4/24 Soviet-Afghanistan

In small groups: Document 76

Diverse Ways of Thinking: Religion and Conflict

-What impact(s) did the invasion have on President Carter?

-What reasons did Brezhnev give for Soviet actions in Afghanistan?

-How did the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan mark the final blow to detente?

How does this explain Tariq ibn Ziyad's motives in 710?

-Part of this new faith was the protection of dar al Islam (the abode of Islam)

-8th Century Europe was not the epitome of success and progress that we see today.

-It was a back-woods periphery of the fallen Roman Empire.

-Devoid of stability, wealth, and culture that had been promised.

Tariq saw Spain as an opportunity to expand dar al Islam, bring stability through peaceful cohabitation and resolution.

Tariq's troops had other intentions.

-Upon the arrival of Tariq's superior Musa ibn Nasayr, who saw this act as a means to upstage him, demoted Tariq.

Musa himself would be removed and replaced by his son Abd al-Aziz who was murdered by his lieutenants for embracing the trappings of Western-style Kingship.

-Ultimately, as the pace of conquest slowed, fissures within the victors.

Soviet-Afghan War

Announcements

Soviet-Afghan War

Cooperation between the Reagan CIA and Pakistani Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) sought to provide maximum military firepower to the Mujaheddin and to recruit politically the most anti-Communist Islamist to join their fight.

Diverse Ways of Thinking: Religion and Conflict

-4/18 Rough Draft due

-No office hours on Wednesday. Make up hours on Thursday from 11-12pm.

-Presentations begin on 4/23. Those presenting on 4/23 must send me their slides by 4/21!

-Peer Review due on 4/25

-Final Research Paper due on 4/30 (absolute deadline)

-Research Journal #5 due on 5/2

-Please complete course evaluations.

-All remaining extra credit assignments are due by 4/30. On 5/1, I will no longer accept any extra credit.

-We are in the final stretch!

-Prior to the Soviet-Afghan War, the Carter Administration cut off aid to Pakistan over human rights violations and an increase in their nuclear development.

-Following the invasion, Carter funneled money into Pakistan to aid the rebel forces, named the Mujaheddin, against the Soviets in Afghanistan.

-When Ronald Reagan took office, his policy was to turn the Soviet-Afghan War into the Soviet Union's Vietnam. He sought to use their war to "bleed them white."

-Reagan would go beyond providing aid and military assistance to the rebel forces. His administration would use the influence of the Islamic World to create an American-Jihad against the Soviets.

Who are the Mujaheddin?

Thesis Workshop #2

Plan for the Day

Soviet-Afghan War

-Lecture: The Soviet-Afghan War, wrapping up Unit 2

-Workshop: Thesis Revision, post LRA #3.

-Pull up your graded LRA #2 and review the feedback provided about your refined research question.

-Review your notes on creating a thesis statement by using a thesis formula. (These are also on Blackboard) Now write a draft thesis statement.

-Trade with a partner and provide a peer-review feedback. Keep this for future use as your begin to work on the full draft of your research paper.

Mujaheddin - Arabic for one engaged in Jihad (the struggle)

-English variants today connect it with the guerrilla-soldiers

In the early days of the Soviet-Afghan War regional warlords fought against the Soviet troops. As the war became more sophisticated, 7 Mujaheddin groups formed into a coalition known as the Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujaheddin.

The ranks of these groups would become filled with Muslims from all over the world and supported primarily by the US, Saudis, and Pakistan.

*New Research points to an interesting fact that only 25% of the financial support came from these nations. The rest was coming from private donors and religious charities in the Muslim World.

-The international response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is swift.

- 34 nations of the Islamic Conference pass a resolution demanding an immediate withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan

-The United Nations passes a resolution protesting the invasion

(only those voting against are allies of the Soviets and India)

-Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United States begin sending aid to groups fighting against the Soviets.

-The Carter Administration adopts a new policy with Pakistan

-The Reagan Administration takes an even harsher tone once in office.

Soviet-Afghan War

Factional divisions in the PDPA led to the assassination of their first president, Nur Mohammad Taraki, at the direction of second-in-command, Hafizullah Amin.

Thesis Workshop #2

Soviet-Afghan War

Hafizullah

Amin

Babrak

Karmal

Nur Mohammad

Taraki

Islamic recruits flowed into Pakistani-led training camps from all over the world.

(Both majority and minority Muslim countries and from both Sunni and Shi'a groups).

The CIA would employ Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, an academic in Islamic Law, to speak publicly about the need for a "holy war" in Afghanistan.

The CIA had embraced a policy to project the fight in Afghanistan as a jihad (lesser) for two purposes.

1. To create a global support network by billions of Muslims for the effort. (A war against occupiers)

2. To create a political divide between the doctrinally different Shi'a and Sunni- thus containing the Iranian Revolution as a Shi'a affair.

(A less public component of the feature- but connected in keeping political and religious Islam divided within the Mujahideen)

Part 3 in LRA 3 asks you to create a thesis statement from your research question in LRA #2

Remember:

Your final research paper is to be argumentative (not a chronological history).

