U.S. in Afghanistan: Soviet Military Lessons Mostly Neglected

... Directorate, all of which has definitely helped NATO avoid more substantial losses during their more than decade-long presence in Afghanistan. At the same time, despite advice from their Russian counterparts, the White House and the DoD gave little regard to rebuilding the Afghan economy, infrastructure projects, and modernizing the country’s agriculture sector, which is currently focused on narcotics. The USSR left the country after building 150 facilities, with the same number underway. It built the 2.7-kilometer-long Salang tunnel ...