Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, 1979
- Soviets wanted to influence region and fit their southern expansion policy
- Sept. 1979, Soviets invaded and installed Babrak Karmal as a puppet President
- The West, China and India were alarmed and many boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of it
- The invasion and Reagan being elected are seen as the ends of détente
- Soviets opposed by rebels called the Mujaheddin
- By 1985 Soviets had 100,000 troops here
- 1987 Karmal replaced by Mohammed Najibullah who was even more of a puppet
- Soviets accused of practicing inhumane types of warfare (ie. Chemical)
- Soviets eventually withdrew
- Many parallels to the U.S. in Vietnam
"It is better to die for something, than to live for nothing." -Mujahid.
Subjunctive Question
Why didn't The west, China, and India help more when the Soviets replaced Karmal with Mohammed Najibullah ?
Summary
In 1979, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan and installed Babrak Karmal as president merely as a puppet. As a result, many nations including India and China boycotted the Moscow Olympics. Then replaced Karmal with Maohammed. The Soviets eventually withdrew however, due to the increasing amount of Afghanistan rebels.