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The Cold War, scourge of the Middle East, Then and Now
By Robert Sun, Matt Schilling, and Misha Savv. The Cold War, a period of global tension,
began after WW2 and ended in 1991, and was a series of indirect clashes between the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America.
Because the countries were unable to politically solve their differences, and debates only
showed tension, the countries had to challenge each other in the form of proxy wars, a type
of military conflict where two parties wage war and compare strength through surrogate
countries or militant groups, such as Afghanistan. The primary reason for these struggles centered
on competing ideals of capitalist democracy and communism from these
two countries, as well as a goal to spread each country’s influence and gain more political
and military allies through-out a conflicting world.
The conflict only gained strength when fear broke out among the two countries’ ruling
elites that the competing ideal would take root and become dominant within the proxy
country’s political infrastructures and, ultimately, within the primary country as
well. The two leaders of these countries were faced
with dilemmas that could end life on Earth, with constant danger of activation of each
country’s massive nuclear stockpiles in place.
The tension decreased between America and the Soviet Union, when the USSR was broken
up into the Russia Federation and its surrounding countries, but conflicts were still existent
on a global scale, effecting chaotic regions such as the Middle East, where Proxy wars
left the regions unstable and violent. Failed cold war diplomacy between the US and
the USSR caused unrest in Afghanistan and developed the Taliban and the Al Qaeda.
Soviet involvement in Afghanistan lasted 9 years with a conflict between the Communist
government and an anti-communist uprising starting on December 27th 1979.
That day, soviet troops dressed in Afghan uniforms locked down government buildings
to prevent the anti-communists, mujahideen rebels, from taking over.
To counter this imbalance, the mujahideens gained help from the US, UK, and other anti-communist
countries At the turn of the decade, in Kabul, the capital
of Afghanistan, the communist government firmly struck their position and was backed by the
Soviets with the President of Afghanistan saying that the USSR is providing his country
with help “against outside thrests”. President Carter at the time however, disagreed
with the Soviet’s public motives and decided that the Soviet incursions in Afghanistan
was “ an extremely serious threat to peace and a callous violation of international law
and the United Nations charter.” He said that “The Soviets claim, falsely,
that they were invited into Afghanistan to help protect that country from some unnamed
outside threat. But the President, who had been the leader of Afghanistan before the
Soviet invasion, was assassinated—along with several members of his family—after
the Soviets gained control of the capital city of Kabul. Only several days later was
the new puppet leader even brought into Afghanistan by the Soviets.”
He also warned that “ A Soviet occupied Afghanistan… is a stepping stone to possible
control over much of the world’s oil supplies.” With these two direct quotes from these important
people, it is understood that they did not care about the welfare of Afghanistan or about
the consequences, all the US and USSR cared about was political relations, power and petroleum.
The war of Communists versus Anti-Communists readily raged on in Afghanistan, and the flames
of conflict, already present with years of war with the British and themselves, were
being stoked by the Soviet Union and the US supplying troops weapons to their respective
sides to battle each other. The Soviets pooled in troops and aircraft
while the US sent secret forces and weaponry such as missiles and machine guns to support
their respective sides. The two factions in Afghanistan engaged in
a devastating power struggle and paved the way for an unstable infrastructure that lead
to the Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Carter did say that the United Nations wanted
“all nations in the region to be free and independent”, but results turned out that
the independency lead to terrorism. Carter believed that the Soviet Union would
“threaten the security of all nations including..the United States, but the danger was brought
to the US by itself. Many terrorists actually came from the Mujahideen,
which employed similar tactics in driving out the Soviets: bombings, destruction of
civilian properties, schools, non-Muslim churches, and guerilla attacks.
The Taliban was already around at this time, and acted as a political party. The US actually
helped them get power and saw them as a source of stability for Afghanistan’s crumbling
infrastrcture. The soviets finally retreated in 1989 and
the communist government in Afghanistan fell in 1992.
The mujahideen soon prevailed in taking over the Afghanistan capital, Kabul, setting up
a new government and president. The newly divided and conflicting nation of
Afghanistan now opened the way for insurgents and extremist groups to take over.
These insurgents are the ones we know today as the terrorists behind the 9/11 attacks,
but were also supported by the US during the Soviet War in Afghanistan.
Furthermore, the insurgents received their weaponry from the Soviets, which though is
dated, continues to function and take lives. United States weaponry was also common.
The massive shipments of arms, missiles, and transportation from both nations, as well
as caches of weaponry and munitions left by the rapid withdrawals all created huge stockpiles
of weapons.
To make matters worse, in 1991 both the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to end
any aid in Afghanistan, leaving the people of Afghanistan to fend for themselves.
During this time of unrest, the other group, the Taliban, emerged from the ranks of the
mujahideen. They took over the capital in 1996 and enforced
strict rules on society, showing the same cruelty that their mujahideen predecesors
did. The US got involved again, about a decade
later, because of the inhumanity of the Taliban and their support of terrorist groups like
al Qaida, which directly opposed the west, and supported war and violence against Westerners
in the name of the holy war Jihad. Though they were being battled, the Taliban
and the Al Qaeda continued to spray destruction over the planet with guerilla warfare techniques
and terrorist attacks, and it is painful to remember that it was the 2 world powers that
allowed these villainous organizations to raise up and gain power
There would be no terrorist groups without weaponry, and the clear mistakes of the USSR
and the US are now in view, as the whole world watches weapons that once defended democracy,
people’s rights, and stable government used to bring those things down.
The US and USSR’s lack of communication led to wars like this being blown out of proportion
by world powers asserting themselves in tiny, underdeveloped nations.
While leaders, in great verbal battles such as the Kitchen debate, politely argued over
who had better technology, and pointed out each other’s misunderstandings of the other’s
political regime, their nations tore apart small countries in order to call on more state
on the map their ally.
Very little direct debate over the proxy wars took place, and both countries only offered
their political support openly, and military support was done mysteriously. For instance,
Americans sent their weapon support through Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern allies,
making it impossible for the USSR to confront them on the subject of the conflict, since
they officially had nothing to do with it. After the end of the Cold War, both countries
withdrew, while the surrogate countries, in this case Afghanistan, had to recuperate from
an unstable government, growth of hostile militant groups, not to mention the monetary,
environmental, and physical damages of a major military conflict.