Russians+in+Afghanistan

=__ Russians in Afghanistan __ Meghan, Samantha, Kevin = Why Did Russia Come Into Afghanistan? ** -A reason for the Russian forces coming into Afghanistan was because Afghanistan was already in a civil war. - The prime minister, Hazifullah Amin, led a communist government and tried to change Muslim traditions within the nation to a more of western style -The Russians claimed that they were invited into the country by the Amin government and that they were not invading the country. They said that their mission was to support the government and that the Mujahdeen were terrorists. -The Mujahdeen are a religious guerilla force on a holy mission for Allah The above picture is of the Mujahideen preparing to launch an attack on Soviet forces. The Mujahideen were funded and supplied by U.S Troops. > [] 
 * [[image:300px-Mortar_attack_on_Shigal_Tarna_garrison,_Kunar_Province,_87.jpg width="451" height="292" caption="300px-Mortar_attack_on_Shigal_Tarna_garrison,_Kunar_Province,_87.jpg"]] ||
 * What were the Russians doing in Afghanistan?**

- On December 24th, 1979 Russian Forces invaded Kabul ( capital). //In The Kite Runner// Kabul is the city where Hasan and Amir once lived.

-On December 27th, 1979, Amin was shot by the Russians and he was replaced by Babrak Kamal. -The United Nations tried to get Russian forces to withdraw form Afghanistan but the Security Council motion was vetoed by Russia in early January 1980. -America did nothing but put a ban on the export of grain to Russia and boycotted the Olympic Games that was to be held in Moscow in 1980.
 * Kamall needed 85,000 Russian soldiers to help him stay in power.

-By 1982, the Mujahdeen controlled 75% of Afghanistan
 * "In 1980, when we were still in Kabul the U.S. announced it would be boycotting the Olympic Games in Moscow. 'Wah wah!" Baba exclaimed with disguist. "Brezhnev is massacring Afghans and all that peanut eater can say is I won't come swim in your pool". -p. 126

-The Russian Afghan war has been referredto as "the Soviet Unions Vietnam War" ​- The war ended in 1989 ** Did America encourage the war? ** - At the time of the Russian invasion, Jimmy Carter was the President of the United States. - His national security advisor was Zbigniew Brzezinski. - Both men are against communism. However, communism was spreading throughout Afghanistan (because of Amins' reign). Therefore, the U.S __SECRETELY__ provided aid to Mujahideen to help them in their conquest to end the spread of communism. -In an interview, Brzezinski tells what happened: **Question: The former director of the CIA, Robert Gates, stated in his memoirs ["From the Shadows"], that American intelligence services began to aid the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan 6 months before the Soviet intervention. In this period you were the national security adviser to President Carter. You therefore played a role in this affair. Is that correct?**
 * Brzezinski: Yes. According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise Indeed, it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention.**

__Link To Copy:__ []

-When asked if he (Brezinski) “desired” and “looked to provoke” the Russians to entry into Afghanistan (because he aided the 'rebels'), he stated, “…We didn't push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would.” -Video of Carter talking about Afghanistan: [] - In the video, he voices his concern about Russia IF they were to continue communism - By aiding the 'rebel' force, it decreased the chances of the spread of communsim -Ronald Reagan became president in 1981 and thought Afghanistan could be a threat to the security of the gulf, so he made a policy saying that the US won't use military forces and would provide the Afghan rebels aid to push Russia away.

-The United States supported the Mujahidin primarily through the CIA.

-The U.S. foreign policy was defeating communism on the global scale.

Other ** []
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 * a link to a newspaper from 1980, with information regarding the war.

**How Does the Russian Afghan war relate to the //Kite Runner?//** - Russians are mentioned more than once in the book - Baba does not like Russians, he even refuses to see a doctor who was from Russia - "...like a row of crows, on the carcass of an old burned-out Soviet tank..." ( 231) - When Baba and Amir were leaving Kabal to eventually go to America, they encountered Russians (checkpoints) - Baba stood up for lady, Russians let them through

**What About Today?** Today, it seems as if Russia and Afghanistan are trying to work our their differences. Quote from article published in 2008: "When the Minister arrived in the Russian capital on the 25th of May he said the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was keen on promoting relations with Russia.

“I arrived in Moscow to tell sincerely our Russian partners that Afghanistan is a supporter of promoting and expanding cooperation with the Russian Federation,” the Foreign Minister told the correspondent of “Afghanistan.Ru” when he arrived in the Russian capital.

According to the Minister, Kabul is tuned to future in its relations with Russia. “We plan to discuss the level of bilateral relations. We are interested in Russian investment and promoting cooperation in fighting terrorism and illegal drag trafficking,” the Afghan Foreign Minister said."

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