-In order for your paper to be argumentative you need to construct a thesis statement.

-A thesis statement tells the reader what your main argument will be and how you intend to support it.

(argument + road map = thesis statement)

-A clear thesis statement is critical to a good research paper. Without a clear argument the body of your paper will be a collection of ideas without a structure.

Recap:

-In our last classes we discussed the Iranian Revolution and

the proxy war in Nicaragua (i.e. the Iran-Contra Affair)

-The Iranian Revolution revised US perspective

on Islam (Religion and Political)

-Nicaragua was a testing ground for CIA operations to support and fund a counterrevolutionary movement (the Contras)

-Provided arms

-Funded via Religious groups, limited federal funding, sale of arms to Iran via Israel.

-Nicaragua signifies a shift in US foreign policy directions between the Carter and Reagan Presidencies.

-Containment to Rollback

Leonid Brezhnev is unhappy with Amin's actions and instability they brought to a Communist Afghanistan. He will employ the Brezhnev Doctrine as justification to send Soviet troops into Afghanistan who will remain in the country for 9 years.

What is the Brezhnev Doctrine?

In small groups: Document 78

Soviet-Afghan War

-Why does Gorbachev want to end the war?

-Why did he announce the withdrawl before concluding peace talks? How might the announcement impact the talks?

-What factors led to the Soviet failure in Afghanistan? (think broadly)

Why?

Under Daud's leadership, he sought military support from the Soviet Union in his bid to establish Afghan control over Pashtun lands in Northwest Pakistan.

-He became uneasy over Soviet attempts to interfere in Afghan foreign policy and adopted a non-alignment policy.

The Communist wing that supported Daud's coup in 1973, the Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) with the backing of

the Soviet Union, staged a coup in 1978

against Daud known as the Saur Revolution.

Daud is removed from power and executed.

-The PDPA Government will attempt to

implement a socialist agenda, but do so

poorly leading to domestic tensions

Soviet forces will withdraw from Afghanistan in 1989 (2 years prior to its collapse) Many cities and towns will fall under Mujaheddin control.

The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (the pro-Soviet government) will collapse in 1992 after their last president, Mohammad Najibullah is overthrown leading to a civil war.

The Mujaheddin will never unite, but fight for control over the capital Kabul.

A village mullah named Mohammed Omar will organize a new armed movement with the backing of Pakistan. This movement became known as the Taliban- a Sunni group practicing a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam.

This group now leads Afghanistan, following the US withdrawal.

Reagan's tenure in office marks significant changes in Cold War thinking

-More antagonistic

-Turns away from detente with the Soviets

-Continuously learns from each proxy war to expand executive powers and use covert methods.

Soviet-Afghan War

Workshop: Writing an Introduction

Soviet-Afghan War

Workshop: Writing an Introduction

The side-effect of the Proxy War: Al-Qaeda

-The CIA wanted the American Jihad to be an international Muslim affair, not national (i.e. Afghani) They created a network between Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Algiers to send fighters to support the Mujaheddin.

-The Afghan-Arab forces numbered nearly 100,000 of elite trained and funded soldiers by the United States. Leading this

group was the son of a wealthy Saudi family

(with connections to the royal family):

Osama Bin Laden

Starting your paper with just the argument is like starting your car with the transmission in the drive position.

-You need to ease the reader into your paper and explain what the topic is that you plan to discuss.

-Use the introduction to set the context of your paper- what time period you are discussing, what historical event, what contemporary connection exists with this topic, etc.

-Introductions should be specific and avoid vague language

Your thesis/road map drive the structure of your paper!

-Thesis Example: X, Y, and Z are examples of A.

The body of your paper should then follow this structure:

Introduction w/ Thesis

Paragraph discussing X with your sources

Paragraph discussing Y with your sources

Paragraph discussing Z with your sources

Conclusion (summarizing main points of the argument - no new information!)

The creation of the nations

stems from decolonization by

the British. (1947)

-British supported Pashtun

colonization into Afghanistan during their colonial period in India.

-Decolonization divided India and Pakistan into Hindu/Muslim nations, but the remnants of Pashtun colonization remained in Pakistan.

-The rise of Pashtun-led nationalism in Afghanistan pushed Pakistan to support opposition forces:

Communist and Islamic

The election of Reagan also marks a turning point in electoral politics - the return of fundamentalism in politics.

-1979 Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority sought to incorporate their Protestant Evangelical ideas into State and Federal policies. Associated with the right-wing of the political spectrum, neoconservative academics sought to create arguments to justify the employment of the rollback policies engaged in by Reagan.

-Jeanne Kirkpatrick's "Dictatorships and the Double Standard" identified two types of Dictatorships

1. Left-wing totalitarian (a.k.a. Communist): incapable of internal reforms and must be overthrown

2. Right-wing authoritarian: capable of internal reforms, association with authoritarians is fine because they are able to change through constructive engagement.

