Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the War against the Taliban
by Stephen Tanner
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephen TannerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-04-28
ISBN: 0306818264
Number of pages: 392
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Book Reviews of Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the War against the Taliban
Book Review: Graveyard of Armies
Summary: 5 Stars
Seems history in Afghanistan tends to repeat itself from time to time. First Alexander the Great tried to subdue the proud Iranian and Scythian warriors in a bloody and inconclusive campaign and had to settle for a compromise solution before getting out of the place to start his conquest of India, after many centuries of bloody wars and conquest by the most fearsome eastern empires including the Persians, the Mongols, the Mughals, the Turks and the Sihks then came the British Empire who lost an army and later after a bloody war had to settle for less than victory in a compromise solution before abandoning the land, then came the Soviets with overwhelming force fighting hard without regards for human rights and depopulating the country to deny a base of operations to the Mujahadeen warriors, they also had to leave without obtaining a complete victory and now the American and Nato armies are inbroiled in the same kind of hit and run warfare and without obtaining a conclusive victory. Seems the great powers are always able to take the country, the major cities and the valleys but they can never subdue the mountain tribes. The Pashtuns are the hardiest of these tribes and are located not only in Afghanistan but also in Pakistan, these fierce warriors have embrased the Taliban cause and seems they will endure and when the last NATO soldier leaves they will rise again to take the country, they have time on their side, while the Western powers are always pressed for a fast and easy victory and are quick to retire when negative public opinion starts to hurt the present regimes the Pashtuns will endure.
After reading this very interesting history I don't see a clear victory for the west in Afghanistan, there will not be a winning of hearts and minds, for the West to obtain a victory there will be very unlikely as the US and NATO will have to resort to practices that are abhorrent in their societies such as genocide (as the Soviets did) and erradication of Pashtun tribal ways and customs that goes against the inclusion and diversity practices defended by the West. The situaction is almost a catch 22 you need to rebuilt the country in order to provide jobs and order but in order to do that you first have to erradicate violence which entails a victory against the Taliban. Is depressing to see that Western good intentions will come to nothing and someday a new generation of even more intollerant and violent breed of Pashtun Talibans will again hold Afghanistan in its clutches. Some lands were born to suffer.
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Summary of Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the War against the Taliban
For over 2,500 years, the forbidding territory of Afghanistan has served as a vital crossroads for armies and has witnessed history-shaping clashes between civilizations: Greek, Arab, Mongol, and Tartar, and, in more recent times, British, Russian, and American. When U.S. troops entered Afghanistan in the weeks following September 11, 2001, they overthrew the Afghan Taliban regime and sent the terrorists it harbored on the run. But America?s initial easy victory is in sharp contrast to the difficulties it faces today in confronting the Taliban resurgence.
Originally published in 2002, Stephen Tanner?s Afghanistan has now been completely updated to include the crucial turn of events since America first entered the country.
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