is joined by the technology reporter for "the hill." >> there is an international struggle in the u.n. and some people saying the united states should not be the keeper of the final vestiges of a contract and we should have a multi-stakeholder approach. tech community has gathered support for that as we start talking about this transition. who isuestions about this multi-stakeholder group and what are they going to decide? there are some pretty good questions and here, so we moved a bill that said keep the u.s. contract biodel so we can do an evaluation of the final project and hope will he trust but verify. at 8:00s monday night

eastern on "the communicators" on c-span2. >> each week, american history tv's "reel america" brings you shows that provide context to today's issues. -- theistan 1982 struggle for freedom continues" is a report on the soviet invasion of afghanistan. depictsinute film afghan armed resistance through the occupation. protesting soviet action and documents many alleged war crimes. interviews with afghan officials, freedom fighters, scholars, doctors, and human rights workers tell the story of the first three years of the war. ♪

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>> since 1979, the soviet union, in violation of every convention protect the rights of a sovereign nation has tried to impose its will on the people of afghanistan. despite the death and destruction wrought by the soviets, the afghan struggle for freedom continues. ♪

♪ is an ancient country -- a rich mosaic of traditions shape by islam. ♪ geography has placed it at a crossroads of trade and throughout the 19th century, it was the object of imperialist rivalries. since modern times, afghanistan careful policy of nonalignment and has maintained peaceful relations with the neighbor to the north. , afghanistan accepted development aid from the soviet union to grade its agrarian economy. a network of modern roads was built to link its major cities

to the soviet order. this aid was not without its consequences. only years later did this become obvious. a former official in the afghan government who, like others in this report, cannot be identified in order to protect the family and friends recalls the early days of soviet aid to his country. >> initially, people found some advantages in these assistance programs. some areas were developed, roads were made, and factories constructed. but after two or three decades, we found out the russians had bad intentions from the beginning. apparently, it was aid and assistance, but in reality, it was a program of exploitation. they exploited the country economically. their illnd

intentions when the military cu of 1978 to place. this was a time we found out they wanted to change the country to a communist country. in reality, it would be one of their satellites. a country that would literally follow their instructions and behavior. the operation of this regime and the way they were killing the old, the way they were imprisoning people, persecuting people, and torturing people all showed these were planned. as a result, people could not tolerate this and resistance started in different parts. was local and was initially wiped out quickly but people did not have up and continued to resist. these resistant pocket screw and finally, they found it was too difficult for the government to cope with this. >> recently, radio three kabul

and hasbroadcasting given isolated dan's with news about struggle against the soviet invaders. one of the founders of this isndestine radio station following events in his country and afghanistan. withat actually happened afghanistan and the movement there is typical of the soviet pattern of negotiations. no matter how friendly the neighboring country, it still , getting morely support from one part of the political spectrum to the advantage of another. they are committed to support the forces of migration and it notars this group is

popular in their own country and the only way to keep it empower is i very strong -- is by very strong support from the soviet union. -- when itlook looked as though the communist government might look unreliable or be deposed, the soviets moved. in late december, 1979, in their greatest show of force since the soviet invasion of czechoslovakia, they airlifted thousands of soldiers into the oful area, and moved tens thousands more overland across the border into northern afghanistan. >> one of the important points, why they cannot leave this country alone is they cannot

tolerate the collapse of so-called friendly government on their own borders because then it might be a dangerous precedent. it may trigger a chain reaction in this region that consists of 130 different nationalities, --t of them occupying occupied at some point by the soviet union. >> four days after the soviet invasion began, a radio message supposedly from radio kabul but actually from the soviet union a mean had been sentenced to death. another had been unanimously elected as the new president.

