b. Why Russia invaded Afghanistan. Has Russia achieved its aim?
c. How the Afghans kept the Russians — a superpower — at bay! with outmoded weapons.
d. Will the Russians quit Afghanistan — for good.
e. Spell out the Russian and the USA interest in clear terms, in this Region — before invasion, during invasion and after the Russian pull-out.
f. The role played by Pakistan — its physical and economical contribution — Afghanistan’s impact on Pakistan’s economy.
g. Has the Free World adequately compensated Pakistan and the victims of Russian aggression by air and blasts?
h. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Has Pakistan lived up to this role?
I ask the reader: What would your list of important issues be? Have I addressed them? How can you help?
Because I am a believer in the Fairness Doctrine, I decided to contact the consulate of the U.S.S.R. to obtain their opinion of this book. Here is what I wrote.
3065 Pacific Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94115
6 November 1987
Consulate General of the
Soviet Union
279 Green Street
San Francisco, CA
Ladies and Gentlemen:
…Being somewhat of an empiricist, I place a high value on what I see and hear myself. It causes me some regret, therefore, to admit that when I was in Afghanistan I never spoke with Soviet or pro-Occupation personnel. This makes my book seriously flawed. I have, of course, read a few key documents which present the Soviet point of view: the 1980 interview with Brezhnev given shortly after Babrak Karmal took office, those two or three of Babrak’s speeches which are available, some Tass statements, etc. But the fact remains that almost all of my sources have a very strong anti-Soviet bias.
For this reason, I would like to give you the opportunity to read and comment on the manuscript draft of my book (which is about 250 double-spaced pages). Any suggestions or corrections to errors of fact would be gratefully appreciated. I frankly believe that the Soviet presence in Afghanistan is wrong. I do my best to make my readers believe this, too. I challenge you to convince them otherwise. If you care to comment on the book, I will give you five or ten pages in it to do so. I will not edit or alter your remarks in any way without your permission. If you sincerely feel that the views of my book are in error, well, as Lenin said (“All Out For the Fight Against Denikin!”), “All our agitation and propaganda must serve to inform the people of the truth.” If not, your silence will speak for itself…
Yours truly,
William T. Vollmann
Their silence spoke for itself.
APPENDIX
CHRONOLOGY
1734–1979
This is a story about how various big fishes gobbled up the little fishes and then turned their attention to a certain medium-sized fish…
1734 The Russians make conquests in Kazakhstan.
1747 Afghanistan is unified under Ahmad Shah in an absolute monarchy.
1765 The British take Calcutta.
1813 Persia signs the Treaty of Gulistan, yielding most of its territory in the Caucasus to Russia.
1828 Persia signs the Treaty of Turkmanchai, relinquishing the southern Caucasus to Russia.
1837 Lord Auckland, Governor-General of India, sends a Captain Burnes to Kabul “to work out the policy of opening the River Indus to commerce.” Meanwhile, the Tsar sends a Captain Vitkievitch on the same errand.
1838 The British undertake the forcible restoration of Shah Shuja to the Afghan throne, a project which launches the First Afghan War (1838–42). Severe casualties are inflicted on both sides.
1839 The first Russian attempt to conquer Bokhara fails.
1842 The First Afghan War having proved to be a disaster, the British withdraw from Afghanistan, paying compensation and leaving hostages. Later they take their retribution, and a Colonel Sutherland writes, “It is a comfort to be able to look a native in the face again with confidence.” Then they leave again.
1843 Sind falls to the British.
1844 Russia and Great Britain agree to act in the spirit of Count Nesselrode’s memorandum, which recommends that the two powers preserve the internal peace of Persia by leaving Bokhara, Khiva and Samarkand as buffer states.
(1846 Kashmir falls to the British.
1849 The Punjab falls to the British.)
1853 The Crimean War ends this happy cooperation.
1855 The Afghans annex Kandahar, which, with Herat, has often changed hands between Afghanistan and Persia.
1856 The Persians seize Herat in retaliation, and announce that they will next occupy Kandahar and establish themselves on the borders of the Punjab, a British area. The British therefore join cause with the Afghans against the Persians and defeat them.
1859 The British occupy Baluchistan.
1863 The Afghans regain Herat.
1865 The Russians occupy Tashkent.
1867 The new province of Russian Turkestan is established. Bokhara falls to Russia.
1869 Referring to the Nesselrode memorandum, the Russian Prince Gortchakoff suggests Afghanistan as the next buffer zone. The British put him off, saying that the frontiers are too ill defined.
1873 Khiva falls to Russia.
Russia gives up Badakhshan and Wakhan to Afghanistan in exchange for British recognition of the new frontier. Afghanistan is now the only neutral area between the British and the Russians. Sher Ali, the Afghan monarch, asks Lord Northbrook for assurance of British assistance in the event of a Russian invasion of his country. The British refuse. Sher Ali decides that he must cultivate the Russians.
1875 The British become alarmed at the frequent correspondence between Russia and Afghanistan. They become more so when a Russian mission is established at Kabul.
1876 The British sign a treaty with the Khan of Kalat, allowing Empire troops to occupy Quetta. Meanwhile, the Russians make a similar arrangement in Kokand.
1878 Following rejection of their ultimatum demanding the establishment of a British Resident in Kabul, the British invade Afghanistan, precipitating the Second Afghan War (1878–81).
1879 The British retire the bulk of their army after obtaining acquiescence to the presence of a British Resident and the annexation of the Khyber Pass. They begin paying a subsidy to the Amir of Kabul. At the right moment, the Afghans attack the Residence and slaughter all the defenders. Fierce guerrilla-style clashes occur for the next two years, with the Afghans inflicting very respectable casualties. In the end a pro-British government is installed.
1881 The British evacuate Afghanistan.
1884 Baron de Staal, the Russian Ambassador in London, receives his instructions: Russia will maintain its “expansion in Central Asia, leading us to occupy to-day in Turkestan and the Turkestan steppes a military position strong enough to keep England in check by the threat of intervention in India.”
At this opportune moment, the chieftains of Merv are persuaded to tender allegiance to the Russian Emperor.
1893 The Durand Line is drawn to delineate the border between Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier Province of British India. Peshawar and the Khyber Pass are included in the British dominions.