How was the Soviet Union defeated in Afghanistan?

[white-wolf]

They haven't been exactly defeated . According to the rules or laws of UN a foreign country can not have their troops , called as aid by local government, for more then 10 years .

Since when the big powers care for UN rules or UN laws?

[Edelfred]

The powers who occupy without being called for help declared to be occupants like in the case of Israel and territory of independent Arabian state ,Israel currently occupies .
Because of it Israel is trade-blockaded,not allowed to participate in certain international events etc .
This is the case of occupation . USA and SSSR in Vietnam and Afganistan have been invited by respective governments ,though of course we can question how much legimacy and actual people representation those governments actually had

[Condottiere 40K]

It comes down to political will and money. The Soviets could have occupied Afghanistan indefinitely, if they felt the resources and capital expended were worth it.

[hellheaven1987]

They haven't been exactly defeated . According to the rules or laws of UN a foreign country can not have their troops , called as aid by local government, for more then 10 years .

Right, so how long US military stay on Japan?

[avion365]

Right, so how long US military stay on Japan?

I believe a Treaty allows bases to be there, and the post WW2 occupation ended April 28, 1952.

[John ''True Grit'' Wayne]

America gave the natives shiny new weapons that blew up choppers and tanks,and the Russians ran out of cash and their economy fell apart.

[Mementomoridc]

pretty much the same reasons the US got its arse raped in vietnam
and pretty much the same reasons why the US is continually getting its arse raped in afghanistan

Ok the USA did mpy get its ass raped in vietnam. The US won practically every engagement of the war and that was with 2/3 of our whole army stoned lol. What lost us the war was political pressure at home and the fact that the soldiers from private to general had their hands tied by dumb rules of engagement.

Such as dumb things like pilots being told to bomb the same pointless bridge everyday for a month strait when they blew the damn thing up day one.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Russia was also relatively successful in Afghanistan but lost on some fronts of the war. Really it was the bad economy, the fact that the Communists in Afghanistan had almost been eradicated and hence no reason for the Soviets to stay, that and political pressure at home.

The major reason for why America is still in Japan is because Japan doesn't want to build itself an army.

[Kitsunegari]

I would be interested if there has been any investigation into official Soviet casualty statistics. 14 KIA in 8 years seems low, but TBH I don't know much about the course of the war and certainly the mujahedin were never as numerous as the communist forces the US and ARVN faced in Vietnam.

[avion365]

Ok the USA did mpy get its ass raped in vietnam. The US won practically every engagement of the war and that was with 2/3 of our whole army stoned lol. What lost us the war was political pressure at home and the fact that the soldiers from private to general had their hands tied by dumb rules of engagement.

What does myp mean? For the other part, while there was political pressure, as far as rules of engagement went Vietnam does not have any problems in that terms of ground combat. The only time any ROEs happened that where restrictive where the no-bombing zones.

Such as dumb things like pilots being told to bomb the same pointless bridge everyday for a month strait when they blew the damn thing up day one.

Those pointless bridges are choke points that the Vietcong and Vietnam regulars had to cross, bombing them on major bridges meant that heavy machinery and troops had to be boated across. This changes supply lines and communication lines

[Cyclops]

I dont think the USSR was defeated in Afghanistan, they attempted to impose a frail regime and failed.

There are many parallels with Vietnam: corrupt regimes, ethnic divides, political cloaks of convenience, assymetric warfare (code for "the generals are too old") and post colonial detritus. The Superpower in the third world country hits hard with conventional means, the local takes to the hills and refuses to give up easily.

If you don't understand your enemy's motivation, or deny it exists for some stupid ideological reason, its pretty hard to defeat them.

[Kitsunegari]

Like the US situation in several of its modern wars, the Soviet military was placed out of its depth: it was designed for fighting a massive conventional war in Europe, not nation building. And, like the situation in Vietnam, the military proved worse than ineffective at winning hearts and minds.

[RedGuard]

The major reason for why America is still in Japan is because Japan doesn't want to build itself an army.

I don't think we really want them too either. We need a base of power in asia... for some reason. China and NK i geuss

[Mangalore]

damn necro. ignore/

[Rijul.J.Ballal]

The poor bastards were broke...

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Japan needs to have an army to protect itself from China and NK. But they don't want to make one. Japan does have like the biggest fleet in Asia I think which is good for defense... but if those Chinese manage to land then... man. But that's why so many people in Japan have guns, in case of a Chinese invasion.

[RedGuard]

Japan needs to have an army to protect itself from China and NK. But they don't want to make one. Japan does have like the biggest fleet in Asia I think which is good for defense... but if those Chinese manage to land then... man. But that's why so many people in Japan have guns, in case of a Chinese invasion.

wasnt it part of the treaty they signe post ww2 that they could only have a 100,000 man army? not that it really matters as I belive they've made thier fleet much bigger than we allowed them but we've let them to take care of thier own defence I geuss. IMO America doesn't need bases there considering Guam is so close. But yeah they need to get back to building up an army.

I wonder if ww2 had started in this point in history, if Japan and USA would have been allies instead of enemies. I'm sure we'd love to let them reconquer NK and china for us

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

Ok the USA did mpy get its ass raped in vietnam. The US won practically every engagement of the war and that was with 2/3 of our whole army stoned lol. What lost us the war was political pressure at home and the fact that the soldiers from private to general had their hands tied by dumb rules of engagement.

Well yes, that usually happens in guerrilla wars. They just keep fighting until the invaders get tired.

Really, there is no military reason. They just outlasted the Russians' will to keep fighting. To be honest, there isn't even a military way to win a guerrilla war - except for maybe killing everyone. So long as there is someone out there with the will and potential to resist, you can't call it a victory. So it's more about dealing with the enemy's means and reasons to fight back than actually defeating them. Not to say the Soviets didn't have experience in crushing insurgencies the old fashioned way - see how Tukhachevsky went about it in Tambov during the Civil War.

[Earl Dibbles Jr]

Well yes, that usually happens in guerrilla wars. They just keep fighting until the invaders get tired.

We have the hippies to thank for that embarrassing loss.



Peace man!
It's sad that these fools are now the ones running our country.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

America wants Japan to build itself an army to balance out China's power. Most countries do.

You can win a guerilla war politically; all you need is a well trained army capable of carrying out operations in the area, an ally and a loyal populace of that area and enough money to carry out the war.