Myths
- Afghanistan has always beaten foreign armies. - The truth is that many foreign invaders have inflicted a lot of damage to Afghanistan, such as Alexander the Great or the Mongol Leader Genghis Khan.
- The Soviet invasion lead to a civil war and western aid for the Afghan Resistance. - This is actually true. Afghanistan was helped by the United States, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and China. Western backing actually happened before the Soviet troops even arrived into Afghanistan.
- The Soviet Union suffered a mass military defeat at the hand of the Mujahideen. - Although Afghanistan won, the Soviet Union did not suffer a mass military defeat. Afghanistan won important battles like Panjshir valley but lost others, the reality is is that the Soviets could have stayed in Afghanistan longer but the Soviets decided that the war had become a stalemate and was costing more money than it was worth.
- The CIA's supply of Stinger missiles to the Mujahideen forced the Soviets out of Afghanistan. - This myth was fueled by a book and movie, "Charlie Wilson's War" that claimed that Charlie had turned the tide of the war by persuading President Ronald Reagan to supply the Mujahideen with shoulder fired missiles that could shoot down helicopters. The stingers did force the Soviet to shift their tactics, they decided to use the helicopters to attack at night since the Afghans did not have night vision equipment. By the time a large amount of stingers entered Afghanistan, the Soviets had already decided to withdraw so there was no real significance to the stingers.
- After the Soviets withdrew, the west walked away. - Actually, the US showed no let-up in its close involvement with the Mujahideen. Washington blocked the Soviet-installed President Mohammad Najibullah's offers of concessions and negotiations and continued to arm the rebels and Jihadists in the hope they would quickly overthrow his Moscow-backed regime.
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