The Foreign Service Journal, December 2005

culty of pulling Afghanistan out of poverty, about half the population is 14 or younger. To understand how the country was transformed into a breeding ground for terrorist attacks on the West, and to help it to get back on its feet, we need to know something of its bloody history. We need to exam- ine the decisions and actions of the major participants in Afghanistan’s most recent conflicts: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Isolation and Invasion It is said that geography goes a long way to define a country’s politics, culture and history. This is certainly true of Afghanistan. A strategic crossroad for warriors, traders and pilgrims traveling between Europe, Persia and Asia, it endured a series of invasions by Alexander the Great (4th century B.C.), Muslims (7th century A.D.) and Mongols (13th century), among many others. This history cre- ated a complex mix of cultures, reli- gions, ethnicities and languages that made it difficult for any central gov- ernment to unify the country. In- stead, the mountain ranges and iso- lated valleys ensured that loyalty went to local chieftains, a pattern that, regrettably, continues today. Tajiks and Hazaras dominate the west of the country, Uzbeks in the north, and Pashtuns in the south and east. Pashtun is the official language, although sizable portions of the pop- ulation consider Dari (Persian) or Turkoman their mother tongue. Pashtuns are not only the dominant tribe in Afghanistan (about 12 million out of a total population of 28 million) but the key ethnic group in Pakistan as well, concentrated along the areas bordering Afghanistan. Equally im- portant, Pashtuns dominate the senior Pakistani Army officer class. Their val- ues are relevant on both sides of the border: a strict honor code that sanc- tions revenge in cases of shame, treats women as property, and puts clan and family above nation. In the 19th century, Great Britain and Russia fought and maneuvered for control of what both powers con- sidered a desirable piece of real estate. Britain even invaded Afghan- istan twice, but both campaigns ended in disaster. Afghanistan stag- gered into the 20th century relatively untouched by civilization outside of the Hindu Kush mountains region. Little changed until the 1960s, when the Cold War superpowers once again became interested in Afghanistan because of its strategic location. In 1973, King Zahir Shah was ousted by his cousin, Moham- med Daoud, a shifty character who played off the Soviets against the Americans, seeking economic and military aid from both. What he did not allow was Islamic fundamental- ism, so large numbers of devout Af- ghans (including the warlords who would be the main protagonists in the ensuing civil war) fled to Pakistan. In April 1978, Daoud was over- thrown in a bloody coup. Plotters dive-bombed and then overran the presidential palace, murdering him and his entire family. Based in neigh- boring Pakistan, my wife and I had more than an academic interest in the fighting: our 14-year-old daughter was in Kabul that weekend, and unknown to us, was separated from her classmates. During most of the fighting she found herself isolated in a house next to the palace — all the while aware that the Afghan Air Force was not a world leader in bombing accuracy. One good thing came out of it, however: when school resumed she had no trouble with the assigned topic for an essay in English class: “What did you do during spring vacation?” The Enemy of My Enemy Even with Soviet backing, Daoud’s successors could not maintain con- trol and were themselves victims of savage coups. Increasingly alarmed at the mounting chaos, the Red Army invaded on Christmas Day 1979. This thrust Afghanistan into the forefront of the Cold War, with cata- strophic consequences for its citi- zens. The Soviet invasion was only one of the momentous, interconnected events of 1979: the fall of the shah and the mob takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, the attack on the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and the burning of the U.S. embassy in Islamabad. Our friends and col- leagues there narrowly escaped being burned alive as the Pakistani Army, stationed nearby, chose not to take on the mob. Zia-ul-Haq was president of Pakistan at the time, having deposed President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in a July 1977 military coup. The general rejected widespread pleas to save Bhutto’s life and sent him to the gal- lows in April 1979. While President Zia was not a favorite in the Carter White House, Washington urgently needed Pakis- tan to funnel arms to the Afghan D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 53 The country’s history created a complex mix of cultures, religions, ethnicities and languages that make it difficult for any central government to unify it.