8/11/2019 Position Paper Belarus, Agenda: Situation in
Afghanistan
1/2
COMMITTEE:HISTORICAL GENERALASSEMBLY,1993
COUNTRY:REPUBLIC OF BELARUS
AGENDA:SITUATION INAFGHANISTAN
The Soviet Invasion followed by the war in Afghanistan
devastated the country's infrastructure and left
more than 1 million dead. Nearly 5 million refugees fled the
fighting, and Afghans are still believed to
represent the single largest refugee group in the world.1
The Afghan government, having secured a treaty in December 1978
that allowed them to call on Soviet
forces, repeatedly requested the introduction of troops in
Afghanistan in the spring and summer of 1979.
The war involved the Soviet Union, supporting the
Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic
Republic of Afghanistan at their own request against the
Mujahideen Resistance when on December 27,
1979, 50,000 Soviet troopers dressed in Afghan uniforms,
including KGB and GRU special force officersfrom the Alpha Group
and Zenith Group, occupied major governmental, military and media
buildings in
Kabul, including their primary targetthe Tajbeg Presidential
Palace.
The mujahedeen found other support from a variety of sources
including the Pakistan, United States,
United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China and other Muslim
nations through the context of the Cold
War. The US saw Moscows military intervention as a culmination
of its 1970s expansionary course in
the Third World.2It was very clear that the bipolar world was
breaking into a multipolar one; the two
superpowers were not the only influences that would affect the
warfare in Afghanistan.
The war lasted almost ten years before the withdrawal of all
forces in 1988-1989, depleting and
demoralizing the Soviets just as Vietnam had drained the United
States
3
.
As the war progressed, the rebels improved their organization
and tactics and began using imported and
captured weapons, including U.S. Stinger antiaircraft
missiles.4
Although drugs were produced in some Asian republics of the
Soviet Union, like Uzbekistan or
Turkmenistan, the mass addiction came to Belarus and other
former USSR countries from Afghanistan.
Afghanistan still remains to this day the biggest illicit drug
exporter to Europe.
The Russian invasion remains the last war in which Belarus took
part in and in which the Belarusian
military involvement was very prominent. According to the number
of human losses, Belarus is fourth
after Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
1Afghanistan: Refugees from Afghanistan: The world's largest
single refugee group; Amnesty International, 1992
2The War in Afghanistan. Soviet Edition.
3Afghanistan and American Policy: Lisa Reynolds Wolfe
4America's "Long War": The Legacy of the Iraq-Iran and
Soviet-Afghan Wars
By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
8/11/2019 Position Paper Belarus, Agenda: Situation in
Afghanistan
2/2
Even after the war, Afghanistan has been in turmoil of authority
and power, the nation is still under a
certain type of identity crisis. The tribes are divided and
external influences are significant.
In order to improve the situations prevalent in Afghanistan,
Belarus recommends the following:
1. Limiting external involvement in Afghanistan and the region
in general. Primarily reliance should
be on UN efforts, restricting its own involvement to moral
suasion, small amounts of
humanitarian aid, and occasional military strikes against
terrorists.
2. Resolving the internal tribal clashes with the help of UN
bodies. As current Taliban policies are
inconsistent with Islam and do not serve Afghanistans interests,
many local leaders would be
willing to consider alternatives as coming to a general term to
all tribes.
3. Reconciling the interests of the regional powers seeking
hegemony in Afghanistan is a necessary
pre-condition for long term stability. As long as outside powers
seek to control events in
Afghanistan, the flow of arms and money to fighters will
continue, and Afghanistan will remain
unstable.
4.
Increasing Diplomatic efforts in Pakistan, Iran, China and the
International Community as a
whole.
