Quote:
Originally Posted by Mohoender
These are some interesting thought you have here. However, may I ask you why the soviet whould use nukes on the Afghan?
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You mention that the pro-soviet government in Afghanistan was holding its own against the Mujahedeen up until the total collapse of the USSR in 1991, so you don't see any reason for the use of tactical nukes in that theater.
In my alternative timeline, radical Islam (or Jihadism as I like to call it) gets its big boost following the assassination of Gorbachev in 1988, and the use of muslims as scape-goats by the Soviets. Then there is the Gulf War and the presence of US bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and finally the Balkan Wars with the muslim Bosnians getting the worst of it. By the time of the Twilight War Pakistan is falling under the sway of radical islam and is supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan which has the pro-soviet government on the ropes. They use Paksitan, Afghanistan and Iran as the springboards to spread a full-scale nationalistic/religious war throughout Soviet Central Asia. The result: The Sovs get desperate in 1997 when NATO crosses the Soviet border and decide to end the rebellion with nukes. They nuke Soviet cities they've lost control of, concentrations of mutinous soldiers, and even training camps in foreign countries. That's why they nuke Afghanistan and Pakistan.
A. Scott Glancy, President TCCorp, dba Pagan Publishing