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Soviet intervention in Afganistan a `grave mistake`: Gorbachev
Moscow, Feb 15: Describing the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan as a `grave mistake`, former president Mikhail Gorbachev has said it was a `revolution` that was rejected by the people of USSR
Moscow, Feb 15: Describing the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan as a "grave mistake", former president Mikhail Gorbachev has said it was a "revolution" that was rejected by the people of USSR
"The entire politburo realised that a grave mistake had
been made and the people were rejecting the revolution that we
wanted to support," he wrote in an article, published by
"Soldaty Rossii" magazine on the 14th anniversary of the
pullout from Afghanistan today.
Soviet ruling politburo, headed by Leonid Brezhnev, had sent troops into Afghanistan on Christmas of 1979 to install pro-Moscow Babrak Karmal regime after the elimination of Kabul's ruler Hafizullah Amin with the help of crack "alpha" commando team of the dreaded KGB secret police.
"The central committee was flooded with letters with demands to stop the war. They were written by soldiers' mothers, wives and sisters. We received letters from the servicemen fighting in Afghanistan.
"Tank crews wrote collective letters. Officers reported they were unable to explain to their subordinates what we were fighting for, what we were doing there and what we needed," Gorbachev wrote about the times when he took the job in the central committee of ruling soviet communist party in 1985.
The Afghan war cost Soviet Union USD 9 billion annually. "The most important was the loss of lives," Gorbachev said.
After assuming power in the Kremlin in 1987 and launching democratic reforms in the country Gorbachev had ordered the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
Soviet Union's almost a decade-long Afghan war resulted in the loss of 10,000 soldiers and 20,000 crippled youth, according to modest estimates. Bureau Report
Soviet ruling politburo, headed by Leonid Brezhnev, had sent troops into Afghanistan on Christmas of 1979 to install pro-Moscow Babrak Karmal regime after the elimination of Kabul's ruler Hafizullah Amin with the help of crack "alpha" commando team of the dreaded KGB secret police.
"The central committee was flooded with letters with demands to stop the war. They were written by soldiers' mothers, wives and sisters. We received letters from the servicemen fighting in Afghanistan.
"Tank crews wrote collective letters. Officers reported they were unable to explain to their subordinates what we were fighting for, what we were doing there and what we needed," Gorbachev wrote about the times when he took the job in the central committee of ruling soviet communist party in 1985.
The Afghan war cost Soviet Union USD 9 billion annually. "The most important was the loss of lives," Gorbachev said.
After assuming power in the Kremlin in 1987 and launching democratic reforms in the country Gorbachev had ordered the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
Soviet Union's almost a decade-long Afghan war resulted in the loss of 10,000 soldiers and 20,000 crippled youth, according to modest estimates. Bureau Report