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Gorbachev: Take It From Me, Leave Afghanistan

'No prospect' for military victory, says former Soviet president

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 10, 2009 5:01 PM CST

(Newser) – Mikhail Gorbachev—the man who pulled the Soviet Union's troops out of Afghanistan after a decade of stalemate—says the US should do the same. "There is no prospect of a military solution," he tells Bloomberg. The nation is too fragmented among clans, dooming even a troop surge to failure, he says. “They should be preparing the ground for withdrawal rather than additional troops.”

Vladimir Kotenev, Mikhail Gorbachev and his daughter Irina Virganskaya attend the MTV Europe Music Awards Free Your Mind Award presentation on November 8, 2009, in Berlin.
Vladimir Kotenev, Mikhail Gorbachev and his daughter Irina Virganskaya attend the MTV Europe Music Awards Free Your Mind Award presentation on November 8, 2009, in Berlin.   (Getty Images)
Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev.   (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber,Pool)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 13 comments
divetrader
Nov 11, 2009 12:25 PM CST
We should listen to the man. There is no purpose in fighting a war in a country with no real government. Bush f'cked up by not following through on getting Bin Laden. The chances of him either being alive or in that country is probably 0. It is not worth losing more American lives.
DeniseVB
Nov 11, 2009 12:22 PM CST
Wasn't Russia in Afghanistan for a totally different reason? Oh yeah, and Carter boycotted the '80 Olympics for that reason? Hmmm, hmmm, hmmmm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1...
nick
Nov 11, 2009 12:17 PM CST
Gorbachev is so right!. Hell, by 2016 the Generals will still believe that victory is just around the corner and will still be asking for 40,000 more troops.

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