Out of Afghanistan: The Inside Story of the Soviet WithdrawalWhen the Soviet Union pulled its forces out of Afghanistan, the American media had a simple explanation: Soviet troops had been hounded out of the mountains by U. S. armed guerrillas the skies cleared of Soviet aircraft by Stinger missiles until the Kremlin was forced to cry uncle. But Diego Cordovez and Selig S. Harrison shatter this image. Out of Afghanistan shows that the Red Army was securely entrenched when the Soviet Union agreed to withdraw: