Not only is it a powerful country, it is also a communist country, so being invaded by them provides a large threat to the surrounding countries. Seth Jones, a political scientist and writer, pointed out how threatening the Soviet Union was on other countries, “Akhtar argued that the Soviet Invasion threatened Pakistani security: if the Soviet army conquered Afghanistan, it would only be a short step to Pakistan. Akhtar recommended backing the Afghan resistance and turning Afghanistan into the Soviet Union’s Vietnam,” (Document #11). Because …show more content…
If Afghanistan had better resistance, the Soviets would be forced to leave Afghanistan. Another reason why the Soviet invasion is the main cause is because they were expanding their already large empire, worrying other countries. As CJ Dick has pointed out, “Worried by Soviet expansionism, Pakistan, Iran and then the USA (especially), China and some European and Arab states began to supply money and arms to the Mujahideen… which distributed it to seven major Islamist factions… The religious leaders of the factions thus gained unprecedented political power, undermining the authority of tribal and village leaders,” (Document #10). The Mujahideen was a group of rebel fighters who fought communists and other non-Muslims. Mujahideen is the plural of Mujahid which means “one who engages in jihad”. Jihad means to strive, to struggle, to strain, and to endeavor. Although the Mujahideen were fighting against communism, they were supplying the money to Islamist factions when it was supposed to be used to help get rid of the Soviets in Afghanistan. The argument that the Soviet invasion had to part