An Afghan man walks past the remains of a Russian tank on the outskirts of KabulFrom AFP:
KABUL (AFP) — Afghans Saturday marked the 1989 withdrawal of the Soviet Union proud they were able to overcome the mighty Red Army but concerned about the fighting still wracking their country 20 years later.
When the last Soviet tanks rolled out across the border on February 15, 1989 -- which corresponds to a Saturday in the Afghan calendar -- the thousands of men who had fought the 10-year occupation were triumphant.
"We fired jubilant gunfire into the air," recalls Mohammad Soliman, one of the mujahideen (holy fighters) who took on the Red Army in a battle that drew behind-the-scenes support from Pakistan and the United States.
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My Comment: Two of my cousins fought served with the Soviet Army in that conflict. To them .... it was hell, and they were happy to serve and get out of the fight when their tour was over. The Soviet campaign was an unmitigated disaster .... a war that sapped the legitimacy of the Soviet state, and a war that decimated Afghanistan.
I can only hope that we are not repeating history.