Keeping the Soviet Union together is a lot over the top. But it seems to me Russia should have remained PO’ed at Afghanistan (because of all the casualties they took) by the time we decided to start kicking Afghan butts, and should have been a lot more help in cleaning out the Taliban and al Quida just for revenge. The Soviets were trying to keep a lid on that mess, which may well be the only halfway positive thing they’d ever done.
But after the fall, they just shrank to being reactionaries, merely resisting the US at every turn, mindless of any central foreign policy philosophy. Sort of like liberals, who think the Taliban is just great so long as they’re killing Americans. They don’t understand that if there was a world-wide Caliphate the godless liberals would be the first against the wall.
I had older friends talk about what a carphole Viet Nam is, but that country has a lot more going for it than just about any of the ‘Stans.
I know your point, but we were correct to fight the Soviet Union all over the globe, including Afghanistan.
Joining them as allies to enable Soviet strategic goals as was suggested, is just idiocy.
Reagan was right, he was fighting the Soviet Union and Afghanistan was an important part of Reagan’s correct strategy.