The Graveyard Of Empires:
Pic Credit: Steve McCurry 1984
"...a war begun for no wise purpose, carried on with a strange mixture of rashness and timidity, brought to a close after suffering and disaster, without much glory attached either to the government which directed it, or the great body of troops which waged it. Not one benefit, political or military, was acquired with this war. Our eventual evacuation of the country resembled the retreat of an army defeated.” Writes a disgruntled British Soldier, George Robert Gleig, while abandoning Afghanistan in 1842...
Interestingly, the peculiar lifestyle of this remote and varied land had essentially remained unchanged for centuries, only untill the advent of the competing forces that came in to erase Afghanistan's long cherished cultural memories...
The chances have always been bleak for an 'artificial democracy' to succeed in being the guardian that will protect the classic 'Afghan way of life'; in whose favor would you expect to argue, when the people themselves opt to be habituated to the enslaving customs, in order to survive!!!
Their inability to even express the unwillingness to participate, is the classic example of those republics where nothing transcends beyond what the smoking barrels dictate...
Thus, manifold reason for fear, apprehension, & anxiety still persist, & basic descrepensies still come to haunt; sadly every 'failed state' is bound to serve as a stage to showcase power—the world expects the powerful to flaunt!!!
Well, the attacks on the 'Twin Towers' was an opening salvo, but it had to take 'Two long Decades' to testify to its coming full circle; this realization is the only outcome in the end that it has always been impossible to piece together an 'unsolvable puzzle'!!!
Under the guise of its advocacy of democracy, 'The Almighty America' had kept on feeding its unrelenting pride; in its impulse of imposing wars upon the world it had willfully neglected more urgent cries...
Sadly, there is a thin line that separates a 'vulnerable hero' from his natural state of a 'villainous being'; one only have to live long enough to let the true Colours of his selfish self to be revealed at the visible side of the screen...
The mistaken belief in its ability to stem the rot, had actually led it to come to terms with the overwhelming odds; despite in a position of playing God, America, had failed miserably in connecting the dots...
There were several to provide the safe heaven, & some of them have been readily available at the disposal to play the patron; there have been many players to this game of destruction there, with ready-made excuses to justify their respective reasons...
As if a 'Geopolitical Crisis' of a cold war era was an imperative to wake the world to an impending mishap; it was the clash of conflicting interests that dragged it from oblivion & put 'Afghanistan' on the worlds' map!!!
The claimants to the guardianship of Afghans were motivated by the prospects of certain gains; to cater to the wounds of a bleeding valley, ultimately, the ones who had nothing to lose have remained!!! (The Taliban)
And finally, 'Taliban' has succeeded in forming their Shura (govt) last friday(sept-3-21); still the international eyes will vie for its legitimacy for the fears to be allayed & the further dangers to be kept at bay....
ANYWAYS...
Let me set the premise of this story where there were no less than '#7_DeadlySins' at play...
One, it all started with the Soviet's 'Greed' : Driven by the covetousness, soviets had come to wreck havoc, so that every other cold-war era force to reckon with was outweighed; never wondering what may become of those prestiged Afghan people, when the unwanted players start dictating the terms of a play!
(P.s: outcome was an unprecedented patriotic resistance; led by Mujahideen, supplied and supported by USA.)
Two, American 'Pride': Alleged to have put everything in disarray...Sent it's troops to send a message and the message was rightly conveyed; it's the labyrinth of expectations it got stuck in, thus could manage only a prolonged 'half-hearted' stay!
(P.S: The tale of occupation started with an offensive, which was supposed to end with a fructified revenge; but the temptation of it had been procrastinated till an insatiable thirst for power was partially quenched...)
Three, Pakistan's 'Gluttony': To not miss the opportunity to exploit the chance served to it in a buffet...Pakistan had kept on arising time and again as a claimant with the largest say...
(P.s: Pakistan is popular for using tragedy as opportunity to rake up its cause, ISI here has been and will always play the 'Real Boss!')
Four, 'Lustful' Mujahideen: Two of the apex predators meanwhile, came at loggerheads as to who is to reap the most out of the heyday; indulgence in 'filicide' happens to be the natural tendency of such opportunistic 'birds of prey'!
(P.S: The 1970s was a time when Afghanistan was beginning to be site of proxy war between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Islamist uprising had started during that time against the pro-Soviet regime in Afghanistan. The US saw this as an opportunity to settle scores with the Soviets for the Vietnam war and started funding the Mujahedeen—under Gulbuddin Hekmatyar & Ahmed Shah Massoud)
Five, Saudi Arabia and Iran have been mutually 'Envious' of each other's clout in the region: In catering to their dismayed conscience which was at the verge of getting left out at the behest of a power play; both had kept on raising their stakes higher in order to ensure that the others bet is downplayed...
Six, the 'Wrath' of Taliban and Al Qaeda:
To defend the 'traditional lifestyle' & to treat the new infestation of the Kabul elite, the birth of a very first Islamic organization was
conceived to check the westernized class breed...
But a new definition of 'Terror' was still in the offing, as the orphans of those successive wars had felt betrayed; the beginning of their end had started with the 'move', Al-Qaeda had meticulously planned to repay... #9/11!!!
Seven, last but not the least , a 'Slothful'—Rest of the World, that couldn't wake up to the call of an impending catastrophic doomsday!!!...
...A battle of attrition between conflicting viewpoints culminated in the end just to disappoint; it is so heart breaking to see 'merchants of dreams' giving in this way to the war-lords who have always wanted it to be fetched at gunpoint!
Any dictum is meant to dictate the terms, yet in the end the legitimacy of it is supposed to be sought; makers of the Guns are supposed to be held responsible equally now for the way they are sold and bought...
A new dimension is added to an already unstable regions' chore; the chaos can again serve as an opportunity for those who have been looking for such similar detours...
With 'illegal weapons' in hands the accountability of bullets can't be restored; the taliban in the end will have to learn that the space will have to be reserved for a 'universal law' to take its course!!!
Sadly, the 'valley of Hindukush' has again fallen prey to the distrust, disillusion and despair; but in the pages of time, every inflicted wound's destiny is written—with time every sort of wound gets repaired!!!
Well, the looters will keep on looting, and the real help will seldom reach the needy despite seemingly always in its way; the only thing that could save a 'Bleeding Afghanistan' will be the timely supply of tourniquet...
I hope, I didn't sound too pompous in extending my honest concerns for my fellow beings; I only wish well for the 'valley of Hindukush' and prey for its wards well-being...
The aforesaid was neither an undeniable argument nor an unsolicited advice, the premise of the story was enlaid in the committed sins—clothed as virtuous vice(or necessary evil)...
We will now have to wait and see, as to what becomes of a culture that asks its people to simply submit, comply & obey; let's just hope that once peaceful Afghanistan doesn't become the land of abandonment of hapless refugees & runaways...
...Well, now, let's wait and watch if it's still past its day of reckoning; 'Afghanistan' after all will be what it has often found itself of becoming—#The_Graveyard_Of_Empires!!!
~Praveen Katiyar
#91121
✌ ☮ #peace #911
