All the Afghans I have met in Moscow (not very many) are big fans of Najiboolah. One of them is a former star on teh Afghan soccer time who is very proud of having met personally Najiboolah three times.
The impression I get is that the Soviets had pretty firm control over Afghanistan until the US began equpping the muj with Stingers.
Oh, and the Soviets in Afghanistan really WERE greeted with flowers.
Yoshie:
***** THE RUSSIA JOURNAL || Articles Afghans find uneasy peace in Moscow Christopher Kenneth
Fleeing from a country long devastated by war, despotism, religious extremism and poverty, thousands of Afghans have abandoned their homes over the past three decades to find a better and safer life in the Soviet Union and Russia.
There are more than 150,000 Afghans in Russia, with about a third in Moscow alone, estimates say. The composition of the Moscow diaspora is extremely diverse, with about 100 former ministers and governor-generals, 200 army generals, 100 professional journalists, 400 Ph.D.-holders in different fields and several thousands of other minor specialists, according to Afghan diaspora statistics. . . .
<http://www.therussiajournal.com/index.htm?cat=1&type=3&obj=5332> *****
Those 400 Afghan Ph.D's could have contributed a lot to the development of Afghanistan. . . .
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