Posted by Alexander from 92.52.26.24.cfl.rr.com (24.26.52.92) on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 10:26PM :
IV
When the Afghan villagers were bombed out from their homes, many took refuge elsewhere. Some fled through the mountains, while Soviet helicopter gunships searched for targets on the ground. Bombers could be seen, like a silver fish in the sky, streaking white plumes, four long white plumes, as it moved seemingly so slowly. It appeared as a thin silver object, barel visible with the bright sky as a camouflage for its slender metal body. As one helicopter gunship passed low over a pass in the mountain, an Afghan mother clutched her baby, wrapped in brown and dark red cloths, and hooded. She carried him to a nearby crevice in the rocky mountainside, huddling him close, while the propellers of the helicopter droned noisily overhead. Everytime the helicopters came with in audible range of the Afghans, they thought they had been spotted, even though the pilot of the helicopter probably couldn't see them even if he was trying to find them. They ducked for cover any time they heard the familiar sound of a helicopter, thinking they had already been spotted. Helicopters fired upon anyone they came across whether on mountians or in fields. Villages were picked of by helicopter gunships and bombers to force the local populations to emigrate.
It was not always like this, though. At first, when the invasion began, the Soviets pretended to be supporting the Afghan cause. They killed the president's son, who had been sent to Russia for medical treatment. His son was sent back in a metal box, which should have given the president a clue about Soviet plans for Afghanistan. Nevertheless, the invasion took place, and although the president had been dead for three days, following the assassination on the 'citadel,' it seemed like Afghanistan was at it always was. It was at night that a new government existed, but during the dawn hours, the hidden government would seem to dissappear.
Passersby would occasionally see a Soviet tank with personnel parked between stores in Kabul, but other than that nothing was unusual in Afghanistan.
When night fell again, the new government would once again rule the land. During daylight, people carried on as usual, at night, a new government ruled the streets of Afghanistan. And so, eventually, this ghost government became bolder, as more ghost troops started arriving. Then, the Soviet invasion took to full blaze, and except for the rural areas, governed much of Afghanistan in no long time.
[Note: For anyone who has actually read this, which I doubt, I am happy that you find these "chronicles" interesting. Nonetheless, they are all fact, and although I stated earlier they are not, it was untrue. All these "chronicles" are based on accounts either from books, indirect experience, or direct experience.
I want to make one or two comparisons. The war in Afghanistan, as invaded by Russia, and the war in Afghanistan as invaded by US.
Russia took three days to secure Afghanistan.
US took three weeks.
Russia performed complete destruction.
US performed moderate bombing, mostly for profiteering purposes.
Russia used its own military force.
US supplied NA with tanks, artillery, and supported their movements and positions with aviation.
End note]
-- Alexander
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