Afghanist Crucial Events In The Cold War

People saw the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan as one of the final crucial events in the cold war.1 It was Dec of 1979, when the Soviets 40th army invaded Afghanistan. At the time, America was charming countries like Pakistan, Israel, and others, therefore Russia sought to spread their reign of Communism throughout Afghanistan. It all started when the PDPA (Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan) which was a communist party that had close ties with Soviet Russia, was close to being vanquished so they established a coup d’état to overthrow the president at the time, Mohammed Daoud Khan2 who at the time overthrew his cousin Zahir Shaw. After Daoud Khan was overthrown, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan came into power where Nur Mohammad Taraki ruled. In Feb 1979, the US ambassador is killed and one month later Taraki is assassinated by supporters of the deputy Prime Minister, Ha’zullah Amin, who sought US support.3 Amin quietly started to rule as an
The palace was attacked by bombers and tanks until the palace was left in ruins. Soon after the Soviets placed Babrak Kamal into power. During this time, the Mujahedeen were starting to let their presence known and the United States, Saudi Arabia, and other countries started providing them with modern weapons through Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence or (ISI).1 “The supply of American-made anti-aircraft Stinger missiles in 1986 proved a turning point, as Soviet gunship helicopters could no longer wreak havoc on the mujahedeen.”1 Soon after Kamal was replaced by Najib Allah, the United Nations negotiated with the Russians and after one million Afghan lives, the Russians began to pull their troops out of Afghanistan. The significance was that America played a major role behind the curtains. If it was not for the stinger missiles and modern equipment that America had given them to take out Russian infantry, Afghanistan would have settled as a communist