I too have a friend who was a VDV trooper on the ground in Afghanistan so I too have "heard it from the horses mouth".The "booby-trapped toys" were infact PFM-1 butterfly mines which were indeed dropped from helicopters, often being brightly coloured they were attractive to children but they were not the intended target.If you read Afgantsy you would see that the Afghans had more respect for the Russians than they did for later Coalition forces.There was an instance early on in the "War on Terror" in Afghanistan where the US had a shortage of transport helicopters and pilots so they hired them from a Russian company, using helicopters and pilots that flew in the Soviet operation there.Anyway a helicopter was shot down by the Taliban killing the Russian crew and the US personnel on board.The Taliban refused to hand over the bodies of those killed until the Russians pointed out the pilot and co-pilot were Russian citizens.....within two days the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot were handed over to a Russian delegation.Blu wrote:Hmm think I prefer the testimony of the some 4 million people displaced by the Soviet invasion, people such as doctors, lawyers as well as farmers and shepherds.and then come back to me on the "Soviet tactics of indiscriminate killing" and "destroying suspect villages".
If their testimony isn't good enough for you then there is also the The Paris based Medecins sans Frontiers which operated six hospitals inside Afghanistan, Its executive director, Dr. Claude Malhuret, charges thatThe French doctor confirms that Soviet helicopters drop booby-trapped toys, in most cases plastic pens or small red trucks. In his words, "Their main targets are children whose hands and arms are blown off."the Soviets have deliberately bombed and destroyed hospitals run by the European group, and routinely drop anti-personnel mines designed to maim rather than kill--because "an injured person is much more trouble (to the guerrillas) than a dead person.
On top of all that I have my very own ex Soviet Para Lieutenant (later Captain) who served four tours in Afghanistan and whom I call friend. Believe me, I've heard it straight from the horses mouth from someone who was there. Compared to the Soviets, the Yanks and other NATO forces are a model of civility.
I have heard first-hand from Afghans that unlike the Americans the Russians would ask to be invited into an Afghan home and that in remote areas Russian 'Zastavas (small outposts) were often reliant on nearby villages for supplies and Intel so forged good relations where possible.
Obviously if you don't take up the opportunity to read Afgantsy and maybe broaden your mind on the subject can we agree to disagree and keep the topic on track.
