The
United States
until the second half of the 1970s did not consider
Afghanistan
of any significance to its security interests. It provided little economic aid and rejected
Afghanistan
’s request for military assistance during the 1950s and 60s despite
Afghanistan
repeated requests and making it clear that the
Soviet Union
was its main threat.
Despite its strategic location, like
Pakistan
,
Afghanistan
did not receive much
US
importance till 1978, as the
US
wished to maintain
Afghanistan
as a buffer state. The
US
viewed the Soviet focus upon
Afghanistan
as “a part of a general effort to counter western gains in the Middle East South Asia area” and did not consider the Soviet influence over
Afghanistan
as a threat to its strategic interests. The
US
felt that the Soviet efforts in
Afghanistan
were defensive, hence it should not be given undue significance.
Secondly, the
US
already had its interests secured with
Iran
and
Pakistan
in the region. It felt that any additional efforts would only alarm the
Soviet Union
and resulting in the latter taking extreme steps. The
US
feared that any “overt western sponsored opposition” by the
US
in
Afghanistan
“might precipitate Soviet moves to take control of the country.” Hence, there was no major resistance by the
US
to the
Soviet Union
aiding
Afghanistan
.
Certain events inside and outside Afghanistan, during 1978-79, altered the US perceptions of Afghanistan and Afghan-Soviet relations, Soviet interests in the region and finally the US interests in Afghanistan. This change resulted in direct
US
involvement in
Afghanistan
against
Soviet Union
.
Firstly, Soviet–Afghan relations which was considered by the
US
as bilateral and outside the Cold War calculus, was, since 1979, viewed as part of Soviet cold war interests. The
US
wrongly believed that once the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) consolidated its rule, the
Soviet Union
would use
Afghanistan
as a launching pad to secure its objectives in the region. It was felt that the
US
should be “more sympathetic to those Afghans, who were determined to preserve their country’s independence.” Since April 1979, eight months before the Soviet intervention in
Afghanistan
, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was supporting the anti-DRA (Democratic Republic of Afghanistan) demonstrations and monitoring military aid from
Pakistan
to the rebel groups in
Afghanistan
. The Soviet involvement in
Afghanistan
was viewed as a follow up to what had happened earlier in the Horn of Africa. (
Ethiopia
and
Somalia
were fighting each other with the
Soviet Union
and
Cuba
supporting
Ethiopia
. The
US
was against Soviet involvement in the Horn of Africa, but failed to check its advances.)
Secondly, the toppling of the Shah regime in
Iran
by the Islamic radicals directly affected the strategic interests of the
US
. The regime change in
Iran
resulted in the loss of one of the
US
’ front line states in the
Middle East
region and damaged its economic interests, especially, its oil interests in the
Persian Gulf
. The
US
and other Western countries rely on the 12 million barrels of oil a day from the Gulf. Ensuring access to Gulf oil at reasonable prices, maintenance of a stable and productive balance of trade, and maintenance of political and military relations with the Gulf countries are primary strategic interests of
United States
. The loss of
Iran
directly affected the global economic interests of the
US
.
Thirdly, the regime change in
Iran
also meant losing a state which was a part of the
US
containment strategy against the
Soviet Union
. In other words, the loss of
Iran
affected the balance of power in the region. The
US
then did not realize that
Iran
was not lost to the
Soviet Union
, but to a fundamentalist group which the
Soviet Union
was also wary of in
Afghanistan
and even in its own provinces.
But the loss of
Iran
made the
US
realize that its strategic interests were at stake and take steps to counter them. With the Cold War between the two super powers having started in the Horn of Africa, the
US
took serious steps in
Afghanistan
before and after the
Soviet Union
sent its troops.
Pakistan
became the frontline state once again in the strategic framework of the
US
to contain the
Soviet Union
. The military assistance to
Pakistan
, which was stalled during the Ford and initial period of Carter’s administration, resumed in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion in
Afghanistan
.
US
interests in
Afghanistan
continued till the Soviet troops left.
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