Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Can it happen here? (Original Post) UpInArms 22 hrs ago OP
I think it already is happening now. Autumn 21 hrs ago #1
The Soviet/Afghanistan war ruined them Polybius 21 hrs ago #2
Carter and Brzezinski gave the Soviets "Their Vietnam." Kid Berwyn 21 hrs ago #4
I appreciate the detailed reply and link, but what do you think we could have done differently to stop the outcome? Polybius 20 hrs ago #5
Dunno. It seemed like a good idea at the time... Kid Berwyn 20 hrs ago #6
Quietly eloquent Wild blueberry 21 hrs ago #3

Polybius

(18,930 posts)
2. The Soviet/Afghanistan war ruined them
Wed Jan 29, 2025, 11:40 AM
21 hrs ago

While the Soviets didn't win the war, it sadly forever changed them.

Kid Berwyn

(18,899 posts)
4. Carter and Brzezinski gave the Soviets "Their Vietnam."
Wed Jan 29, 2025, 12:07 PM
21 hrs ago

From a memo from National Security Advisor Brzezinski to President Carter:



A SOVIET VIETNAM?

However, we should not be too sanguine about Afghanistan becoming a Soviet Vietnam:

A. The guerrillas are badly organized and poorly led;

B. They have no sanctuary, no organized army, and no central government — all of which North Vietnam had;

C. They have limited foreign support, in contrast to the enormous amount of arms that flowed to the Vietnamese from both the Soviet Union and China;

D. The Soviets are likely to act decisively, unlike the U.S., which pursued in Vietnam a policy of inoculating the enemy. As a consequence, the Soviets might be able to assert themselves effectively, and [in] world politics nothing succeeds like success, whatever the moral aspects.

Source: https://sites.temple.edu/immerman/brezenski-memoranda-to-carter-on-soviet-intervention-in-afghanistan/



We the People helped sow death and destruction on Afghanistan to get back at the Soviet Union for all the evil they perpetrated on the planet. In the process of destroying a fledgling democratic nation that had voted in a socialist leader, we got ourselves Reagan and Poppy Bush's New World Order (including Bush longtime family friend, Osama bin Laden) that led to Baby Doc Bush's post 9-11's a Global War on Terror.

Polybius

(18,930 posts)
5. I appreciate the detailed reply and link, but what do you think we could have done differently to stop the outcome?
Wed Jan 29, 2025, 12:37 PM
20 hrs ago

Was there any stopping the USSR from invading Afghanistan?

Kid Berwyn

(18,899 posts)
6. Dunno. It seemed like a good idea at the time...
Wed Jan 29, 2025, 01:09 PM
20 hrs ago

...destroying Afghanistan is a bad thing which brought down the USSR which is a good thing.

The USSR was crumbling anyway. In 1970, Andrei Amalrik, twice exiled to the Gulag, detailed it:

Will the Soviet Union Survive Until 1984?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3368345

Lookit how Capitalism's Invisible Army archived the book's reception:

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP88-01350R000200800006-0.pdf

Wild blueberry

(7,338 posts)
3. Quietly eloquent
Wed Jan 29, 2025, 11:49 AM
21 hrs ago

Very poignant. I am also going to see this as us living in cycles. We in the United States are in a very bad one now, but we can work together to make life better for everyone. We all do better when we all do better.
Rot in hell, broligarchs.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Can it happen here?