The Hidden War (Book Review)
In case you didn’t notice, Sunday December 27 marked the 30th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which we now know was a pivotal event in world history. It was partly with this anniversary in mind that I recently read Artyom Borovik’s The Hidden War: A Russian Journalist’s Account of the Soviet War in Afghanistan.
The book does what it says on the cover, although in truth it is mainly about the final years of the Soviet-Afghan war, including the Russian withdrawal in February 1989, rather than the full duration of the conflict. Borovik spent a lot of time with Soviet soldiers at their bases and in the field, and much of what he writes is about their feelings, motivations, and personal stories. One of my favourite anecdotes in the book concerns a Soviet soldier who suffered amnesia after an injury and kept asking his comrades why they were all in Afghanistan, to which no-one could give him a straight answer.
Borovik also interviewed some mid- and high-ranking officers about their perceptions of the war, although almost all of the blame is placed on former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and his ageing cronies, most of who died well before the war ended. Also noteworthy are interviews with an exiled Afghan opposition leader, Soviet soldiers who went A.W.O.L. and defected to the US, and Soviet Afghan war veterans who were subsequently tormented by their experiences after returning home.
The book is compelling reading, and at times has the feel of a novel rather than a straightforward journalistic account of the war. One shortcoming is that there isn’t too much about ordinary Afghans and the atrocities inflicted upon them. But then again, this book is from the Russian/Soviet perspective, and the author would hardly be expected to focus on this issue, even under the more open glasnost backdrop of the late 1980s.
Inevitably, with US President Barack Obama currently building up American troop strength in Afghanistan to around 100,000, comparisons are being made between the Soviet and US wars there, although as I noted previously, there are also key differences. Regardless, The Hidden War is sobering and recommended reading.
The Hidden War: A Russian Journalist’s Account of the Soviet War in Afghanistan, by Artyom Borovik. Published by Grove Press, 2001. ISBN-13: 978-0802137753. Originally published in the USSR in 1990.