The US invasion of Afghanistan was very similar to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in many ways. They were both initially supported by the citizens of their respective countries. They were both only expected to last a few months to a year. They both encountered extreme opposition from CIA-trained terrorists. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan lasted more than nine years. It began in December 1979 and lasted until February 1989. The mujahideen, which were U.S.-trained insurgent groups, along with smaller rural groups, waged a guerrilla-style war against the army of the Soviet Union and the communist puppet government of Afghanistan. The mujahideen groups were supported by the United States and Pakistan, making it another Cold War proxy war. Nearly 2,000,000 civilians were killed and millions of Afghans fled the country as refugees, mainly to Pakistan and Iran ("Russia and Afghanistan"). Before Soviet troops arrived, Afghanistan's communist party, the Afghan People's Democratic Party, seized power in a 1978 coup called the Saur Revolution, replacing President Mohammed Daoud Khan with communist leader Nur Mohammad Taraki. This new communist party initiated many reforms throughout the country which were extremely unpopular. These reforms were particularly unpopular among the traditional rural population and already wealthy landowners. The government's harsh nature and brutality were demonstrated when it repeatedly suppressed the opposition, executed thousands of political prisoners, and ordered massacres against the government's opponents. This led to the rise of anti-government armed groups, such as the mujahideen, and in April 1979, large parts of the country rebelled against the government. The government itself was divided into two factions and in September 1979, President Taraki was executed on the orders of his own party rival, Hafizullah Amin. This weakened relations with the Soviet Union, since Taraki had close ties with the Soviet Union. Finally, the Soviet government, on the orders of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Leonid Brezhnev, decided to send the army on December 24, 1979. After arriving in the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, they organized a military coup. . This coup led to the death of President Amin. The army then put Babrak Karmal, a Soviet loyalist from a rival faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, in power. This deployment was characterized as an "invasion" by Western media and a "legitimate supportive intervention" (Trueman) by the Soviet Union and the new Afghan puppet government. In January 1980, foreign leaders of the Islamic Conference countries adopted a resolution demanding "the immediate, urgent and unconditional withdrawal of Soviet troops" from Afghanistan. (Morini) After that, the United Nations General Assembly also passed a resolution protesting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. As the Soviet Union failed to heed their warnings, Afghan insurgents began receiving large amounts of aid and military training from neighboring countries like Pakistan and China, funded by the United States. United and Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. According to national security records, "the Central Intelligence Agency played a role..