Why did the Soviets invade Afghanistan? Why did they lose?
Because they suck
And are communist
Ok, apart from jokes, I found a good article that has some points
There was a lot of internal political instability in Afghanistan in 1978.
Soviet Union had a friendly relationship with some of the leaders in Afghanistan till then and wanted to strengthen their hands.
At the invitation of the then PM, Nur Mohammad Taraki, they entered Afghanistan in advisory role. The Afghan internal politics turned worse and several assassinations took place. USSR to participated in 1979.
Soviet troops got totally embroiled in Afghanistan's internal affair and changed their role to active combat.
The Afghans began to dislike Soviet intervention but initially didn't have the required weapons, training or backing of other countries. They resisted as much as they could.
Afghans always had a history of dislike for external aggression and always fought back, right from the times of Alexander the great to modern times.
USA who was an observer of the politics of this region wanted to get even with Soviet Union for whatever they USSR did in Vietnam (support for the North Vietnam).
But USA didn't want to get directly involved. So, they roped in their willing ally, Pakistan. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and many Islamic countries resented USSR's intervention in Afghanistan
They trained and provided weapons to the Afghan Mujahiddeen (Islamic fighters). They fought with religious fervor.
The war lasted for about 10 years. In the meanwhile, the political situation in USSR too underwent a lot of changes to the worse.
By 1987-88, the Soviet leadership also didn't want to continue with the war in Afghanistan which was suffering heavy Soviet causalities and no political advantage.
By mid 1987, the then Secretary General of the Soviet Union, Mr. Gorbachev announced that Soviet troops would begin to be pulled back. They completed it in mid'89.
>>1308935
Strategic fault line between China, Persia and USSR.
>>1308935
They didn't really lose, the situation was the same as in Vietnam for the US. The allied government got overrun after they voluntarily pulled their army out.
>>1311052
>They didn't really lose, the situation was the same as in Vietnam for the US.
The Soviets lost in Afghanistan and the U.S lost in Vietnam. Both failed to accomplish their long-term strategic aims and both countries were horribly traumatized by their involvement in both wars.
I gather from your post that you're American who is reluctant to admit that the Paris Accords were a weak attempt at covering up the fact that the U.S had failed to win.
>>1311052
>invade country
>"voluntarily" pull out
>enemy gets all they want
>WE WON YOU GUYS WE TOTALLY WON
>>1308959
Why did the Muslim coalition care so much about Afghanistan? What about their Turkic 'brothers'?
Better question: Will Afghanistan ever improve?
Shit seems to be getting worse, what with statistics saying things like 50% of children are malnourished and literacy rates again falling to 30%. The Taliban will probably take over again
>>1311513
Here in Canada it seems like there are more Afghans every year. With all the most educated and richest populace leaving, unless the US puts a bunch of bases in Afghanistan(which they might in order fight the ruskies), they probably will.
>>1311513
Not with the current system they have.
Afghanistan is one of those places that needs a conquering warlord-king more than a democratically elected leader.
Except forced memes will be forced by the West and a Nation-State world.
>>1311550
Rest in Peace, great Emperor.
>>1311422
Not him, but I suppose you know that those muslims are and were an ally of the USA. Since the time of the Russian and the British empires, Afghanistan has been a buffer state. It's normal that the Pakistanis would feel threatened if the soviet enemy starts taking control. The rest is ideology and alliances.
