Veterans of the War in Afghanistan), ‘K sovesti’ Leningrad Information-Publication Organization, ‘Modul’ Cultural-Leisure Center for Veterans of the Foreign War Association - these are just a few of many organizations created throughout the USSR. Mark Galeotti, Afghanistan: The Soviet Union’s Last War , p.81. Left and unsupported by the government, these organizations aimed to provide extra facilities for the treatment of injured veterans, to compensate veterans fully or partly for the expenses of necessary treatment, to develop sports for invalid and to force the government to support the invalids’ rights.
Thus the experience of the Afghan War had a twofold impact on soldiers’ lives: first, the impact of the war itself and second, the impact of returning to a peaceful life after the war. In the words of one veteran:
What did the war give to us? Thousands of mothers who lost sons, thousands of cripples, thousands of torn-up lives. Vladislav Tamarov, Afghanistan: Soviet Vietnam , p.164.
Evaluation of the historical sources:
The book Afghanistan: The Soviet Union’s Last War by Mark Galeotti were used a number of materials written both in English and in Russian. Mostly the references I have used were taken by the author from articles from newspapers with the interviewees of veterans. I count this source of information as reliable because the author showed the point of view on the Afghan War of both veterans of Soviet military forces and from the United States, which supported Afghanistan during that war.
Afghanistan: Soviet Vietnam was written by a Soviet veteran who served in Afghanistan for two years. Of course he supported the Soviet’s military forces, so I used this source only to show the general mood of soldiers during the Afghan War. The author’s personal opinion was taken for this.
Afghanistan, by Hassan Hakar, showed the Afghan War from the Afghan side. This source was predisposed against the Soviets, so I used it to show the other side of soldiers’ characters - the violence and murders of the civilian population of Afghanistan. This source would be not reliable if the facts were not proven by the other sources I used.
Out of Afghanistan, by Diego Cordovez and Selig S. Harrison, was interesting because it supported both sides of the Afghan War with historical facts and documents. The book’s facts were based on official documents of both the Soviet and the Afghan governments. This source gave me a whole, truthful picture of what happened in Afghanistan. According to this information I built my opinion of what was the real impact of the Afghan War on the personal lives of soldiers while they were serving in Afghanistan.
Soviet Expansion in the Third World by Nasir Shansab, whose nationality is afghan, was useful because showed the tragedy of afghan people without insulting the Soviet military forces. It also showed the Afghan army’s dangerous force of resistance.
All these books after critical analysis gave me the information needed for my essay.
Bibliography:
Vladislav Tamarov, Afghanistan: Soviet Vietnam (San Francisco: Mercury House, 1992)
Mark Galeotti, Afghanistan: The Soviet Union’s Last War (London: Bookcraft (Bath) Ltd., Midsomer Norton, 1995)
M. Hassan Kakar, Afghanistan (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1995)
Nasir Shansab, Soviet Expansion in the Third World (Maryland: Silver Spring, 1986)
Diego Cordovez, Selig S. Harrison, Out of Afghanistan (Oxford: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1995)
While in Afghanistan, soldiers experienced discrimination by the older soldiers and by the officers. The foreign land, the experience of fighting, the death of friends, the highly difficult conditions of living, and the absence of a stimulus to fighting made most of the soldiers addicted to drugs and alcohol. Drugs became an easy source of relaxation because Afghanistan is one of the biggest suppliers of marijuana on the black market.
The term ‘lost generation’ can be applied towards the veterans of the Afghan War. This war had created a generation of alcoholics and drug addicts. It also made many young people invalids unable to work and to earn money on their own. The other ‘creation’ of the war in Afghanistan was the increased rate of violence and immoral behavior among soldiers and veterans of the war. These circumstances had made criminals out of 19 year old boys. Discrimination by the public opinion and media, and the unwillingness of the government to help victims of the war even increased the number of criminals, alcoholics and drug addicts among the veterans of the Afghan war.
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