>
> Only if they actually try to occupy and develop the whole country, like
> the USSR did (would be interesting to compare the differences between
> Soviet and us "rebuilding"). The USSR took Afghanistan in something like,
> what, two weeks? Then it tried to centralize control in Kabul and impose
> order on the country. Doesn't look like to US is trying to centralize
> anything . They're just holed up in the capital.
<URL: http://csf.colorado.edu/pen-l/2001III/msg02758.html >
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> From "Afghanistan's Endless War, " by Larry P. Goodson, who
studied under Louis Depree [along with Oliver Roy, considered two of
the leading scholars on Afghanistan and political Islam~
Pg. 5, talkng about the Soviet-Afghan War from '78 to '89. "Nearly 2 million Afghans have been killed so far, (as well as 15,000 Soviet soldiers), and 600,000 to 2,000,000 wounded. More than 6 million Afghans fled to Iran and Pakistan, creating the worlds largest refugee population since 1981, while 2 million Afghans were internally displaced. Thus more than 50 % of Afghanistans indigeous population (estimated at 15-17 million at war's beginning, now estimated to be 22 million) became casulties, killed, wounded or refugees.
From the next paragraph, "The Soviet Army and the Afghan communist government planted an estimated 30,000,000 land mines throughout the country, most of them completely unmarked and unmarked. Afghanistan's natural resources, particularly the natural gas reserves near Shiberghan, flowed north to the Soviet Union in the 80's and Afghanistan's economy collapsed."
Pg. 57, "In the early spring of 1979 war came to the cities of Afghanistan, In mid-March there was a general uprising in Herat. More than 100 Soviets were reportedly hunted down and killed in savage violence that claimed 3 thousand to 5 thousand lives....The government in Kabul felt the pressure generated by the uprisings in the countryside, particularly the savage fighting in Herat and the defection of its troops in Jalalabad [previous paragraph said Afghan Army strength went from 80,000 to 30,000 from late '78 to spring '79). In April Afghan government troops with Soviet advisors massacred 1,170 men and boys in Kerala village in Kunar, near the border with Pakistan."
USG Covert Aid to Afghan Mujahdeen in the 80's Pg. 146, Larry P. Goodson, "Afghanistan's Endless War, " Univ. of Washington Press. 1980 $30 Million 1981 $35 M 1982 $$35-50 M 1983 $80 M 1984 $122 M 1985 $280 M 1986 $470-550M 1987 $600M 1988 $400M 1989 $400-550M
Citing NYT, Washington Post, Henry Bradsher, "Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, Duke Univ. Press, 1985.
Soviet and Chinese Aid...
Besides being one of the first regimes to recognize Pinochet after 9-11-
73, along with the USG giving Savimbi lotsa weaponry, the PRC also gave
arms to the anti-Soviet mujahadeen in the 80's through the ISI pipeline.
> From Larry P. Goodson, "Afghanistan's Endless War, " Univ. of
Washington Press, pg. 99. "The Soviet Union supplied $36-$48 billion (yes
B!) to the communist Kabul regime from 1978 to the early 90's. Over the
course of the war, the United States, Saudi Arabia and China supplied $6-12
billion to the mujahdeen..."
Pg. 142, Goodson again. "The Soviets took natural gas from the Shiberghan fields (for example 2.4 Billion cubic feet in 1986, 50% of Afghanistan's total export value) and supplied essential commodities (including wheat)along with arms, machinery and transportation equipment." The gas was "sold" at BELOW market rates to the fSU.
http://www.afghanbooks.com/beartrap/bt_infi.htm
I also believed that the Soviets were sensitive in the north. Not only was their base area for the entire war effort just north of the Amu, but northern Afghanistan had had great commercial value to the Soviet Union for many years. In 1960 Soviet exploration had discovered several substantial natural gas fields near Shibarghan (see Map 6) in the northern province of Jozjan. It had an estimated reserve in excess of 500 billion cubic metres. In 1968 a 15-kilometre pipeline was opened, carrying the gas into the Soviet Union. Later, oil was discovered at Sar-i-Pul and Ali Gul 200 kilometres further west. Copper, iron, gold and precious stones are among the other profitable minerals that have been located in the northern and eastern parts of Afghanistan centred on or near the cities of Kabul, Kunduz and Mazar-i-Sharif. Precisely the areas that coincided with the Soviets military dispositions. -- Michael Pugliese