I am currently reading The Soviet Afghan War How a Superpower Fought and Lost.

taskforceiron · 07-24-2010, 06:39

It seems we have avoided making many of the mistakes they made during the Soviet conflict there. The biggest one being the Soviets taking armored columns up into the mountains only to be ambushed. They did do a good job adjusting to circumstances there and they would make many modifications to their weapons and equipment throughout the war. Seems they did not have a clear vision on the political aspect of things there which was one of the reasons that lead to their defeat. The book is actually a translation of the documentations written by the Russian general staff. I still have much to read but the book is very interesting so far. One of the interesting facts mentioned in the book is 80% of the population in Afghanistan is illiterate. I knew it was bad there but I did not realize it was that bad.

cornelyj · 07-25-2010, 00:19

Never confuse not being able to read as a lack of intelligence.

JJ_BPK · 07-25-2010, 05:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by cornelyj

Never confuse not being able to read as a lack of intelligence.

Reading is good for the brain.

Non-contributory comments are not..

Referencing the source so that others can participate is also good...

Quote:

The Soviet-Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost, 2001

by Lester W Grau, Lieutenant (Translator), Michael A Gress (Translator), Theodore C Mataxis (Foreword by)

University Press of Kansas, ISBN: 070061186X, ISBN-13: 9780700611867

taskforceiron · 07-25-2010, 06:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJ_BPK

Reading is good for the brain.

Non-contributory comments are not..

Referencing the source so that others can participate is also good...

I thought providing the title was appropriate enough. It's very easy to find at amazon.

cornelyj · 07-25-2010, 22:03

I didn't mean to come off harsh, to say someone cannot read in a 3rd world or developing country says very little of their up bringing or their intelligence. Look at the area of the world you are speaking of. What is the GDP? How do people make a living? The savy merchants of that area created the open markets the way they are today.

I googled the book and found some user reviews let us know when you done if the book was a good read and worth recommending others to read.

Utah Bob · 07-25-2010, 22:07

FYI, we do have a forum for book discussion.

The Library