As President Joe Biden tries to quickly hand over surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine's army, U.S. officials are wondering if these weapons, aimed at Russian forces, fell into the wrong hands.

An unnamed U.S. official told the Washington Post that such worries are a " However, “bureaucratic fear should not be allowed to prevent Ukrainians from getting what they need”.

This is just one way how the spectrum of wars in Afghanistan, from the Soviet invasion in 1979 to the chaotic US withdrawal in 2021, is shaping Biden's approach to Ukraine.. In 1986, a key decision was made to provide the Afghan Mujahideen with Stinger missiles to destroy Soviet helicopters.. But it was accompanied by a fear of the possibility that the weapons would fall into the hands of people who would want to attack US planes or even passenger airliners.. From arming the Ukrainian army to forging a new NATO unity, many of Biden's political approaches are based on American and Russian policies in Afghanistan, where both nuclear-armed states have failed to impose their will on a small but unyielding local population..

The Washington Post provides some examples of how Afghanistan is now influencing Ukraine policy. For example, Biden is doing exactly what he wanted for Ukraine for many years.. The same goes for Afghanistan..

“As vice president, Biden stubbornly pushed for the withdrawal of US troops from the so-called eternal war, but his efforts were rejected by President Barack Obama and his team. Later during the election campaign, Biden promised to bring American troops home.. And he did it in the very first year of his presidency,” the article reads..

However, in 2014, Biden demanded a tougher stance after the annexation of Crimea and the Russian invasion of the Donbass.. And now he embodies his vision too. The second factor in the influence of the Afghan wars on American policy towards Ukraine now: arming the locals was Washington's key strategy. Until the debate over the role of Stinger missiles in the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan has exhausted itself. But almost no one doubts that these missiles have robbed Moscow of its advantage on the battlefield by massively destroying helicopters..

The White House has struggled in recent days to explain why it categorizes some weapons as " However, he did not have to explain to Congress the arms transfer used to kill Russian soldiers.. And all because of the precedents of the Cold War. And Afghanistan also plays an important role here..

The third factor linking American policy in Afghanistan and Ukraine stems from Biden's frankly no regrets about the withdrawal of US troops from Afghan territory last year.. In an interview with CBS, the president clearly declared that he was " It's not that Biden is indifferent to the suffering now also in Ukraine. In the end, he consolidated the efforts of allies in NATO and Asia against Moscow, and also gave the Ukrainian army weapons to defend against Russian troops..

“But he drew a clear line: no NATO forces on Ukrainian territory or patrols in the Ukrainian skies. And that brings us back to the CBS interview where he proclaimed his responsibility solely to " And that he is not going to send men and women into danger to " This is a lesson learned in Iraq and then in Afghanistan,” the article says..

Who else remembers Afghanistan well? Vladimir Putin.

He is probably the one who better senses the similarities between the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war that the USSR once ignited in Afghanistan.. In the end, the Afghan failure sapped the Soviet appetite for empire building.. The withdrawal of troops in 1989 actually preceded the collapse of the communist giant.

“It is still too early to say what consequences Moscow will face after the war of 2022. But the Afghan echo is already being heard,” the article says..