U.S. Role in Afghanistan
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In 1989, Director William Webster and his Afghanistan team celebrated the end of a decade-long, multi-billion dollar war which had been the largest, "most successful" covert Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operation ever . Afghanistan was critical to the U. S. because of the need to transport oil from the Persian Gulf region, which required access to the ports of the Indian Ocean and in the Persian Gulf itself. For this reason, the U. S. sought strong, friendly ties with countries in the region, such as Pakistan and Iran. Until 1979, the U.S. had been able to protect its interests in the region through the Shah of Iran, whom it supported with military assistance in return for military bases and intelligence facilities in Iran. This allowed the U.S. to safeguard oil supplies for the so-called "free world" while at the same time keeping a check on Soviet influence in the region. Once the Shah was gone, the situation changed dramatically. Another reason, says Wright, for the U. S. role in Afghanistan was to stop Soviet expansionism . Frustrating them in the war would at the very least divert their resources from expansion in other parts of the world. Also, the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan was the first time they had sent troops beyond the confines of the Warsaw Pact, and the U. S. felt they should be punished for this act. To do this, the U. S. even went so far as to arm the least likely candidate to lead a post-war Afghanistan, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who w
. . .
l Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski warned President Carter that the Soviet Union, with its hundreds of advisors in Afghanistan, had territorial designs on the country, and possibly the whole region . CIA and State Department documents have revealed that starting in April 1979, the United States had begun meetings with representatives of the rebels. As a result of unrest and protests, the Afghanistan government had lost control of 23 of the 28 provinces, and in November 1979, the Soviets decided it was time to take action: tens of thousands of Soviet troops rolled into Afghanistan. Afghanistan became to the Soviet Union what Vietnam had been to the United States, and would end much the same way. The U. S. saw the Soviet invasion as defining their foreign policy as expansionist. The Defense Intelligence Agency stated that:
The key motivation that propelled Moscow's move was to
bring its long-standing strategic goals closer within
reach. Control of Afghanistan would be a major step
toward overland access to the Indian Ocean and to
domination of the Asian sub-continent.
President Carter warned the Soviet Union on January 23 1980 that:
[a]n attempt by any outside force to gain control
of the Persian Gulf regio
. . .
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Approximate Word count = 1761
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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