Back عملية سايكلون (الإعصار) Arabic Аперацыя «Цыклон» Byelorussian Operació Cicló Catalan «Циклон» операци CV Operation Cyclone German Operación Ciclón Spanish Zikloi operazioa Basque عملیات سایکلون Persian Programme afghan French מבצע ציקלון HE
| Operation Cyclone | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Soviet–Afghan War | |
 President Reagan meeting with Afghan Mujahideen leaders in the Oval Office in 1983 | |
| Operational scope | Weapons sales, financing of Afghan mujahideen forces |
| Location | |
| Planned by | |
| Target | Government of Afghanistan and Soviet invasion force |
| Date | 3 July 1979–1992 |
| Outcome |
|
| United States involvement in regime change |
|---|
Operation Cyclone was the code name for the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) program to arm and finance the Afghan mujahideen in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1992, prior to and during the military intervention by the USSR in support of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. The mujahideen were also supported by Britain's MI6, who conducted their own separate covert actions. The program leaned heavily towards supporting militant Islamic groups, including groups with jihadist ties, that were favored by the regime of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in neighboring Pakistan, rather than other, less ideological Afghan resistance groups that had also been fighting the Soviet-oriented Democratic Republic of Afghanistan administration since before the Soviet intervention.[1]
Operation Cyclone was one of the longest and most expensive covert CIA operations ever undertaken.[2] Funding officially began with $695,000 in mid-1979,[3] was increased dramatically to $20–$30 million per year in 1980, and rose to $630 million per year in 1987,[1][4][5] described as the "biggest bequest to any Third World insurgency".[6] The first CIA-supplied weapons were antique British Lee–Enfield rifles shipped out in December 1979; by September 1986 the program included U.S.-origin state of the art weaponry, such as FIM-92 Stinger surface-to-air missiles, some 2,300 of which were ultimately shipped into Afghanistan.[7] Funding continued (albeit reduced) after the 1989 Soviet withdrawal, as the mujahideen continued to battle the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan during the First Afghan Civil War.[8]
- ^ a b Bergen, Peter, Holy War Inc. Free Press, (2001), p. 68
- ^ Barlett, Donald L.; Steele, James B. (13 May 2003). "The Oily Americans". Time. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Tobin 2020was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Riedelwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Collwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Pentz, Peter A. (1988). "The Mujahidin Middleman: Pakistan 's Role in the Afghan Crisis and the International Rule of NonIntervention". Penn State International Law Review.
- ^ Coll, Steve (2004). Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001. Penguin Group. pp. 58, 149–150, 337. ISBN 9781594200076.
- ^ Crile, pp. 519 & elsewhere