VOA新闻杂志2025--Historians Remember President Jimmy Carter's Efforts to Aid Afghan Rebels

Many historians say U.S. President Ronald Reagan helped defeat the former Soviet¹ Union and end the Cold War. Reagan's efforts included giving support to rebel groups fighting the Soviets² in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

U.S. support for Afghan rebels began earlier under the administration of President Jimmy Carter. Carter ordered secret nonlethal aid to rebel groups six months before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union invaded in December of 1979.

Carter worked on cooperation with the Soviet Union by seeking approval of the SALT II (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) agreement on nuclear weapons. At the same time, his policies and statements pushed against Soviet goals.

David Gibbs is a history professor at the University of Arizona. Gibbs said, "I think people's image of Carter as a deeply religious man, a deeply moral man, is very much influenced by the activities he's done after he left office. [But] he definitely...had a side that was very willing to use force, including nuclear weapons."

US aid to rebels

A communist takeover in Afghanistan in April 1978 brought down the government of President Mohammad Daoud Khan.

In the summer of 1979, Carter signed a secret order known as a "presidential finding" that permitted the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to give nonlethal aid to rebels. The rebels were fighting Afghanistan's Soviet-supported communist government.

Carter's order stayed secret until the 1990s. It became known after several Carter administration officials, including former national security adviser³ Zbigniew Brzezinski, communicated its existence.

The 'Afghan Trap'

Some historians have called Carter's plan to aid rebel groups the "Afghan Trap."

They said the trap aimed to force the Soviets into a long war similar to America's fight in Vietnam during the 1960s and early 1970s.

In 1998, Brzezinski denied to the French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur that the Carter administration had a plan to get the Soviets into a long war in Afghanistan. However, he also called such a program "an excellent idea."

Other explanations of U.S. aid

Conor Tobin is an historian at the University College Dublin in Ireland who has studied the Afghan Trap idea. He said most experts do not believe the aid was part of a plan to make the Soviets fight. Tobin said there is not enough evidence to support the Afghan Trap idea.

Tobin also said the Carter administration decided⁴ to first wait to see how the situation in Afghanistan would develop after the 1978 government overthrow⁵. But that policy ended with the kidnapping and killing⁶ of U.S. Ambassador Adolph Dubs⁷ in February of the next year.

Brzezinski then ordered a new plan for Afghanistan. Tobin said Brzezinski asked an administration official to consider the question: "Should we help any insurgents⁹?"

Tobin said U.S. government officials thought military aid to rebels would cause a strong Soviet reaction. This judgment¹⁰ led the Carter administration to give nonlethal aid instead.

"The decision-making process demonstrated caution, rather than an effort to induce an invasion," Tobin wrote.

Tobin wrote in an article, "The Myth of the 'Afghan Trap,'" about the concerns of U.S. officials. He said, instead of trying to push the Soviets into a fight, Brzezinski worried the Soviets would slowly expand their power in Afghanistan.

"The objectives in mid-1979 were essentially¹¹ to do something, anything, to counter the Soviet advance in Afghanistan," Tobin said.

The Carter Doctrine¹²

In 1979, another development raised concerns

in Washington. Even if Carter did not want armed conflict in Afghanistan, he took a strong position against Soviet efforts to control the Persian Gulf¹³. That body of water lies between Saudi Arabia and Iran, two major oil producers.

During a speech to the U.S. Congress in 1980, Carter warned that the U.S. was prepared to use "any means necessary" to prevent a Soviet takeover of the Persian Gulf area.

On December 28, 1979, the day after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, Carter gave permission to supply weapons and training for the rebels.

Carter lost the 1980 election to Reagan who mostly continued Carter's Afghan policy for several years before greatly increasing the secret aid program. The aid reached several hundred million dollars a year, and the Soviet military left Afghanistan in defeat in 1989.

Jimmy Carter died at the age of 100 on December 29, 2024.

I'm Andrew Smith. And I'm Caty Weaver¹⁴.

Masood Farivar wrote this story for VOA News. Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

nonlethal -adj. related to things that are not weapons with the ability to cause death

insurgent⁸ -n. a person in rebellion against civil power or a government

caution -n. concern or care when faced with a risky¹⁵ situation

induce -v. to influence a person or group to act or to believe something

objective -n. a goal or an aim

counter -v. to act against a force, movement or person

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 dubs   

v.给…起绰号( dub的第三人称单数 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

8 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

9 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

10 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

13 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

14 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

15 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。