It was a moment of triumph. Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, had seen

off a superpower. An electricity crackled through the air, confidence mixed without

apprehension. I remember seeing the band and Soviet tanks along the mountain roads when

I first went to Afghanistan with the BBC. Some were mounted with faceless dummies. There

were Soviet uniforms stuffed with straw. Uniforms of a country that didn't exist anymore.

I wondered who'd worn them first. Were they alive? What sort of people were they? What

became of them? How did they think and feel? The dummies didn't last long, but the questions

remain. I just remember the day when father told that he is living to go to war of gun

war. My mother cried and I didn't understand why, because it was such a wonderful thing

to go to war. So we all talked okay, when we grow up we go to Afghanistan, we volunteer

to go to Afghanistan. I remember all those things. You were 10 years old. Mostly from

the childhood we were playing second world war. So it's Germans and Russians, Soviet Union

soldiers and nobody wanted to be a German soldier because they are losing. In the Soviet

Union we are very patriotic and everybody dreamed about this.

26th of December 1979. From the BBC Radio Newsroom this is John

Marsh with the news at midnight. The number of Soviet troops in Afghanistan has risen over

the past few days to about six and a half thousand. Others are poised on the Soviet border

with Afghanistan. Afghanistan has a Marxist government strongly backed by the Soviet Union.

Massive Soviet troops are attempting to subjugate the fiercely independent and deeply religious

people of Afghanistan. The 1980s have been born in turmoil, strife and change. This is

a time of challenge to our interest and our values. And it's a time to test our wisdom

and our skills.

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