Discussion History UsefulNotes / SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan

I recommend that \"Operation Cyclone\" should be mentioned here - because this is an essential part of the picture. This originated, as one could expect, in the secret meetings of the CIA, the president of the US at the time, Jimmy Carter, and his security advisor, Zbigniev Brzezinsky (a pole with \'\'very\'\' poor opinions on the Soviet Union). Brzezinsky, more than anyone else, are blamed for the operation, because of his thought of actually training the Mujahedeen. The insurgency in Afghanistan began quite rightly in early 1979, and this is, according to conflcting sources, the reason the Soviets actually were \'\'invited\'\' in (not unlike the Putin-Assad alliance later on). The upper officials in the Kremlin, however, hesitated, because they were afraid to be bogged down there, and the most hesitant was Brezhnev himself. But he had suffered from two strokes at the time, and was ailing, while some of the younger brass thought they could handle it. That is the reason the Soviet army entered the conflict in december. Thus, one might argue that old Polish Zbig had his plans in order to push the Soviet Union over the egde, and thus destroy the \'\'detente\'\' from the Ford years.

edit: fixed it back, jeez