History UsefulNotes / SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan

* Sōsuke from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' was a rebel child soldier in Afghanistan, despite being ethnically Japanese (ItMakesSenseInContext). Also in the [[AllThereInTheManual back-story]] of the novels, the existence of [[HumongousMecha Arm Slaves]] allows the Soviet Union's support of the pro-communist government to succeed.

** A large chunk of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' takes place in 1984 Afghanistan, right in the thick of the invasion. Since Diamond Dogs is an army without a nation, they don't try to take sides during the conflict. However, while both the Soviets and the Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen get [[ObligatoryWarCrimeScene Obligatory War Crime Scenes]] as part of the game's [[CycleOfRevenge central theme]], Venom Snake finds himself fighting the Soviet Guards Airborne Regiment and rescuing Mujahideen most of the time anyway. Alternatively, he can abduct Soviet soldiers and turn them towards his cause, making them and the rescued Mujahideen work together.

* Many Soviet soldiers wrote and sang songs about their experiences during the war. Igor' Morozov's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp2jR9_Eefo ''Batal'onnaya Razvedka'']], Yuri Kirsanov's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyD9vzmBrD0 ''Kukushka'']], and Yuri Slatov's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJJB6bUYR4I ''Ordena ne Prodayutsya'']] are some of the more well-known ones. The Soviet publishing house Melodiya published a collected record album in 1988 named ''Vremya Viybralo Nas'' containing many of these soldier-bard songs.

* Revolver Ocelot from ''Franchise/MetalGear'' served in Afghanistan.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'': One of the missions take place during the invasion.
** Nikolai from the ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' series served in Afghanistan with the Soviets, and mentions this during the "The Enemy of my Enemy" mission in ''Modern Warfare 2''.

* Sōsuke from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' was a rebel child soldier in Afghanistan, despite being ethnically Japanese (ItMakesSenseInContext). Also in the [[AllThereInTheManual back-story]] of the ''Full Metal Panic!'' original novels, the existence of [[HumongousMecha Arm Slaves]] allows the Soviet Union's support of the pro-communist government to succeed.

Ah yes, bin Laden. The ugly elephant in the room. Yes, Osama bin Laden was indeed part of the ''mujahideen'' who the US financed to combat the Soviet invasion. While it was never confirmed that bin Laden was directly trained and funded by the CIA, he did receive from indirect American support through Pakistani intelligence and military. Bin Laden's experience and financial support from the war allowed him to form the terrorist group al Qaeda, setting the stage for the UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror and all the controversy and chaos that brought about. Consequently, modern views of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan tend to focus far more on the US's severely misplaced loyalties during that conflict and how badly it came to bite the country decades later. Many ''mujahideen'' soldiers also became members of the Taliban, who took advantage of the damage and power vacuum left behind after the Soviets' withdrawal to institute a theocratic government condemned the world over for severe human rights abuses. Not helping is how western narratives of the conflict still, to this day, tend to gloss over the large period of upheaval in Afghanistan that preceded the invasion, frequently depicting the Soviets as recklessly invading a country that was doing perfectly fine before the Reds came along, when in reality it was just one extension of a larger domestic conflict that only gained international attention because the Soviets got involved.

The beginning of the Soviet War in UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} is shrouded in paradoxes. The invasion supposedly began on Christmas Day 1979, with the arrival of [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB and Spetsnaz operatives]] in Kabul to overthrow the government of Afghan leader Hafizullah Amin. In two days, they would duly carry out their mission and were joined by a large force of [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Soviet conventional troops]] that crossed the border into Afghanistan. Yet, small numbers of Soviet troops had already been present in the country for half a year already, to support the Amin government in its fight against the growing insurgency waged by traditionalist rural populations that had been ongoing in some form for years. These troops, moreover, had been deployed at the express request of Amin himself, who considered himself until his last days to be a close ally of the Soviet Union. Even without Amin, the insurgency would continue to escalate, with the Soviets shouldering the main burden of fighting. Eventually, Soviet forces would leave a decade later, having wasted a great deal of treasure and blood and having been grossly humiliated, with the Soviet Union itself falling apart shortly thereafter. On the whole, the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was a complicated affair that was difficult to define clearly and left a great deal of mess that remains unresolved today.

