Trump defends Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, garbling facts in the process
By Grace Segers
/ CBS News
President Trump's lengthy, on-camera cabinet meeting Wednesday touched on a variety of topics, including the funding fight over a border wall, and the impending withdrawal of American troops from Syria. But in a bizarre aside, the president defended the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
"Russia used to be the Soviet Union. Afghanistan made it Russia, because they went bankrupt fighting in Afghanistan," Mr. Trump said. "The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. They were right to be there. The problem is, it was a tough fight. And literally they went bankrupt; they went into being called Russia again, as opposed to the Soviet Union. You know, a lot of these places you're reading about now are no longer part of Russia, because of Afghanistan."
The Soviet Union — which comprised not only Russia, but several other now-independent nations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia — invaded Afghanistan in 1979, and left in 1989. However, contrary to Mr. Trump's claims, Russia was in Afghanistan to spread communism, not fight terrorists. And in the process, Soviet forces waged a brutal campaign that often targeted civilians.
Mr. Trump's remark that the Soviets were "right" to invade Afghanistan is remarkable, given that at the time the U.S. strongly opposed the invasion, which occurred during one of the most contentious parts of the Cold War. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter announced that the U.S. would boycott the Olympics that year taking place in Moscow in response to the Soviet presence in Afghanistan. During the Reagan administration, the U.S. offered support to the mujahideen insurgency fighting the Soviet invaders and their local allies.
Mr. Trump's comment that the Afghanistan invasion bankrupted Russia is also false. The Soviet economy did collapse, but it did not go bankrupt, nor was the invasion the sole cause for its dissolution. Much like the Vietnam War for the U.S., the campaign in Afghanistan made the Soviets look weak because it was unable to defeat a smaller and much less-advanced force. However, several other factors also contributed to the Soviet decline, such as declining oil prices, political restructuring, and systemic weaknesses within its communist economy.
Although it was only a brief comment, Mr. Trump's remarks on Afghanistan were striking given longtime U.S. policy and opinion on the Soviet invasion.
First published on January 3, 2019
© 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Grace Segers
Grace Segers is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital.
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