Afghanistan – the way I see it.
The first time I can recall hearing about Afghanistan and it having any relevance to me was back in the very early 1970s when it was still part of the hippy trail from Australia to London. I wasn’t brave enough or adventurous enough to make that trip but I did start a handicraft shop selling Afghan handicrafts amongst other things. Based on the bits and pieces that we sold the place of origin looked to be so exotic and played a big role in the aesthetic of the era, especially if you were a hippy type person like I was.
Recent History
The British put together an army of British and Indian troops and set off for Kabul in 1838, by the time they arrived it was 1839. They marched straight into Kabul but the people of Afghanistan hated them and finally revolted at the end of 1841 when 4,000 British troops and 12,000 civilians set out for Jalalabad which was 90 kms away. One person arrived alive.
A magazine based in Boston, the North American Review, published a remarkably extensive and timely account titled “The English in Afghanistan” six months later, in July 1842. It contained this vivid description:
“On the 6th of January, 1842, the Caboul forces commenced their retreat through the dismal pass, destined to be their grave. On the third day they were attacked by the mountaineers from all points, and a fearful slaughter ensued…
“The troops kept on, and awful scenes ensued. Without food, mangled and cut to pieces, each one caring only for himself, all subordination had fled; and the soldiers of the forty-fourth English regiment are reported to have knocked down their officers with the butts of their muskets.
“On the 13th of January, just seven days after the retreat commenced, one man, bloody and torn, mounted on a miserable pony, and pursued by horsemen, was seen riding furiously across the plains to Jalalabad. That was Dr. Brydon, the sole person to tell the tale of the passage of Khourd Caboul.”
The reason the British had such a vested interest in Afghanistan was because they were terrified that the Russians had their eyes on India. The country lay between Russia and India. Anything to protect India. The British went to war once more against the Afghanis in 1878. The British Raj continued to meddle in the affairs of Afghanistan which was still seen as a possible route for a Russian invasion of India. After World War 1 the British Military forces in India were diminished. The Afghans put together a small army consisting of soldiers and tribesmen to enter India through The Kyber Pass. They won. This resulted in a far greater autonomy for Afghanistan and a greater definition of its borders with India.
100 years after the second Afghan-British War, at the end of 1979 at the behest of Russian leader, Brezhnev, the Russians finally invaded Afghanistan and were at war for 10 years until early 1989 when they withdrew their troops, essentially defeated. It is estimated that up to 2,000,000 Afghanis perished during these 10 years and there were more than 100,000 Russian troops there at all times. The Americans and other Western powers financed and supported the Afghan rebels, the Mujahideen and their allies against the Russians during the 10 year war. There was also heavy involvement of the CIA.
It sure looks to me that a pattern was being set up here and the invaders certainly didn’t look at history, they just kept on coming and kept on being defeated. The Afghanis were a bit like the Vietnamese people. Think about it. If you had the balls you would want to defend your own country from invaders who were murdering the civilians in your country.
The Taliban formed in 1994 and Afghanistan was involved in a Civil War right up until 2001 when the US and their Allies invaded.
The Taliban did some pretty weird and unimaginable shit destroying an immense amount of artefacts and blowing up the Buddhas of Bamiyan in March 2001. From a western perspective they seemed quite hateable. But let’s face it, there are many other complexities involved in politics and relationships plus other unknown and unseen forces lurking in the background.
After the September 2001 attacks on New York the Americans invaded Afghanistan under the guise of capturing Osama Bin Laden who eventually, years later, got tracked down and assassinated in Pakistan. The Americans had started investing money into Afghanistan as early as 1938 and did so until just before the Russian invasion.
Leading up to the American invasion the American interest in Afghanistan didn’t get going until after the Al Qaeda embassy bombings. The CIA had financed Osama Bin Laden in his quest against the Russians. In 1996 the Taliban took over Afghanistan and set up the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Al Qaeda set up training camps in Afghanistan in the late 90s but their efforts were seperate from what the Taliban was up to.
The Americans invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and eventually had 140,000 troops in the field at any given point in time. The ensuing war lasted for 20 years, 5 months longer than Vietnam. There were estimated to be 175,000 deaths of Afghani citizens including over 50,000 civilians in this time with a similar number of Taliban being killed. On top of this there were over 70,000 anti American military personnel killed.
Why? If you asked an average person in the street why all of this happened they might answer that the US had to capture Osama Bin Laden. Yes, and that happened in Pakistan. The estimated amount spent on this war is 2 trillion dollars. An amount that I cannot get my head around. The money was borrowed from financial institutions and has to be paid back with interest which by 2050 is estimated to be 6.5 trillion. Just imagine if that much money had gone into improving education, health and living standards in the U.S alone over the past 20 years.
The end result for the US was this huge debt, 2500 American military deaths, 3850 contractors killed, 66,000 Afghan military, 450 aid workers, 72 journalists. All dead. Plus god knows how many wounded, both physically and mentally.
On top of this it is estimated that another 2 trillion dollars will be spent on health care, funeral costs and other associated costs to support the military who made it back to America. This will go on for decades.
Somebody got very, very rich out of this conflict. How many retired US top brass are now working for or consulting armaments companies or other war affiliated organisations? Rattling on about the atrocities that the Taliban are committing against innocent women and children to justify the US government spending billions on armaments.
Once again the finger is being pointed at the Taliban. I sure as hell would not want to live under their rule but for god’s sake how many innocent women and children did the American coalition kill in that 20 years of the war. How many people were maimed, how many houses and villages were destroyed by drone strikes. I’m sure they didn’t send out contractors to knock on people’s doors and give them the good news that they had a special team on the way to do house repairs or pay for a decent funeral for a loved one. Just imagine going to a wedding and without any warning having bombs raining down on you killing your friends and family. The bloody drones were so high and silent that you just wouldn’t know what was happening. Or why it was!
It looks like the war contributed to 2.6 million Afghani refugees leaving the country and up to 4 million displaced people. Holy shit. And to top it all off the Americans lost the bloody war with nothing to show except for some rich dudes back home getting even richer.
Now the press is deflecting the blame on the Taliban, as unsavoury as they are, what they have done to harm the Afghani people is nothing when compared to what the Americans did over the past 20 years.
But when the penny drops who will remember any of this in a few years? And more concisely, who will care or have learnt any lessons.
