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Surprise! The Soviets Nearly Won Afghan War
articles.latimes.com ^ | December 26, 2004 | Mark Kramer

Posted on 10/06/2015 6:59:21 AM PDT by Trumpinator

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To: Trumpinator

Yeah, and the United States “almost won” in Vietnam. The United States never lost a major campaign, and the Tet Offensive was a disaster for the Viet Cong militarily.


61 posted on 10/06/2015 8:13:34 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag necessary?)
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To: Yo-Yo

You are missing the point of the article because of the headline.....


62 posted on 10/06/2015 8:16:55 AM PDT by Trumpinator (You are all fired!!! TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP!)
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To: Trumpinator
Am I the only one who knows who Dr. Wheeler is in this frame of reference?

If you mean the guy who apparently helped put the Taliban in power and gave Osama Bin Laden a base to launch the 9/11 attacks, yes.

From your posting on Dr. Wheeler, one could argue that Reagan's intervention in the Soviet-Afghan War lead directly to 9/11, ~3,000 civilian deaths, and an ongoing butcher's bill of US and allied troops that numbers in the thousands of dead and tens of thousands maimed.

Similar sentiment in some RINO and Democrat circles would have us oppose Putin in Syria, which would just be repeating the same mistake. In other words, if we stand in Putin's way, what Syrian-based mass casualty attack will be forthcoming in the coming decade or so?

Point to ponder in light of our Founder's strongly discouraging the US from getting involved with foreign wars. Such intervention has consequences.

63 posted on 10/06/2015 8:22:08 AM PDT by Liberty Tree Surgeon (Mow your own lawn!)
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To: Trumpinator

Seems I remember Clinton selling the mooslems Stingers.


64 posted on 10/06/2015 8:24:10 AM PDT by Harold Shea
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To: Trumpinator

Japanese almost won Midway except for that carrier thing...

65 posted on 10/06/2015 8:24:21 AM PDT by Snickering Hound
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To: Steven Tyler

This piece of commentary is about the Afghan War not Syria.


66 posted on 10/06/2015 8:26:36 AM PDT by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: Trumpinator

Mark Kramer, Harvard Cold War Studies Program; enough said from Harvard, the commie/ soviet propaganda wing. They probably say that the Soviets “won” the cold war” thanks to Gorbachev.


67 posted on 10/06/2015 8:43:30 AM PDT by kenmcg
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To: kenmcg

That is not what he is saying. Jeez. The guy is stating we could defeat the Taliban - see how. Jeez.


68 posted on 10/06/2015 8:46:58 AM PDT by Trumpinator (You are all fired!!! TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP!)
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To: Trumpinator
And just what is the point of this article, written in 2004?

Most important, the Soviet war demonstrated that the Afghan guerrillas were not invincible and that well-designed counterinsurgency operations can inflict grave damage on, and spread turmoil among, the enemy.

Here it is eleven years later, and the insurgency against the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq marches on.

I'd say the point of the article was proven wrong by the march of time.

69 posted on 10/06/2015 8:48:12 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag necessary?)
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie

According to General Giap Linebacker II was devastating and a few more days of bombing and they were ready to give up. Of course the USA stopped bombing a few days to soon. The rest is history.


70 posted on 10/06/2015 8:50:26 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Trumpinator

Well yes and no. Yes there were many points in the conflict when the Soviets had clearly won the day and the Afghans probably should have quit. But for a variety of reasons (some internal to them, some tied to US aid) they didn’t. In an attrition war the home team will always be the most motivated, and eventually will always win, because eventually the other side just gets tired of it. Even in a dictatorship the will of the people matters, and when those people decide they’re tired of burying their sons for a cause they don’t believe in the war will end.


71 posted on 10/06/2015 8:51:50 AM PDT by discostu (dream big and dance a lot)
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To: central_va

That and Tet brought them out in the open and we shot them up real good after a slow start.


72 posted on 10/06/2015 8:52:07 AM PDT by ImJustAnotherOkie
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie

Between tet and carpet bombing they were done for in ‘72. We must of had some bad intel back then.


73 posted on 10/06/2015 8:53:51 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: discostu

The issue is outside aid to insurgents and how that keeps them going. The Taliban frustratingly are both fought by and backed by Pakistan at the same time. It’s just a bizarre situation - probably because Pakistan is a failed state and within Pakistan there are competing factions.


74 posted on 10/06/2015 8:57:00 AM PDT by Trumpinator (You are all fired!!! TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP!)
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To: Snickering Hound

That carrier was salvageable. It took a whole lot of torpedoes to send her to the bottom.


75 posted on 10/06/2015 8:59:30 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Trumpinator

scorched earth doesn’t include burning opium fields, I gather. That should have been a priority.


76 posted on 10/06/2015 9:00:59 AM PDT by huldah1776
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To: huldah1776

The Spoils of War: Afghanistan’s Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-spoils-of-war-afghanistan-s-multibillion-dollar-heroin-trade/91


77 posted on 10/06/2015 9:04:13 AM PDT by huldah1776
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To: Artemis Webb

Incorrect. WE kicked the soviets ass in Afghanistan. It was a proxy war.


78 posted on 10/06/2015 9:04:31 AM PDT by D Rider
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To: Trumpinator

There’s always going to be aid, because the occupiers will always have enemies.


79 posted on 10/06/2015 9:10:36 AM PDT by discostu (dream big and dance a lot)
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To: central_va

The civilians had Walter Cronkite as their intel agent. That’s all it took.


80 posted on 10/06/2015 9:31:17 AM PDT by ImJustAnotherOkie
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