“A Deadly Denouement for Foreign Troops in Afghanistan”
Los Angeles Times, August 22, 2012
Remember Tamerlane, or Timur, depending on what part of the world you come from? In case you’ve gotten a little shaky on your fourteenth century Middle Eastern history, Tamerlane was a nomadic Turkic Islamic conqueror born in what is now Uzbekistan. He was notable for a variety of reasons, some very good, but primarily, to quote the very first sentence of his entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica, “…for the barbarity of his conquests…” He created an empire that ran (roughly) from the Balkans and Mediterranean to Kashmir, and from central India to the northern edge of the Caspian Sea. He did this through a combination of intelligence, military genius, and unbridled ferocity, ferocity of a kind that even in a ferocious time made him feared by mighty rulers as far away as Africa and Europe. The bloodiest man of a bloody age, he is said to have been responsible for the deaths of five percent of the world’s population at his time, a number roughly equivalent to three-hundred and fifty million people today. If any city resisted him, he simply obliterated it. He then had his soldiers build graceful towers in the smoldering ruins, towers made of the human skulls of the erstwhile inhabitants, thereby proving his PR sense was as keenly developed as his aesthetic sense. An energetic and enterprising fellow with a singular sense of humor.
The reason I remind you of him is because he is the only person who ever conquered and retained control of Afghanistan for any appreciable length of time. Just to remind you, here is a very brief, Pat-the-Bunny-See-Spot-Run history of Afghanistan. Darius I of Persia was one of the first to take the place for a while, but he didn’t hang his hat there. Alexander the Great marched in, and after brawling with the Afghans he remarked that Afghanistan was easy to march into, but hard to march out of, something he proceeded to do with alacrity. We can only wish our modern elected officials had read his comment and taken it to heart. After Alexander, for about a thousand years nothing much happened. Various nomadic tribes and cultures passed through without leaving much of a footprint, until Genghis Khan and his Mongols took the place, largely by slaughtering everyone they could find who wasn’t a Mongol. But it wasn’t until Tamerlane—or Timur—that anyone imposed their vision on the place for any length of time, and for a little over a hundred years there was a certain amount of peace and prosperity in Afghanistan. After the Timurid dynasty died out, Afghanistan reverted to its basic tribal structure; other countries claimed to own it from time to time, but they wisely made their claims from far enough away that they couldn’t be heard. In more modern times the British and the Russians have both attempted to stake a claim of one kind or another, and we know how well that worked for them.
And now America is there. Apart from any question of precisely why we are there, you have to ask yourself if any American—any president, senator, general, CIA chief, anyone—bothered to read his history before he packed his bags. As Americans, we lack Tamerlane’s stomach, as well as his penchant for unusual architecture, so if we can learn anything from history, it’s that the Afghans will either drive us out or wait us out, but they will prevail one way or the other, and then they will continue doing and being whatever it is they wish to do and be. And I don’t think that includes KFC, Disneyland, the Southern Baptist Church, the Super Bowl, or anything else American.
Bravo Mr. Parker for that history which I didn’t know. I am a hige believer that history repeats itself. I thoroughly enjoyed this . We just celebrated Eid after the month of fasting Ramadan. We celebrated eith family and friends, I ate too much and gave gifts sorta like Christmas. The reason I include this is even though Afghanistan the people there have done the same even though they are occupied and war torn.
Tena French Halifax NS Canada
So, from history we can say that the Afghan people are resilient. I will never understand why one group of people wants to ‘fix’ another group of people. I know there are times when one must step up and stop the Hitler’s of this world but in general we seem to want conformity. This is why I love dogs – they do not judge how we do things. I am reminded of a true story of two women sitting on a train, knitting. There are two main methods of hand knitting, one being faster than the other. The fast knitter said to the slow knitter in scathing terms, that she was stupid for knitting the way she did and continued to denigrate her publicly until the slow knitter put her knitting away. Why? Not why did she put her knitting away,but why did the other woman want conformity and at a nasty price?
My dogs have never criticised my knitting. They are happy for me to knit. This is why I love dogs.
Delphine
Delphine that is so true habibty (sweetness) My cat has never commented on my singing in the bedroom! and that can be commented on lol. I as well will never understand why people should just let things be and stay out of others way or business. My mom knits and our cat loves to hump the yarn but not comment on it.
Tena French Halifax, NS Canada
Tamerlane was a Son of a Bitch.
Had the Clap, Blue-Balls
And the Seven-Year Itch.
(apologies to the USMC cadence creators)
or
Wherefore art thou Sher Shah Sur(i)?
The most remembered things about this Timur are his unique intimidation tactics.
