Contemplicity.com

In modern Islam there is a saying, “Everything manifested is part of God… so try not to be the toilet brush.” This rather crude adage helps to better understand the position of most modern Islamists in the world today. Despite the Islamic preachings of beauty and love, many people in Western culture are afraid of a community they know precious little nothing about. Recently Afghanistan has become infamously well known around the world, which has forced people to look even deeper into the region’s dark history; however, in the end, the aspect of terror sells more books and fills more lecture halls than the Islamic ideas of peace, love, and harmony.

Recent world events have had Westerners running to their atlases trying to locate the country which seemed to hold such little importance before September 11th, 2001. Over three years later, Afghanistan has become a key country in America’s Foreign Policy Agenda. America’s occupation brings little, late relief to a country which had been in constant turmoil for decades. Until recently, the Islamic rules on how to lead a Godly life had become rhetoric for a small group of power hungry individuals. This power vacuum created decades of strife and struggle for the citizens of Afghanistan. Only the privileged few drug lords could afford the modern luxuries we take for granted. (Which, according to retired Ambassador David Dunford include such simple items as scissors, alarm clocks, and pens.) Neighboring Iran had made the sufferings of the Afghani people a long standing part of their domestic agenda for years before the recent American occupation, and even now they harbour over a million and a half refugees from the conflict. Time and time again civil war has further destabilized the Afghani government, and until a short time ago Iran had been the only country really dedicating any relief efforts to the poverty stricken country. It would take a major economical event to bring the problems of Afghanistan to the public eye; yet, this isn’t the first time Afghanistan has taken center stage in the American limelight.

One long standing tradition of American culture is the constant need for an arch-enemy. Without the pretense of competition or a feeling of imminent danger, America seems to have no goals to strive toward. In the closing years of the 20th century, multiple branches of the American government were searching the globe for a new enemy after the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Even in early 2001, the New Yorker magazine had published a cartoon in which a newspaper headline read, “War to be declared tomorrow, enemy to be selected soon.” This isn’t the first time such a thing has happened, the Korean War and the Soviet’s invasion of Afghanistan are just two examples of America’s need to create an enemy.

During December of 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a major point in the Cold War. This attack was the largest single military action by the Soviets since the end of the Second World War. The crisis had major impacts on American foreign policy, triggering a shift towards a much more forceful military procedure. At the global level, this event was a major turning point in delegitimizing Soviet policy and Communism around the globe; yet, this conflict started in neither the Soviet Union, nor Afghanistan. America had an idea, which they officially dubbed the “Reagan Doctrine.” The doctrine’s intended purpose was to undermine pro-Soviet regimes worldwide, and it eventually turned into the largest single operation in the Central Intelligence Agency’s history. Under this doctrine, America was able to arm Mujahiddin guerrilla fighters in Afghanistan, which in turn triggered the invasion by a nervous Soviet Union. America then used this excuse to increase military budget spending by over 300 percent, which had been their intended goal all along.

Afghanistan’s poor political standing has made it a target for more powerful countries throughout the years, but according to Dr. David Gibbs, “at the time of the invasion and for an extended period afterwards, few doubted that the Soviets threatened Western security.” An exception to this view can be found in George F. Kennan’s writings. Kennan emphasized Afghanistan as “a border country to the Soviet Union,” and concerns about the instability of Afghanistan’s government were the main motivations. Kennan’s most passionate argument was that the invasion showed “defensive rather than offensive Soviet impulses.” This of course was in response to American weapons being given to the Afghani soldiers.

People reflect the limitations of their environment, the microcosm represents the extremes of the macrocosm and because of this, harshness is a way of life in the Middle East. As a result of the poor economic situation and barren landscape, Afghanistan has always been a self centered country. Even today, under American military rule, Afghanistan still clings to many of its long standing cultural traditions. Despite the recent changes, many people still live life as they did five years ago, when the Taliban first took governing power. In this way, change communicates slowly to a community, then society, and finally the culture as a whole. It permeates throughout the environment, and even though the landscape may be decimated, love and the instinct of survival continue to exist through out.