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Originally Posted by icarus
When the Soviets invaded the entire nation was up in arms. Today most Afghanis are enjoying more freedom than they have at any time since the 1970s. The current insurgency does not have popular support in Afghanistan, unlike the mujahadeen during the Soviet Invasion.
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While the insurgency during the Soviet invasion was likely bigger, they were also facing the Soviet war machine - not a NATO peace keeping force with Canada playing one of the bigger roles.
I also do not believe that the entire Afghan nation was up in arms and united against the Soviets. The Soviets had a friendship and military assistance treaty with the Afghan government and were in fact invited to help assist the Afghanistan government and fight the mujahideen - not unlike the current situation.
Wikipedia has a decent write-up on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_...endship_Treaty
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I met the Afghan ambassador to Canada earlier this year and ever since I have firmly believed the ISAF force in Afghanistan is there for the right reasons, doing the right thing, and has the support of the people.
I think you are wrong when you say Afghanistan has never been successfully invaded and occupied. The Taliban comprised of an international collection of radical muslims, only some of whom were Afghani. They ruled through fear and force; it was they who successfully occupied Afghanistan. I am echoing the words of the ambassador when I say this.
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But even when the Taliban was in power, they never successfully controlled the whole country. The Northern Alliance still controlled large sections of Afghanistan. If you recall during the initial invasion, NATO forces were able to enter Aghanistan quite easily and set up bases in the areas where the Taliban had no strong presence.