I watched FX’s The American Season 3 Episode 1 this afternoon. It had a segment about the Russians being in Afghanistan.
I wondered — how could a country barely out of the 7th Century manage to hold out for a decade against each of the two most power militaries the world has ever seen — USSR and USA?
RE: I wondered — how could a country barely out of the 7th Century manage to hold out for a decade against each of the two most power militaries the world has ever seen — USSR and USA?
Well, I would say that it defeated the USSR with the help of the USA ) remember Charlie Wilson’s war?).
As for the USA, we won the war but can’t keep the country together. Plus, we’re too “merciful”, for want of a better word, and don’t want to totally crush and humiliate the defeated enemy the way we did Japan.
In the 21st century, the USA can win any war. However, maintaining the peace is a totally different thing.
“how could a country barely out of the 7th Century manage to hold out for a decade against each of the two most power militaries the world has ever seen — USSR and USA?”
They didn’t hold out. Both big powers just rolled right into Afghanistan and took over in short order when they felt like doing so.
The place just never amounted to much, and was not worth keeping.