S. S. Suri is a more revered figure. He was an outstanding nation builder and leader (only 6 years!) and, in many ways, just, compared to others. The extended and rebuilt Grand Trunk Road alone makes him amazing. Also he kicked Mongol ass.
Modern day versions of intimidation tactics don’t seem to work on a lot of committed folk. Besides, if remotely released munitions are not used, most any ‘scorched earth’ type operation may risk ‘boots’ on the ground. So, a better ‘modest proposal’ would be a thermo-nuclear holocaust. ‘Nuke ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out.’ Neighboring countries will just have to learn ‘how to love the fallout.’
Ofcourse that will be the end of Kandahar-Disney and the like. Also the end of lucrative mining contracts.
‘As Americans, we lack Tamerlane’s stomach, as well his penchant for unusual architecture….’
Indeed, but, astonishingly, in scale only. It is hard to ignore the lovely tale of the GI who sent a Japanese skull to his honey back in WWII- that made the cover of a famous magazine. (see ‘American Mutilation of War Dead’ in wikipedia, if you have the stomach for it.) Not everyone in the so-called ‘Greatest Generation’ was likable. Perhaps we have to partly or wholly blame the Great Depression for creating such horrendous depravity, exceeded only in Axis countries.
As for scale of intimidation, post WWII, consider the following ‘fun fact’:
“Between the second half of the 60s and the early 1970s, more U.S. bombs were dropped on Laos than in the Pacific and European theaters during the Second World War. According to one estimate, around 3500 villages in areas controlled by the ‘enemy’ were ‘partly or totally’ destroyed. The large majority were inhabited by ethnic minorities.” **
Those folks still find UXBs today.
And do you remember Diego Garcia?:
” In the late 1960s the United States required all residents on the inhabited islands to be removed when a long-term lease was secretly negotiated with the British in violation of ‘British law and international human rights guarantees.’ An estimated 1500 to 2000 residents were involved. Removal was rushed so that U.S. engineers could get on with base construction. On at least one occasion, those involuntarily removed had to leave behind ‘most of their possessions and all their animals.’ Pet dogs were killed, sometimes with their owners present. Compensation was totally unacceptable. Today the large majority of approximately 5000 refugees live marginal lives as exiles in Mauritius and the Seychelles. ” **
Any surprise 1960s gave birth to world-wide protests and a temporary change for the better. By the way, how’s all that going in this, possibly, Second Coming of the Great Depression?
One cannot indict an entire country or nation for these atrocious acts, but, it is important to remember them every once in a while.
And who said doing the right thing was gonna be easy? But if some amount of selflessness is applied along with intelligence, transparency and persistence instead of short-term idiotic partisan politics (and unbridled greed!) things like nation-building could go a whole lot better-almost miraculously, even in these terribly hard and complicated times. Goodness knows the knowledge and expertise exist already. But nobody can seem to ‘afford’ to do it.
‘You have to do the right thing even if you know you’re licked before you start.’
(apologies to Harper Lee).
RA
** As reported in Global Threats Global Futures: Living with Declining Living Standards by T. Scudder.
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P.S. Consider not posting the above comments as they might attract untoward attention to your site.
RA , my friend Naeema told me this we spoke on the phone. She gave me the history as she is a history major.
Tena French Halifax, NS Canada
Mr Parker,
Tena my dear friend tempted me to take a break from studying anD return to post this even though I hate political issues, just to let you know a simple idea why so many casualties were caused during this time of the Mogul Invasion-Tatar as we call them in Arabic.
during this period the news about the massacres reached the muslims and for a weak ununited muslim nation who was unable to fight this deadly aggression it was wise to surrender,BUT it was actually
One of The Prophecies of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) the Sunni Muslims believed in that says (more than 6 hadiths or saying):
“The Hour will not be established until you fight with people with small eyes, and with broad faces, their eyes will look like the eyes of locusts, their faces will look like shields coated with leather, they will have shoes made of hair, they will have leather shield and will tie their horses into palm trees”
also
The Prophet said, “The Hour will not be established till you fight a nation wearing hairy shoes, and till you fight the Turks, who will have small eyes, red faces and flat noses; and their faces will be like flat shields…
this prophecy was what lead the muslim to what we call Jihad or hard fight to death against them,few did not but most did,specially in Syria.
and Taymor Lank ( Taymor the Limp ) was considered A Kafer as not a muslim or Christian or a jew,even thought he claimed he accepted the Shia faith but he killed them as well for fighting him!! plus they believed in the prophecy as well.
