February 20, 2009

Afghanistan: A Second Chance?


[This was written as a radio commentary, and appeared on Vermont Public Radio February 20, 2009.]

Thirty years ago, in 1979, the Persian Gulf was a tinderbox.

On January 16, following months of uprisings, the Shah of Iran was overthrown.

One month later, it looked like Afghanistan’s turn. The Soviet-backed thugs running the country had imposed radical social reforms, sparking a civil war and threatening pro-Soviet rule. On February 14, US Ambassador to Afghanistan Adolph Dubs was kidnapped by terrorists and killed in a hasty rescue attempt by Afghan police, with Soviet military advisers looking on. The US demanded an apology. It never came.

In the months that followed, the CIA began covertly supplying arms to mujahideen “freedom fighters,” in order. Then National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski has admitted that this was designed to “draw the Soviets into the Afghan trap… to give the Soviet Union its Vietnam War.”

Meanwhile, the embattled Afghan regime repeatedly requested Soviet military assistance. Little came. Then, in September, the Soviets, perhaps hoping to quell rising popular unrest, urged one of their moderate puppets to stage a coup against their radical puppet, Hafizullah Amin. But Amin got wind of the coup and eliminated his rival in a presidential palace shootout. The civil war worsened. Within a few weeks, the Soviet leadership had decided in favor of massive military intervention, which began on Christmas Eve, 1979.

In the ten years that followed, 15 million Afghans were swept up by war. Five million refugees fled the country and two million were displaced. An estimated one million Afghans were killed, and four million more were maimed or wounded. The Soviets themselves lost 14,000 soldiers. When the Soviets pulled out in February 1989, unfortunately, so did the US. And anarchy ensued. Within a few years, the CIA-armed “freedom fighters” had morphed into the retrograde Taliban regime, which led to terrorist training camps and, eventually, 9/11.

Today, fixing Afghanistan is reputedly the Obama administration’s number one foreign policy priority. Yet we must recognize that the U.S. can no more remake Afghanistan into a European-style democracy than the Soviets could turn it into a socialist vassal state. Afghanistan is a rural nation, tribal and fiercely independent. The rural population may never identify with or have primary loyalty to a national government in Kabul. Afghans are primarily devoted to family, tribe and, especially, religion – Islam. Afghanistan has been a Muslim country for 1000 years. We can’t succeed by confronting these traditional loyalties, only by affirming and strengthening them.

Most importantly, as Americans, we must recognize that, for 30 years, our country’s foreign policy has contributed to Afghanistan’s wholesale destruction, and done little to help it build a more secure future. Twenty years ago this month, the U.S. made the mistake of walking away from Afghanistan after the Soviets were expelled. Hopefully this time, with an eye to history, we can get it right.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955