I just finished reading some translated minutes from top Soviet military and political officials discussions regarding the failure of Soviet efforts in Afghanistan in the 80s. The NSA released these documents to the public domain on October 30, 2009. There are some striking similarities and prophetic quotes to be found…“Military actions in Afghanistan will soon be seven years old. There is not one square kilometer left untouched by the boot of a Soviet soldier, but as soon as they leave a place, the enemy returns and restores it all back the way it used to be. The whole problem is that military results are not followed up by political actions. At the centre there is authority; in the provinces there is not. We control Kabul and the provincial centers, but on occupied territory we cannot establish authority. We have lost the battle for the Afghan people.” - Soviet armed forces commander, Marshal Sergei Akhromeev speaking to Gorbachev in 1986“We just need to be sure that the final result does not look like a humiliating defeat: to have lost so many men and now abandoned it all… in short, we have to get out of there.” - Mikhail Gorbachev speaking to his military commanders on withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1986 Never has the famous quote from George Santayana been truer. “Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.”
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I just finished reading some translated minutes from top Soviet military and political officials discussions regarding the failure of Soviet efforts in Afghanistan in the 80s. The NSA released these documents to the public domain on October 30, 2009. There are some striking similarities and prophetic quotes to be found…

“Military actions in Afghanistan will soon be seven years old. There is not one square kilometer left untouched by the boot of a Soviet soldier, but as soon as they leave a place, the enemy returns and restores it all back the way it used to be. The whole problem is that military results are not followed up by political actions. At the centre there is authority; in the provinces there is not. We control Kabul and the provincial centers, but on occupied territory we cannot establish authority. We have lost the battle for the Afghan people.” - Soviet armed forces commander, Marshal Sergei Akhromeev speaking to Gorbachev in 1986

“We just need to be sure that the final result does not look like a humiliating defeat: to have lost so many men and now abandoned it all… in short, we have to get out of there.” - Mikhail Gorbachev speaking to his military commanders on withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1986

Never has the famous quote from George Santayana been truer. “Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.”