>> what proof existed that the soviets came on their invitation? they were not in kabul in afghanistan when the soviets invaded on december 27. was brought the very next day after the assassination and with ,he next hour, practically between the soviet union and afghanistan, things started to intensify. soon, there's no evidence that it helped. it was not by the soviets themselves. ofthe russian invasion afghanistan had vague impacts on the attitudes of developing

countries. for years, they were preaching they were supporting developed in countries was supporting them to maintain their freedom. , when they invaded afghanistan, people found russia is not a reliable friend. it is difficult to rely on russians. the same way they invade afghanistan, they could invade their country also. >> the world could not simply stand by and permit the soviet union to commit this act of aggression with impunity. theations addition to united nations to condemn the ussr and demand the immediate withdrawal of all soviet troops from afghanistan. invasion does not butesent anything imperialistic intentions aimed at establishing and rule against the

peace slim afghan -- peaceful afghan people. nothing can fully convey the deep sense of disappointment and thellusionment which government and people of nigeria felt when they heard the news of iniet armed in intervention afghanistan, a third world, -- developing, unaligned country that poses no immediate threat to the peace and security of the soviet union. the countries of the third world and developing nations have leave perhaps optimistically that the time has passed when the major powers would send their shoulder -- send their soldiers and tanks into small countries and warlike

aggression had been ruled out as legitimate conduct in international life. but they were mistaken. third world nations stated unequivocal opposition to soviet aggression in afghanistan. the final vote calling for soviet troop withdrawal was an overwhelming 104 in favor and 18 against. , at meetings of the 42 nation islamic conference, strong condemnation of the soviet union was virtually unanimous and called for the complete withdrawal of soviet troops. again in november, 1981, the nonaligned nations sponsored a resolution in the un's general assembly calling upon the soviet union to stop its aggression against the people of afghanistan. the foreign minister of malaysia stated what was happening in afghanistan was cause for

concern for us all. small onularly the developing nations who are anxious to free ourselves from external power domination and and hard-won independence on the basis of nonalignment. the fact the soviet union was not mentioned by name in the communication of the nonaligned movement could not hide our deep disappointment and indignation. that often claims itself to be a supporter of the third world in the nonalignment movement. >> once again, the vote calling for withdrawal was overwhelming. time, 116 in favor and 23 against.

washe actual third world rather strong, unexpectedly strong, more than anybody could have expected and for the first time since the 50's, the majority of countries in the united nations condemned the soviet aggression. nick downie has been a close observer of soviet military aggression and afghanistan. >> in the first year after the invasion during 1980, it was a psychological shock with the sudden influx of russian troops. they almost seems to be stunned by it. they russians did take back fairly large areas that they had lost in the previous 18 months fighting before the russian invasion. russians, from what i could gather, having reestablished their bases with drew to the main towns and the

afghan army would hold the areas they had taken. in 1981,is last year, the guerrillas retook the land which they had lost the year before. muchthe situation is very the same as it was in 1979 before the invasion and in some ways, it is much worse. >> michael berry, a representative of the international federation for human rights, a paris base lawyers organization, has spent almost 10 years in afghanistan. >> apparently, the soviets felt bringing in their tanks would be enough to terrorize the population into submission. seeing this is not the case,

they launched a total attack. parachute troops landed on houses, went into houses and simply shot everybody in them, forcing the population to run away or die on the spot. >> a christian science monitor correspondent has made several trips inside afghan is an and has written extensively about the refugee camps. >> i visited numerous camps along the pakistan afghan border. 2.5e aren't estimated refugees inside pakistan and they are still coming over. inside insideback

3, 4, 5, 10 weeks. they are justified to bring their families because there's a lot of roaming going on in the villages. in some parts, they just cannot survive. destroyedges have an and this is one tactic of the soviets, to destroy food and burn crops just before harvest time. what are these people going to live on? of therves the purposes soviet union to try to remove people from certain areas so as to reduce the resistance or ability of locals to support the resistance. elsewhere, the soviets are ceding the countries with minds who hurt children who have trouble identifying these

objects that blend in very well with the terrain. these mines are also destroying flocks, the goats, sheep, and the cattle. they walk on these mines and blow up. so through the combination of starvation tactics, they keep the pressure on a particular village so hot that they force the population to fully -- to flee. >> recognized authority and author on resistance movements -- nd the world, >> the tactic is to remain in the city, hold them tightly and create law and order and control

communications. they do that essentially with tanks. if there are attacks, they send in helicopters. hand, they are not controlling the country. it is a big country populated by 15 million people and there are 90,000 soviet troops, which is not enough to control a country of 50 million people. i think their choice is --nically and momentarily militarily to keep a low profile. wherever the mujahedin are too provinces in the valley or in the city of kandahar.

