Saturday, October 24, 2009

Nato faces same problems in Afghanistan as Russia did in 1985

Times Online

"In 1985 the Soviet campaign in Afghanistan was at a turning point. Mikhail Gorbachev had just become Communist Party chief and was looking for an exit strategy. The Red Army wanted more troops.

Both had lost faith in Babrak Karmal, the Afghan President whom they installed in 1979 but who was now weak, incompetent and confined mostly to his palace.

Sound familiar?......

Mohammad Najibullah oversaw the Soviet withdrawal and a civil war before seeking refuge in a UN compound in Kabul in 1992. Four years later the Taleban dragged him out, tortured him to death and strung him from a traffic light."

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