Russia's Top Terrorist Killed

[garric]

Er, excuse my misnomer, must have been a Freudian slip.

 

[Winner]

And what exactly did the Soviets manage to do besides occupy Kabul and demoralize their men?

They controlled most of the country and practically destroyed the opposition. Their tactic was effective - this village is harbouring rebels? OK, let's erase it. They utilized small, experienced units and Mi-24's to strike at the rebels wherever they wanted.

By this I want to say that the common perception of the Afghan War as a conflict, where Russians were totally beaten by mujahids is simply wrong. They were winning for most of the time and if they had the resources to continue, they'd have prevailed in the long term.

If the Soviets were so strong, why did they pull back and have to rely on locals?

They pulled back because their empire was falling apart. One more thing worth mentioning - the soviet forces in Afghanistan were just a small fraction of their overall strenght.

Their empire was collapsing because their resources were being drained, a big part of it due to the eternal fighting in Afghanistan.

That's a simplification. Soviet empire collapsed from many reasons, the war in Afghanistan and Reagan's tough approach were just the last drops needed for the cup to flow over.

And Russia will waste its time and squabble its resources and men in Chechnya when it can be doing bigger things.

Such as? For Russians, the conflict in Chechnya is about prestige, morale and reputation. If they let go one small republic, there is a chance the other, predominantly Muslim republics near Caspian sea and Caucasus would try to secede too.

They have a motivation and the resources, that's why this conflict won't end up in the same way as Afghanistan or Vietnam.

 

[Gelion]

Chechnya was allowed independance following the end of the conflict in 1996. It was not recognized independance but all Russian forces pulled out and the republic was allowed to do what it wanted.

Following that in the end of 1999 and the beginning of 2000 Chechen forces under Maskhadov and Basayev staged a number of terrorist attacks, including an attack on a military hospital, and an invasion of a neighboring province of Dagestan, claiming to create a muslim nation that would spawn all of the Caucus region. Following this President Putin ordered forces to go back into Chechnya and the second Chechen war began.

I assume this is going to be ignored by all those who say Chechnya should be allowed independance?

 

[Gelion]

Discussion over?