The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War/Introduction

INTRODUCTION
As we have throughout our history—the Philippines, Haiti,Nicaragua, Lebanon, Vietnam and Somalia—Marines will encounterguerrilla forces in the 21st century. Marines must understand potentialadversaries, and learn as much as possible about them. Themujahideen of the Soviet-Afghan War prevailed against a larger anddecisively better equipped foe, the Soviet Army. The Other Side of theMountain presents the story of the mujahideen's fight against that foe.

On 27 December 1979, Moscow ordered the Soviet Army into Afghanistan. Organized, equipped, and trained for the execution ofcombined arms operations, that force embodied the concept ofblitzkrieg. Nine years later, it withdrew in defeat. The Other Side of the Mountain was written from the reports of mujahideen combat veterans and provides a tactical look at a decentralized army of foot-mobile guerrillas waging war against a technologically superior foe. Absolute supremacy of firepower did not guarantee victory. Native knowledge of terrain and detailed study of a known adversary offsetthat advantage. In particular, the chapter on urban combat will be ofgreat interest to commanders concerned with force protection. This book and its companion volume, The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan, published for the United StatesMarine Corps in 1996, offers a chronicle of the Afghan War by the war fighters.

The Marine Corps of the 21st century will have tremendous advan-tages over guerrilla forces. Our equipment, technology, training, and support are the best in the world. Yet, technological superiority is notin and of itself a guarantee of success. Insight into our adversary's capabilities, tactics and motivation will provide the decisive edge. The Other Side of the Mountain will help us gain this insight. I heartily recommend this book to all Marines.


 * J. E. RHODES
 * Commanding General,Marine Corps Combat Development Command