Historical background on Afghanistan : Three decades of human rights abuses in Afghanistan: an overview / Patricia Gossman ; The Soviet Union explains its intervention in Afghanistan / Boris Gromov ; The Afghan government reacts to US President Jimmy Carter's State of the Union address / The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan ; A report to the United Nations on the Soviet atrocities in Afghanistan / Felix Ermacora ; A United Nations resolution on the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan / United Nations ; The rise and fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan / Kim Masters Evans -- Issues and controversies surrounding Afghanistan : Genocide was an accepted Soviet anti-guerilla tactic / Claude Malhuret ; Soviet land mines endangered children but did not specifically target them / Rae McGrath ; Soviets used chemical weapons against Afghan mujahideen and civilians / Stuart J.D. Schwartzstein ; The Soviet occupiers derailed Afghanistan's justice systems / Michael Barry, Omar Babrakzai, and Ghafoor Yussofzai ; Afghanistan needed humanitarian aid as well as military support to halt genocide / Edward Girardet ; The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a key factor in the collapse of the Soviet Union / Rafael Reuveny and Aseem Prakash ; US involvement in Afghanistan yielded numerous unforeseen consequences / David Wildman and Phyllis Bennis -- Personal narratives : Life for Afghans in a war zone / Niyaz Turdi as told to Alex Klaits and Gulchin Gulmamadova-Klaits ; Mother of three reflects on work in Afghanistan / Jan Cartwright ; Afghanistan war: lessons from the Soviet war / Edward Girardet ; Afghanistan's last two Jews standing / Steven Gutkin ; The systemic abuse of women in post-Taliban Afghanistan / Human Rights Watch.