Afghanistan Historical perspective

The following text is a response to a question posed by my professor for World and Local Geography at Houston Community College.

War In Afghanistan-
Can troop surge in Afghanistan help achieve our goals?

**Please note that this question has been posed to students in a US Community College* and this is one of the several responses to online discussions. pardon the punctational grammatical and spelling errors.

Before we can hold any opinion on the fate of the Afghani people we have to take into consideration the Historical facts,

The region that constitutes as Afghanistan has historically been subjected to invasions including Alexander the great and the Mongols (Changes Khan), the Mughals and so on. But this is common to most lands on Earth. But it is of significance to note that in the recent history of this land the people of the region have been exposed to a multivariable of codes of life.


I tend to hold the belief that a history of events such as that of the coming of Chenges Khan, Alexander the great and the sifting of Islam into the region at a time when it was the symbol of progression and prosperity, and later Russian Socialist Revolution etc. is a unique phenomenon in its nature and is likely to result into a nation of unique national identity. The people of these regions tend to develop a culture where warring, pride and honor would deem to be given precedence and an acceptable norm of life. Over the years these people have developed a culture of prohibition and social hierarchy build on honor. These Cultural components of this region were unfortunately reinforced by orthodox version of Arab-Islam resulting into the nation that they are.


The societies in Afghanistan are based on somewhat tribal communities that tend to rely on an honor-code system called the “Baradari System” where settlement of dispute is by “Jirga”, which is the assembly of the tribal/communal elders of the locale.
Important notes from history are that the Afghans with this level of prohibition/conservatism in their culture were exposed to the Russian Socialist Revolution (in1900's), an ideology that is unacceptable in Islam. (Contrary to general belief, in Islam, there is a tolerance of believers (Abraham Faiths monotheists etc.) and an intolerance for Disbelievers (communists, atheists etc.) or at least should be in theory)


The Russian Federation (USSR) invaded Afghanistan during the Cold War era and this war was where the conflict of ideology or as some may want to refer to it as the 'Clash of Civilizations' had emerged as a concept in Afghanistan. This was the time the sanctity of being Afghan and Muslim was at stake. On the contrary, a victory of the USSR in Afghanistan would be interpreted as the defeat in the cold war by the United States. In Islam there is a concept of defense of the community, and all actions that are geared towards protecting the community of Islam. This is what Jihad is. Jihad is the holy war that becomes incumbent as a moral obligation ( more than religious obligation) for Muslims around the world to play their role to protect the brethren. This is what was going on around the time of the Soviet invasion. The Russian’s were the real blue eyed devils of the time and had attacked a Muslim country and hence Islam. This is why we had Mr. Usama Bin Laden move to Afghanistan 1989 to fight the jihad against the Soviets. The United States had been supporting the Jihadis in all possible ways. Operation Cyclone was the code name for the efforts of CIA to promote/help Anti Soviet forces in Afghanistan via the Pakistan Intelligence Services etc.

People of the likes of Usama bin laden, tend to hold a belief in the creation of a sovereign unity of all Muslim estates as one entity, under one spiritual leader. But at the time of the Soviet war their motive was to defeat the Soviets and the support from the United States was welcomed. So factually the United States has been supportive of the Jihadis. And the core reasons of Afghanistan being a haven for terrorists has been that it had been abandoned by the United States following the end of the soviet invasion. Afghanistan has been left to destruction and poor infrastructure, with millions of refugees in Pakistan and Iran.

Today Afghanistan hosts a mix of people who claim residency to a land of destruction where the production of guns, poppy, and that of Might is rampant. A helpful link reflecting gun market in Afghanistan http://www.armscollectors.com/darra/darra.htmA helpful link to reflect the past Poppy production in Afghanistan http://opioids.com/afghanistan/index.html


Now the world has come to a point where Afghanistan is a battlefield and has not favored any one yet. We have sent troops in Afghanistan where today the people tend to pose a great threat to the existence of sanity in the Muslim world. In there people are able to survive if not thrive and the last thing we want is to not eradicate the people that hold this ideology. Since their ideology is so demented and would live as long as these individuals live. These people are staunch in their beliefs and not reluctant to dismiss any other ideology. These people need to be removed just like tumor from the body. You can either achieve surrender from these people and send them to rehab or wage war and suppress them.