Read Online When Elephants Fight by Eric Walters - Free Book Online Page B

subdued or defeated. Great battles with heavy losses, retreats and re-entrenchments taking place—with the Afghans regaininglost territory—was the pattern. Ceasefires, treaties and accords were ultimately created that gave Britain some marginal control over Afghanistan’s foreign policy but no real control over the majority of the people or the country.
    In 1921 Afghanistan was granted independence from Britain. Emir Amanullah founded a monarchy in 1926. This kingdom remained in some degree of control throughout the country for almost fifty years, although there were continual internal power struggles, and many areas of the country operated as almost independent states.
    In 1973 the king was deposed, and the monarchy was replaced by a republic. This set off another period of turmoil as different groups attempted to gain power. In 1978 the republic was overthrown, and a Marxist government with close ties to the Soviet Union was formed.
    There was a great deal of internal resistance to this government and its official secular policy, as almost all Afghans are Muslim. This resistance became so strong that it appeared that the government would fall.
Soviet Involvement 1979–1989
    There is debate as to whether the government of Afghanistan invited the Soviet Union to send troops to support it or the Soviets simply invaded. In September, 1979, its forces crossed their shared border and launched a massive invasion of Afghanistan. The existing leader of the country was killed, and another leader was installed by the Soviets as the president of Afghanistan.
    The local groups who had fought against the previous Afghan government became even stronger in their opposition to the Soviet invaders. The resistance fighters, the muja-hideen, pledged a jihad, or holy war, to expel the invaders.
    The Soviet forces numbered in the hundreds of thousands and were supported by tanks, the most sophisticated weaponry available at the time, attack helicopters, planes and missiles. The Afghan resistance was in scattered pockets, under different leaders who did not necessarily cooperate and were, in fact, at times hostile to each other. These groups were lightly armed, some with outdated guns from World War II, and operated on foot or on horseback. Regardless of the differences between the weaponry, the resistance demonstrated that same level of fierce independence and willingness to fight that has been the mark of Afghans throughout history. And while many resistance fighters were killed, they continued to inflict heavy losses onthe Soviets. The Soviets discovered what all other previous invaders had learned: that while this country is possible to invade, it is incredibly difficult to subdue or control.
    This invasion was during a time of great conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States of America; so, the Soviets’s incursion was protested by the western world and clearly identified as an invasion and not a request by the existing government for their involvement. This country, previously ignored by the western world, became the focus of the Cold War conflict.
    Through Western covert—secret— programs the resistance fighters were provided with sophisticated arms, training and intelligence that allowed them to continually evolve into a more effective, cohesive and dangerous foe. Attempts to expand Soviet and government control into areas outside of the capital, Kabul, were met with time-limited success and came at the cost of many deaths and casualties.
    Along with Afghan fighters, there were calls for Muslims to come from other countries to continue the jihad against the Soviets. Among these outsiders was a Saudi man named Osama Bin Laden. It is alleged that he received training and funding from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States.
    Equipped with increasingly sophisticated weapons, including portable missiles that could destroy helicopters, the resistance movement became more deadly as