By the mid-1980s, Soviets recognized that Afghanistan had become a heavy drain on their resources without any obvious end in sight. They became resentful of Kamal, the leader that they themselves installed, as he did not appear to be making significant attempt to develop an "independent" support base for the regime other than reliance on continued Soviet presence. Eventually, in 1985, Kamal was deposed in favor of Mohammed Najibullah by the Soviets as the preliminary step towards reducing their presence in Afghanistan. Finally, the Soviets pulled out in 1989 and, much like the United States in South Vietnam, left behind a government which sustained itself for only a few years before collapsing in 1992. The Soviet-backed government in Kabul fought to a successful stalemate until the funding dried up during the Yeltsin presidency (much like the government of South Vietnam, which was able to blunt North Vietnamese offensive with continued military aid and air support from United States until the Case-Church Amendment of June 1973 cut off further US support). Afghanistan's civil war continues to this day, as part of UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror.

This became a rather popular setting for Western media in the 1980s, as for many the proof that the Soviet Union was an Evil Empire was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Girl_(photo) an orphaned girl in a Pakistani refugee camp]]. This usually led to portrayals of any ''mujahideen'' as noble, heroic [[FanOfUnderdog underdogs]] versus said EvilEmpire, which can be a bit jarring in light of current events. (Check out a 1993 [[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/anti-soviet-warrior-puts-his-army-on-the-road-to-peace-the-saudi-businessman-who-recruited-mujahedin-1465715.html profile]], titled "Anti-Soviet Warrior Puts His Army on the Road to Peace", about...Osama bin Laden.)

Ah yes, bin Laden. The ugly elephant in the room. Yes, Osama bin Laden was indeed part of the ''mujahideen'' who the US financed to combat the Soviet invasion. While it was never confirmed that bin Laden was directly trained and funded by the CIA, he did receive from indirect American support through Pakistani intelligence and military. Bin Laden's experience and financial support from the war allowed him to form the terrorist group al Qaeda, setting the stage for the UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror and all the controversy and chaos that brought about. Consequently, modern views of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan tend to focus far more on the US's severely misplaced loyalties during that conflict and how badly it came to bite the country decades later. Many ''mujahideen'' soldiers also became members of the Taliban, who took advantage of the damage and power vacuum left behind after the Soviets' withdrawal to institute a theocratic government condemned the world over for severe human rights abuses. Not helping is how western narratives of the conflict still, to this day, tend to gloss over the large period of upheaval in Afghanistan that preceded the invasion, frequently depicting the Soviets as recklessly invading a country that was doing perfectly fine before the Reds came along, when in reality it was just one extension of a larger domestic conflict that only gained international attention because the Soviets got involved. Thus, it's highly likely that while the power vacuum that encouraged the rise of the Taliban would've still happened regardless of whether or not the US and USSR got involved, the fact that it turned into a theater for the Cold War meant that the final result was far more disastrous for the United States than if the two superpowers had just stayed out altogether.

[[caption-width-right:350:''First Sting'', oil on canva painting representing the "first Stinger Missile kill" by the Mujahideen in 1986.]]

This became a rather popular setting for Western media in the 1980s, as for many the proof that the Soviet Union was an Evil Empire was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Girl_(photo) an orphaned girl in a Pakistani refugee camp]]. This usually led to portrayals of any ''mujahideen'' as noble, heroic [[FanOfUnderdog underdogs]] versus said EvilEmpire, which can be a bit jarring [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp in light of current events]]. (Check out a 1993 [[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/anti-soviet-warrior-puts-his-army-on-the-road-to-peace-the-saudi-businessman-who-recruited-mujahedin-1465715.html profile]], titled "Anti-Soviet Warrior Puts His Army on the Road to Peace", about...Osama bin Laden.)

* ''Film/RamboIII''. These days it's pretty ironic to see one of the iconic movie series that support a Type 1 EagleLand include a dedication to those brave Afghan rebels (it was slightly altered post 9/11). There was even a bumper sticker showing bin Laden saying "Rambo and I support the resistance".

