Gorbachev Blasts US’ Afghanistan Campaign as Being a ‘Failure’ From the Get-Go

With the Taliban having successfully regained control of Afghanistan after spending years fighting against the government, many politicians are coming forward to give their take on the developing situation in the Central Asian country. Now, a Soviet-era leader who oversaw his own withdrawal from the war-torn nation is speaking out.

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has become the latest politician to address the ongoing US withdrawal efforts in Afghanistan, underscoring that lessons must be learned from the drastic turn of events.

Gorbachev told Sputnik on Tuesday that the US mission in Afghanistan was doomed from the start as he recalled the Soviet Union’s missteps with its 1989 withdrawal from the Central Asian nation.

“Like many similar projects, it was based on threat exaggeration and some not quite clear geopolitical plans, which was followed by unrealistic attempts to democratize a multi-tribal society,” he added.

Afghan children and a soldier bid farewell to Soviet soldiers riding atop an armored personnel carrier as the official troop withdrawal begins after nearly a decade long military intervention in war-torn Afghanistan, Sunday, May 15, 1988, Kabul, Afghanistan

The Soviet Union undertook its own military efforts in Afghanistan over a period of 10 years as part of a larger effort to back the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan. 

The operation largely became part of a Cold War-era proxy war as the US maintained firm support for the rebels opposing the Soviet-backed government. The mission eventually came to an end in October 1989, with the government managing to stay in power for an additional three years after Soviet troops left. The Afghan government at the time never fully recovered after the Soviet collapse in 1992.

As for the US, it ultimately chose to invade Afghanistan in October 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in response to the Taliban-led government’s refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden and remove all al-Qaeda training bases. The invasion went on to become the US’ longest war to date and one of the deadliest occupations.

Sourse: sputniknews.com