Blood washing blood : Afghanistan's hundred-year war /
Phil Halton.
- 1 online resource.
Includes bibliographies and index.
Cover -- Praise for Blood Washing Blood -- Half Title Page -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Provinces and Cities of Afghanistan -- Pashtun Tribes -- Barakzai Dynasty 1826-1978 -- 1: 1919 -- 2 Early Reforms -- 3 Rebellion on All Sides -- 4 The Water Carrier's Boy -- 5 The Shadow of God -- 6 The Boy King -- 7 Pashtunistan -- 8 The Strong Hand of the Prime Minister -- 9 The Last Amir -- 10 An Amir by Any Other Name -- 11 Bloody April -- 12 A Godless and Alien Regime -- 13 With Neither the Soviets nor God -- 14 The Students -- 15 The Commander of the Faithful 16 Guilt by Association -- 17 Infinite Justice -- 18 Opportunity Lost -- 19 The Neo-Taliban -- 20 Left to Stand Alone -- 21 Fraying at The Edges -- 22 Faint Hope for the Future -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgements -- Glossary -- Source Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author -- Back Cover
"A clear-eyed view of the conflict in Afghanistan and its century-deep roots. The war in Afghanistan has consumed vast amounts of blood and treasure, causing the Western powers to seek an exit without achieving victory. The seemingly never-ending conflict has become synonymous with a number of issues--global jihad, rampant tribalism, and the narcotics trade--but despite being cited as causes of the conflict, they are in fact symptoms. Rather than beginning after 9/11, or with the Soviet "invasion" in 1979, the current conflict in Afghanistan began with the social reforms imposed by Amanullah Amir in 1919. Western powers have failed to recognize that legitimate grievances dating back as long ago as that are driving the local population to turn to insurgency in Afghanistan. The issues they are willing to fight over today-- secularism, modernity, and centralized power--are not new ones; in fact, they have been the source of a hundred-year-long social conflict. The first step toward achieving a "solution" to the Afghanistan "problem" is to have a clear-eyed view of what is really driving it."--