Showing posts with label Soviet-occupation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soviet-occupation. Show all posts

Friday, March 6, 2015

History - '3 Hut Uprising' of 1980

Thomas Ruttig of the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) has provided us with a synopsis of the '3 Hut Uprising' that took place in Kabul in early 1980. An uprising that protested the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Read Six Days that shook Kabul: The '3 Hut uprising', first urban protest against the Soviet occupation dated 22 Feb 2015.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Movie - "The Beast"

I recently read a Tom Ricks review of the movie Fury starring Brad Pitt. Fury  is set in World War II and centers on a Sherman tank crew. Ricks says the movie Furey is fine and worth seeing . . . but keep your expectations in check. However, he does recommend viewing a film entitled The Beast  - a story about a Soviet T-62 tank crew that gets lost during an operation in Helmand province. The film was produced in 1988 just one year prior to the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and thirteen years before 9/11 and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. The Beast is available at Amazon.com. Wikipedia has a write up about The Beast. (SPOILER ALERT: The plot and outcome of the movie is revealed in the Wikipedia writeup!).

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Reasons for Soviet Union Invasion (1979)

A recently published tract provides us with an explanation of why the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. This paper is unique, so the author says, in its assessment of ". . . nuances of the Soviet decision-making process and account for those unique developments within the theatres of intervention". Read the article by Uday Rai Mehra entitled Why Did the Soviet Union Invade Afghanistan in 1979?, posted on E-International Relations on October 9, 2014.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Soviet COIN in Afghanistan: The Manwaring Pardigm

An interesting article has been posted on Small Wars Journal about the Soviet Union counterinsurgency effort in Afghanistan. The author details the many failures of the Soviet counterinsurgency campaign through the framework of the Manwaring Paradigm. Max Manwaring, a research professor of military strategy with the Strategic Studies Institute, developed a method to analyze internal conflicts that consists of six dimensions that can explain success or failure in internal wars and conflicts. The six key factors included legitimacy of the government, organization for the unity of effort, type and consistency of support for the targeted government, ability to reduce outside aid to insurgents, intelligence support for COIN, and discipline and capabilities of the government's armed forces. While this article pertains to the Soviet COIN effort the six factors are equally applied to the U.S. (ISAF) COIN effort. Read "An Uncomfortable War in the Graveyard of Empires", by Michael McBride, February 22, 2014.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Soviet-Era Journalist Recalls End of Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan

A Soviet journalist who covered many years of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan spent much of the final year observing and reporting on the withdrawal of Soviet troops. Read his comments on what happened 25 years ago in "Soviet-Era Journalist, Face of Afghan War, Looks Back on Pullout", Radio Free Europe, February 18, 2014.