Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan Statement by the President.

One year has passed since the Soviet Union launched its brutal assault on its small, nonaligned neighbor, Afghanistan. On December 27, 1979, Soviet paratroopers seized key Afghan institutions in Kabul, including the Presidential Palace, where President Amin was then killed. The Soviets installed a puppet government under the nominal leadership of Babrak Karmal, who was in the Soviet Union at the time.

The tragedy that has continued to unfold in Afghanistan over the past 12 months weighs heavily on all Americans. We have watched the Soviet armed forces employ massive firepower and increasingly brutal tactics. We have seen the ranks of Afghan refugees fleeing devastation and political and religious oppression at home swell to more than 1.2 million in Pakistan alone. And amid this grim spectacle, we have been heartened to witness the brave resistance of the Afghan people, who have continued their struggle for independence and the right to determine their own political future.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and attempted forceful occupation of that fiercely independent, nonaligned, Moslem nation has had a profoundly negative impact on the international community. An overwhelming majority of member states of the United Nations demanded the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan in a special General Assembly session in January 1980. An increased majority reiterated this demand following careful General Assembly consideration of the Afghanistan issue last month. The 40-member Islamic Conference has been particularly forceful in condemning Soviet actions and in seeking an appropriate political solution. If the Soviet leaders expected that the world would avert its eyes and quickly forget their aggression in Afghanistan, they have been disappointed.

We urge the Soviet Union to respond to those nations urging withdrawal of Soviet military forces and inviting Soviet cooperation in the search for a political solution to the Afghan crisis. For our part, we have offered to join in the effort to find a political solution involving a Soviet withdrawal, and we repeat that offer today. The suffering of the Afghan people must be brought to an end.

The Afghan people and their struggle have not been forgotten and will not be forgotten by the rest of the world. We call on the Soviet Union to work with us and others in finding a way to bring peace to that tormented nation.