A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan PDF
Preview A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan
A L O N G G O O D B Y E A L O N G G O O D B Y E The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan ARTEMY M. KALINOVSKY HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge,Massachusetts,andLondon,England 2011 Copyright©2011bythePresidentandFellowsofHarvardCollege all rights reserved PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Kalinovsky,ArtemyM. Alonggoodbye : theSovietwithdrawalfromAfghanistan / ArtemyM.Kalinovsky. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-0-674-05866-8(alk.paper) 1.SovietUnion—Foreignrelations—Afghanistan. 2.Afghanistan—Foreignrelations— SovietUnion. 3.Afghanistan—History—Sovietoccupation,1979–1989. 4.SovietUnion— Foreignrelations—1975–1985. 5.SovietUnion—Foreignrelations—1985–1991. 6.Gorbachev,MikhailSergeevich,1931– 7.Shevardnadze,EduardAmvrosievich,1928– 8.Disengagement(Militaryscience)—Casestudies. I.Title. DK68.7.A6K352011 958.104′5—dc22 2010048681 Tomyparentsandgrandparents CONTENTS Introduction 1 1 The Reluctant Intervention 16 2 The Turn toward Diplomacy 54 3 Gorbachev Confronts Afghanistan 74 4 The National Reconciliation Campaign 93 5 Engaging with the Americans 122 6 The Army Withdraws and the Politburo Debates 147 7 Soviet Policy Adrift 178 Conclusion 206 Abbreviations 229 Notes 231 ANoteonSources 276 Bibliography 278 Acknowledgments 295 Index 297 SSS OOO VVV III EEE TTT UUU NNN III OOO NNN AA MMaasshhaadd mmuu DDaarryyaa RRiivveerr DDDuuussshhhaaannnbbbeee CCCHHHIIINNNAAA JOWZJAN HHHaaaiiirrraaatttooonnn SSShhheeebbbeeerrrggghhhaaannn IIRRAANN TTTuuurrrggghhhuuunnndddHHHiii eeerrraaatttQQQaaalllaaaBiii NNNADaaaGwwwHISMMMaaaFyyyAmmmRYaaaAnnnBaaa SSSSaaaArrraaaRAiii IPPP PuuuUlllL BAMMMSLAKaaaHMzzzaaaArrrG---Aiii---NSSShhhaaaPPPKrrruuuiiiUffflllN---iiiD---KKKUZThhhAuuuTTTKmmmaaaHllluuurrrAiiiqqqRaaannn FFFBaaaADAiiiKHzzzSHANaaabbbaaaddd WWaakkhhaaPPnnaa CCmmooiirrrrrr RRiiddiivvooeerrrr SShhiinnddHaaEnnRddAT AAA FFF GGG HHHGOAAAR NNNCCChhhaaaIIIggghhhSSSccchhhaaaTTTrrraaannnAAA NNNBBBaaaBmmmAyyyMaaaYnnnAWNARDAPKARWBAKKKAKNGaaaAHBbbbULKuuuLAJJJAlllNaaaPISlllAaaaLlllaaaAGHbbbMAaaaNdddKUAAANsssAaaaRdddaaabbbaaaddd KASHMIR FFFaaarrraaahhh FARAH TTTaaaUrrriiinnnR UKKKZoooGtttAN GHGGGAZhhhNaaaIzzznnniii LOPGAAKGRGGTIaaaArrrdddeeeNKKKzzzAhhhNoooGsssAtttRHAR PPPeeessshhhaaawwwaaarrr IIIssslllaaammmaaabbbaaaddd CCeeaassee--ffiirree lliinnee LLaasshhkkaarrggaahh ZABUL ZZZaaarrraaannnjjj KKKaaannndddaaahhhaaarrr QQQaaalllaaattt PAKTIKA RRRaaawwwaaalllpppiiinnndddiii IIINNNDDDIIIAAA NIMROZ HELMAND KANDAHAR PPP AAA KKK III SSS TTT AAA NNN rreevvddiiRR ssuu nn II Afghanistananditsneighbors,1947–1991 INTRODUCTION The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan (1979–1989) was easily one of the bloodiest of Cold War conflicts. By the time the last Soviet sol- dier returned to his native soil in February 1989, over 13,000 of his com- rades had fallen in the Afghan dirt, and another 40,000 were wounded. Countless more returned home scarred by the war, in ways that some- times manifested themselves only years later. Estimates of Afghan losses vary,butitisbelievedthatanywherefrom800,000to1.2millionAfghans died as a result of the fighting. Yet the carnage did not end there. In the years 1989–1992, the government of the Republic of Afghanistan, sup- ported by Soviet advisers and armaments, continued to hold out against mujahadeen groups backed by Pakistan, the United States, and Saudi Arabia. The Republic of Afghanistan outlasted the Soviet Union by al- most five months, but its collapse merely precipitated a new phase of civilwar,whichinoneformoranothercontinuestothepresentday. The intervention in Afghanistan was the culmination of the Soviet Union’s involvement with the Third World that began in the 1950s and extended throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In terms of military aid alone, Soviet advisers during the latter decade took part in the Egyptian-Israeli War of Attrition (1970), the Angolan civil war (from 1975), and the Somali-EthiopianconflictintheOgadenDesert(1977–1978).1IntheEu- ropean theater of the Cold War, Soviet leaders had also chosen mili- tary intervention when communist regimes were threatened in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968). Broadly speaking, all of these involve- ments were undertaken to shore up Soviet-friendly regimes and demon- strate Moscow’s willingness to use force on behalf of allies. Yet while the intervention in Afghanistan had its precedents, it also became a turning point. The war, so costly in blood and treasure, forced Soviet leaders to reevaluate interventions as instruments of foreign policy. Thus, when a crisisbrokeoutinPolandinthesummerof1980,threateningtheregime 1
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