10 мифов об Афганистане. Джонатан Стил
Классная статья в "Гардиане". Автор феерически срывает покровы. Моджахеды не разгромили Советскую Армию, "Стингеры" не повлияли на решение о выводе войск, Тора-Бора была выстроена на деньги ЦРУ... И вообще,
Morton Abramowitz, who directed the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the time, said in 1997: "In 1985, there was a real concern that the [mujahideen] were losing, that they were sort of being diminished, falling apart. Losses were high and their impact on the Soviets was not great."
Прочел все с огромным интересом. Привлек внимание и другой материал того же автора, воспоминания о поездке в официальный советский Кабул 1981 года. Автор какбэ намекает, что нынешний Кабул ему нравится меньше.
On that first trip, the city itself, and not just its majestic surroundings, exuded a sense of calm. It was totally unexpected. Where was the war? And where were the Russians? Whatever was going on in the Afghan countryside, there was little sign of war or preparation for it in Kabul. In the two weeks I spent in the city I saw hardly any Soviet troops. On the few occasions I spotted some, they were acting as tourists rather than enforcers. As though the war was far away, they wore floppy khaki hats and no helmets and would drive in open-sided jeeps to Chicken Street, known by its English name to Afghans and foreigners alike as the city's best market for souvenirs.