(contents)
Chapter 4: War and Peace in The Middle East (15)
101 The war in
Afghanistan: Bitter enemies in the same boat (1/5)
After brief peace and prosperity in the early 1970s,
the Middle East was suddenly rolled in by gun smoke in the latter half of 1970s.
In 1978, the Communist regime was born in Afghanistan where was located between
Iran and Pakistan. Afghanistan has long been a crossroad of trade in the 19th
century. Russian Empire traditionally had a policy of southward expansion aimed
for the Indian Ocean from Central Asia. Meanwhile East India Company of British
Empire which monopolized trade with Asian countries tried to secure a trade
route from Oman to India. Two empires crashed. It was called "Great
Game". The conflicts took place frequently in Afghanistan. In the early
1970s Afghan monarchy was falling down and the Communist party gripped the
power with the support of USSR.
USSR got a big opportunity to control the region.
There was no stability in Afghanistan. Afghanistan
was a traditional tribal society and Islamic religion has been prevailing.
Anti-government movement had a strong momentum. Weak central government called
for reinforcements to the USSR. USSR began military intervention against
international society in 1979. USSR stuck in the mud. Civil war in Afghanistan
had been continued for ten years until USSR withdrew its troops from Afghanistan
in 1988.
(To be continued ----)
(From an ordinary citizen in the cloud)
No comments:
Post a Comment