Integrity Score 380
No Records Found
No Records Found
Chapter-3: Consequences of Conflict in Afghanistan
“The destructiveness of modern war is widely understood, but the war in Afghanistan has been uniquely and comprehensively destructive.”- Larry P. Goodson
For a variety of reasons the prolonged conflict in Afghanistan, not merely from 1979 but through various regimes in history, has been destructive of the entire nation and the regional political order. At the crossroads of Central Asia, the area that makes up modern Afghanistan has been subjected to numerous invasions as discussed in the previous chapter. Islam was introduced in the 7th century A.D. From the 16th century, Afghanistan was divided between the Moghuls and the Safavids of Persia.
By the mid-18th century, the Pashtuns had overthrown the Persian rule and established a kingdom under Ahmed Shah Durrani who is credited with being the founder of modern Afghanistan. Rivalry between Britain and Russia, whose empires extended to Afghanistan’s borders in the 19th century, gave Afghanistan a semblance of national cohesion. The country’s most peaceful period lasted from 1933, when Zahir Shah was crowned as the king, until 1973, when he was overthrown by his cousin and brother-in-law, General Mohammad Daoud.
The Conflict, however, has escalated to a relatively high-intensity for twenty-two years (1979-2001). Afghanistan has borne the brunt of a super power intervention for a decade (1979-89) whereby superior firepower and command of technology was pitted against the guerilla tactics of the Afghan rebels, the Mujahideen. The Civil War since the withdrawal of the Soviet forces saw the warring factions engage in tactics that included comprehensive destruction and extermination of opponents.
This period (1991-96) also witnessed the rival factions shattering areas, like capital Kabul, which had previously escaped destruction. The most interesting phenomenon of the post-Cold War phase of the conflict has been the isolation and neglect faced by the country following the withdrawal of the Soviet forces and the subsequent disintegration of the Soviet Union. The Afghan situation did not stir the Western public opinion because the war fell out of the western media and political interests.
To be continued..