The Soviet war in Afghanistan seemed like a war that would never end. The Soviets looked very bad in the eyes of the world for trying to control this country. Most people inside the Soviet Union did not support the war. As more and more Soviet soldiers were being killed or wounded as the war dragged on, Mikhail Gorbachev referred to the Soviet war in Afghanistan as a "bleeding wound". Finally, on 15 February 1989, after ten years of fighting with no end in sight, the Soviets decided to get out of Afghanistan.