Revisiting The Soviet Invasion Of Afghanistan In 1979-1980

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan December 1979 - January 1980 (Wikimedia)

How the Soviet Army Crushed Afghanistan -- Time Magazine

But rebels may find ways to fight back
When you are wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
And go to your God like a soldier.

That was Rudyard Kipling's tribute to Afghanistan, a barren moonscape of a land at the "crossroads of the world," and to its proud and savage people. Conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. and by Genghis Khan in the 13th century A.D., Afghanistan in the Victorian era served as a buffer between Imperial Russia and the British raj. The Afghans accepted it all, but they exacted a bloody price. For generations, the Hindus of India prayed for deliverance from "the venom of the cobra, the teeth of the tiger and the vengeance of the Afghan."

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My Comment: Reading this 1980 Time Magazine article on the Soviet invasion gives me the chills. The entire 8 year campaign was a horrendous disaster for everyone .... a disaster that we ourselves appear to be stumbling into with each passing year.

Sighhh .... read the entire article.