Re: Afghanistan v. the Soviets
The British could do it. I see no reason to believe the Afghans would be able to put more than a dent in total air superiority so they could have won the same way.
If the russians could have won through total air superiority, they would have. because they had it, and it didn't make the difference.
I imagine that flight was a greater advantage when it was new, before the insurgents figured out how to effectively counter it (which is to say, to hide amongst civilians friendly to the enemy or to stay underground)
but yeah, I think, at this point, advances in asymmetrical warfare techniques have largely neutralized the advantages of air superiority.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink%27s_War