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How the Soviets Won in Afghanistan: And how the U.S. will win
politicalusa.com ^ | 9/17/2001 | Dr. Jack Wheeler

Posted on 09/17/2001 10:30:18 PM PDT by Pericles

How the Soviets Won in Afghanistan

And how the U.S. will win

By Dr. Jack Wheeler

9/17/2001

Won? Huh? The Soviets lost in Afghanistan, didn't they? They were humiliated and defeated in the Afghan quagmire that the US would helplessly sink into if it invaded now, right?

Nope - the Soviets won in Afghanistan. The famed Mujahaddin had slunk back to the refugee camps in Pakistan, demoralized, dejected, and defeated. I was there, I saw it. It was August, 1986, and the Mujhaddin had given up. The Soviets had won.

But then, the Stinger missiles that Ronald Reagan had promised them finally arrived. On September 26, 1986, the first three Stingers were fired by the Muj and three Soviet aircraft were shot down out of the sky. The refugee camps erupted, the Muj poured back into Afghanistan aflame with renewed passion. Over the next 28 months, Stingers would shoot down hundreds of Soviet Hind helicopter gunships and MiG fighter jets. The skies cleared, the Muj fought with fury, and on February 15, 1989, the Soviets retreated back to the Soviet Union.

Ronald Reagan's Stinger missiles defeated the Soviets in Afghanistan, not the vaunted Mujahaddin. Before the Stingers, the Soviets had won. After the Stingers, they lost. So the question for the US military, as it contemplates sending ground forces into the "Afghan quagmire," is: what tactics did the Soviets use to demoralize and defeat the Afghan guerrillas as of August 1986?

The short answer is one word: Speznaz. Speznaz were the small commando teams of Red Army Special Forces. As long as the Soviets fought the Muj with infantry tactics - tanks and lots of ground troops - the Muj picked them off and cut them up. The early years of the war in Afghanistan were heroic - guys with single shot, bolt action, World War I (or before - I saw many Lee Enfields with dates stamped on the barrel like "1909") going straight up against the Red Army of the Soviet Union. By 1985, Egyptian and Chinese copies of Soviet weapons (like the AK-47 and RPG-7) were pouring into the Mujahaddin's hands via a US covert operation, and the Muj were confident of victory. But in the spring of 1986, I noticed a change. The Soviets had gotten smart. They switched their focus from infantry fighting to parachuting Speznaz commando teams into areas where bribed informers located Muj encampments. They would then hunt the target camp down, attacking and killing in the darkness of night. For months, the Speznaz teams did this relentlessly, so by the summer the Muj were flooding out of Afghanistan and giving up.

This provides an obvious lesson instructive for any US military assault on OBL (Osama Bin Laden) forces and their Taliban supporters. Massive Gulf War-type assaults are not the way to go. Swarm the country with teams of Navy SEALs, Green Berets, and other Special Forces. The Afghan people as a whole have been tyrannized by the Taliban worse than the Soviets, so legions of informers should be willing to provide accurate intelligence. It must be assumed that part of the deal Pakistan made with the US is the cooperation of the ISI, Inter-Services Intelligence, the Pak CIA. The Taliban were placed and kept in power through the support of the ISI, as a business arrangement between them to operate a billion dollar heroin smuggling operation. No folks know more about the Taliban than the ISI, who will now have to fork the info over. So the intel the Special Forces need will be available.

The country of Afghanistan is described as being one-quarter of an inch above the ground. No country in the world has been more smashed and beat up. The Afghan people have suffered unimaginably over the last quarter century. We do not need to add to their misery with some massive and massively destructive military attack. The Soviets' use of their Speznaz provide the blueprint for how to destroy OBL, his operation, the Taliban regime, and liberate Afghanistan from the hell it has been through.

Dr. Wheeler has been called the "real Indiana Jones" by the Wall St. Journal, the "creator of the Reagan Doctrine" by the Washington Post, and an "ideological gangster" by the Soviet press. He has traveled to 180 countries and all seven continents, and leads 3 to 4 expeditions a year.


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs
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1 posted on 09/17/2001 10:30:18 PM PDT by Pericles
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To: Pericles
Nuff said.

Interesting about the Paki-Taliban heroin connection, which is one tentacle of the Octopus.

