Document 23 Excerpt from Statement of the Soviet Military Command in Afghanistan on the Withdrawal of Soviet Troops February 14 1989 Source Alexander Lyakhovsky Tragedy and Valor of Afghan Iskon Moscow 1995 Appendix 11 Translated by Svetlana Savranskaya It is important to note that some people are trying to create an analogy between the presence of Soviet troops in Afghanistan and the American actions in Vietnam It is not only unfair but even absurd to draw such parallels There cannot be any comparison here because these two missions are diametrically opposite both in their objectives and tasks as well as in their content and results Starting with the fact that nobody had invited the Americans in Vietnam whereas the Soviet troops were sent to Afghanistan after numerous requests from the legitimate Afghan government Completely different forms and methods were used in Afghanistan We came in not with the goal to occupy and split the country as it happened as a result of American actions not with the goal capturing foreign territory but with the goal of providing internationalist assistance in the defense of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan We never pursued any selfish goals or set any conditions Withdrawal of Soviet forces precisely withdrawal not flight as was the case with the American troops in Vietnam is carried out according to the plan in strict accordance with the Geneva Agreements on Afghanistan and according to the will of the Afghan and Soviet people with the support from the world community It demonstrated once again that the Soviet Union is true to the principles of new political thinking its political statements and positions In the process of withdrawal we transferred objects and property to the Afghan people with overall value of over 830 million rubles At the same time we did everything we could not to allow the withdrawal of the last Soviet soldier form Afghanistan to become the beginning of a civil war in this country In the future we will continue to undertake all necessary measures to help the political settlement in Afghanistan in the name of bringing peace and security to the Afghan people 1 2