June 1, 2003

The Afghans are a resilient people. They have faced invasions from the Greeks to the British and recently the Americans, but each time, the conquerors had to leave with humiliating memories. Stephen Tanner, a military historian, introduces his book in the following words:

“The world was riveted as the vast panoply of American military power rose to contest the legendary warrior culture of Afghanistan.... But America’s recent victory may not be exactly as it seems. Across the centuries Afghanistan has been an easy country to enter; the problem arises when an army tries to remain, or when it tries to leave.”

The book under review traces in twelve chapters the story of Afghanistan’s suffering at the hands of the foreign invaders and the geopolitics of the region for the past 2500 years. There are photos, maps, glossary and bibliography to help the readers understand the complexity of the terrain in which the invaders have had to play the ‘Great Game’.

There are some revealing references: “Afghanistan, as ever, remains the stage for not just clashes of armies but of civilizations.” The so called popularized term “The Great Game” has been used to the determent of Afghan territory. The country was vital to the warriors, the British, Russians and Americans, with the interest that it should not be strong on its own terms but exist ignominiously as a buffer between larger spheres of influence. Now the game is moved to the north, encompassing Central Asia.

The author accepts the “American empire” as a foregone conclusion and believes that it will be a part of our world for a while. Two chapters entitled “The Soviets” and “The Americans” are crucial for the understanding of the recent misfortunes of Afghanistan. In between the two chapters there is the story of the so-called Mujahideen and the Taliban created by the Americans and their unholy allies. Taking it for granted, as American imperial right, Tanner records:

“Earlier that year (1979) the US had lost Iran to an Islamist uprising... All the listening posts, airfields, military stockpiles, and logistical advantages the US had enjoyed on the Soviet border had disappeared along with the Shah’s government... The US military was now focused on the region, and if it didn’t go to war against Iran it would be looking to restore its position in southern Asia elsewhere”. Pakistani praetorian guards came handy to provide US geopolitics space at a very low cost “frontline state”.

It is not easy to control a mixed tribal people, so the American language becomes coarse As if digging a hole for the future, the writer says, “The US though currently grappling with Islamic mobs, was aware that the Soviets were even more vulnerable, having tens of millions of Muslims, conquered only with difficulty, within their own territory.” With the recent invasion and conquest of Iraq, thousands miles away and millions of Muslims in the immediate neighbourhood, the Americans and the reluctant coalition partners have to watch out.

The key chapter is the one on “The Americans”. The use of religious language is utilized for foreign policy. The President went on the television to say: “Today our nation saw evil” and quoting the Bible: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me”. And then went to say, “We will make no distinction, between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbour them.”

According to the author, the President threw the gauntlet to the world at large: “You’re either with us or against us.”(pp 291-92)

During the cold war years, the Americans built a military machinery to match the Soviet might. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the US military has made enormous leaps beyond the world’s remaining powers in sophisticated weaponry. America has multiplied its technological expertise in a most extraordinary way in this age of computers. It remains unmatched in military might.

Stanner emphasizes that the key to the United State’s global reach lies in a navy and air force which has the capacity to quickly reinforce the network of bases it has established around the world.

In response to the horrifying event of September 2001, in New York, America could mobilize world support and enlist the help of its coalition partners against a Talbanized Afghanistan. Every government from the Russians to the Chinese had a strategic interest in fighting against the Taliban. But Pakistan’s position was ticklish. It had to become a partner of the US as the frontline state and fight against the very people it had created in the 1980s as a fighting force to challenge the Soviets in Afghanistan.

The Afghan government was accused of using the name of God in vain, but then President Bush made a defiant speech on September 20 in which he said, “The course of this conflict (with Afghanistan) is not known yet its outcome is certain... And we know that God is not neutral... In all that lies before us, may God grant us wisdom and may he watch over the United States of America.”

There are two lessons to be learnt from the American adventure in Afghanistan. First, a conflict between the technologically advanced power against the least developed country creates its own dilemmas for the victorious party.

Stanner points out that having begun the war with the greatest imaginable reservoir of moral authority, the US was on the verge of letting it slip away through high-level attacks using the most ghastly inventions its scientists could come up with. The American war camp is now disliked by millions who openly march on the streets to defy the gun power.

The military might does not stop after one conquest. With the Americans fully engaged in southern Asia, the hawks clamoured to expand the war by attacking Iraq. After the fall of Baghdad, the question is being asked, “Who is next?”

The second lesson concerns the human dimension. Their computerized military technology notwithstanding, the Americans cannot fight against the human will to survive. Like all empires which have trampled over human lives and in the process paved the way to their own destruction, the Americans will discover that they will fare no differently.

Stephen Tanner understands all these hazards. His book is a warning to the Americans that the Afghan will to survive against all invaders could defeat their imperial aims in the final analysis.

Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban
By Stephen Tanner
Oxford University Press, Plot # 38, Sector 15, Korangi Industrial Area, Karachi
Tel: 111-693-673
Email: ouppak@theoffice.net
Website: www.oup.com.pk
ISBN 0-19-579922-4
351pp. Rs395

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