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The Role of the CIA in the Soviet- Afghan War (1979- 1989)

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The Role of the CIA in the Soviet- Afghan War (1979- 1989) PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research University Mohammed Boudiaf of M’sila Faculty of Letters and Languages Department of English The role of the CIA in the Soviet- Afghan War (1979- 1989) Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Master Degree in English Literature and Civilization By: Ali Saoucha Bariza Benlefki Ghania Board of examiners President Abadou fadila University of m'sila Examiner Berbeche sami University of m'sila Supervisor Boutkhil Guemide University of m'sila Academic year 2017- 2018 Dedications For our dear parents, Summer without you is Winter, and Winter without you is even colder; For my fond brother, you will always be in my heart, in my mind, and you are still alive even soil hides you For our sisters, brothers, friends, and all the family For the palm tree, My love for you shall live forever I Acknowledgements All praise and thanks are due to the Almighty Allah who always guides us to the right path and has helped us to complete this dissertation. First and foremost, we would like to thank our supervisor, Dr. Boutkhil Guemide for his patient guidance, encouragement, and advice he has provided us with throughout our time as his supervisees. We have been extremely lucky to have such a supervisor like him who cared so much about our work, and who responded to our questions and queries so promptly. It was a real privilege and an honour for us to share exceptional scientific knowledge and extraordinary human qualities. We would also like to thank all the members and teachers of M'sila University especially Mr. Saber for the help he provided us with. We would like to thank him for helping and advising us throughout the entire process of working. We would like to thank our parents for their wise counsels and sympathetic ear listening. Finally, there are our friends Isamahane, Bariza, and Asma. We were not only able to support each other by deliberating over our problems and findings, but also happily by talking about things other than just our papers. II Declaration: I hereby declare that this thesis is my own original work, which I have created myself. All the literature I used is properly quoted and is listed in Bibliography. I declare that I worked on my final master’s dissertation on my own using only cited literary sources, other information and sources in agreement with the disciplinary regulations for the Faculty of Letters and Languages at the University Mohammed Boudiaf of M’sila and with the regulations and laws of research of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Algeria. I agree with the storage of this work in the library of the Faculty of Letters and Languages at the University Mohammed Boudiaf of M’sila and making it accessible for study purposes. Ali Saoucha Bariza ……………………………………. Benlefki Ghania ……………………………………. M’sila: ……………………………………. III Abstract: The present paper explores one particular strain of the Cold War: the Soviet- Afghan War and the role that the United States strategy played, through the CIA, in affecting the outcome of the war. The Americans first sought to increase costs for the Soviet Union by supplying funds and Soviet- style arms to the Afghan Mujahadeen. Following the Soviet’s invasion, the US administration, together with many world countries, worked to remove out the Soviets from Afghanistan. It is worth to mention that US administration, during the Carter’s and Regan’s presidency, relied heavily on the CIA to implement its foreign policy which prepared the thousand of Mujahedeen in Pakistani preparatory camps, piped billions of dollars, and supplied arms against Soviets in Afghanistan. We reach three conclusions: First, Presidents Carter and Reagan, as part of a "bleeder" strategy, supplied funds and Soviet- style arms to the mujahadeen. Second, the escalation by the United States in 1985-1986 sought to push the Soviets out of Afghanistan. Third, the covert campaign against the Soviets in Afghanistan was part and parcel of larger strategy, the "Reagan Doctrine", which sought to roll-back Soviet gains in the Third World. Ultimately, this helped to end the Cold War. Key words: USSR, Afghanistan, US, CIA, Mujahideen, Red Army, covert operations. IV List of contents Dedications ………………………………………………………………………………….. I Acknowledgements .………………………………………………………………………. II Declaration …………..……………………………………………………………………… III Abstract ………………………………………………….…………………………………… IV List of contents………………………………….………………………………….............. V List of abbreviations ………………………………….………………………………….... VI List of figures …...……………………………………………………………………….… VIII List of maps ………………………………………………………………………………… IX List of tables ………………………………………………………………………………… X Contents ………………………..