Gorbachev's Afghan Pessimism: BBC Interview

Former Soviet head of state Mikhail Gorbachev spoke plainly about the war in Afghanistan during an interview with the BBC earlier this week.

"Victory is impossible" is his leading statement on the topic of the war.  Gorbachev states that Obama is right to pull the troops out, "no matter how difficult".  Mr. Gorbachev underlines one of the 'difficulties' as being America's deep and well established ties to militants and factions within Afghanistan.  He does not miss the opportunity to remind his English speaking audience as to who the original sponsors of the current violence are: "The Americans... were training militants, the same ones who today are terrorizing Afghanistan and more and more of Pakistan."

In making such statements, Mr. Gorbachev alludes to and seems prepared to discuss the vested interests or bureaucratic and military resistance at work to slow or block a US military withdrawal from Afghanistan.  Surely Mr. Gorbachev's experience and insight in this area would have made for some fascinating and revealing news copy, however BBC correspondent Steve Rosenberg fails to engage the topic.

The clip ends with Mr. Gorbachev shrugging at the alternatives to withdrawal: "But what's the alternative?  Another Vietnam?  Sending in half-a-million troops?  That wouldn't work."  Mr. Gorbachev paints a picture of America, caught in a trap of its own making, bleeding and unable to free itself.

Mr. Gorbachev presided over the USSR's final extrication from the Soviet-Afghan war at the end of the 1980's.  Since the American invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, a long list of former Soviet government and military officials, including Mr. Gorbachev, have gone on record saying that the west's war in Afghanistan is unwinnable.  While such predictions seem always to be hinted with pride and sour grapes, after nine years in Afghanistan, Americans can no longer hope that they will do better.  The Soviet-Afghan war ended after 9 years, and cost the Soviet Union 14,453 lives.  Troop deployments reached a height of 104,000, and a total of 620,000 Soviet soldiers served in the war.  As of this week, NATO troop levels exceed 100k, and coalition deaths in Afghanistan have reached 2,095 people, according to wikipedia.  However, this number does not include western contractors and NGO workers doing security and infrastructure work.

Read the article and watch the clip:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11633646