The 1980s: Encouraging and Sponsoring Terrorism

Abstract

In April 1978 a coup occurred within Afghanistan that brought to power a Marxist regime, led by Nur Mohmmed Taraki, who soon forged friendly relations with the Soviet Union, which could not, however, be reasonably held responsible for the regime change. The United States under Carter was naturally not pleased but made no great fuss in public and maintained diplomatic relations with the new Government in Kabul, as did other Western states. The point about diplomatic relations is important. For, as has been seen in our analysis of terrorism in Southern Africa, it is a traditional Western position that mounting an armed intervention or sponsoring sub-state violence in such a case is contrary to international law - hence the differing approaches by the Americans to the Marxist regimes in Mozambique (which they recognised) and Angola (which they did not).