Well, for one, Charlie Wilson's War wouldn't have been produced. I'm all for that.Guardsman Bass wrote:The Soviets were also fighting against Afghans receiving significant assistance from outside countries routed through Pakistan. Who knows what might have happened if the US hadn't decided to push back and route aid through the Pakistani government.
In all seriousness, we'd have seen the Soviet Union hold onto power for a little bit longer and a possible prolonging of the Cold War before the entire house of cards came crashing down much later and taking another country with it. I think the only reason Afghanistan really stands out in the regard that it does is because it was a chance for us to pull a Vietnam on the Soviets, supplying forces on the ground with weapons to keep the Soviets from claiming another country. Most of the problems came later when we helped them win, then said, "Ok well, now that your entire country's leadership has been removed and there's no one to take the reigns of power, we're going home. Have fun!"