Date: 1981-05-14
Speaker: ROBERT C. BYRD (democrat)
Chamber: S

Mr. President. the military subjugation of the oncefree State of Afghanistan continues apace. Recent reports from Afghan refugees fleeing into Pakistan describe* an extensive military operation launched against resistance fighters in Kandahar. Afghanistans second largest city. The attacks on Kandahar and the surroundIng villages. according to several sources. were led by Soviet armored and air units. Independent confirmation of this military action from inside Afghanistan is not easily obtainable. largely because the Western press has been excluded from the country by the Sovietdominated puppet government of Babrak Karmal. A variety of sources have reported the attack on Kandahar. however. which increases the credibility of the Information. The operations near Kandahar reportedly lasted for 2 weeks. which would place them in the last week of April and the first week of May. During the same period. on April 24. the grain embargo imposed by the United States on the Soviet Union was lifted. The embargo was instituted as one expression of this countrys outrage at the brutal invasion and repression of the sovereign state of Afghanistan. Now the embargo is gone. but the cruelty inflicted on the Afghan people by the Soviet Union continues without penalty. The timing of the end of the embargo and the reported attack on Kandahar la at. best a perverse coincidence. and at worst a signal that the Soviets fully intend to pursue their aggressive and bloody course. This course will be made far simpler and less costly if the nations of the world ignore what is happening in Afghanistan. The Soviet Union would like nothing better than to see other countries write off Afghanistan. and to accept the Soviet military subjugation of that country as a falt dccomplL If that were to happen. the leaders of the Soviet Union would calculate that. on the whole. the cost of subduing Afghanistan was not very high. This might embolden them to extend their tyranny to other troublesome countries in southwest Asia. the Middle East. or eastern Europe. That Is why I supported the grain embargo when It was imposed early in 1980. And that Is why I opposed ending the embargo. particularly under the circumstances existing on April 24. One of the many justifications advanced by the administration for ending the embargo on that day was that the Soviets had demonstrated restraint in dealing with Poland. Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki was right on the mark when he said that uncertainties surround the situation in Poland. The United States should by no means start dispensing largesse to aggressors merely because they behave well for a short time. And the Irony of Justifying the end of the embargo on Soviet restraint. when at approximately the same time the Soviets were reported to be lodging yet another attack In Afghanistan. is bitter indeed. Soon after the Idea of rewarding the Soviet Union for not invading Poland surfaced. It was scuttled by those in the administration who recognized that it could be seen as appeasement of an aggressors will. What I presume to be the official explanation for lifting the embargo emerged on April 27. Secretary of State Haig. Secretary of Commerce Baldrige. and White House officials seemed to agree that no quid pro quo had been extracted from the Soviets. Soviet behavior in Poland had no bearing on thp decision to end the embargo. according to this latest line. In fact. the administration stressed that important domesic political consideralons had been the reason for terminating the embargo. These Included the Presidents campaign pledge to end the embargo. the beginning of congressional consideration of the omnibus farm bill. and even the future of the Presidents economic package. I am appalled that nowhere in the discussion of these many and varied reasons for ending the embargo Is Afghanistan mentioned. It is as if that poor. oppressed country had simply dropped off the map. * Afghanistan must not be forgotten. Those who have openly resisted the Soviet takeover there have been killed. Worse yet. many people have been killed In Afghanistan who could not resist. who had no weapons. and no defense against their killers. Removing the embargo with no thought for these people and for those who remain in Afghanistan. makes a mockery of our efforts to protect liberty and resist aggression. The Soviets responzo to the end of the embargo is more killing in Afghanistan. The free nations of the world must continue to recognize and condemn this brutality. Afghanistan must not be forgotten. so that its tragic suffering will not be repeated in other nations. Mr. President. I suggest the absence of a quorum.