Possibly the definitive account of Afghan war
The soldiers came from central Asia — Georgia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. They were united against a common mujahedin enemy but, as could only be expected from a unity imposed from above — the Soviet state — it became ever more fragile and eventually, as Braithwaite demonstrates, was unable to deal with the massive fissures.
The invasion had relatively modest aims, though it did have wider consequences such as the cranking up of the Cold War, witnessed in such events as the western boycott of the Moscow Olympics in 1980. In support of the communist coup of the year before, which had among its stated aims, women’s rights, an end to usury and a fair society, the politburo elicited clear aims: to garrison the main towns and cities, train the army and police and install a puppet leadership friendly to Moscow. They got more than they bargained for with more than 15,000 soldiers and an estimated 600,000 civilians dead. They intended a stay of six months but were dragged into a 10 year war.