>> apart from ministry operations, there's no attempt to use that phrase to win the hearts and minds, which is an essential part of any campaign. they are just sitting there and it looks like a holding operation, as if the orders have come from moscow that this war is to be fought as cheaply as possible. >> the soviets are using a hot and cold strategy which consists of hitting one populated valley hard and destroying the population, forcing it to flee or killing it in order to convince other populations that resistance is hopeless. because the soviets have not been able to convince anyone of the hopelessness, they have then forced to rely increasingly on such terror tactics.

>> and entire country has risen, almost to the man, against the invader. that is unique. it's a tiny percentage of the population doing the fighting, supported by a minority of the civil population. in afghanistan, you have between 17 and 20 million people who have risen as one group. the fact that they are not organize is what holds them back. where they organized, they could hold them down. >> in the valley, there is some organization going on. there are small units that are utter organized and more efficient as far as insurgency is concerned.

utter discipline, which is not that easy with afghans who are traditional warriors. this is changing. >> a leader of one of these mujahedin groups who himself has seen action in the field and understands the need for better organization and co-op ration among the various groups. the unification of the afghan section is impossible. enemy,fighting the same we are fighting the russians. unity from all the groups and we are fighting the same enemy. young lucia had been are fighting in different parts of the country. nobody is waiting for the others to be the first to fight.

all the muslims everywhere are fighting against their enemy. that would be a mistake, to say one is fighting and the other is not. >>'s most afghans, to be a communist is to be against islam. in afghanistanon is viewed as a communist effort to eliminate those who are believers. to any observer is that an afghan state is intricately down the in its identity. an independent filmmaker was impressed by the role of islam in the afghan struggle for freedom. >> we have often heard about

their religious fanaticism. in fact, their faith is necessarily. but it isn't just the fuel for the resistance. they are fighting for the respect of their lifestyle, so the struggle for their religion is a nationalist struggle. >> for a long time, we did not understand the russians had invaded our country and wanted us to be communist. thank god we are muslims. we do not want communism in afghanistan. the role of islam first is identity. just like youim are an afghan. parallel easy to understand for the westerners is that it's like the role of the catholic church in poland. you are polish and you are catholic.

it means you are not russian or samedox and it is the thing with the afghans. the religion is part of their identity, part of their way of living. cracks when we ask the man in charge of the military by what miracle is 5000 men with only hold inons managing to check the army that supposed to be the most powerful in the world, the red army, the first answer he gave was that the mujahedin are believers and if they die, they inherit the garden of god. this second part of his answer was that the nature of the countryside was responsible. a large part of afghanistan consists of mountains and these

mountains are very difficult to occupy. >> since the soviet invasion, many of europe's leading television correspondents have made several trips to afghanistan to document the struggle for freedom. what struck me very much with my first trip was that above all, the extreme poverty of means. on one hand, and have great determination and on the other hand, they have extreme poverty of means. they are equipped with guns from 19th century and there were very

few kalashnikov machine guns. maybe one done for every 50 guerrillas. two years later, after six trips, i have found in the afghans the same determination i have found during my first and but there is also a greater sense of responsibility, political responsibility. >> of course, the situation has been improving the last two years. the freedom fighters are very equipped but the fight is uneven.

