The Soviets were happy to leave Afghanistan in 1979 after a miserable 10 years of war there. They left a ruined country with more landmines than anywhere else in the world. The United States helped defeat the Russians but basically left a vacuum in eastern Afghanistan which was filled by Osama Bin Laden. The 9/11 plot was conceived and coordinated there. The USA has now been at war in Afghanistan for 16 years and counting. The British (three times), the Russians and now the USA are finding this ancient culture unconquerable. The choices are grim, but all wars must end with a diplomatic solution.
There are amazing historical photographs in the NYT of the Afghan occupations in the 1800’s, 1900’s and now the current stumbling efforts. History seems to be repeating. Click here for the full article.
Shortly after 9/11, the conservative radio host, John Carlson, invited me to appear on his show to “talk about Afghanistan and how the US can conquer it–or words to that effect. I said that the US could not conquer Afghanistan and that no foreign power ever had been able to effectively “conquer” or “rule” that territory–only I didn’t start with the British and the Russians–I included the Mughal Empire, the Saffavids and random other ’empire-builders.’ Parts of the territory could be subdued and dominated for a little while, but eventually things would fall apart. John’s audience was livid–they wanted to hear cheerleading for an invasion. John’s producer was so happy with all the calls coming in demanding that “this guy go back to where he came from” (I explained that that would be Omaha.) and other choice complaints. Instead of a 30 minute chat, I stayed on for close to two hours. Alas, events since 2001 lead me to suggest that, in spite of my Nebraska heritage, I was right.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the neocons in the Bush administration were greatly influenced by a group called Project New American Century. Their manifest promoted the belief that our destiny, as the only remaining superpower, was to bring democracy to the world (along with economic development of course). Cheney, Jeb Bush, Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld were among PNAC’s true believers and signers. Unfortunately none of them understood the history or culture of Afghanistan and the “tar baby” that it has become.