(Alexander of Macedon visited Afghanistan, 300 years Before the Current Era).
There is some talk this morning about the end of the twenty-year American experience in Afghanistan. For some of us it goes back a little further. For others, a lot further. Some of the Writers Section participated in one. I got to watch two, since Afghan wars last longer than careers.
I mentioned that morning meeting when one of the USS Midway Air Intelligence guys announced his assessment that the Soviets were going in. That was not the reason we were orbiting an arbitrary location in the northern Arabian Sea. We were watching Iran, once the seat of the Persian Empire. There were problems there. Christmas was nearing. It was 1979.
That was not quite 42 years ago. Considering our own preoccupation with the Iranians, the assessment of Russian intent was of more than passing interest. Ten years of it. There were all sorts of mistakes made, horror perpetrated, including weapons delivered in shapes like toys to attract children. It was a show, of sorts, but despite its martial aspect, the Communist idea did not work. The Russians left, leaving the field open to those who decided they had defeated one of the two Superpowers, and promptly began to train warriors to attack the other.
We watched. When al Qaeda acted against us on 9/11, from training areas in the Afghan mountains, we struck back. For many, that was the start of the Afghan war. But of course, would be more accurate to call it “the Latest Afghan War.” A quick look at modern sources goes back only to the 12th Century, and the conduct of an empire no one alive has discussed much.
It goes on in specific timelines, though actually confronting the scene of action should go back to al-Iskander, or Alexander the Great. It puts you in good company with the famous who have not left much effect.
Historian Barry Strauss took a look at it in 2009. We were still intent on avenging our losses in 9/11 against the leader of the al Qaeda terror franchise. Only a year or so later, in May of 2011, we killed him, though he happened to be in Pakistan at the time. Modern memory of Afghan adventure thus includes Americans, Russians, the British and a host of others going back to Alexander, whose victory over Darius III of Persia in 331 BC (The interns are glaring. “Before Current Era,” I meant) left a Greek presence in the mountains for more than a century.
Exposure to cold, wind, and snow proved challenging to an army used to fighting conventional warfare. Greek rulers survived for 150 years in Afghanistan, and Greek settlements lasted centuries more. For example, Kandahar was once known by the magical name of Alexandria.
So who is next for the adventure in the mountains? It looks like the Chinese are interested. They share a border and there are interests at stake. Despite the interest, we at the Loading Dock of Refuge Farm suspect their experience will be a lot like all the others. It might last beyond our lives, or even the life of some nations.
But Afghanistan has a tradition to maintain. And they appear quite adept at doing so.
Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra
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