CLEP US History II

Answer: D - Operation Cyclone was the code name for the CIA and U.S. military program to aid Afghan forces during their war with the Soviets from 1979 to 1989. President Carter quickly began aiding the Afghan mujahideen after the USSR invaded their country without provocation. Once President Reagan was in office, he bolstered spending in Afghanistan considerably. Afghanistan became a conduit through which the two superpowers fought each other. However, despite the Soviet Union collapsing soon afterwards, Operation Cyclone had a longer lasting impact on the United States. America originally promised the Afghans that they would fund rebuilding efforts after the war. However, once the fighting ceased in 1989, the United States largely divested from the country altogether. America’s failure to honor its promise led to two things. First, without adequate rebuilding efforts, the nation became incredibly unstable and eventually fell under the control of warring militaristic factions, such as the Taliban, and allowed the growth of terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda. Secondly, the broken promise embittered many Afghans, particularly the terrorist factions, against the United States, swelling anti-American sentiments that are partly to blame in the terrorist attacks on the United States around the turn of the century, most notably the September 11 attacks in 2001. (Note: The movie Charlie Wilson’s War details U.S. presence in the Afghan-Soviet conflict and later failure to help rebuild Afghanistan.)