Cuba, Nicaragua, Chile, El Salvador, Argentina, North Korea, Cambodia... Few neigbors, but allies and potential allies.
Perhaps you typed too quickly: this sentence implies that no amount of US intervention would cause the Soviets to invade, and that the only factor was whether a neighbor/ally asked for "help." And let's notice that the "help" the Afghan government ended up receiving consisted of being deposed and executed, to be replaced by foreign occupation forces. Also, what is "it" here? Invade? Because there might be some Hungarians, Czechs and Slovaks that disagree with you on this point...
All neighbors: for comparison see how obamas decision to reassess the missile shield has led to Russian reassessment of the arms race
Exactly. They invaded other neighbors where the US was NOT funneling in cash and arms, so why do you presume that US intervention was the crucial factor in Afghanistan? I have never suggested that American policy did not come to bear on Soviet strategic decisions. What I have suggested is that US support for the Afghan resistance was not the deciding factor in the Soviet decision to invade. And I'd note that the eastern European missile shield is a much bigger, more strategically significant matter than the Afghan opposition ever was.
