Obama’s Butcher Shop: Afghanistan

Throughout history many conquerers have marched their armies into Afghanistan in hopes of conquest and expanding their dreams for new kingdoms. Genghis Khan was one of the few that conquered Afghanistan, but at a bloody price. The rugged and hostile mountainous terrain of  Afghanistan have posed a challenge to conquering armies unfamiliar with fighting in the rugged mountains.

At one point in 330 B.C. Alexander The Great thought he could conquer the rugged mountains and tribes of Afghanistan.  He moved and estimated 30,000 troops through the Khyber Pass and split the forces at Jalalabad.  A small mobile team accompanied him into Nuristan and they were gradually worn down by the fierce battles in the mountainous terrain.  The wearied battle-fatigued soldiers were on the point of mutiny when they begged Alexander The Great to return to his home in Macedonia.

During the 1800’s on two occasions the British Empire tried its hand at conquering Afghanistan to ensure its rule over India. Their first intrusion in 1838 turned to folly after several years of British imposed rule. To maintain power the British had to bribe the unruly tribes they were trying to govern. When the money ran dry chaos ensued and then British were ran out of Afghanistan. In 1843 a local Afghan Prince gained some control in Kabul. The British became interested in resuming relations realizing this might be important step in keeping Russian and Iran out of Afghanistan. Gradually Britain’s influence waned. The Iranians attacked Herat and when Britain sent a garrison into the Khyber Pass they were denied passage by the ruling tribes.

The Soviet Union was yet another nation that tried to subdue Afghanistan into submission. After a frustrating parlay in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989 the Soviets finally withdrew after suffering irrecoverable losses of equipment and manpower. Many soldiers were either captured or deserted. The Soviets left a wide wake of destruction to  Afghanistan’s  scarce resources such as farming land, infrastructure, and delicate environmental resources. Due to this wide swath of destruction by Soviet forces many Afghani’s fled to neighboring countries as refugees. Those that remained resorted to cultivating opium. What fragile governmental organization that existed previous to the Soviet’s invasion was sent into chaos leaving vicious criminal organizations such as the Taliban in charge.

There are a host of other problems that will ensue with Obama’s restructuring of the terror war in Afghanistan. The United States and NATO forces will have to rely on the Pashtun Tribes for a safe passage of heavy military equipment through the Khyber Pass. NATO troops and equipment will have to pass through Northern Pakistan, also known as FATA( Federally Administered Tribal Areas ). Despite the long official name for this area of Northern Pakistan is unruly and chaotic despite Pakistani forces trying to battle the constant threat of Al-Qaeda insurgency. There is open air dealing of opium and hashish along with guns. There will be many temptations as U.S. and NATO forces are passing through these areas.

One of the many sub tribes of the Pashtuns, known as the Afridi, control a small region called the Khyber Agency that pretty much runs the entire length of the Khyber Pass. Within the area controlled by the Khyber Agency the dealing of drugs and weapons is even more open. When the NATO and U.S. forces move within the pass they will subject to even more bribery to move safely through the pass.

Even the man on the street with armed with this bit of knowledge and some common sense accounting of the cost of the war will see this as nothing more than a waste of resources and U.S. manpower. The American public will be subject to paying for a grisly expensive meat grinder that the young men and women of our military will be passed through only to return to us as flag covered coffins and drug addicts.

This entry was posted on January 8, 2010 at 2:44 pm and is filed under Alternative Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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