*** Only read chapter 15: The Unconquerable Afghanistan? ***
Favourite Quotes
“So goes the story of Afghanistan - A never ending pattern of being overrun by foreign powers, experiencing a long-term guerilla insurgency, seeing the withdrawal of the invader, and awaiting the arrival of a new one.” p. 251
Summary
Chapter 15: The Unconquerable Afghanistan?
- this chapter explains why it’s a false notion that Afghanistan is impossible to conquer
- the reality of the situation is that Afghanistan is easy to conquer, but unifying or controlling it is near impossible
- Why Afghanistan Is Hard To Control
- seems that the ancient name of Herat was ‘Areia’ or ‘Arya’
- Alexander the Great easily conquered, but after a few short years he left cause he couldn’t control it - page 256
- this was shocking for Alexander as he has never given up before
- the leader to first create some sort of centralized power in Afghanistan was Amir Abdur Rahman Khan who took the throne in 1880
- he was allied with the British who handled his foreign affairs while he focused internally
- During the Anglo-Afghan wars starting in 1838, the British easily took over but very quickly had to retreat due to not being being to control the country.
- the same story was repeated with the Soviet Union. 100k troops deployed, 14k dead Russian soldiers. They had to retreat after 10 years.
- Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security advisor Jimmy Carter, claimed that he started funding the mujahedeen 6 months prior to the invasion by the Soviets, and that this was all a plan to instigate an invasion from the Soviet Union. Their end-goal was to create a ‘Vietnam’ for the Soviets, i.e. a long drawn-out battle that would drain them. And it worked. Just 2-3 years after the withdrawal from Afghanistan the Soviet Union collapsed.
Reflections
This chapter was short yet very informative. It really decimates the myth that ‘Afghanistan is impossible to conquer’. In reality, it’s not, but it’s very hard to control.