Air Power, Insurgency and the “War on Terror” - Prof. Joel Hayward's ...

Chapter 8
Night of <strong>the</strong> Flying Hooligans:
Soviet Army Aviation <strong>and</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force Operations during <strong>the</strong>
War in Afghanistan 1979-1989
Thomas Withington
The reasons for President Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev’s invasion of <strong>the</strong> USSR’s rugged
neighbour are long <strong>and</strong> complex. In December 1978, <strong>the</strong> Afghan government
of President Noor Mohammed Taraki had signed a Treaty of Friendship, Good
Neighbourliness <strong>and</strong> Co-operation with <strong>the</strong> Soviet Union. Each country provided positive
security assurances to <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r – agreeing to send military assistance should <strong>the</strong> need
arise. Hafizullah Amin had been joint Prime Minister of Afghanistan alongside Babrak
Kamal, seen as less of a People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan firebr<strong>and</strong> than Amin,
<strong>and</strong> leader of <strong>the</strong> moderate “Parcham” PDPA faction. Yet Amin controlled <strong>the</strong> powerful
Marxist PDPA “Khalq” faction <strong>and</strong> used this power to become sole Prime Minister by
sending Karmal into exile in <strong>the</strong> USSR <strong>and</strong> eventually performing a Palace Coup against
Taraki, killing him <strong>and</strong> allowing Amin to declare himself President of Afghanistan. On
his assumption of power, he continued with <strong>the</strong> ill-advised <strong>and</strong> haphazard attempts
at agricultural l<strong>and</strong> reform commenced by Taraki. What particularly irked farmers were
his plans to rein-in <strong>the</strong> feudal power that l<strong>and</strong>owners enjoyed in <strong>the</strong> countryside.
Meanwhile, in <strong>the</strong> cities, <strong>the</strong> urban middle class grumbled about social reforms which
were increasingly slow to materialise. It did not take long for those in <strong>the</strong> countryside to
dust off <strong>the</strong>ir Lee Enfield rifles <strong>and</strong> begin open rebellion against <strong>the</strong> Kabul government
<strong>and</strong> its representatives, notably <strong>the</strong> DRA armed forces.
Amin’s behaviour sent a chill through <strong>the</strong> Kremlin’s corridors. The last thing that Brezhnev
wanted was a restive Afghanistan on Soviet sou<strong>the</strong>rn borders. Moscow had always lost
sleep over Afghanistan, seeing its internal difficulties as a cause of potential unrest among
<strong>the</strong> USSR’s own sou<strong>the</strong>rn Muslim populations. Amin was not following <strong>the</strong> script. He was
performing radical reforms too quickly. The result was not only causing domestic disquiet
but jeopardising <strong>the</strong> loyalty of <strong>the</strong> Afghan armed forces. As <strong>the</strong> rebellion in <strong>the</strong> countryside
intensified <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> chattering classes expressed <strong>the</strong>ir dissatisfaction, Amin responded with
a harsh crackdown, jailing, torturing <strong>and</strong> killing thous<strong>and</strong>s. Moscow watched in horror as its
new sou<strong>the</strong>rn ally came off <strong>the</strong> rails, but Brezhnev did not have a simple choice; <strong>the</strong> invasions
of Hungary <strong>and</strong> Czechoslovakia in 1956 <strong>and</strong> 1958 respectively had bought his predecessors
widespread international condemnation. Invading Afghanistan would certainly earn him
similar treatment.
Preparations
Armeiskaya Aviatsiya (AA – Soviet Army Aviation) was able to see Afghanistan’s
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror” 129