Afghanistan War -- Part Two

Will we stay the course?

After centuries of rule by the likes of Mahmud, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, Ahmad Shah Durrani and then Abdur Rahman, who reigned from 1880 to 1901, the Russians and British officially established the boundaries of what would become modern day Afghanistan, with the British retaining control over Kabul's (Afghan capital city) foreign affairs.

Habibullah, Abdur Rahman's son and successor, was assassinated in 1919. His third son, Amanullah, regained control of Afghanistan after launching the third Anglo-Afghan war with an attack on India in that same year (1919). During the ensuing conflict the war-weary British gave up their control over foreign affairs by signing the "Treaty of Rawalpindi" in August of 1919. In commemoration of this event, Afghans celebrate August 19 as their "Independence Day."

In December of 1978 the Soviet Union (Moscow) signed a bilateral treaty of "Friendship and Cooperation" with Afghanistan, and the Soviet "Military Assistance Program" increased significantly, the Afghan Government's survival increasingly depended upon Soviet assistance as insurgency spread and the Afghan Army began to collapse. By October 1979, however, relations between Moscow and the Afghan government were tense because the Afghan rulers refused to take Soviet advice. On December 24, 1979, large numbers of Soviet Airborne Forces invaded Afghanistan. After being bogged down in Afghanistan for almost 10 years, with the loss of 14,500 Soviet and about 1 million Afghan lives, the Soviets withdrew in 1989.

In 1979, maybe even before the official invasion of Afghanistan, our CIA was recruiting what would become known as "Freedomfighters or Mujahadeens" in or around Afghanistan. "Osama bin Laden" was one of the first of those recruits. In 1980, shortly after that invasion, Dan Rather who would later become the anchor on CBS News,while filming a piece for CBS's "60 Minutes" was seen on camera wearing a traditional Mujahadeen headdress and garment. The report claimed that he was near the front lines but there have been some who disputed that. At any rate, these excursions earned him the nickname of Dan "Gunga Dan" Rather.

Shortly after the withdrawal of the Soviet's the Taliban began their rise to power in reaction to the anarchy and warlordism that arose in the vacuum left by the leaving of the Soviet forces. By the end of 1998, the Taliban occupied about 90% of the country and sought to impose an extreme interpretation of Islam - based on rural tribal codes - on the whole country and committed massive human rights violations particularly against women and girls.

After the Soviet withdrawal, Osama bin Laden and his Mujahadeen's had no war to fight and was no longer useful to our CIA and therefore became expendable. From the mid 1990s the Taliban provided sanctuary to bin Laden and other terrorist organizations. In return, bin Laden provided both financial and political support to the Taliban. Bin Laden and Al-Qaida have claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States. There are some (including myself) who believe that Osama bin Laden turned against the United States because of the first Gulf War. Although Dan Rather denies ever having a relationship (whatever that means) with Osama bin Laden and I have not, as yet, found proof otherwise, my memory keeps trying to tell me that one of those excursions through the Afghan Mountains was with Osama himself. Any help out there?

Now, regardless of what our government and others try to tell us, neither the Korean Conflict nor the Vietnamese War can truthfully be considered a win. Our present war in Afghanistan appears, in too many ways, to be paralleling that war in Vietnam where a peace treaty was signed but as soon as our troops were out of Saigon the Communist took over South Vietnam. It is my belief that within the next two years our government will have negotiated a cease fire with the Taliban (and Al-Qaida) and, at least, be in the process of withdrawing all forces from Afghanistan. Will it turn out to be another Vietnam and our withdrawal later be referred to as a "Cut and Run." Let's all pray that it won't happen that way. Thanks for your time, stay tuned - William