Introduction

This bulletin addresses political questions posed by events in Afghanistan since the 1970s. Part 1 contains materials by the International Bolshevik Tendency (IBT) related to the recent U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan.

The second part, divided into three subsections, deals with the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan during the 1980s. The first subsection (Part 2a) contains an article summarizing the Soviet defensist position of the international Spartacist tendency (iSt), two articles by Tony Cliff’s Socialist Workers Party documenting their evolution from ostensible neutrality to supporting the victory of the imperialist-backed Afghan mujahedin, and two articles by Ernest Mandel’s United Secretariat.

In Part 2b we reprint a series of polemics between the Bolshevik Tendency (BT—forerunner of the IBT) and the Spartacist League/U.S. (SL—flagship of the iSt, now the International Communist League [ICL]) over the question of “hailing” the Kremlin’s intervention in Afghanistan. The BT initially employed this formulation, but subsequently changed it to one of “military support” to the Soviets and their Afghan allies.

The final section (Part 2c) contains polemics regarding the SL’s claim that it could recruit an international brigade to defend the Afghan government after the Soviet retreat. This section includes several relevant items from the iSt’s Internal Discussion Bulletin. International Bolshevik Tendency February 2002.