2 posted on 09/17/2001 10:41:30 PM PDT by Free Vulcan
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Comment #3 Removed by Moderator

Comment #4 Removed by Moderator

To: Pericles
HOW TO WIN IN THE AIR!!

FIVE THOUSAND LOST THEIR LIVES FOR THE WANT OF TWO THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DOLLARS.

Israel Airlines bolts the Cockpit door and all Pilots and copilots carry Firearms.

New Release

Ponder for a moment.

We trust a pilot with a 30 million-dollar plane knowledgeable of complex airplane functions, but government policy will not allow them to operate a simple firearm.

I’LL FLY AGAIN WHEN PILOTS ARE ARMED.

Israel Airlines bolts the Cockpit door and all Pilots and copilots carry Firearms.

Scanning the websites this week the following thread from Pilots, Law Enforcement, and American Citizens discuss ways to take positive action against air terrorism.

We trust a fancy security question (Thanks to Jim Kallstom, former FBI, did you pack your bags?) but not millions of active and retired law enforcement officers to Citizen Carry on an airplane.

May I rant for a second! Get these liberal, antigun activists out of our government decision making process. Consider, Israel Airlines policy is to bolt the door, arms it pilots, and has armed travelers in the cabin.

We allow lowly-paid gate-guards to gate dis-arm us, creating a "killing zone of disarmed citizens", as passingers "do battle" in the sky with terrorists, using passion for weapons because misguided government policy has left us defenseless.

The government can not protect you when the terrorist is eyeball to eyeball with you. Now they have ban my pocketknife used to clean my nails. What next, bottles, because they can be smashed for a weapon??

Most all of the former military pilots strapped firearms to their legs when on active duty. Today they are considered not capable, wear the wrong uniform, or untrust worthy.

This BS about putting a 9mm hole in the skin of an airplane will bring it down is more rhetoric and fiction than fact. Just ask the thousand of airmen who returned from flights over Germany in WWII. How about the 747 over Hawaii with a 20-foot hole in the side. Still got a problem with possible decompression? Consider the alternative!

I’ll trust anyday my life to any active or retired law enforcement officer to CITIZEN CARRY on any airline.

I’ll trust anyday my life to any pilot or copilot active or retired to carry on any airline.

I’ll trust any American citizen willing to CITIZEN CARRY after extensive training to carry on any airline. It is a huge responsibility, however, the current "Killing Zones" set up by faulty thinking is killing our husbands, wives, children, and our nation.

I am sure thousands perhaps millions of American’s would trust their life to armed pilots, copilots, air crew members, retired, policemen, FBI, CIA, ATF, or American Citizens willing to train, quality, and stay current with cabin safety issues keeping America airlines safe.

I personally trust all of the above personnel, rather than phony security questions, low-pay air guards, unlocked backdoor food and cleaning functions or gates at airports, or government officials with big titles.

WHO DO YOU TRUST THE GOVERNMENT? OR DO YOU TRUST HONEST AMERICAN CITIZENS WHO LIVE AND BREATH FAMILY SAFETY WHEN TRAVELING?

What do you want in your cockpit, a pilot and copilot with a firearm, or a terrorist? 2,180 dollars (four colt pistols)would have prevented all four terrorist acts and saved five thousand lives.

Government will spend billions of dollars with highly visible, and breach-able security that irritates American citizens during check-in when other more effective obvious solutions exist. Just ask Israel.

Thousands of American veterans, retired LEO's and American Citzens want to sign up today to fight terrorism. Don't tell them they are unqualified. If you do tell them they are unqualifed, they may have a word or two for you.

Visit keepandbeararms.com to carry the fight.

Paul Williams

KEEPANDBEARARMS

WWW.KEEPANDBEARARMS.COM

Advising Director

end Five thousand American Citizens lost their life for the want of two thousand one hundred eight dollars.

(TELL THE AIRLINE PRESIDENTS AND CEO'S)

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3ba6a57233e2.htm

end ------ Let us hear from the active and retired Law enforcement, pilots, and concerned American citizens.

