I wanted to make this thread to discuss the activities of Afghanistan in the 1980s

The history forum is for events up to circa 1990. Posting about something that not only crosses this border but is highly volatile and contentious in the current political climate and directly ties to ongoing activity (and thus not fully historical in context) will simply degrade to a current events/politics type of thread.

If you wish to discuss happenings in Afghanistan in the 1980's that is welcome. But it stops there.

that's a valid point Zeno

if you could change the thread title to "Soviet war in Afghanistan 1979-1989" that would help to address the information I was seeking. It would also keep the discussion centered on the 80s and what lead to the Soviet War in Afghanistan

Many major events occurred during that ten year period in Afghanistan in what Russia refers to as its Vietnam war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_in_Afghanistan

yuck I meant to say led.

General secretary of the Soviet Union(1964-1982) Leonid Brezhnev was said to (according to Russian opinion polls) have been Russia's most popular leader of the 20th century, one of Brezhnevs last major decisions was sending the soviet army to Afghanistan.

The soviets did not actually enter Afghanistan until 1978 when the Saur Revolution occurred. In the mid 18th century European influence hit Afghanistan and for years Afghanistan was a monarchy with a line of kings and royalty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saur_Revolution

Whats interesting is that in 1979 Brezhnev was informed by a KGB report that Afghanistan could be re-taken in a matter of weeks. Little did he know the Soviet war in Afghanistan would go on for 10 years.

Also Due to the soviet intervention in Afghanistan , 1980 marked a very difficult year for American president Jimmy Carter, "Carter made two of the most unpopular decisions of his entire Presidency: prohibiting American athletes from participating in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and reinstating registration for the draft for young males"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghani...and_Soviet_war

The Soviet Intervention was a continuation of the Tsarist encroachment upon Asia.

The ultimate aim being access to the Indian Ocean. First, they had to go through Afghanistan (and then Pakistan).

The above is the traditional view.

Another view has it that the Soviets were asked to aid a fellow communist regime on their border and they simply thought: what could go wrong?

wrt bold, the general focus of the "Great Game" of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was the acquisition of oil and gas fields in Central Asia, not so much access to the Indian Ocean. Control of the Indian Ocean was far more important for Britain pre-1947, as it was the main connection between Britain's Indian holdings and its access to oil via the Suez Canal. The Soviets had the alternative option of running pipelines and rail routes through the Caspian region.

Much as with the United States, the Soviet intervention was likely a combination of resource concern and ideological commitment. As in the case of Vietnam with the Americans, the Soviets worried that a wave of anti-communist discontent and revolution could potentially spread to other Central Asian Soviet Republics, derailing their energy exploitation strategy and vital resources.