Talk:Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan

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Military history: Asian / Russian & Soviet / South Asia / Cold War

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This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): M903.

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Untitled

One can't consider that the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was a stand-alone conflict, and that it existed in a vacuum. The war began with an insurrection against the communist government in 1978, that caused the Soviets to intervene, and this civil war between communists and rebels continued after 1989. So in fact, the war started BEFORE the Soviet intervention, and continued AFTER the Soviets had officially withdrawn.

Secondly, the Soviets were still heavily involved in Afghanistan even after they had officially withdrawn. They continued to pour billions of dollars worth of aid, mostly military equipment, at the DRA. Also Soviet "advisors" were still present in Afghanistan. For example, in May 1989, 2 months after the official withdrawal, a Soviet officer, General M.A. Gareev, was supervising the defense of Jalalabad. That's why it is misleading(not to mention official-Soviet POV) to say that the war ended in February 1989.Raoulduke47 11:55, 27 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Does anybody know the original source for the Washington Post statement that 523 Soviet troops were killed during the withdrawal? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.66.226.95 (talk) 14:50, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I removed the following quote because it is misleading, factually misbalanced, and inadquately referenced:

"The whole time, during the withdrawal over the border, troop convoys were coming under attack by Afghan fighters. In all 523 Soviet soldiers were killed during the withdrawal.[2]"

Although the source does say that 523 Soviet troops were killed during that withdrawal, it does not say that the Soviets "were coming under attack...the whole time...by Afghan fighters." Thus, the entire quote is invalid and needs to be deleted. My guess is that the only reason the quote is included in the article is to substantiate Raoulduke47's idiotic fantasy that the Soviets were defeated in combat by the mujahideen, and forced to execute a retreat while defenseless against the "victors." Utter ignorance.

In addition, the reference that Raoulduke47 selected -- an infobox from the Washington Post -- should not have been used as a source to begin with.

192.80.65.234 (talk) 00:19, 5 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Overhaul

I'll be overhauling this article in the upcoming few weeks, and therefore am posting a new comment here. I seek to achieve the following objectives: 1. Refocusing the article on:

          a) general events leading up to military withdrawal, 
          b) on the process of withdrawal itself, 
          c) on the impact of diplomatic efforts and military events preceding Soviet disengagement, 
          d) on the immediate aftermath, and 
          e) on media portrayal so as to create a comprehensive article detailing the nature and impact of the USSR's military withdrawal on resultant events.

2. Providing a more comprehensive timeline of events. 3. Adding academically valid sources. That's about it.

Re: comment about this not being a stand-alone conflict, about Soviet mil advisors remaining in Afghanistan, and about Soviet aid. ––– Sure, you're right. But I believe it would be beneficial to many if this episode of the Soviet-Afghan war were to be explored and detailed as a separate, auxiliary topic. Don't get caught up in the disjunction between nomenclature and particulars. What I mean to convey is that it would be a fair to say that the Soviet mil withdrawal from Afghanistan was characterised by the fact that advisors remained and aid was continued while the regular troops left. As such, it is still a characterisation of the process of withdrawal, because that's what this series of events is known as, not because all Soviet mil personnel left the country.

Please let me know if there are any matters I should take into consideration. My apologies for messing up the format here, I'm a noob. --M903 (talk) 14:41, 3 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]