Afghanistan and the Lessons of History

"I don’t know why, but I’ve never fully written about my extreme annoyance at those writers and commentators who always bring up Afghanistan’s history (and the history of the land on which the contemporary state is located). First, there’s the Euro-centric perspective that always bring up defeats of European forces. This includes the Soviet-Afghan war, the Anglo-Afghan Wars and, for the historically challenged, Alexander the Great (there is a little history in between these events worth reading). And then there is the perspective that claims Afghanistan is, and has throughout history, been “backwards.” And then there are people from all other parts of the political spectrum who have read a couple of books (probably “popular” histories) and then decided they should expound on Afghan history to bolster their arguments. To emphasize, one is missing massive chunks of history if confined to the narrow perspectives above."
Ghost of Alexander