one of the major difficulties is to be able to defend themselves against the attack of these gunships. they russian attack helicopters equipped withred, very sophisticated equipment and electronic devices to locate men as well as bombing and laserguided weapons. attack thenopter ship divides the soviets with an awesome weapon against the mujahedin. sweeping across the countryside at speeds of up to 300 kilometers an hour, its guns rainand machine death and destruction from the skies. another television correspondent who is filmed several military operations in this war is a french reporter. >> the weapons used by the

afghans do not come from the states or china for the most part. most of the weapons held by the mujahedin, the afghan freedom fighters, our weapons garnered in the course of operations. numberre an incredible of desertions and the incredible -- in the afghan army. a great many units along with weapons and equipments have defected to join the resistance. it is mostly these weapons the afghans are using. >> there are a lot of afghan deserters. this comes by the fact that this is not a popular war at all. most people in the afghan army's have families who are against the regime and there's no motivation to fight. the mujahedin are all over the country. they are numerous and they have the backing of the population. --is not motivating for a

for an army to be fighting against its own people. >> mujahedin tactics have improved to the point where even the cities are no longer totally secure for soviet troops. city,ar, a major afghan has changed hands several times. >> the afghan guerrillas are able to infiltrate the soviet camps in the city and are capable of launching attacks and then fleeing. city is attacking the like stabbing a dragon's tail. a day lucia of metal and fire bursts up around you. >> now, you find small, well

armed commando units which have gotten used to soviet methods of warfare and no how to counter them. let me give you an example. when helicopters were flying overhead, the afghans were paralyzed with fear and afraid of these helicopters they were on it to fight. today, they now had to gauge the threat of a helicopter and evaluate its potential danger. they know at a certain altitude att it is not dangerous but a lower altitude, it becomes dangerous and they know exactly how to position themselves. lucia hardye young -- one of the end mujahedin has experienced combat firsthand.

>> all the organizations fighting for the freedom of afghanistan have organized activities within couple. the objective is to assassinate russian officers and members of the communist party. , to eliminate all those who work against the people of afghanistan. a number of people who work for have thenment also mujahedin during the daytime. at night, most of these same people organize guerrilla activities. their activities are well organized.

when the military units, officers and servicemen are faithful to their country and their people, they help the mujahedin by sending secret information. for example, when the government deploys the unit somewhere, the officers who are loyal passover whatever information they can, such as the number of persons and place of deployment. get an advancean knowledge about what to expect and then repair themselves to defend or attack accordingly. >> for the soviet troops,

explanations of their missions are minimal and often confusing to young recruits. >> one of the important points of the soviet invasion is propaganda. know, all theyou soldiers in fact don't know why they arson there. >> few soviet soldiers are taken prisoner by the mujahedin. these two were captured. analyst wascout captured one month after he arrived in afghanistan. recently, a freelance journalist was able to interview him and his countrymen, a soviet turkoman from a collective farm.

>> they think they are helping afghanistan from possible chinese invaders. by officer said we were sent the government to afghanistan to protect us from chinese and american soldiers. i have been around afghanistan and been around here, i have not met a single chinese or american soldier. this war is senseless. what do soviet soldiers in afghanistan think of this war? >> thinks differently. when things that they senseless war. a russian soldier has become a barbarian here.

they go into homes and kill women and children and rape them. case when soldiers went into a house, killed a father, old man and raped a 15-year-old girl and then killed her so she would not tell anyone. >> you are aware the government of kabul is a toy of the soviet union. do, such asy destroying, burning, looting houses, they have the blame on the mujahedin. in kabul, the afghan secret security and police usually keep 15 or 20 afghans and the

conditions in small groups and torture them with electric shock and beatings. for me toicult describe what they do and it would be hard for others to listen to such acts of savagery. i know an afghan come patriot who worked very hard for freedom of his country. electric him so many shocks that he was penalized. -- he was paralyzed. >> ordinary people are very much strongly opposed to this war. now i can understand why. realizerity of people

there is no national interest in afghanistan for us. it cost us dearly in terms of resources. in this warense whatsoever. that is the general feeling in this country. in last year, there are areas against this war. the last year, the soviets stopped the practice of sending dead boys in coffins back to their homelands. the demonstration of the

