The year was 2001, and a terrorist group known as Al-Qaeda attacked the United States, which we all know as 9/11. After this horrific event, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan to capture Al-Qaeda’s leader, Osama Bin Laden, and dismantle the terrorist group, which the Taliban was accused of giving sanctuary for. Bin Laden was killed a decade later in Pakistan. However, the U.S. decided to stay in Afghanistan long after achieving its original goal. After 20 years of U.S. troops being in Afghanistan, the U.S. pulled out of the country, giving the Taliban momentum to take over the area in less than 10 days.
The Graveyard of Empires
This isn’t the first time Afghanistan has been invaded. Before the U.S., the Russians invaded the area from 1979-1989 and by the British three times, from 1839-1842; 1878-80; and the year 1919. Afghanistan is so famous for surviving invasions that it’s even been given the nickname “Graveyard of Empires.” So, how is this the case? How can the small country of Afghanistan be taken over by three different superpowers multiple times and still come out on top?
1. Topography
Afghanistan’s political borders were arbitrarily drawn up by foreign powers (mainly the British) around a century ago, making the borders more of an expression than a realistic separation for the various cultures in the region. The map is terribly drawn compared to where these borders should realistically be, which is a big reason why the region holds so much conflict.
Afghanistan houses 14 ethnolinguistic groups with numerous more tribal societies that don’t care for these artificial boundaries. Some of these groups include the Uzbek, Tajiks, Palaw, Baloch, and the Pashtun, which make up 42% of Afghanistan’s population. So, to go in and try to build a centralized and nationwide rule is a very difficult—maybe impossible—task to enforce because of the many ethnicities and tribes that view themselves as different from each other. So, instead of a sense of nationality, the occupants mostly have tribes and small, self-governing areas.
2. The Afghanistan and Pakistan border
Even though the Pashtuns make up around half of Afghanistan’s population, most of the Pashtun people are actually located in Pakistan. The Taliban is mostly comprised of Pashtun people and is believed to have been created in the early 1990s in northern Pakistan after the Russians left Afghanistan. The border between Afghanistan and Pakistan runs right through the Pashtuns’ tribal area. The border runs along a very rural and mountainous area, making it very difficult to patrol. This geography has allowed Pashtun insurgents operating in Afghanistan to easily cross over the Pakistan border and escape into the Pashtun area of Pakistan. So, the Taliban has the valuable ability to recover, regroup and recruit more men and then cross back over into Afghanistan freshly supplied and ready for more combat.
3. Logistical nightmare
The terrain and geography of Afghanistan are logistical nightmares. First, the country is landlocked, so the only way to Afghanistan is through neighboring countries or by air. The second, and probably the biggest, obstacle is the high peaks of the Hindu Kush mountain range, which cover 75% of the total area of Afghanistan. These mountains are some of the biggest and tallest mountains on the planet, making Afghanistan one of the most mountainous areas in the world, with an average elevation of 6,180 feet above sea level. These mountains make it difficult to transport supplies and heavy machinery, and they act as a natural shield against armored vehicles.
In addition, these paths through the mountains are usually very narrow and perfectly positioned for ambushes. With the high mountains and lack of roads, it’s imperative to have control over the small paths that do exist, as any form of blockade can hinder troops for days or weeks. For example, the Khyber pass is one of the most important and only ways to travel from Pakistan to Afghanistan; the Taliban know this and purposely target the pass.
So, those are just three of the many reasons why it’s so difficult to control Afghanistan. Now that the U.S. is leaving the regions, let us know what you think. Will the U.S. go back to Afghanistan? Will another country attempt to control the area in the future? Learn more about the United States’s time in Afghanistan here.
