Most people in the U.S. only became very aware of Afghanistan after we entered into conflict within its boarders. That conflict, which became known as “Operation Enduring Freedom” or, the “O.E.F.” for short, seems to have spawned a lot of misconceptions about the country, its people and the prosecution of asymmetric warfare in general. I am convinced that understanding the nature of the country and our current conflict is crucial to the education of every American, regardless of their position in politics. If one lacks understanding, one is at the mercy of any politician or activist who wishes to lie. “Knowing is half the battle” as our G.I. Joe friends would say.
Here are a few of the most common myths associated with the cross roads of South-Asia.

Afghanistan has never been successfully occupied by a force of invasion.
This myth seems to be derived from the Soviet conflict of the 80’s. People who recall that conflict seem to make the assumption that if the might of the Soviet empire was repelled, then no army could withstand the hardened people and extreme weather and terrain of Afghanistan. In reality, Afghanistan has frequently been the subject of war and occupation even before its borders were officially defined in the 19th century. The most notable occupations were the invasions of the Mongols From roughly 1200 to 1500 AD, British and Russian influences over the country during the ‘great game’ of the 19th century and, of course, the conquest by various islamic groups whose influence can still be seen today. As a digression into the cultural trends of the country, centuries of war and occupation by external powers has created a general wariness of foreigners in the people of Afghanistan. This attitude is more prevalent among the most remote tribes but exists to some extent among the majority of the nation’s populace.

The U.S. Armed the Taliban and Bin Laden during the 80’s
The proximity of both the Taliban and Bin Laden to the Soviet conflict tend to fuel this myth. The truth is somewhat more interesting in my opinion. Firstly, the Taliban did not exist during the Soviet invasion, the group the U.S. Armed was the Mujhadieen. The Mujhadieen was a loose association of resistance factions and Afghani war lords with almost no centralized command and control structure. The decentralized nature of the Mujhadieen enhanced its effectiveness against the Soviet armies (who lacked experience fighting an asymmetric enemy on a large scale) but ultimately lead to conflict within its ranks. After the Soviet withdrawal, the Mujhadieen war lords began to fight amongst themselves for control of the country. As civil war broke out, the Taliban formed out of populace anger over the warlord fighting. The Taliban consisted of the most radical religious members in the country, its reign was marked by inhuman acts of violence such as genocide. Though the Taliban may have had control of some of the remnant weapons and equipment supplied by the U.S., the U.S. never directly aided the group.
The same myth about Bin Laden is more discernibly false. Bin Laden never belonged to the Mujhadieen. He instead belonged to the group known as the Maktab al-Kihdamat. Bin Laden’s philosophy was that the islamic world did not need the influence of the west to repel any invader. His group saw the invasion as an attack against islam and served to funnel in foreign jihad fighters and muslim finances into Afghanistan. Though the Maktab al-Kihdamat did take money from western sources, Bin Laden was never directly funded by any western country. He relied on his large inheritance to fund his resistance. Eventually, Bin laden would take some of the more radical members of the group to form Al-Qaeda, who’s philosophy concerning non-islamic entities reflected his own. (Their stated goal being to remove non-islamic powers from the “islamic lands” and to spread the reign of islam.)

No force of invasion has ever defeated a determined, insurgent resistance.

Warning: Angry editorial ranting to follow.
I cannot stand to hear this myth. It is incredibly ignorant. This particular myth actually inspired the writing on this subject. I was watching the Simpson when the character Lisa Simpson starts talking about the futility of fighting an insurgency. Remember in the opening paragraph when I said that ignorance on a subject can lead to your manipulation by an unscrupulous activist? This would be one of those times. The said thing is, plenty of people would here this joke and believe it. There are hundreds of examples of insurgencies failing. Insurgents usually lose their fights. Most notably because they are more poorly equipped and trained than their adversaries. Want a few examples? The Bay of Pigs , The U.S. Civil war, the Warsaw uprisings of WWII, Efforts for Indian independence from Britain in the 1940’s, various Native American uprisings. I could go on. Determined insurgencies have been defeated plenty of times. Just because you have a regional influence on a population does not necessarily mean you have a greater chance of wining.

So there you go. Three common myths about Afghanistan and insurgent fighting. I hoped you learned something. For instance, never take strategic military advice from the Simpsons. That is a life lesson that I think applies to us all.

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