The invasion by the Soviet Union into Afganistan eventually bancrupted the Soviets, is the Iraq quagmire havin

Question

the same effect on the United States?

Answer 1

Interesting question, as there are many parallels. One difference is that we aren't sending munitions to OBL as we were during the Russian fiasco in Afghanistan. We are helping him recruit though.

Answer 2

The idea that we're spending all our money in Iraq is yet another myth. Reality is the Defense budget for 2008 sits at $717 billion out of a $2.9 trillion budget. Money for The War on Terror, including Iraq, comes out of that $717 billion.

What's more, Afghanistan didn't bankrupt the Soviet Union because it was Afghanistan. The Soviet Union went bankrupt because they could not, as in did not have the ability at all, to sustain any long term military operation. The Soviet Union's annual output of food, fuel and energy was barely enough to sustain the population. When they invaded Afghanistan everything for the war had to be diverted away from the population. A problem we do not have.

They could barely sustain their population and what little economy they had before Afghanistan.

The Soviet Union's own war planning shows that had the Soviets ever invaded Europe they only would have had three months to take Europe. After that, they simply would not have fuel or manufacturing capabilities to keep going.

Revising history to suit your own political views is disengenuine and will ultimately fail.

Answer 3

The USSRs total military spending was more than thier economy could handle, but Afganistan was not an overwhelming part of that, keeping up with the USA in the Cold War was the crippling thing. Expensive as Iraq is, it's relatively small compared to the total size of the economy.

Afghanistan /did/ demoralize the Soviet people, though. It was a long, thankless battle, and, even though the Soviet news agencies concealed the extent of casualties, it eventually became aparent just what the human cost was like (people started to realize things like "gee, if the casualty figures in Pravda are right, everyone who died in Afghaanistan came from my town"). With the relative freedom of the American media, we are reaching that same level of demoralization quite rapidly.

Answer 4

Um no, there were more factors than the Afghan War that brought the end of the USSR, more moderate leaders (comparatively speaking to Stalin), rebelling statillite states, ect. By the time of the Afghan War, the USSR was pretty much out of the game, she wasnt the same superpower she once was. Afghanistan didn't really drive the USSR into the ground, it just helped it. As for America, no... simply no. I doubt very seriously after all the wars like this we've been in (they've all cost us some way, and who picks up the tab everytime? The US) No, with our economy we are doing fan-friggen-tastic!

Answer 5

You mean the US has not gone bankrupt yet? Dude, are you sleeping. *Pinch*. Wake up.

The economy is almost finished. Whatever your on DOW Jones seeing is as inflated as the stock exchange of Pakistan. We are being officially run, to some extent, by the Chinese, with whom, we have billions of dollars in deficits. And the way the future is shaping out, its not very rosy.

Answer 6

Your facts are wrong.... Russia's failure to create a working free enterprise system after the cold war and the failure of the Clinton administration's economic strategy for Russia was the cause ...Between 1992 and 1999, 73.6 million working-age citizens in Russia were unemployed. Rampant corruption slashed government revenues and diverted government expenditures.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/2000/russia/part09.htm

Answer 7

The Russians already smell blood. They are upping the ante with more military spending as they know ours is being depleted. They, like the Iraqis, aren't either stupid or blind. Blue smoke and mirrors only works on the American naivete. .

Answer 8

The Soviets gave up on Afghanistan because the people and military were in near revolt. They tried to take over a country.

The US liberated two countries. There is no quagmire. Only cowardly liberals want to cut and run.

Answer 9

It could...

Although I believe in the mission (it is foolish and illogical to do otherwise if you really understand all of the dynamics and consequences) I must admit this.

Answer 10

Not being able to match Star Wars was what made them give up; Ronald Reagan did it. We will win if we don't give up and run away- --