*In 1979, Iran had a revolution, in which Shi’a fundamentalists overthrew the US-supported Shah, who was known for his corruption.  For 444 days the US Embassy was held by the Iranians, and its people kept hostage, and even after they were freed, Iran denounced the United States as their enemy, the enemy of the Moslem world, and as the Great Satan.  Therefore, when Iraq invaded Iran in 1980, the US helped equip and train Iraq’s troops.  It is thought that between one and two million people were killed in the war, including child soldiers as young as 9 years old.  During and after the war, Hussein also killed about 100,000 Kurds who had been encouraged to revolt by Iran.  Overall, however, no borders changed, and no-one really won.  The last POWs were not exchanged until 1993.

*1979 also the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union, in theory to support a communist government there that had recently overthrown the shah.  This was a brutal war in which the USSR suffered badly.  It was one of many factors that hurt the Soviet government’s credibility at home and abroad, and helped lead to its collapse.  The US trained many of the Afghani Mujahideen who fought against the Soviets, including some of those who would form the Taliban.