Proxy War Similarities: Vietnam and Afghanistan

In what specific way can the Soviet Union's role in Afghanistan by compared with the United States' role in Vietnam?

The war in Afghanistan and the war in Vietnam have one key similarity; they were both proxy wars. The Soviet Union's role while present in Afghanistan the exact role America played while in Vietnam. The war in Vietnam was really America carrying out their political and military hostility in the country of Vietnam. The Soviet Union was actually the country that was supporting the supporter Vietnamese people and fighters, even though they possessed anger towards the country of the United States.

The analogy I use to describe these two wars is that of a proximity mine. You place these mines in locations and wait to detonate them from a distant area.
You place a mine somewhere, or a country enters another neutral country. Vietnam, for example, and another country detonate the mine; much like the Soviet Union supports the Vietnams fighting the USA. Its not actually close range but an approximate location used later.

The United States supporting Afghanistan rebels while they were directly at war with Russia is the same thing. The United States was the third country fighting the war and they weren’t about to back down, instead they supported. The Afghan rebels were fighting Russia, but the third party was the United States. A ''Triangle'' was created that was composed of anger all over.
Fighting techniques, such as the extensive use of guerrilla warfare carried out by the Vietnamese fighters is similar to those Mujahidin guerrillas. This very face-to faces fighting. It shows the extent of how personal theses wars were, even though they were proxy wars. There was no blitzkrieg used like in WWII, instead it was combat and brutal fighting. Although the fighting was brutal and man-on-man, there were still tanks, aircraft and equipment used against the Afghan Rebels, as well as the veterans fighters in the jungle.

These wars caused disturbances back home in the original fighting countries, such as the USA while in Vietnam. It showed the world that the degree of devastation was raging on in local countries because the authoritative figures were over in another country.


--SaraH

Bay of Pigs

Bay of Pigs

"Bahía de Cochinos"

• The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful attempt by United States-backed Cuban exiles to overthrow the government of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
• On April 17, 1961 about 1300 of these cuban exiles, armed with U.S. weapons, landed at the Bay of Pigs on the southern coast of Cuba.
• It was the hope to find help from the local population, that they intended to cross the island to Havana.
• It was evident from the first hours of fighting, however, that the exiles were likely to lose. President Kennedy had the option of using the U.S. Air Force against the Cubans but decided against it. Consequently, the invasion was stopped by Castro's army. By the time the fighting ended on April 19, 90 exiles had been killed and the rest had been taken as prisoners.
• Those involved were the United States president Dwight D. Eisenhower and his government and Fidel Castro's leftist cuban regime government. President Eisenhower broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961 due to increasing missle tensions.
• Castro turned to the Soviet Union for assistance and the blockade made hostility between Cuba and the USA grow. These hostilities are still present today.

--SaraH*

Arab-Israel wars and their corresponding MAPS

1. The Sinai, 1967

Israel built cities, which included new schools and medical clinics for the growing population. The crops were economically supporting to Israel. It is also considered the first buffer zone for Israel because for once they were not relying on foreign oil, but instead on Sinai-oil and other crops for money.



2. The Six-Day War

Israel decided on the fifth of June in 1967 to initiate an attack on Egyptian forces that were prepared to attack. By the end of the first day of the war 298 Egyptian airplanes were destroyed and army divisions. By the 8th of June, the Defense Forces of Israel captured Judea and Samaria. On the morning of June 9th, Israel attacked Syrian land and captured the Golan Heights, an area of high elevation that would only emphases the ability to destroy houses and crops. It was six days of fierce fighting concerning occupational rights, which gave the war its name. It did ultimately end ended in Israel’s occupation of the Sinai desert and the Gaza Strip. These capturing provided Israel’s cities with a much-needed buffer zone. The victory of this war victory had a special religious meaning that went back to biblical times. The unification of Jerusalem related to the biblical account of Jews being returned to their homeland.

3. The Yom Kippur War

Yom Kippur means, religiously, the Day of Atonement. It is the holiest of all days in the Jewish religion and it was this day in October of 1973 that Egypt and Syria took advantage of the circumstances and launched surprise attacks on Israel. When this war started, Israel was only beginning to mobilize its reserved forces. Egyptian forces succeeded in crossing the Canal and establishing base camps on the Israeli-held east bank. They also seized the key Israeli intelligence- gathering position. By October 10th, the Syrians had been pushed back and the entire Golan area was again in Israel occupation. In October there was much force used as an attempt to push Syrian forces back and across the cease-fire lines. Israel forces did manage to overcome an attack by Egyptian tank forces, destroying 200 enemy tanks. By the 15th of October, the Israel forces attacked and their main target was to push across the Canal and strike at Egyptian forces on the other side. On the northern front, the Israel forces regained control of the Hermon. By October 22nd, they were successful in removing the last Syrian forces and threats from the area they had seized at the start of the war. The war ended on October 24th of the same year, 1973. It was victory for the Israel forces. In the north, the Syrians failed to achieve any territory. The Syrian Army suffered major losses of work force and equipment, thus one of the main reasons for their loss.

--SaraH*