Soviet Union Invasion of Afghanistan Essay
It is astonishing that the president of the United States would retrospectively endorse the Soviet Union invasion and the murder of innocent individuals in Afghanistan. Personally, I am dumbfounded that President Trump uses falsehood and assumptions to justify the Soviet Union Invasion of Afghanistan. Specifically, President Trump states, “The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia” (Cohen para.3). The president’s argument is a misstatement of history, which is unacceptable for an American president. Unlike President Trump’s claims, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan for political gain. The union included Russia, Asian, and Eastern European nations that invaded Afghanistan to spread communism. The communists seized the opportunity to launch a modernizing agenda, which focused on women’s rights and land reforms to target civilians in Afghanistan. The agenda enabled the Soviet Union to appeal to a section of the Afghans in Kabul. Clearly, the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan had nothing to do with terrorism, which makes President Trump’s statement irrational.
Secondly, President Trump misstates facts. In his statement, the president argues, “Afghanistan made it Russia, because they went bankrupt fighting in Afghanistan. And literally they went bankrupt; they went into being called Russia again, as opposed to the Soviet Union”(Cohen para.3). I find this statement misleading since it is inappropriate to use the term “bankruptcy” to describe the financial status of the Soviet Union after the invasion. It is true that the economy of the Soviet Union collapsed after the invasion, but the country did not dissolve its debts, and thus, it was not bankrupt. Additionally, Afghanistan was not the sole contributor to the collapse of the Soviet Union. In my view, the country only played a role in the collapse of the Soviet Union military sector as opposed to the economy. The union experienced financial problems due to the reduced prices of oil and political challenges, which affected its economic progress adversely. Therefore, it is improper for the president to claim that Afghanistan made Russia.
Thirdly, President Trump ignores the original members of the Soviet Union to justify his ridiculous claims. Trump says, “Russia used to the Soviet Union” (Cohen para.3).Even though most people use Russia and the Soviet Union interchangeably, it is common knowledge that the two are not similar. The Soviet Union comprised of fourteen countries that advanced the communist ideology. Russia was only a significant member of the union since it had almost half of the population of the union. It implies that president argument is incorrect, which his conclusions questionable.
Furthermore, Trump overlooks the importance of the Soviet Invasion to the United States. President Trump states, “They were right to be there”(Cohen para.3). According to Trump, the Soviet Unionwas to invade Afghanistan to prevent terrorists from attacking Russians. Unlike Trump, the American government strongly opposed the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The government took various measures to force Russia out Afghanistan. Mainly, the government threatened to boycott the Olympic Games in Russia to end the invasion of Afghanistan. The federal government provided support to mujahedeen insurgency to force the Soviet Union military personnel out of Afghanistan. The efforts of the American government contributed to the end of the invasion of Afghanistan.
Evidently, President Trump misrepresents the interest of most Americans and misuses his office to present his personal opinions. I believed that the president needs to make statements that reflect the beliefs of a majority of American people, which he failed to do in his recent statement.
Work Cited
Cohen, Zachary. “Trump Defends Soviet Union’s 1979 Invasion of Afghanistan.” CNN, 4 Jan. 2019, edition.cnn.com/2019/01/03/politics/trump-cabinet-meeting-afghanistan-soviet-union/index.html. Accessed 7 Jan. 2019.