As for the Afgan people you wont understand how strong they are unless you live among them,they are our neighbours,poor but kind people who were sadly torn by the war, and so loyal to thier tribes,but Islam comes first even thought some lack knowledge of it and so was mislead by foreigners.
Ahmad was a good Afgani young man who we knew as an orphan child, he was poor could not go to school but had a pride,he struggled hard and worked to support his family at young age he was so quite and polite,may allah bless your soul he died of car accident and was greatly missed by my family.he was a true example of typical young afgani citizen.
RA mentioned thermo-nuclear holocaust !!!!
Remember Japan became the great country it is after bombing them the end of second world war??!!
and knowing the Afgan people they will keep on fighting.they were born fighters!
if people aproved of such act then its like saying they approved of the sadly boming of 9 11 wich created high civilian casualties still mourn by thier loved ones!
Only people with no mercy or faith think that way! I hope you are not among them Mr Parker.
but its great reading your blog even though I dont agree with all is wrote.
Naeema
I certainly don’t believe anything of the kind. World War II is frequently held up as an example of one of the few justifiable wars in the history of mankind, yet World War II was the first time that wide-spread bombing of civilian targets was used (by both sides) as part of a tactic to “break the will to resist” of the other side. I remember, as a young boy living in a small village in Germany, playing hooky with a friend one day. We took the ferry across the Rhine and went exploring in the woods on the far side of the river. In a clearing, we stumbled upon a small cottage that had been bombed, a single bomb, a direct hit through the roof, one half of the house obliterated, the other half, curiously enough, almost perfectly intact, pictures still on the walls, a mildewed rug on the floor, ruined furniture, a desk with letters rain-damaged on it, a Hitler Jugend knife in one drawer that my friend took. What had the occupants of that cottage in the woods done to deserve a bomb through the roof of their house? What did any of the civilians on either side do to deserve such things? I find it incomprehensible, indefensible, and inexcusable, no matter who does it.
JP
send this just for you Mr Parker just in case you are a little tiny bit interested to read more about Magul prophecy that we believed 1400 years back and know a little of muslim history as well for knowledge.
if not then just delete it!
.
http://www.defending-islam.com/page273.html
Naeema
I agree mr. Parker. When I was studying Islam and being a spokesperson I learned that there is nothing holy about war,the media used the term jihad pronounced jee had, meaning struggle and gave it the term holy war now the reason why I bring this up is because of your later point the only ones who are innocent…civilians on either side get hurt. Yes soldiers die and are wounded but the non uniformed ones didn’t sign up for this.
Tena French Halifax ns canada sorry for any typos sent from iPad lol
Mr Parker I wished to share with you and Ms. Darlene what happened to me as it was special. As you now know I am a Canadian Muslim born and raised. I wear full hijab meaning i only show my face and hands. I was shopping for my mom and I saw a Catholic sister (nun) she was needing help up the stairs to the mall. I helped her . It was only a short distance but by the time we were done in that short chat, we hugged each other and said God Bless. I wish the world would do more of this. This was a special moment for me as its a moment where the whole world kind of stops and we look at one another and realize yes we are human!
Tena French Halifax, NS Canada
Great to know you dont Mr Parker! as I said before your a kind man.
Back in history there were actually some honor in war,as two armies face each others with leader in the front line at some battles with his sons behind him,the most bravely will start fencing or dueling with swords at the begining ,might be determinate! and all this far from civilian homes.
Today with the invention of Bombs no war can be concluded without thousands of innocent civilians!
as my friend Tena said “there is nothing holy about war” because of civilian casualties,but in the past it was possible,on one condition! if the conqueror army does not commits civilian massacres.
I wonder how many inventors regret thier own creations after being used? would they be fully pleased if witnessed it today?
some mentioned that Albert Einstein regret his discovery that lead to the development of the atomic bomb! some say his letter proved otherwise!
I think Tv was intended mainly for entertaining! but now is used as part of a psychiatric warfare!
I read that Malcom, son of Logie Baird -one of the inventors of television- said on Britich TV in 2006 interview about what might his father’s reaction be if he knew how the television would turn out:
“he would have chosen to concentrate on other projects!”
finally Tena I loved how you helped this woman,my mother was mistaken for a nun in South Africa with her Jilbab!
Maryam mother of Christ (peace and blessing be on them) wore full Hijab too!
my friend told me how An American helped her at the US Airport few years back when he saw her struggling to find her luggage and holding 3 children.
and my mother still remembers how an American or british helped my 3 years blonde sister descent from the plane,saying maybe she reminded him of his daughter!
as we say in our religion: Who does not thank people does not thank God!
so yes I’m thankful for kind people like that,as to you Mr Parker.
Naeema