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THE SOVIET INVASION OF AFGHANISTAN: ITS INEVITABILITY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

1982; United States Army War College; Volume: 12; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.55540/0031-1723.1288

0031-1723

Lawrence E. Grinter,

Military History and Strategy

Abstract : On 27 December 1979, following the second assassination of a communist President of Afghanistan in three months, the Soviet Union's armed forces invaded Afghanistan and installed a third communist as President: Babrak Karmal. Within 10 days, 85,000 Soviet troops had occupied the country. By invading Afghanistan the Soviets hoped to put an end to the political-military deterioration which had accelerated with the overthrow of the non-communist regime of Sadar Mohammad Daud in April 1978. Moscow's decision to use force inside this Third World country doubtless followed substantial debate within the Politburo. The Soviet leadership had to weigh the stakes not just in Afghanistan and Southwest Asia, but also with regard to how an invasion would affect detente, other relationships important to the Soviets, and a host of regional issues.