In April 1978, Hafizullah Amin led a coup and pronounced himself president of Afghanistan. The Soviets saw a need for his removal, and therefore alleged he was a CIA agent. The Soviets needed a justification for invasion of Afghanistan, and said that Amin had requested Soviet troops to help with stabilizing the country.
Amin had made no such request, and stated publicly many times that he did not need, nor did he want Soviet military assistance. In a speech on 9/9/79, he said “We are proud that we have not asked any foreign country to fight for us.”[1] However, the Soviets still sent troops as a means to address “growing counter-revolutionary attacks from the outside,”[2] which they said they had had many requests for, most statements saying that 14 such requests had been made.
The Soviets assassinated Amin during Operation Storm—333, and almost immediately afterwards started to bring in troops. This kicked off a massive mobilization of troops, and was the beginning of the 9 year occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviets. However, the Soviets were not prepared to fight in the mountains of Afghanistan, as all their vehicles were designed to go up against NATO forces on the plains of Europe. Consequently, large numbers of the tanks and other vehicles they brought in were completely useless. For instance, at one point, they sent home a missile battery and crew which for the public they stated as a symbol of goodwill, which in reality was completely useless against the Mujahadeen.
One of the problems the Soviets encountered on the world stage was global justification of the invasion. For the rest of the world this was simply another example of a Soviet landgrab, which had no legitimate reason. Much of the Moslem world became decidedly anti-Soviet, especially in places where the Soviets were attempting to buy influence[3].
In an attempt to control the Afghan people, the Soviets used brutal tactics on Afghan civilians as well as Mujahadeen fighters. There are mulitple accounts of the use of chemical weapons by Soviets to flush the Mujahadeen out of their caves. This as well the destruction of entire villages by the Soviets enhanced the Soviets reputation for brutality.
Ultimately, the Soviet-Afghan War was one of the major contributing factors of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The nine year conflict proved to be a massive drain on the Soviet economy, as well as causing a loss of support from parts of the world they had previously held large amounts of influence in. All of this coupled with revoloutions by Eastern Bloc countries ultimately spelled out the end for the Soviet Union.
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