mujahideen factions. The largest one, the Taliban, quickly took power from local Mujahideen warlords. The new civil war raged from the resignation until 1996. The Taliban occupied and painted the country with Sharia Law. The government forbade television, music, and cinema, and banned the teaching of girls passed the age of ten. Many of the leaders behind the government were taught in Pakistani Madrassas, which were essentially Islamic Schools set up during the Soviet Afghan War era. The Taliban’s government was widely known for harboring terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, and have even been accused of harboring Osama Bin Laden.
|
Opposition to
New Regime:
The main opposition to the regime in the era before 9/11, was the Northern Alliance, a loose confederation of other Mujahideen and different ethnic groups such as Tajiks and Uzbeks. They occupied the Northeast region of Afghanistan, directly bordering Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. They were led by Ahmad Shah Massoud, a former Mujahideen member. The Taliban’s government was not recognized throughout much of the world, mainly only being recognized by Pakistan. In fact, the UN and most of the world recognized Burhanuddin Rabbani as the president of Afghanistan.