U.S. Needs New Af-Pak Strategy

The high, arid plateaus and escarpments of Afghanistan were never in America’s sphere of influence. Until 9/11, the United States had no strategic interest in that desolate land, unkind to the Greeks, Mughals, British, and Soviets – who like us, were viewed as occupying powers. The British themselves were confronted by a fiery insurrection of nationalistic Pashtuns during the First Afghan War in the mid 19th century. It ended with a massacre of their forces during the retreat from the garrison at Kabul.