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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E. T. who wrote (206954)	12/4/2001 9:35:47 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

encyclopedia.com I have corrected you once on this, but you persist in error. Let's try again: the war in Afghanistan was not over until spring of '92, which was almost 4 years after Reagan left office. Further, given the election and the end game in Afghanistan, Clinton was more responsible for Afghanistan than Bush.... Afghanistan War, 1978-92, conflict between anti-Communist Afghan guerrillas and Afghan government and USSR forces. In 1978, a coup installed a new Communist government under Nur Mohammad Taraki. In 1979, another coup, which brought in Hafizullah Amin, resulted in an invasion (Dec., 1979) of USSR forces and the installation of Babrak Karmal as president. The number of USSR troops, originally estimated at 30,000, grew to 100,000, and the conflict settled into a stalemate. The Muslims were supported by aid from the U.S., China, and Saudi Arabia, channeled through Pakistan, and from Iran. Although the USSR had superior weapons and complete air control, the rebels successfully eluded them. As the war progressed, the rebels improved their organization and tactics and began using imported and captured weapons, included U.S. anti-aircraft missiles, to neutralize the technological advantages of the USSR. In 1986, Karmal resigned and Mohammad Najibullah became head of a collective leadership. In Feb., 1988, President Mikhail Gorbachev announced the withdrawal of USSR troops, which was completed one year later. In the spring of 1992, Najibullah's government collapsed and after 14 years of rule by the People's Democratic Party, Kabul fell to a coalition of Mujahidin under the leadership of Ahmed Shah Massoud. Sporadic fighting continued for months between the new government, which now included the surviving elements of the Afghanistan army, and the fundamentalist Hezb-i-Islami group. The conflict took a heavy toll in human life. More than 1 million Afghans died in the war and 5 million became refugees in neighboring countries. In addition, 15,000 Soviet soldiers were killed and 37,000 wounded. The war left Afghanistan with severe political, economic, and ecological problems. There are many overlapping and competing military groups that support various forms of government, including monarchists and liberal democrats as well as moderate and fundamentalist Islamic factions. The country is also divided between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and into a number of different language, tribal, and ethnic groups (see Afghanistan). Economic production has been drastically curtailed and much of the land has been laid waste. As late as 1992, more than 5 million mines saturated approximately 2% of the country, where they will pose a threat to human and animal life well into the 21st cent. The United Nations played a major role in arranging the final cease-fire, supervising removal of mines, and organizing relief efforts.