December 1979
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Embroiled in civil war, the communist
government of Afghanistan was possibly in danger of falling to rebels. The
Soviets may have invaded to head off this defeat and secure part of their own
border from the turmoil between Iran and Iraq. In protest of the Soviet
invasion, the United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, refused
to sell the Soviet Union grain, and halted ratification of the Strategic Arms
Limitation Treaty II (see June 1979).
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