Afghanistan, just like Cuba, wasa trap for the Soviet Union and another example of détente. The United Stateswould let the country fall into the hands of the communists, and then threatenthe communist government by invading Afghanistan. The Afghans would then callthe Soviet Union for help and the Soviets would send their troops into there,just like what happened to Cuba. The West would start training Afghan individualsto invade the country from Pakistan.
Jihadists were encouraged to createterrorist organizations to the point where it seems that they will take over Afghanistan.The Soviets would then invade and occupy Afghanistan, once again falling into thesame trap that they fell into in Cuba. In an interview with ZbigniewBrzezinski, who served as a counselor to President Lyndon B. Johnson, hestated, “We didn’t push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increasedthe probability that they would…That secret operation was an excellent idea.
Ithad the effect of drawing the Soviets into the Afghan trap…The day that theSoviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter ‘We now havethe opportunity of giving to the Soviet Union its Vietnam War'”. Brzezinskiviewed the end of the Soviet empire as worth the cost of strengthening militantIslamic groups. The president responded to the Soviet move forcefully, byimposing economic sanctions on the Soviet Union, taking a series of steps to stimulatecontainment, and calling for a considerable increase in US defense spending. Afghanistanaltered viewpoints of the Soviet Union’s foreign policy and the country’sportrayal in the world. As the war and glasnost, Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy ofopen discussion of political and social issues, revealed the past, especiallythe expenses of superpower status and the failure of the country to stay in thegame, the war became an ideal indication for those arguing for the withdrawalfrom Afghanistan.
Afghanistan struck the Soviets while they were already in chaos.The series of moral crises, political breakdown, and economic bankruptcy createdan overall far more unstable situation for the Soviets. The war, without adoubt, lead to the final downfall of an already dying détente.
The collapse ofthe Soviet Union itself in 1991 and the policies that came into play byGorbachev’s reforms that he proved unable to control were surely anti-climacticas far as the Cold War is concerned. By the time the Soviet Union vanished, theCold War itself was already history, and the West was the resulting victor.Afghanistan, just like Cuba, wasa trap for the Soviet Union and another example of détente.
The United Stateswould let the country fall into the hands of the communists, and then threatenthe communist government by invading Afghanistan. The Afghans would then callthe Soviet Union for help and the Soviets would send their troops into there,just like what happened to Cuba. The West would start training Afghan individualsto invade the country from Pakistan. Jihadists were encouraged to createterrorist organizations to the point where it seems that they will take over Afghanistan.The Soviets would then invade and occupy Afghanistan, once again falling into thesame trap that they fell into in Cuba. In an interview with ZbigniewBrzezinski, who served as a counselor to President Lyndon B.
Johnson, hestated, “We didn’t push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increasedthe probability that they would…That secret operation was an excellent idea. Ithad the effect of drawing the Soviets into the Afghan trap…The day that theSoviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter ‘We now havethe opportunity of giving to the Soviet Union its Vietnam War'”. Brzezinskiviewed the end of the Soviet empire as worth the cost of strengthening militantIslamic groups.
The president responded to the Soviet move forcefully, byimposing economic sanctions on the Soviet Union, taking a series of steps to stimulatecontainment, and calling for a considerable increase in US defense spending. Afghanistanaltered viewpoints of the Soviet Union’s foreign policy and the country’sportrayal in the world. As the war and glasnost, Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy ofopen discussion of political and social issues, revealed the past, especiallythe expenses of superpower status and the failure of the country to stay in thegame, the war became an ideal indication for those arguing for the withdrawalfrom Afghanistan. Afghanistan struck the Soviets while they were already in chaos.The series of moral crises, political breakdown, and economic bankruptcy createdan overall far more unstable situation for the Soviets. The war, without adoubt, lead to the final downfall of an already dying détente. The collapse ofthe Soviet Union itself in 1991 and the policies that came into play byGorbachev’s reforms that he proved unable to control were surely anti-climacticas far as the Cold War is concerned.
By the time the Soviet Union vanished, theCold War itself was already history, and the West was the resulting victor.
