The Soviet military invaded and occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s. The US government did not want the Russians to succeed in a take-over of such a resource-rich (oil) nation. So the US mustered up a foreign policy, and the CIA found and trained a group of Afghan guerrilla warriors, led by Osama bin Laden, calling the database of soldiers Al-quaeda. Thus the notorious "network" of terrorists was hatched.
But this clip isn't about that history*.
It's about the failed tactics of the Soviets in waging war in Afghanistan - the same military tactics that the US is now using in a country that cannot be conquered in a war with no good purpose.
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....Washington, fearing the spread of Soviet influence (and worse the new government's radical example) to its allies in Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf states, immediately offered support to the Afghan mujaheddin, as the “contra” force was known....
Prior to the devastating September 11 attack on the twin towers of World Trade Center, US ruling-class figures remained unrepentant about the consequences of their dirty deals with the likes of bin Laden, Hekmatyar and the Taliban. Since the awful attack, they have been downright hypocritical.
In an August 28, 1998, report posted on MSNBC, Michael Moran quotes Senator Orrin Hatch, who was a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee which approved US dealings with the mujaheddin, as saying he would make “the same call again”, even knowing what bin Laden would become.
“It was worth it. Those were very important, pivotal matters that played an important role in the downfall of the Soviet Union.”
Hatch today is one of the most gung-ho voices demanding military retaliation....
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