You might be interested in previous threads on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan:

Reasoning Behind the Invasion

• What were the reasons for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and what were the goals? - 7 comments, over 1 year old.

• A commenter here gives an overview of the political situation of Afghanistan in the latter half of the 20th century and its relation to Soviet objectives for the region at the beginning of the invasion.

• What was the reason for Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan? - 7 comments, over 1 month old.

• A commenter gives a rundown of events prior to the invasion which convinced the Soviets that the invasion was a necessary action.

• Why did the Soviet Union invade Afghanistan in 1979? - 13 comments, over 2 years old.

• Towards the middle of the thread, commenters go into the events that immediately precipitated the invasion as well as ongoing issues that hampered the Soviets during the war.

Source Collections

• Why did Soviet invade Afghanistan in 1979? - 6 comments, over 1 year old.

• The topmost comment has a list of five book sources on the topic recommended by a flaired user.

• Afghanistan history - 10 comments, over 3 years old.

• The topmost comment not only recommends over a half dozen sources but also summarizes their subject matter for interested readers.

• Looking for some books concerning the Soviet war in Afghanistan. - 4 comments, over 2 years old.

• One commenter recommends a book on the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and links to a review of it written by several historians in the field.

Related Threads

• What was the average soviet infantryman's experience in Afghanistan? How comparable is it to a American GIs experience in Vietnam? - 97 comments, over 2 months old.

• This thread is heavy on the Soviet side of the matter, which is good for those with a strong historical base of the Vietnam War and there are links in the thread to analysis of the Vietnam War which those who don't have a good understanding can read to gain one.

• How did the Soviet War in Afghanistan contribute to the fall of USSR? - 25 comments, over 2 years old.

• The commenters summarize the issue and also answer some questions about a counterfactual without the Afghanistan war.

• How did the Soviets lose the war in Afghanistan when they were able to push back the might of the German army in WW2? - 4 comments, over 1 year old.

• A user does an analysis of the Soviet-Afghanistan War to show how different the stakes and forces involved were from the Second World War.