5 posted on 09/17/2001 11:01:31 PM PDT by CHICAGOFARMER (lawjj2@allways.net)
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To: USMA83, JohnHuang2, Travis McGee, Squantos, harpseal, rangerwife, spectr17, seadevil,
bttt
6 posted on 09/17/2001 11:12:38 PM PDT by Free Vulcan
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To: kattracks, 185JHP, SentryoverAmerica, 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub, MJY1288
bttt
7 posted on 09/17/2001 11:18:32 PM PDT by Free Vulcan
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To: AGaviator
BTTT
8 posted on 09/17/2001 11:30:54 PM PDT by Travis McGee
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To: CHICAGOFARMER
Well said. However, I would prefer a different make of pistol, one not produced by a manufacturer that sold out to "Gun Grabbin' Willie."
9 posted on 09/17/2001 11:33:01 PM PDT by jrewingjr
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To: Travis McGee
Jack Wheeler is thoroughly familiar with this part of the world. I've never heard him say this before.
10 posted on 09/17/2001 11:34:02 PM PDT by AGAviator
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To: CHICAGOFARMER
post #5 bump
11 posted on 09/17/2001 11:40:47 PM PDT by jothamdorn
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To: Pericles
We freaked out when three or our guys merely got detained in Yugoslavia when their Humvee disappeared. We will have to grow up a little quickly as we need to be prepared for the posssibility of sustaining significant loss of life when our attacks start.
12 posted on 09/17/2001 11:42:59 PM PDT by vox1138
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To: Pericles
Ah, I wondered whatever happened to Jack Wheeler! I remember reading his reports from Afghanistan in Reason Magazine during the 80's.
13 posted on 09/17/2001 11:44:19 PM PDT by jennyp
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To: Pericles
Outstanding find.
14 posted on 09/18/2001 12:00:55 AM PDT by Carry_Okie
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To: CHICAGOFARMER
Time for America to do away with ALL laws that violate the 2nd amendment.


Text of the Second Amendment
"A well regulated Militia
being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed."

Anyone who actually reads AND understands the 2nd Amendment
will see that there is no constitutional authority for any type of gun registration
and *there is no need for anyone to have to apply for a license to carry a gun.
*NOTE Vermont is the only state that understands this!
Any political party, politician, judge (etc), organization or individual who trys to convince you that:
1) you must register a firearm
2) you must pass a background check
3) you must wait (x) amount of days before you can get your firearm
4) you need to have a license to carry a gun
is either uneducated about OUR rights as citizens
OR is actively working to undermine OUR country.
How Did the Founders Understand the Second Amendment?

How the Brady Bill Passed (and subsequently - "Instant Check")
When the Brady Bill was passed into law on November 24, 1993,
the Senate voted on the Conference Report
and passed the Brady Bill by UNANIMOUS CONSENT.
NOT ONE SENATOR FROM EITHER PARTY VOTED AGAINST THIS.



15 posted on 09/18/2001 12:44:19 AM PDT by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
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Comment #16 Removed by Moderator

To: Pericles
Interesting analysis. But, one question remains:

How does guerilla warfare in Afghanistan alone defeat an enemy with bases in 60 countries, including the U.S.A.?

bin Laden Network of Terror

Bin Laden has, indeed, succeeded at infiltrating his operations worldwide. Authorities say he has connected an astonishingly complex network in more than 60 countries and has planted safe houses in 20 more -- including the United States. Court documents accuse him of maintaining ties to anti-American governments in Iran, Iraq, and the Sudan. And his followers have been tied to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York; a blast at the Egyptian Embassy in Pakistan; the killing of German tourists outside Luxor, Egypt; plots to assassinate Clinton, the pope and the president of Egypt; and a scheme to blow up six American 747 airliners over the Pacific Ocean.

17 posted on 09/18/2001 4:40:50 AM PDT by Roebucks
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To: Pericles
Bump
18 posted on 09/18/2001 4:43:57 AM PDT by BunnySlippers
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To: Roebucks
How does guerilla warfare in Afghanistan alone defeat an enemy with bases in 60 countries, including the U.S.A.?

Old Chinese proverb: "A trip of One Thousand miles begins with one step."

19 posted on 09/18/2001 5:31:13 AM PDT by mc5cents
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To: Serge
email the Dr.
20 posted on 09/18/2001 6:13:07 AM PDT by Pericles
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