The "dirty" war in Afghanistan of the Soviets, becomes very topical

(B2) If we want to understand a little about the war that is currently being waged in Afghanistan under the colors of NATO - and which can lead soldiers to extreme acts such as Nangar Khel-, you absolutely have to re-read Svetlana Alixievitch's "Zinc Coffins" (republished by Christian Bourgeois in 2002).

The author - as the publisher presents it - has demolished the myth of war
from Afghanistan in 1990 "liberating warriors and, above all, that of the soldier whom the television showed planting apple trees in the villages when in reality he was throwing grenades into the clay houses where the women and children had come to seek refuge".

Over the years, the protagonists have changed and the geopolitical and military context is different. It's certain. But the testimonies collected are very eloquent, and seem terribly current.

For example, on the attack-retaliation cycle.

• An employee : "Why did we start to hate? It's very simple. A comrade was killed when we had rubbed shoulders with him, when we had eaten from the same bowl. Now he was dead, all burnt. is very clear. At such times, we would be able to shoot like crazy. We are not used to analyzing events to find out the causes and the culprits."

• A lieutenant: "For the shower, you are a chouravi, a Soviet, no way he will pity you. Your artillery destroyed his kichlak, and he found almost nothing of his mother, his wife, his children."

On discipline and silence:

• A signal soldier: "Before our return, the political instructor explains to us what we can say and what we must keep silent. No right to talk about the dead, because we are a big and powerful army. We must not spread all this which is not regulation, because we are a big and powerful army, powerful and morally sound. We must tear up the photos. Destroy the filmstrip. Here we did not shoot, not bombarded, not poisoned, not made jump in. We are a big, mighty, morally sound, powerful army."

• A sapper lieutenant: “No one has the right to judge us. (…) No one wants to understand this war, we have been left alone with it. It's up to us to justify ourselves. In whose eyes? We were sent there. We believed what we were told. We were killed for that. We have no right to be put on the same plan than those who sent us there."

On the equipment of soldiers:

"The soldiers dressed, shod, fed themselves. Our bulletproof vest, you can barely lift it, it's so heavy, while the American vest does not contain any metal parts, it is made of a special material".

(Nb: ask a French soldier how our soldiers are equipped and you will be surprised to see that he might not totally deny this quote from 20 years ago... Read also a testimonial from norwegians).

Public chat eternal Afghanistan:

• A signal soldier:  "I discuss with a doukanier: "you did not live as you should. We are going to teach you how to live. We are going to build socialism". He smiles: "I was in business before the revolution and I will continue to Go home. These are our mountains. We'll manage without you…”

Or as Spesserov says quoted by a military adviser "We can't buy Afghanistan, we can only buy it from others".

To meditate ! One can wonder when we will have an identical work done on the intervention of the FIAS-IFAS if we will not have the same testimonies...

(NGV)