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Afghanistan, the graveyard of empires

Afghanistan has long been called the “graveyard of empires." It is unclear who coined that disputable term.

In truth, no great empires perished solely because of Afghanistan. Perhaps a better way to put it is that Afghanistan is the battleground of empires. Even without easily accessible resources, the country has still been blessed — or cursed, more likely — with a geopolitical position that has repeatedly put it in someone's bullseye.

Afghanistan is a mountainous landlocked country at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. The invaders would include the Maurya Empire, the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great of Macedon, Rashidun Caliphate, the Mongol Empire led by Genghis Khan, the Timurid Empire of Timur, the Mughal Empire, various Persian Empires, the Sikh Empire, the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and the forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, led by the U.S. following 9/11.

Invasions during the 19th, 20th, and 21st Centuries have been disastrous.

The British Empire -- Over an 80-year period, the British fought three wars in Afghanistan, occupying or controlling the country in between, and lost tens of thousands of dead along the way. Finally, exhausted by the First World War, Britain gave up in 1919 and granted Afghanistan independence.

The Soviet Union -- The Soviet Union spent the postwar period pacifying and modernizing its Central Asian republics with great success. But it was mistaken in assuming that the same program could stick in Afghanistan. The Soviets invaded in 1979 to try to quell a brewing civil war and prop up its allies in the Afghan government, and they limped out in 1989. The failure in Afghanistan contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union two years later.

The United States -- The first American military battle of the 21st century was fought in Afghanistan shortly after the events of Sept. 11, 2001. After nearly 20 years of fighting a shifting host of militant groups and the new Taliban insurgency, and now even a local affiliate of the Islamic State, there is no clear end on the horizon.

Since then more than a million American servicemen and women have served in Afghanistan; 2,400 of them lost their lives, along with another 1,100 NATO and other coalition allies killed.

Afghanistan became America's longest war, and, in 20 years of war, very little has been accomplished. The many failures -- not the least of which are 2,400 dead and another 20,000 wounded -- far surpasses the few successes, which would include schooling for girls and new schools.

Moreover, Afghanistan poses no threat to the United States. China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran do.

President Biden has decided that 20 years of sheer frustration, dead, and wounded is enough. We can make better use of our human, financial, and military resources by engaging the real threats to our existence.

"President Biden formally announced his decision to end the 20-year, largely unsuccessful American effort to remake Afghanistan, declaring on Wednesday that he would withdraw the remaining few thousand United States troops in the country by Sept. 11," the New York Times.

Invasions of Afghanistan - Wikipedia and The Empire Stopper (Published 2017) assisted me in this report.
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Afghanistan does pose a threat to Europe and Russia.

How much you want to bet that Russia invades Afghanistan sometime during the next decade?



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Why would Russia invade Afghanistan again? They ran away from it the last time.
 
Aw, so I have to do the research for you. Sorry, it doesn't work that way, but this is pointless. You were wrong.
I provided a link that addresses your claim/question:

"So far as I know, the U.S. is involved in only one war -- Afghanistan.

If you know different, please enlighten us."

It's not cut and dry, so instead of me interpreting the information and posting it, I left it up to you to do. The USG is physically warring in more than one country. So no, I am not wrong nor did I misspeak.
 
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