The best part of this is how it feels like I’m watching it on a VHS machine…

The quote from Kipling at the end of the documentary was interesting,  some Soviet soldiers used to always keep a couple of grenades ready in case capture was imminent.  No one ever wanted to be captured by those people.

" ...many all over the world stand with you." Boy, do we regret having done that.

This is hilarious, listening to this American reporter praising the laws of radical Islam, when, for 20 years, we would try to eliminate those very same laws

I love the part when he say "most of them (casualties) were civilian" and show entire village of armed people.

I was a British soldier I served out there from 2009 to 2010. We pretty much did the same thing as the Soviets

Russians in Afghanistan were fighting with one hand tight behind their backs.
Firstly, there was someone very generous who would give Taliban MANPADs, a bunch of land mines, millions of small arms with ammunition and facilitated the recruitment, arrival and training of hundreds of thousands of volunteers from all over the Middle East (that was how Bin Laden got there).  Also, the insurgents had safe haven in Pakistan where Soviet troops, Air Force or Artillery under no circumstances were not allowed to fire at. Imagine if the US troops in Afghanistan were under the same constraints?

The preeminent book on Soviet - Afghan War is : “The Soviet - Afghan War , How A Superpower Fought and Lost “ , The Russian General Staff . University Press of Kansas , translated and edited by Lester W. Grau and Michael A. Gress, Forward by Theodore C. Mataxis . This is a must read for any enthusiast or historian interested in this war.

In Toronto I spoke with a Soviet-Afghan war veteran who now managed an apartment complex where Afghan-Mujahideen also lived and rented from…

Well shit! Did no one in the DOD ever see this? It looks like a replay of the last 20 years we were in Afghanistan. All you have to do is swap out the names of the players and this could be about Operation Enduring Freedom.

The song Swallowing Dust tells the story of a Soviet soldier ambushed. It's very emotional to listen to.

A supplementary comment about the Kabul hospital treating those who lost their limbs (about 6 minutes in).  It was and still is run by Dr Alberto Cairo for the Red Cross, who has been there since 1990 - not affected by either of the two terms of the Taliban.  He treats everyone, irrespective of background.  More here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Cairo_(physiotherapist)

The blonde news reel lady at the start has that 80's good looks and style which for me will never go out of fashion

Having served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Cold War I spoke with our Battalion XO who was a Major. A big flaw in the Red Army was that there was no professional NCO corps. Where we had SSGT thru SGTMAJ, the Soviets may promote a conscript to SGT but his obligation was still the original 2 years. While there were some senior NCO’s, most were drunks just waiting for a pension. Personal initiative was not allowed. In the U.S. military a PVT with a radio could request arty or air support if the situation dictates. In the USSR a major or higher was required to request support fire. So it may take several hours for the request to funnel its way to be approved. You saw this in Afghanistan when under fire and their officer is killed they huddled in groups not knowing what to do. Very sad but that is life in a communist country

I spent a lot of time  over there working as an “Advisor” and can tell you nothing will ever change.  Tribal politics. They’ll drink tea with you one day and and shoot in the back an hour later. Worked all the hardships locs and this is just marginally a step  from Somalia…

This is cool, rather than seeing a post war documentary we get to see what was happening at the time.

25:46 "A man with no hand is no man"-- George Costanza and whoever this guy is.

I remember watching this at the time. Pity Bush didn’t watch it too, things might’ve turned out very differently.

superpowers never learn, especially from each other

Damn 1984 they just showed bodies on PBS like it was normal that's wild