Too Much Security is a Bad Thing

The pathological obsession of the United States with its own security following the attack by a small number of individuals on 9/11 has an interesting parallel in the obssesion of the Soviet Union with its own security following the Nazi attack of WWII. The Soviet security obsession was motivated by Russia's long history of being invaded by Western conquerors, such as Napoleon (1812) and Hitler (1941).

Throughout the "cold war" what was viewed by Western Europe and the United states as Soviet expansionism was, from the Russian perspective, mainly the creation of communist-friendly buffer countries, which was supposed to enhance their security. Russian security concern also led to its development of nuclear weapons to defend against attacks by the United States, the slaughter and exiling of political dissidents, and the creation of a massive conventional army.

Although the conquest of Eastern Europe, construction of the Berlin wall, massive police state, and construction of nuclear weapons was not cheap, what would eventually result in the collapse of the iron curtain of seeming Soviet invincibility would be the Soviet debacle in Afghanistan. The Soviet Union believed that it had may valid reasons for invading:

1. They were alarmed by the political instability in Afghanistan, especially the collapse of the army and the prospect that a disintegrating Afghanistan would threaten its security on its southern border with Pakistan.
2. They were afraid of US influence in the region due to the arming of the Mujahideen by the CIA under Jimmy Carter (what was to become Al Qaeda).
   
3. They felt they needed a communist-friendly buffer state in the South.

(Although the acquisition of a warm water port has often been viewed by advocates of Soviet containment as the reason for the Soviet invasion , most likely this played little role because the Soviets had bigger problems.)

The Soviet Union airlifted thousands of troops into Kabul on December 24, 1979 and Soviet intelligence forces took control of the government and installed Babrak Karmal, a Parchami, as president.

The Soviet economy bled badly during the Afghan war. A war that was "won" by a deadly combination of dedicated Afghan and Pakistani mujahideen, Saudi funding, and US weaponry, especially the US stinger missiles. Finally, the Soviet Union comprehended its mistake and withdrew. The US voluntarily withdrew its influence from the region. Eventually, the Soviet puppet government that the Soviets had installed in Kabul would fall to the Sunni Taliban, who would institute a particularly ruthless form of Sharia law.

Both the Soviet Union and Afghanistan would lose the war for having won the battles. The US, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, which invested relatively little, would be the seeming victors. However, the victory would be bittersweet: In a final act of revenge to Pakistan for their support of the war, the Soviets assassinated the Pakistani Prime Minister. The US would also not leave unscathed. It was the very same mujahideen fighterw who fought side-by-side with the CIA armed with Stinger missiles who would eventually mastermind the attacks of 9/11.

If this history, does not remind you of the tragic involvement of the US in Iraq, then I suggest you re-read this.