Politico article: Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires, a saying that will not die

Politico (newspaper

Politico

)

an article

a political analyst for the

US claimed that the

United States would not suffer from the

effects of a

long occupation of Afghanistan ,

which lasted a

long period of time.

For Kevin Baker - a political analyst, novelist and journalist - understanding the historical truth about Afghanistan is necessary to understand the reasons why the United States is likely to avoid dangerous long-term effects from "its long and unhelpful occupation of Afghanistan, or from its bloody and clumsy withdrawal."

The writer - who is trying to paint a different picture of what the Afghan scene will result in from its repercussions on America and its allies - believes that understanding these reasons is also important in recognizing that “less insignificant” powers such as Afghanistan may also suffer from “lasting” damage more than the larger invaders And the most powerful.

inevitable

America the Ingenious: How a Nation of Dreamers, Immigrants, and Tinkerers Changed the World describes his country's hasty but inevitable withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The famous phrase "Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires" has once again topped the headlines of dozens of newspapers, political cartoons and intellectual writings, and came out of the mouths of commentators on television channels.

There is a belief that Afghanistan has seriously weakened - if not destroyed - everyone who dared to cross its borders since the time of Alexander the Great to America in the 21st century, according to the writer's expression.

Afghanistan is a victim of its own ambitions

The writer claims in his article that Afghanistan has been, throughout its existence, a victim of its ambitions.

What is certain is that the peoples living in what is today Afghanistan resisted with all their might the invaders, one after the other, who invaded the Hindu Kush region.

Alexander the Great faced "fierce" opposition from the local population when he invaded the region around 300 BC, and was seriously wounded in the leg by an arrow.

But he eventually managed to crush the resistance and establish Kandahar, which is today a modern city, and then set out for India, leaving behind the Seleucid Empire that lasted 250 years.

And it was not limited to Alexander alone, he also invaded Afghanistan, the founder of the Mongol Empire, Genghis Khan, followed by his compatriot Tamerlane, and his grandson Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur, the founder of the Mongol state in India.

It was also invaded by the Turks, the Huns, the Hindus, the Arab Muslims, the Persians, the Parthians, who are from the ancient Iranian peoples, and many others.

Where did the phrase come from?

The popular notion, however, that Afghanistan was a "geopolitical shifting sand" for the old empires appears to have begun with the Anglo-Afghan War of 1842.

At that time, an army of 4,700 British and Indian soldiers - while retreating from Kabul - were subjected to a massacre near the village of Gandmak and were almost completely killed, along with 12,000 civilians who were accompanying them.

The massacre caused a "disaster" at the time, a scandal in London.

But what is not recalled much from the events that took place in Gandmak is that Britain sent an army in a "revenge" military campaign to Afghanistan a few months after that massacre, and it managed to crush every Afghan force it encountered.

Many of the towns and villages that they passed on their way were looted and vandalized by British soldiers.

Britain then returned to crush and destroy Afghanistan in the Second Anglo-Afghan War, which ended in 1880.

Soviet adventure

The article goes on to narrate part of Afghan history, addressing what he called the Soviet adventure in Afghanistan, which he describes as the most destructive.

During its occupation of that country, the Soviet Union incurred 14,453 deaths from 1979 to 1988, during which it wasted a wealth of equipment and money.

According to the author, Afghanistan's strategic value, like many areas among the most powerful nations, has often been inflated by "map room geniuses" across the globe.

In fact, Afghanistan's importance has been very limited since the paths of the spice route began to disintegrate in the 15th century. As the world moved to the use of sailing ships and air travel and other economic priorities and methods of obtaining them, control of Afghanistan became less important.

bold decision

In the end, all the empires that invaded Afghanistan found a good reason to get out of it, or reduce their losses and expectations, as did US President Joe Biden, "who made a bold decision, albeit chaotic when it was implemented."

And unlike nearly all the great powers that set foot in Afghanistan over the millennia, the United States had a compelling reason to go to that country "but we had no good reason to stay there".