……………………………………………………………. XI V List of abbreviations AIG: Afghan Interim Government. CIA: Central Intelligence Agency. DOD: Department of Defense, United States. DOS: Department of State, United states. DRA: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. GNP: Gross National product. ISI: Inter- Services Intelligence, Pakistan. KHAD: Afghan security service. LOC: Lines of Communication. LZ: Landing Zone. NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NSC: National Security Council. PDPA: The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. PRC: People's Republic of China. SALT: Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. SAM: Surface- to- air missile. UN: United Nations US: United States. USSR: United Soviet Socialist Republic. VDV: Airborne troops. VI List of figures Fig. 1: Modern new Finance Ministry building in Kabul ……………………………. p. 65 Figure 2: A view of one of the new mosques erected in the suburb of Kabul ……………………………………………………………………………….……..……. p. 66 Fig. 3: Architecture in Kabul …………………………………………………….……. p. 66 Figure 4: Two Afghan medicine students and their professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Kabul ….………………………………………………………………………………. p. 67 Fig. 5: Mujahideen targeting Soviet Soilders in Kandahar, Afghanistan ……………………………………………………………………………………………. p. 104 Fig. 6: Afghan Mujahideen During 1979- 1980 armed with a nice Soviet sub- machinegun .……………………………………………………………………………... p. 107 Fig. 7: An Afghan mujahideen aims a FIM-92 Stinger missile at passing Soviet aircraft ..………………………………………………………………………………….………... p. 111 Fig. 8: Soviet troops leaving Afghanistan ……………………………………...……... p. 118 VII List of maps Map 1: Geographic Location Map of Afghanistan………..………………..………….. p. 9 Map 2: The Paropamisus and Hindu Kush Mountain Chains Map of Afghanistan…………………………………………………………………………..……. p. 10 Map 3: The Amu Darya River in Southwest Afghanistan ………………………...…... p. 12 Map 4: Climatologic Map of Afghanistan ………………………………………...…….. p. 13 VIII List of tables Table 1 : Average Aceage and Farm Production per-Jerib in Sairs ……..………… p. 125 Table 2 : Farm Production in per-Jerib Sairs ………………………………………… p. 125 Table 3: Decline of Agricultural Capital in Conflict Zones, 1987……………………. p. 126 Table 4: Decline of Agricultural Capital in Conflict Zones, 1987……………………. p. 126 IX Contents General Introduction ……………………………………………………..………. 1 1. Background of the study …………………………………………………. 1 2. Statement of the problem …………………………………………………. 2 3. The literature review ……………………………………………………….. 2 4. The significance of the study …………………………………………….. 4 5. The research questions and hypotheses ………………………………. 5 6. The purpose of the study ………………………………………………….. 6 7. The structure of the study …………………………………………………. 6 Chapter one: Introduction to Afghanistan ………………………………………………. 8 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………….. 8 1. Geographical location of Afghanistan ……………………………………………….. 9 2. Afghan ethnic groups ………………………………………………………...……… 14 2.1. Major ethnic groups …………………………………….………………….… 15 2.1.1. The Pashtun …………………….…………….……………………… 15 2.1.2. The Tajik………………………….…………………………………… 16 2.1.3. The Uzbek ……………………….…………………………………… 17 2.1.4. The Hazara ……………………….………………………………….. 17 2.1.5. Other ………………………………..………………………………… 18 2.2. Minor ethnic groups …………………………………………………………. 18 2.2.1. The Aimaq ..……………………………….………………………….. 18 X 2.2.2. The Turkmen ……………………………………………………….. 19 2.2.3. The Baloch ………………………………………………………….. 19 3. Religious affiliations ………………………………………………….…………….. 19 3.1. Sunni Muslim …………………………………………..……………………. 20 3.2. Shi'a Muslim …………………………………………….…………………… 21 3.3. Others …………………………………………….………………………….. 22 4. Languages in Afghanistan ………………………...……………………………….. 23 4.1. Official languages ……………………………...…………………………….. 23 4.1.1. Pashto ……………………………………………………………….... 23 4.1.2. Dari …………………………………….………………………………. 24 4.2. Regional languages …………………………..…………………………...… 25 4.2.1. Uzbek …………………………………….……………………………. 26 4.2.2. Turkmen ………………………………….…………………………… 26 4.2.3. Balochi ……………………………………..………………………….. 26 4.2.4. Pashayi …………………………………….………………………….. 27 4.2.5. Nuristani …………………………………….……………………….... 27 5. A Brief history of the emergence of Afghanistan …………...…………………….. 28 5.1. Pre-Islamic period ………………………………….………………………… 28 5.2. Islamization and Mongol invasion …………………..……………………… 30 5.3. Hotak dynasty and Durrani Empire ………………………………………… 32 5.4. British invasion and influence ……………………….……………………… 33 5.5. The emergence of independent kingdom …………….…………………… 35 5.5.1. Habib Allah Khan’s rule (1919- 1929) ……………………………… 36 XI 5.5.2. Mohammed Zaher Shah’s rule (1939- 1973) …….………………. 37 5.5.3. The Communist movement in Afghanistan …………..…………… 38 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………. 39 Chapter two: The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan …...………………………………. 40 Introduction ……………………...……………………..…………………………………….. 40 1. Prelude to the war ………………………………..………………………………….
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