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N0KFQ > TODAY 05.02.15 17:00l 46 Lines 2087 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 46548_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Feb 5
Path: IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 150205/1500Z 46548@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.62
Feb 5, 1989:
The last Soviet troops leave Kabul
In an important move signaling the close of the nearly
decade-long Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan, the last
Russian troops withdraw from the capital city of Kabul. Less than
two weeks later, all Soviet troops departed Afghanistan entirely,
ending what many observers referred to as Russia's "Vietnam."
Soviet armed forces entered Afghanistan in December 1979 to
support that nation's pro-Soviet communist government in its
battles with Muslim rebels. Almost immediately, the Soviet Union
found itself mired in a rapidly escalating conflict. Afghan
rebels put up unexpectedly stiff resistance to the Russian
intervention. Soon, thousands of Soviet troops were fighting a
bloody, costly, and ultimately frustrating battle to end the
Afghan resistance. By the time the Soviets started to withdraw in
early 1989, over 13,000 Russian soldiers were dead and over
22,000 had been wounded. The Soviet Union also suffered from a
very negative diplomatic response from the United
States--President Jimmy Carter put a hold on arms negotiations,
asked for economic sanctions, and pressed for an American boycott
of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
By 1988, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev decided that the
manpower and financial drains imposed by Afghanistan were
unacceptable and indicated that Soviet troops would shortly begin
their withdrawal. The Soviet Union was in the midst of tremendous
internal political and economic instability at the time, and
Gorbachev's action in regards to Afghanistan was yet another
indication that Soviet power was on the wane. In less than three
years, Gorbachev had resigned and the Soviet Union had ceased to
exist. For Afghanistan, the Soviet withdrawal did not mean an end
to the death and destruction. The Afghan rebels, who had been
armed to the teeth by U.S. aid, simply turned their attention to
political and religious rivals within the country. Civil war
continued to wrack the nation.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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