many of whom Massoud was a heroic and inspirational leader) and
Hazaras (who to an unusual extent enjoyed a degree of insulation
from external forces). This is not to say that there was a resulting
loss in identification with the territory of a united Afghanistan as a
natural homeland, but rather that groups which previously had
been in a subordinate position were unlikely to agree to return to
such status under a new political dispensation.
Fifth, despite the withdrawal of Soviet troops, Afghanistan
remained an important venue for international competition. The
Soviet Union’s troopwithdrawal did not amount to a complete dis-
engagement from Afghanistan; on the contrary, an air-bridge un-
rivalled since the days of the Berlin blockade was shortly to be put
in place to keep the regime supplied. At the same time as this was
happening, Pakistan stood poised to extract returns from what key
Pakistanis regarded as theirvictory in Afghanistan. And Iran, ever
vigilant as to the well-being of Afghanistan’s Shiite minority, had
moves in mind to heighten its own influence. The years following
the Soviet withdrawal would not be easy.
EFFECTS OF THE WAR ON THE SOVIET UNION
The Afghan war and Soviet society
The war in Afghanistan impacted upon Soviet society in complex
ways. Naturally, given the size of the USSR, there were many fam-
ilies who were not touched by the war at all. Furthermore, only on
a small number of occasions, when resistance groups backed by
ISI intruded across the Soviet border into the union republic of
Tajikistan, was the effect of the war directly felt on Soviet soil. But
that said, the effects were more widespread than some observers
realised at the time. A first effect, noted earlier, was the creation of
a cohort of disaffected veterans of the war in Afghanistan – the
afgantsy– who in Kipling’s memorable phrase had known the
worst too young, and usually returned with little faith in the Soviet
system, and considerable scorn for the politicians who had fathered
Consequences of the Soviet–Afghan War 159