ions between Kabul and Moscow grew strong between the 1960s and 1970s, and the USSR was one of the major suppliers of foreign aid to Afghanistan during that period. In 1976 State Department Policy was that the U. S. should not become committed to the protection of Afghanistan. The situation changed in 1979: the Shah of Iran abdicated and was replaced by an anti-American Islamic government. Within ten months, the Soviets moved 100,000 troops to Afghanistan, putting them within striking distance of Pakistan and Iran. The U. S. considered this ôthe greatest threat to world peace since World War II .ö
AfghanistanÆs monarchy was losing power, and it was still one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world . The most disgruntled organized group was the PeopleÆs Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), a Marxist group which took guidance from Moscow. Mohammad Daud, the cousin of King Zahir Shah, who had ruled the country since 1933, had eyes for control of the country, and secured it in a bloodless coup while the king was vacationing in Italy in 1973. Muslim leaders fled to the countryside and on to Pakistan, seeking arms to overthrow Daud. The U.S. dismissed these groups as of no consequence at the time, but it was these same rebels that they later armed and trained to fight the Soviets. It was Pakistan that helped the rebels in the beginning, fearing that Daud, a Pushtun, who was pursuing the idea of a Pushtunis
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