There Is Nothing New Going On In Afghanistan

By Mihir Mathur

Yes, you read the title correctly. I know that you are glancing at it again as you're reading this. If you're getting a bit agitated about the title, go ahead and leave an angry comment. Meanwhile, I will go ahead and write down what is going on there, if only for posterity's sake.

The Taliban has taken over Afghanistan. This marks the beginning of the decline of the nation into, possibly, a Balkanized set of regions chock full of in-fighting, bloody coups d'état, civil wars and so many human rights violations, you'd think that they are having a contest. It was always going to take over Afghanistan. That, sadly, has been inevitable for a very long time. The NATO, headed by the US, has held back the tide for over 2 decades, spending trillions of dollars, and sacrificing thousands of lives. But the Afghan government is as corrupt as it is incompetent. The same goes for the Afghan National Army, that all but handed their nation to the Taliban. Even the former president of the nation, Ashraf Ghani, ran from the country at the first sign if trouble, but not before stuffing a few helicopters with as much money he could carry. His brother has also pledged support to the Taliban.

Yeah, Afghanistan's chances were never good.

Ah, look. The people who got angry at my clickbait-y title are back. I deserve the flak, I suppose. Don't worry, I haven't been praising the Taliban or anything.

Let's look at Afghanistan's history. It is an absolutely breathtaking country, famous for it's pomegranates, dates, and having the nickname "The Grave of Civilizations". Given it's geographical locations, being born in Afghanistan was high-risk, high-reward. You were connected to Europe in the west, Slavic countries from the north, and Asia to the east, and can easily get to Africa down south. This meant that if you could get a business going here, you would make a killing. It also meant that any king with expansionist ideals (i.e., all of them) would trampling over you to get to other hemisphere.

Things were relatively calm, back in the good ol' days of 3000BCE. The region came mostly under the Indus Valley Civilization. That civilization ended without much drama. The Kabul region was settled again, and is believed to be the birthplace of Zoroastrianism, between 1800 and 800 BCE. Then, Alexander the Great showed up in 330 BCE, and it's been downhill ever since.

Alexander took over the region, because of course he did, but only briefly. After his death, the Seleucid took over. The proto-Indians from the Indian subcontinent had a tug-of-war with the Greek world, until Mauryas finally win and absorb it into their kingdom. With the BCE era coming to an end with the arrival of the Silk Road, Jesus Christ and his book club. So far, every empire worth their salt had tried to stake a claim to the prize that is the land of Afghanistan. The piece of real estate that could only belong to the strongest and the most stable of kingdoms.

By the 6th century CE, Islam was spreading greatly throughout the Middle East, and was pushing back against Hinduism. The state of Hinduism was weakening along with the Mauryan empire. However, it was not until the 11th century that, with the defeat of the final Hindu kings, Islam was firmly established as the religion of choice for the region. After five hundred years of warfare and uncertainty, peace was finally a in sight.

And then Genghis Khan was like, "Ha, ha! Nope!"

The Mongols destroyed three cities within a year of their arrival. They were like a nuclear bomb, reverting the flourishing country with its art and architecture back to the Stone Age, as its people were forced back into agrarianism to survive. The Mongols would go on to become the Afghan people, with the former people moving away into Europe or India, or getting buried along with their legacies.

What followed next is what always follows bloody conquest - unrest and uprising. The seat of power changed hands through several rebellions from the Afghan tribes, disrupted successions and much politicking. Part of the region got liberated by the Mughals, as they pushed towards India. And so it continued, the size and strength of the empire ebbed and waned, but it seemed like the oscillations were finally coalescing towards peace.

And then the British were like, "Ha, ha! Nope!"

The British took advantage of the unrest in the nation and is ongoing wars against the Persians and the Sikh to occupy territory. They were coming to fight the perceived influence of the Russians in the region - the excuse that the US would use to get involved a century and a half later. Some things never change.

They remained neutral during World War 1, but really wanted to fight the British. They gave in to the temptation, and kicked off the third Anglo-Afghan war. They finally fought off the British, and Afghanistan was established as we know it today. After World War 1, they joined the Axis powers, with Nazi Germany contributing greatly to their development. However, they remained neutral in the World War 2 as well. Arriving at the contemporary era, Afghanistan has more of the same. They still continued the proud tradition of civil wars, coups and broken lines of succession.

Late in the Cold War era, US would train Mujahideen fighters to combat the threat of communism from the Soviet Union, creating the Taliban to resist them. They would be left to fester after Russia pulls out of Afghanistan, taking over it completely in the mid 90's. After 9/11, the US launches a massive anti-terror campaign in the Middle East, hunting down and killing Osama bin Laden, and then fighting against ISIS, Lashkar, Daesh and others to restore democracy to the nations of the Middle East. We all know how this ends.

Scores of cultures, millions of lives and stories lie dead today in Afghanistan. It has been fought over by countless rulers for its tactical location, superior trade locations and port access, or resources. It is a wild and beautiful land that has suffered along with the warriors, the target of humanity's wrath. It has only ever heard the swings of steel, the reports of guns, and the wailing despair of the people those weapons were turned on.

So, no, there is nothing new going on in Afghanistan.

By Mihir Mathur