After eight no-win years of engagement in the bloody Afghan war, the Soviets have made no secret of their impatience to get out. Just how impatient they are with the conflict, which has cost an estimated 20,000 Soviet and 1.2 million Afghan lives, became clearer last week during an official visit to Kabul by Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze. "We would like the year 1988 to be the last year of the stay of Soviet troops in your country," Shevardnadze told local reporters after two days of meetings with Afghan officials. Even more striking, the Foreign Minister hinted that Moscow was...
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