Russia has Soviet-era Kabul icon in its sights

scotsman.com ^ | April 16, 2011 | Jerome Starkey

[Tailgunner Joe]

Bombed hollow and bullet scarred, the ruins of Russia's Cultural Centre stagger over Kabul like a modern day Ozymandias, warning would-be imperialists of the perils of meddling in Afghanistan.

The iconic concrete concert halls, classrooms, swimming pool and exhibition centre were built in 1982 as a showpiece of Soviet occupation, but were abandoned ten years later when civil war engulfed the capital. Rockets tore holes in the building's triangular skyline and heroin addicts made it their home.

For almost 20 years, the magnificent marble-clad venue where Afghan schoolgirls once sang patriotic anthems languished, looted, as a haunting reminder of how a superpower was humbled. No one seemed eager to rebuild it, until now.

Amid burgeoning nostalgia for what the Soviets achieved, disillusionment at Nato failures and the looming prospect of an American withdrawal, Moscow has decided to tear down the ruins and reassert its presence in Kabul once more.

"There were a lot of requests from our Afghan friends to rebuild it," said Stepan Anikeev, spokesman for the Russian embassy in Kabul. "I suppose it is a good sign for those who have good memories of the Soviet Union."

Russian influence in Afghanistan stretches back to the early 1800s, when Czarist agents fought a "tournament of shadows" for supremacy in Central Asia against the British.

By the time Soviet troops stormed Kabul in 1979, the Great Game had given way to the Cold War and Moscow had built factories, dams, a polytechnic and an airport as they competed for influence against America. The cultural centre was just one of almost 150 infrastructure projects, which still dwarf Nato's effort.

Yet when America invaded in 2001, it relied on anti-Soviet resistance fighters to form a new government and neither side had much appetite for acknowledging Russia's legacy. Moscow, which lost 15,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, was equally happy to stay quiet.

"In Russia, most people had bad memories of Afghanistan. Both sides needed time to rethink our relationship," Mr Anikeev added. "Now we are part of the international community and we want the international community to look at us as an equal partner."

Around a million Afghans died in the Russian occupation. Many more fled to Iran and Pakistan, while whole villages were razed by the fighting.

Yet for all the violence, 22 years after Russian soldiers withdrew it seems some historical revisionism is underway.

Even mujahideen commanders who made their names killing Soviet soldiers now claim some things were better under the Russians.

"We fought the Russians because they tried to colonise Afghanistan, but they were better with the people than the Americans," said Sayed Alemi Balkhi, a former mujahideen commander who is now a member of parliament. "They didn't raid people's houses like the Americans."

President Karzai's second cousin, Jamil Karzai, grew up in Kabul under Russian occupation. He lived in a Soviet apartment block, with Russian neighbours. "They were bad times, but the Russians were brave," he said. "They weren't afraid of the Afghans. They never shot innocent Afghans on the road, as Nato and Americans are if something happens to them."

These days it would be almost unthinkable for US soldiers, diplomats or contractors to live in Kabul without 10ft blast walls, guard towers and bodyguards.

Insurgents who fought Soviet and Nato troops claim the Russians fought face to face, like men, while the new alliance relies on helicopter gunships and unmanned drones.

Rodric Braithwaite, a former British ambassador to Moscow and the author of a history of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, said Russian conscript soldiers were also better at relating to Afghan peasant farmers than their American successors.

"Russian soldiers were scruffy, they weren't fed very well and they looked like [Afghans]," he said. "The Americans don't. They wear Ray-Bans and body armour and look like Martians."

While many Afghans bemoan the lack of development since 2001, the Russian legacy is everywhere. Apart from the wrecked tanks littering roads, there are vast bread factories and hydro-electric dams. Kabul neighbourhoods still bear Russian names and most ministries show telltale signs of Soviet architecture.

Plans for the new cultural centre are still to be approved, but Mr Anikeev said work should start later this year and be complete by 2013, just a few months before Nato troops are due to stop fighting.

[headstamp 2]

“We fought the Russians because they tried to colonise Afghanistan, but they were better with the people than the Americans,” said Sayed Alemi Balkhi, a former mujahideen commander who is now a member of parliament. “They didn’t raid people’s houses like the Americans.”

President Karzai’s second cousin, Jamil Karzai, grew up in Kabul under Russian occupation. He lived in a Soviet apartment block, with Russian neighbours. “They were bad times, but the Russians were brave,” he said. “They weren’t afraid of the Afghans. They never shot innocent Afghans on the road, as Nato and Americans are if something happens to them.”

I’m sure there were no Soviet atrocities during the occupation.

[Prokopton]

Sounds like a good time to pull our troops out and let the Russians get mired again.

[sinanju]

The moral of this story was that the Soviet years weren’t such bad times if you happened to live in Kabul. There was plenty of work, plenty of construction and it was a great time to be a woman.

It was the people everywhere else who were made to suffer.

And the author did the usual trick of seeking out a few people happy to badmouth Americans.

[Iron Munro]

[Uncle Miltie]

"I’m sure there were no Soviet atrocities during the occupation."

Nope. No atrocities by the good socialist brothers of the USSR.

"Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan - 1979-1989. Winner: Unclear. Afghanistan fell into civil war after the USSR withdrew but the Mujahideen did succeed in forcing the Soviets out. Loser: USSR. Cost: ~ 1,200,000 dead from both sides"