Thus, Kirkpatrick provides a "moral" justification for policies of rollback that seek to remove totalitarians from power.

Here's the big point: The introduction indicates the quality of what is in the paper.

-As an instructor, I can usually tell the quality/grade of a paper from the introduction alone.

Let's see if you can evaluate an introduction

Why can't just start my paper with the thesis statement?

Workshop: Writing an Introduction

B

The Rev. Sheldon Jackson served as General Agent of Education for the Territory of Alaska throughout history. In the folklore of Alaskan history, he is regarded as a significant figure for his contributions in bringing education to the state. This is significant for understanding the man. Many believe that Jacksons' work brought education to the indigenous population. While on the surface, his work appears positive a closer examination reveals that his tenure was filled with conflict, unethical behaviors, and fraudulent activities.

Soviet-Afghan War

Reagan Cont.

Against the backdrop of 1970s-1980s is a growing arms race with the Soviet Union combined with the fear of Communism spreading on a global scale.

-Reagan is fueled by a desire to defeat the Soviet Union in the Cold War

Workshop: Writing an Introduction

The reality is that the Soviet Union is beginning to crumble.

-1970s, economically stagnated (lack of modernization investment)

-Party Leadership is old and dying

C

-The three elder secretaries also engaged in long-term military expenditures, failed to modernize the USSR, and entered into a bloody conflict in Afghanistan as a result of old ideological thinking. When all three died, they left a legacy for the new, younger General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev.

The Soviet Union begins to disintegrate between 1989-1991

-General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev sought to reform the USSR

through policy changes including limited democratization.

-The plans ultimately led a voters rejecting the Soviet government.

-Transition of power from the Soviet Union to the Russian

Federation.

In addition to leading these forces, Bin Laden was also a paid contractor in the construction of the Khost Tunnel Complex

-Used as a weapons depot, training center, and medical facility for the Mujaheddin.

-During the US-Afghan War, Bin Laden used as a hide out.

Bin Laden had been a student of Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, but the two split over an ideological break. The former desired for an Arab-legion to wage jihad in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

-Azzam refused to enact a jihad on fellow Muslims. He and his sons were assassinated in 1989.

-Soon after, in the city of Khost a meeting was held to plan the future of jihad. In this meeting, a new organization was formed known as Al-Qaeda.

-The group would go on to conduct terrorist attacks globally after declaring a fatwa on those nations in foreign lands. Bin Laden used this to justify a jihad against the United States and conduct attacks on US targets including embassies, assassination attempts, and the 9/11 Attack in New York.

20th Century Afghanistan was a monarchy led by King Zahir Shah (1933-1973)

-1973, coup removed Zahir by his cousin Mohammad Daud who formed a coalition republic with the military and a wing of the Communist Party.

-Daud pursued a policy of pro-Pashtun

Nationalism in Afghanistan that

carried over into neighboring

Pakistan.

-The nationalist tone by Daud provoked

Pakistan to support anti-nationalist

fighters in Afghanistan.

Mohammad

Daud

Zahir Shah

The Rev. Sheldon Jackson served as General Agent of Education for the Territory of Alaska. Many people think he is cool for Alaskan history because he gave education to the state. This is significant for understanding the guy. Many believe that Jackson work brought education to the indian population. Jackson seems like a good person. Examination reveals that his job was filled with conflict, unethical behaviors, and fraudulent activities.

Yuri Andropov

Nov. 1982-Feb. 1984

Konstantin Chernenko

Feb. 1984-March 1985

Leonid Brezhnev

1964-1982

Workshop: Writing an Introduction

Karl Krotke-Crandall

Hist. 105

Short Essay #2

F

Workshop: Writing an Introduction

Soviet-Afghan War

A

The Rev. Sheldon Jackson became General Agent of Education for the Territory of Alaska in 1885, serving in the position for nearly twenty years. In the folklore of Alaskan history, he is regarded as a significant figure for his contributions in bringing education to the state. Jackson’s personal and professional background help to understand the outcomes of the acts he took in Alaska. Many believe that Jackson’s work brought education to the indigenous population. While on the surface, his work appears positive a closer examination reveals that his tenure was filled with conflict, unethical behaviors, and fraudulent activities.

-Begin by introducing the overall topic of the paper.

-What is it this paper about?

-When are you examining?

- A clear thesis statement.

-A road map to set up the structure of your paper (often within your thesis).

-The group would go on to conduct terrorist attacks globally after declaring a fatwa on those nations in foreign lands.

-Bin Laden used this to justify a jihad against the United States and conduct attacks on US targets including embassies, assassination attempts, and the 9/11 Attack in

New York.

Workshop: Writing an Introduction

D

What is structure?

When one thinks of Alaska, they connect it to the book White Fang by the famous author Tolstoy. The movie is about a guy that adopts a wolf in the Yukon. It’s a good book. the Rev. Sheldon jackson served worked in education. Many people think he is important for Alaskan history because he give schools. This is important. Many BELIEVE that Jackson’s work brought education to the indian population. Jackson seems like a good person.