Picture of the day (July 31, 2010)

Just a superficial historical comment to this excellent post by Christian Bleuer. Regarding the main point, i.e. that the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan was relatively well thought out and executed (and in a context that was in many ways different from what the context of an ISAF/OEF withdrawal would look like) - the Geneva Accords deadline was met, and the aftermath was handled with sufficient foresight considering the circumstances, indeed.

Soviet withdrawals occurred elsewhere as well in those days. Whereas Lt. Gen. Gromov was the last one out from Afghanistan, walking through the Friendship Bridge to Termez, to what is now independent Uzbekistan, another Lt. Gen., Viktor Shilov was the last Soviet soldier to leave Hungary, back on June 19, 1991. The picture (from NOL) shows him driving through the bridge at the Záhony border crossing, to what is now independent Ukraine.

Unlike the retreating Soviet troops did most of the time, he is not really driving in his own lane. Nevertheless the withdrawal was relatively well-organised here as well. Despite the logistical challenges involved (including different-width railway tracks in Hungary and in Soviet territory), the Soviet troops were out before the deadline that was set by the Moscow agreement of March 1990 between the Hungarian and the Soviet governments. The one part of the story which did not go so smoothly was the settlement of financial issues. Hungary's first government post the change-of-system from state socialism looked for compensation from the Soviet military for the environmental damage done in and around the large Soviet military bases. The Soviet government entrusted Lt. Gen. Viktor Shilov with conducting negotiations on behalf of the Soviet Union, and he had a simple formula to work with. He demanded compensation from Hungary for the military assets and the buildings left behind by his troops - the same amount the Hungarian government wanted paid. Parallel to this they also put forward their "zero solution," i.e. that the competing compensation claims should cancel out each other. This was a rather typical way for the Soviet Army to settle an affair like this, and the Hungarian government had to give in eventually.

The one major difference from the Afghanistan pull-out is something that may be obvious: for a Soviet soldier to be deployed to Hungary used to be a privilege. Deploying to Afghanistan... it was deploying to a different planet. Consequently, departing must have been quite different as well.

Update: I was called on to provide some more detail, and I will promptly and happily do so, telling what I can right now, without major effort: the Soviet pull-out started already in April 1989, before the Hungarian-Soviet agreement on the subject (in March 1990). By June 19, 1991 some 50 thousand soldiers, 19 thousand civilian employees, and 32 thousand family members of theirs left the country. They took with them 27 thousand technical assets and 560,000 tons of cargo of all kinds of military equipment. The debate about the financial issues was only fully settled by 1992, by the time when the Soviet Union no longer existed, on the occasion of Russian President Boris Yeltsin's visit to Budapest. The historical importance of that visit came from Yeltsin's apology for the 1956 Soviet intervention, however.

Transitional fun

Here is a quote from one of the latest excellent pieces from The Onion - America's finest news resource etc. Slightly modified for the purposes of this blog and its focus on Afghanistan - be warned!

" "We've been at this a long time, and the truth is, this was never something we planned on doing forever. Lately, in fact, we've begun to wonder if we should move on sooner rather than later."

On numerous occasions speculation was deflected that their reign might be winding down, but these remarks Tuesday appeared to signal a shift. Now many worry that their retirement could create a void at the helm.

They have been gradually delegating key responsibilities to respected subordinates. In what seemed as an attempt to downplay concerns, reporters were told that "we are not going anywhere just yet" and that, in any case, "things were largely self-sustaining these days."

It was also emphasized that any potential retirement wouldn't mean a complete withdrawal from affairs, but would instead mark a transitional period during which they would step back a bit and take on a different role. "

Now go read what I modified. It will be telling, I think. I am not sure if the writers at The O had this in mind, but I can easily imagine they wanted to execute just this kind of "inception" in me.

Stark contrasts!

This right here could as well be starting a viral meme, were it not to appear among my obscure blogposts about Afghanistan! Hence the exclamation marks! And for the irony of it!

The Independent added the following caption to this visual challenge. "The scenes of Hamid Karzai and Hillary Clinton at a crafts bazaar in Kabul yesterday were in stark contrast to the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kandahar on the same day." Some "starking" added by me to the original.

So let us compete! Who can conceive of even starker contrasts?!? How about... a Brussels candy shop vs. an LRA-run village in the DRC?!? Or... a Tesco supermarket somewhere in Europe vs. an arms bazaar in Mogadishu?!? Or... the glamour world of Sex and the City vs. the cocaine war in Mexican towns?!?

Right. You get the point. In a highly interdependent and intelinked world, and with a whole history of across-the-globe linkages, my pairs of things in STARK CONTRAST may be just as connected as the Karzai/Clinton visit to the football store is with a bomb attack in Kandahar.

Comeback, and quote of the day

For all those who are still taking a look at this blog every now and then after a long period of silence from me: this is a tentative comeback post. The reason I stayed away from writing here was simply that I needed a break, and that at the same time I had all sorts of other things to work on.

For now, without writing something very profound rightaway, here is what I have just bumped into, and may be worth sharing as a very oddly telling quote about transnationalisation.

" The latest encroachment is the Internet. (...) “It’s a great danger to be connected to the outside world,” cautions one monk. “Most of the monks weren’t even informed about 9/11.” "

The source: a monk from the mount of Athos, on a peninsula reaching into the Aegean Sea in Greece, where women are not allowed to visit since 1045.

To Afghanistan, connected we stand.