1980 100,000 USSR Soldiers: The KGB promised Soviet soldiers that they would be in direct combat against American troops but this claim was an obvious lie. In reality, this motivation was used to boost morale because the Soviet war was largely useless. The Mujahadeen consistently reappeared after the previous days of fighting. Mujahadeen had internal conflicts. Gratitude lasted seldom longer than a few hours. The War was fought with Mujahadeen blood and with America’s goal: to end communism in Russia. The USSR abandoned massive sweeps with air based tactics. The UN pushed for shuttle diplomacy saying that if Russia left Afghanistan the US would stop supporting the Mujahadeen. (Similar to Iran’s promise with Americans). The USSR bombed Aghanistan from the air. The Soviets destroyed a whole village. Many young men were forced into the Afghan army those who refused were shot. The toll of Soviet dead was as much as 2000 per year. The soviet army was largely drunk, drugged, and felt the war was pointless.

As a soldier in the USSR, you realized that the system creates lies to motivate and incentivize productive behaviour. The USSR lied to its public claiming that there was no war but that their soldiers were building schools. Controversially, the USSR would not allow people to write on their son’s gravestone regarding where that son had died: Afghanistan. Gorbachev had to explain what the point of the war was: they needed to find a process for escape. It was difficult to withdraw from Afghanistan. What kind of government would emerge without the USSR in Afhgnistan? The USSR chose a new leader in Afghanistan named Nagibula. They needed a peace initiative with the Mujahadeen. The USSR needed US support. But Reagan wanted to make the USSR pay for Vietnam. The Mujahadeen were given USSR weapons by increasing US aid. Ultimately, the USSR was punished brutally in this war.