Myths of our Afghanistan debate

NY Post ^ | October 15, 2009 | AMIR TAHERI

[neverdem]

Eight years ago this week, the Taliban emptied the coffers of the Central Bank and ran away from Kabul. Yet a number of myths still haunt the debate on Afghanistan -- and the Obama administration's policy.

Myth No. 1: No foreign power ever managed to subjugate Afghanistan, "The graveyard of empires."

Historic truth is different. What's now known as Afghanistan was part of successive empires until 1702, when a Persian adventurer, Ahmad Dorrani, set it up as his fiefdom. With the European powers' rise, it became a buffer state separating the domains of Russia, Britain and Persia.

The Afghans did win one 19th-century battle against a British-led Sikh army, but that was the exception that proves the rule. After that, the British emerged as the power behind the Kabul throne, maintaining their influence until the '40s.

Starting in the '50s, America and the Soviet Union treated Afghanistan as a buffer state -- until the Soviets staged a coup in 1977 that ended the Afghan monarchy and, two years later, propelled the Communists into power.

Myth No. 2: There's no Afghan nation -- only a hodgepodge of tribes and ethnic communities with little or nothing in common.

Again, the truth is different...

--snip--

Myth No. 5: The Taliban and al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, defeated the Red Army and destroyed the Soviet empire.

Wrong again. The Pakistani military created the Taliban in 1995 -- six years after the Red Army left Afghanistan. Al Qaeda funneled money to some mujahedeen, but never played a role in the fighting.

[Dick Holmes]

A good summary. The myth that Afghanistan threw off USSR domination all by itself is particularly ridiculous. They were a proxy in the last great battle of the Cold War, and couldn’t have done it without us!

[ExSoldier]

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[SunkenCiv]

Eight years ago this week, the Taliban emptied the coffers of the Central Bank and ran away from Kabul.

Thanks neverdem.