- "This is Afghanistan... Alexander the Great try to conquer this country... then Genghis Khan, then the British. Now Russia. But Afghan people fight hard, they never be defeated. Ancient enemy make prayer about these people... you wish to hear?"
- ―Mousa on the bravery of the Afghan people.
Mousa shows Rambo the mountains of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is a third-world country located in the Middle East.
It is the main setting of Rambo III.
Description[]
Meaning "land of the Afghan", Afghanistan is located next to Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Communist China. Afghanistan has had a troubled history, having been invaded by many armies including Greece's Alexander the Great, Mongolia's Genghis Khan, the British and Russia, who always underestimate the strength of the largely illiterate and poor farmers that make up the country's population. The people of Afghanistan are too noble and proud to be defeated, so they fight brutally in battle, often beating sophisticated war machines, as depicted in Rambo III.
Rambo III[]
While in Afghanistan, Trautman's troops are ambushed by Soviet troops while passing through the mountains at night. Trautman is imprisoned in a Soviet base and coerced for information by Colonel Zaysen and his henchman Kourov. Rambo immediately heads to neighboring Peshawar, Pakistan where he meets up with Mousa, a weapons supplier who agrees to take him to a village deep in the Afghan desert, The Mujahideen in the village are already hesitant to help Rambo in the first place, but decide not to help him when their village is attacked by Soviet helicopters after one of Mousa's shop assistants has informed to the Soviets. Aided only by Mousa and a young boy named Hamid, Rambo makes his way to the Soviet base and attempts to free Trautman. The first attempt is unsuccessful and results not only in Hamid getting shot in the leg, but also in Rambo himself getting a piece of shrapnel through his stomach. Rambo sends Hamid and Mousa away back to the camp while he pushes the shrapnel out and then disenfects the wound before cutting the bullet off of a 7.62x39mm AK-47 round and emptying the gunpowder from the shell into the wound. Rambo then lights the gunpowder, cauterizing the wound. The next day, Rambo returns to the base once again, just in time to rescue Trautman from being tortured with a blow-torch. After rescuing several other prisoners, Rambo steals a helicopter and escapes from the base. However, the helicopter soon crashes and Rambo and Trautman are forced to continue on foot.
The longest climb.
After a confrontation in a cave, where Rambo and Trautman kill several Russian soldiers including Kourov, they are confronted by an entire army of Russian tanks, headed by Zaysen. Just as they are about to be overwhelmed by the might of the Soviet Army, the Mujahideen warriors, together with Mousa and Hamid, ride onto the battlefield by the hundreds in an thunderously awe-inspiring cavalry charge. In the ensuing battle, in which both Trautman and John are wounded, Rambo manages to kill Zaysen by driving a tank into the helicopter Zaysen is flying in. At the end of the battle Rambo and Trautman say goodbye to their Mujahideen friends, and leave Afghanistan to go home.
Recent History[]
Afghanistan has been a major battleground for the war on terror. It has been occupied for the last decade by the United States and ironically Britian. The present war in Afghanistan parallels the Soviet War of Afganistan of the 1980s. Much like the Soviet Union fought the mujhadeen rebels, the United States and Great Britain have been battling the Al-Qaeda and Taliban ever since 2001 until the Taliban Takeover two decades later in 2021.