The net result of this invasion was to kill the already seriously wounded détente and start what became known as the "Second UsefulNotes/ColdWar". A large-scale boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics followed, as well as an embargo on U.S. grain sales to the USSR.

The United States, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and several other countries provided arms and money to the rebels, known as the ''mujahideen''. The Soviets ended up in a UsefulNotes/VietnamWar-style quagmire, not helped at all by brutal tactics that may or may not have involved the use of lethal chemical weapons (the US made frequent claims on the matter, but never quite managed to prove it).

Ah yes, bin Laden. The ugly elephant in the room. Yes, Osama bin Laden was indeed part of the ''mujahideen'' who the US financed to combat the Soviet invasion. It was his CIA training that allowed him to form the terrorist group al Qaeda, and it was from the knowledge he gained that he was able to orchestrate the September 11, 2001 attacks, which in turn led to UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror and all the controversy and chaos that brought about. Consequently, modern views of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan tend to focus far more on the US's severely misplaced loyalties during that conflict and how badly it came to bite the country decades later. Many ''mujahideen'' soldiers also became members of the Taliban, who took advantage of the damage and power vacuum left behind after the Soviets' withdrawal to institute a theocratic government condemned the world over for severe human rights abuses. Not helping is how western narratives of the conflict still, to this day, tend to gloss over the large period of upheaval in Afghanistan that preceded the invasion, frequently depicting the Soviets as recklessly invading a country that was doing perfectly fine before the Reds came along, when in reality it was just one extension of a larger domestic conflict that only gained international attention because the Soviets got involved. Thus, it's highly likely that while the power vacuum that encouraged the rise of the Taliban would've still happened regardless of whether or not the US and USSR got involved, the fact that it turned into a theater for the Cold War meant that the final result was far more disastrous for the United States than if the two superpowers had just stayed out altogether.

* Tachanka from ''RainbowSixSiege'' is one of the oldest operators in the game, and is thus the only Spetsnaz operator to have served in the Soviet army while it was in Afghanistan.

* Music/ThePolice's song "Bombs Away" is about this. The invasion happened while its parent album ''Zenyattà Mondatta'' was being recorded.

Ah yes, bin Laden. The ugly elephant in the room. Yes, Osama bin Laden was indeed part of the ''mujahideen'' who the US financed to combat the Soviet invasion. It was his CIA training that allowed him to form the terrorist group al Qaeda, and it was from the knowledge he gained that he was able to orchestrate the September 11, 2001 attacks, which in turn led to UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror and all the controversy and chaos that brought about. Consequently, modern views of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan tend to focus far more on the US's severely misplaced loyalties during that conflict and how badly it came to bite the country decades later. Many ''mujahideen'' soldiers also became members of the Taliban, who took advantage of the damage and power vacuum left behind after the Soviets' withdrawal to institute a theocratic government condemned the world over for severe human rights abuses. Many historians though are quick to argue that the 9/11 attacks and the rise of the Taliban might not had happened had the invasion never occurred in the first place, given that Afghanistan was doing fairly well before the Soviets rolled in (assuming that something like the Iranian Revolution wouldn't occur later). Thus, while America definitely ended up creating their own worst enemy in the long run, the Soviets themselves were not free from blame either.

Ah yes, bin Laden. The ugly elephant in the room. Yes, Osama bin Laden was indeed part of the ''mujahideen'' who the US financed to combat the Soviet invasion. It was his CIA training that allowed him to form the terrorist group al Qaeda, and it was from the knowledge he gained that he was able to orchestrate the September 11, 2001 attacks, which in turn led to UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror and all the controversy and chaos that brought about. Consequently, modern views of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan tend to focus far more on the US's severely misplaced loyalties during that conflict and how badly it came to bite the country decades later. Many ''mujahideen'' soldiers also became members of the Taliban, who took advantage of the damage and power vacuum left behind after the Soviets' withdrawal to institute a theocratic government condemned the world over for severe human rights abuses. Many historians though are quick to argue that the 9/11 attacks and the rise of the Taliban might not had happened had the invasion never occurred in the first place, given that Afghanistan was doing fairly well before the Soviets rolled in. Thus, while America definitely ended up creating their own worst enemy in the long run, the Soviets themselves were not free from blame either.