The picture says it all! This is real sacrificing! I thought we learned from the Soviets. Evidently it must be another reason why we’re in Afghanistan. We don’t need that many troops to find Osama Bin Laden. I wonder if it’s the $1 trillion dollars worth of untapped resources that could pay for the wars we’re fighting and relieve a lot of our national debt. The
Soviets were there almost ten-years supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the
Mujahedeen starting on December 27, 1979.
By the way, Jimmy Carter was President (1977-1981).
In February 1979, the Islamic Revolution ousted the US-backed Shah from
Afghanistan's neighbor
Iran and the
United States ambassador to
Afghanistan was kidnapped and killed by Islamic militants, despite attempts by the Afghan security forces and Soviet advisers to free him.
In the mid-1980s, the Afghan resistance movement, assisted by the United States, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, the People's Republic of China and others, contributed to Moscow's high military costs and strained international relations.
A similar movement occurred in other Muslim countries, bringing contingents of so-called Afghan Arabs, foreign fighters who wished to wage jihad against the atheist communists. A young Saudi named
Osama bin Laden, whose Arab group eventually evolved into al-Qaeda.
Virtually all of its war was waged locally by regional warlords. As warfare became more sophisticated, outside support and regional coordination grew. Even so, the basic units of mujahedeen organization and action continued to reflect the highly segmented nature of Afghan society.
The Afghans were supported by a number of other countries, with the
US and
Saudi Arabia offering the greatest financial support. However, the Afghans were also aided by the
United Kingdom,
Egypt,
China,
Iran, and
Pakistan. Ground support, for political reasons, was limited to regional countries.
After the war ended in February 1989, the
Soviet Union published figures of dead Soviet soldiers: the total was 13,836 men, an average of 1,512 men a year. According to updated figures, the Soviet army lost 14,427, the KGB lost 576, with 28 people dead and missing.
We need to bring our troops home!
The civil war that is going on over there will not stop.
It’s costing too much money and lives.
Mr. President we don’t need heroes overseas, we need them here at home in
America!