Two Decades Ago

Twenty years back the Soviet Union was nearing the end of their disastrous military involvement in Afghanistan. Today, Soviet veterans of that war shake their heads when talk turns to the American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. In what has become a classic example of history repeating itself these veterans have a simple message to the Americans: Get out now.

An example of Soviet propagandizing, or rather, covering up the true nature of the Soviet invasion to their own people can be read in the following passage from Alexander Golts:

Alexander Golts, who covered the Soviet-Afghan war as a journalist, said the war was clearly a failure from early on, but Soviet leadership insisted on portraying it first as a minor operation and later as a struggle that ultimately would bring peace and prosperity.

In villages throughout the Soviet Union at the time, "mystery coffins" would arrive, containing soldiers who kept dying in a reportedly peaceful area. Soviet leaders tried to direct attention away from the coffins. Golts said Soviet leadership prohibited reporting on the war.

"A general stopped me one day to say, `I read that our soldiers are doing nothing here but building schools and planting trees, so please explain, how do my boys keep dying?'" Golts said.