The British army was massacred in the Kabul Gorge in 1842. We lost again in the Second Afghan War when the British were defeated at the Battle of Maiwand; young, black-turbaned Afghan students would choose a grenadier and hurl themselves towards this one man, drag him from the ranks of his comrades and cut his throat. They were called "Talibs" or "Taliban". Many of the Afghan warriors were led by a girl called Malalei – she later fell victim to British bullets – who tore off her veil to use as a flag.
The USSR invaded to support the faltering Communist regime. The Russians, after a century of diplomatic humiliation in Afghanistan, spent 10 years in occupation, only to leave in further humiliation – a frustration that they finally vented on the equally innocent Muslims of Chechnya.
Britain, the US, Pakistan, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia supplied money and arms to various mujahedin groups fighting Soviet forces. When Soviet troops pulled out, Osama bin Laden formed al-Qa'ida. The group claimed victory over the Soviet Union and shifted its focus to the US as the main obstacle to the establishment of a pure Islamic state.
US and British forces launched airstrikes on Taliban and al-Qa'ida targets following the September 11 attacks. By December, the Northern Alliance has ousted the Taliban and US-backed Hamid Karzai is sworn in as leader.
Afghanistan, a land whose images and history – however ferocious, draw back the doomed armies of countries that have already been humiliated over two centuries.
[Robert Fisk, The Independent]
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