American Hidden Involvement in Waging Soviet-Afghan War
One of the biggest issues in the eastern world today is the fanaticism that consumes it as seen through the avid media coverage it receives. However upon further investigation, it is clear to see that American involvement during the Soviet-Afghan war was the most prominent factor in the creation of these radical groups. The financial and tactical support given to the Mujahideen, the support of Osama bin Laden from America and the lack of responsibility from the US to help the country achieve political stability after the retreat of the Soviets, is ultimately what lead the religious fanatics to rise and dominate the eastern world for years to follow.
Firstly, the US support that Mujahideen received from the US government and the CIA was an eminent factor in the rise of fanaticism. Before funding was given, the Mujahideen did not have the military power to overthrow the government yet alone defeat the military superpower of the USSR. The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan was in power during the invasion and they fully supported strengthening the relationship between Afghanistan and the USSR. This enraged many of the nationalists of the country and they began resistance against the government. They used the excuses that they were fighting against western forces that were accused of modernizing Afghanistan and Islam. The Americans saw the increasing influence of communism over the nation, they began to fund the sole group that was against communism, the Mujahideen. Initially, they did not send any weapons but they funneled support. The CIA spent over $500000 on propaganda and psychological operations on the Afghan rebels. The psychological operations played an important role in recruiting fighters. A prominent strategy used was the presentation of propaganda for the public Afghan eye. The poster depicts the USSR as a monster and the text reads as ‘The Red Devil.’ The use of ‘devil’ would provoke the citizens as Afghanistan is a majority muslim country. The word choice would further agitate the citizens as it is a concept that is negatively presented in all Abrahamic faiths. By using religion to get into the minds of the habitants, the US successfully recruited more fighters.“It is now clear that the Afghans, whose history includes many centuries of warfare with various warring groups, could not see these armed strangers as anything but armed invaders. And since these strangers were not Muslim, a religious factor was added to the national enmity.” This quotation also further portrays the idea of religion and how the CIA’s psychological propaganda was successful in concerning the Afghans. It is also said that the US president’s national security, Zbigniew Brzeziński, was the one to suggest the American-Afghan Rebel collaboration. His plan was not only to force the Soviets to withdraw from Afghanistan, but to have a fanatical spread of Islam in Europe to destabilise the Soviets completley. Another form of the psychological operations were armed propaganda, in which the farmers and habitants of rural lands were slowly introduced to weaponry and their function. The CIA wanted to make the habitants feel comfortable with the presence of the guerrilla fighters, weapons, and the CIA. The shipment of weapons began in 1984 when there was an intelligence coup with influenced the administration to escalate their involvement in Afghanistan. There was already so much pressure from the rest of Congress to expand the Mujahideen; so with the newfound information of the Soviet’s war plans, the USA shared their high tech arsenal with the rebels. The Soviets became more aggressive and began using another Soviet force known as Spetsnaz, which led helicopter attacks on the rebels. To level the playing field in 1986, the USA gave one of their most powerful missiles, the Stinger, to the Afghans. The biggest catalysts of the increased funding and arsenal was the Texas congressman, Charlie Wilson as he suggested increased funding. Additionally the rebels were sent to Camp Peary, a CIA training camp in Virginia, where they were taught ‘sabotage skills.’ Without the CIA and the American government’s help, the Mujahideen would not have formed or been able to win against the Soviet Union as they did not have the military power nor the unity. The CIA brought together all minor fanatical groups and gave them a common reason to fight.
One of the major figures during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was Osama bin Laden. In collaboration with the CIA and America he was able to gain support from the rebels and eventually become one of the faces of the Mujahideen. The relationship between the CIA and Osama bin Laden began in 1981 when the CIA was looking for a new source for the secret financing of the rebels campaign. Prince Sultan bin Abdul Azziz, the Defence and Aviation Minister, told the Americans that the bin Laden's 'have done amazing things for the Saudi kingdom' and that the family was the top choice. The CIA got in contact with the family and began their relations. In 1986, bin Laden helped build a major arms storage depot, a training facility and a medical centre for the rebels using his family's money as well as a hefty sum from the CIA. He directed all of the operations with the CIA’s financial support. The support and approval from the West led bin Laden to believing that his actions were correct and that he was not just fighting communism, he was fighting the non-believers. Without the US’s support bin Laden would not have been able to flourish the way he did, which results in the conclusion that the US’s choice to fund bin Laden was another factor in creating fanaticism.
The final factor that led to fanaticism was the lack of responsibility that the US had for Afghanistan after the Soviet Union retreated. In May 1988, the Soviets began leaving Afghanistan after a tiresome battle. By February 1989, the USSR announced that they had fully evacuated Afghanistan. Just as the USSR left, the Americans left the nation as well. In a UN meeting, it was said that it became a ‘forgotten war’ and the Afghan people became ‘forgotten people’. The US intervention and the efforts to find a peaceful resolution for the country was weak and the US never followed through. The battleground of Afghanistan was left unstable with no form of government and the only power remaining were the armed rebels. The dangerous Stinger missiles that the Americans were scared to give the rebels were also left behind as well. They remain there even to this day and it is estimated that in 1992, there were approximately 600 out of the 2300 Stinger’s missing in Afghanistan.Although the weapons left behind is the most prominent factor, the psychological impact left behind is what drove the Mujahideen and other radicals to terrorizing the rest of the eastern and western world. The Soviet defeat is said to have produced a feeling of megalomania for the guerrilla forces as it was one of the biggest war victories for the Afghans after the series of Anglo-Afghan wars. With megalomaniac mindset, Osama bin Laden founded the terrorist organization, Al Qaeda.
“The war, left behind an uneasy coalition of Islamist organizations intent on promoting Islam against all non-Muslim forces. It also left a legacy of expert and experienced fighters, training camps and logistical facilities, elaborate trans-Islam networks of personal and organization relationships, a substantial amount of military equipment including 300 to 500 unaccounted-for Stinger missiles, and, most important, a heady sense of power and self-confidence over what had been achieved and a driving desire to move on to other victories.”
The previous excerpt comes from Samuel P. Huntington, an American political scientist who analyzed the American intervention. With the egotistical mindset in the following years, the eastern world fell under the control of the fanatical groups for many years to follow.
The American involvement during the Soviet-Afghan War is the reason as to why fanaticism is such a big issue in the eastern world today. By choosing to arm selected radical groups, the US enabled the radicals to fight and harm innocent civilians as the aftermath of the war was a battle for political power in which the radicals dominated. Osama bin Laden also had a significant role in the development of fanaticism in the east as known by many. The US's relentless support of his actions and their collaboration during the war gave him the confidence to pursue higher things as he had the support of many behind him. Additionally, when the Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan, the lack of responsibility from the US to help the country regain political stability additionally aided the radicals. With no one in power, the reins were loose as all political groups and ideologies fought for power. The fanatic groups of Afghanistan rose and took control of not only their own country, but many others over the following years.