population against this war and the practice was stopped. >> since the soviet invasion, the view afghan doctors serving the rural population have led. healthcare services for those who stayed behind is maintained by the volunteer medical teams, mostly french. years since these teams have been serving in afghanistan, they have observed tactics against the silk -- against the civilian population. a doctor from doctors without borders spoke about what the medical teams have witnessed. next now we are witnessing a third phase in the war crimes and that is the bombing of hospitals. our hospitals have been purposely destroyed in the last few weeks. here, you can see a hospital

with the buildings before the soviet helicopters arrived. lasted a few minutes and at the end of those few minutes, here is what is left of the hospital. this graph explains something else. awayhospital is located from the neighboring village and, as you can see, there are fields and trees around the hospital. the hospital was destroyed on purpose and the trees were not even touched. the helicopters only went after the hospital. >> one of the doctors with international medical aid spoke of her experiences inside afghanistan. >> we witnessed a second bombing which was quite awful. it happened in the beginning of november. it was specifically aimed at our hospital on the day we planned to leave.

we heard the helicopters making a first pass over the village, so everyone rushed toward the shelters but we did not have enough time to get there. the helicopters were back over us very quickly. it was only a few dozen meters away. at that point, we were really scared. the hospital was completely destroyed, the walls torn down, and nothing left inside. >> first, the bombings. another thing that has been talked about a lot -- the anti-personal mines dispersed around the country and are sophisticated.

they are green and gray and difficult to spot. dead person a doesn't cost much. person can no longer fight in the war. he has to be looked after and taken back. the third kind of world we have to treat is worse. items are-trapped left behind. here, it is usually the children who get hurt because the adults and learn to be distrustful. soviets retreated about a year ago, they booby-trapped the bodies of dead people left in the field and when their relatives when to bury them, their bodies exploded. we saw that only once, but see it.

>> the medical teams enter the climate as the majority. the doctors must respond as best they can to whatever emergency. >> we have been working since 5:00 in the morning and were about to stop or break when we suddenly heard an explosion. we all ran and hid behind the rock, thinking it was a helicopter raid. then there was just silence. we came out from behind the rock to see what happened and we saw mujahedin crawling toward us on all fours. his foot had been blown up. we later heard from the leader of the caravan that they had dropped anti-personal mines shoot.

educated, gangrene might spread, so we cut off his foot right there with the limited means available. it was a very moving experience for all of us. >> resistance to the soviet invasion has marshaled the energies of a whole population. it is this powerful collective will which has galvanized a people into taking on the mighty soviet army despite terrifying odds. and those who have witnessed this struggle are marked forever by what they have seen. >> as far as i could ascertain, the afghans are definitely convinced that as long as there is just one russian invader on the afghan soil and as long as

there is just one free afghan, there will be no feed him in afghanistan. >> the afghan people, like others, love their freedom. they live free and they die free. until now, they have reserved the freedom of afghanistan with the right of their own blood just as their fathers did and their sons will do. i'm sure the afghan people will regain their freedom and be a free nation once again. it is an afghan tradition to fight against any kind of an aiders. right now, they are the soviets. showsaction against them the soviets are not ringing them progress. the soviet argument is we are coming to freebies be from feudalism. but what does this mean? people come to free a with sophisticated helicopters,

with tanks, bible mean villages, killing young people and old people, killing the innocent? what are the soviets bringing to afghanistan? >> the russians invade afghanistan, i believe all of us now in the future cannot close our eyes to the people who are losing their country. is so unfair. i feel personally concerned about afghanistan now that i have of their and i think we all share the responsibility when we come back from their, particularly because the steeple count on a synonymously and feel so isolated. we should feel responsible for them. >> the trauma of this war has left its mark on the children who have suffered most. the drawings of a 13-year-old afghan refugee reflect her own

emotional experiences. ♪ >> from 1970 nine until the wars and in february, 1989, it is estimated nearly one million afghan civilians died while several million refugees fled the country, many to neighboring pakistan. according to the national security archive, the u.s. congress provided nearly $3 billion in covert money and arms to the afghan mujahedin