If you are sincerely interested in learning more about this, I highly recommend Ahmed Rashid's journalistic magnum opus, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, Second Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0300163681/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_h91xDb0XMD6EN.
Can't hope to elucidate a complex narrative in a few words, but a good portion of the reason why the US has been in Afghanistan and Iraq for so long comes down to international oil interests, consequences of the cold war, and Central Asian and Middle Eastern regional politics.
Check out the book. Hands down the most gripping nonfiction work I've had the pleasure to read.
Edit: to clarify, this book was first published in 2000. It is not an explanation of the wars, but a description of the geopolitical scene in Afghanistan written at a time before 9/11. Imo, it's incredible that Mr. Rashid was able to describe the structures and tensions which ended up explaining future wars.
You have the problems that you have.
Your risks are the diseases that your forebears have. So if diabetes runs in your family, make decisions based on increased risk for that. Might want to look into ‘The South Asian Health Solution’ by Ronesh Sinha. https://www.amazon.com/South-Asian-Health-Solution-Culturally/dp/1939563054
For your kids, you’re going to want to do genetic testing with your partner before you start to try for a kid (or if there is a specific genetic condition in your ethnicity that you haven’t mentioned, I’d get tested right away so you know whether you’re a carrier or not….) and maybe try to not marry someone who’s your cousin. These tests won’t screen for every risk but it will give you some peace of mind.
I think it's both. They do use state sponsored terrorism against their enemies and many cases they mute/ignore terrorists safe hideouts within their territories that attack Iran/India/Afghanistan etc.
Like in case of JeM https://www.firstpost.com/world/exclusive-jaish-e-muhammads-giant-new-training-centre-begins-to-blossom-in-imran-khans-pakistan-4835701.html
And, overall Pakistan's role in state sponsored terrorism is explained in extensive detail in Steve Coll's (two times Pulitzer Prize winner) book Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan 2018
https://www.amazon.com/Directorate-C-I-Americas-Afghanistan-Pakistan/dp/1594204586
Its a must read if you are anywhere interested in geopolitics.
https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Telegram-Kissinger-Forgotten-Genocide/dp/0307744620
This is also an excellent read for anyone interested in this topic
Short and sweet: during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan we were sending a shitload of weapons to the Afghanis through Pakistan. The paki isi(their cia) pretty much gave everything to the taliban. The northern alliance got shit. The pakis (isi)and the talis pretty much teamed up wrg to weapons/training/etc. To top it off the feds were so impressed with the paki/tali religious dedication and a lot of our cash funded madrassas which in turn radicalized a shit ton of people which lead us into the situation we’re in now. It’s fucking absolutely nuts. If you want to read an amazing account of that whole ordeal I highly recommend “Ghost Wars”. And the follow up “Directorate S”
We basically caused 9/11 the rise of the taliban, the shitshow going on now and pretty much every terrorist attack claimed by isis and a lot more. I can’t even find the words to describe how I felt after absorbing everything.
The audiobook is great and there’s so much crazy shit thst pops up your constantly like “WTF!!”
I do not think there is any truth in his statement (only to his statement related to Mukti Bahani). His claim that Mukti Bahai were trained in USSR is not corroborated by any third party. If that was true, it would have been discovered by the CIA and it would have been used against Bangladesh by Nixon/Kissinger who hated India and BD. Even if that was not discovered at that time, it would have been used by BD and USSR and now Russia to promote the bilateral relationship between the two countries. But no one makes such claim.
On the claim that Kolkata consulate had AK47 for BD also does not hold water. TTBOMK, the AK47 used by BD was mostly Chinese and it was not a common weapon. If Mukti Bahani has an ample supply of weapons and the training as well as international support as claimed by him, Bangladesh would have become independent much earlier.
Some people from Pakistan and their supported in BD claim his statement as proof that the birth of Bangladesh was an international conspiracy against Pakistan. Its an attempt to change history with misinformation.
You may read the book Blood Telegram which covers these issues more broadly.
It is great that you are interested! If you would like to read more, I would recommend the book Destiny Disrupted by Tamil Ansary. It gives a good overview of Islamic history up to the modern day. Amazon link
I didn't read it yet. It was recommended by Muslimmatters.org: http://muslimmatters.org/2014/07/30/book-review-lost-islamic-history/
Here is another book:
In this case, America was definitely bad. Not just bad, truly evil. Just read The Blood Telegram. It will send you shivers down your spine and make you hate Ameria's foreign policy forever.
I second this. It is well-written and a good introduction.
"World histories" have been criticized as being too Eurocentric. I agree.
Two books can help correct this myopia.
Destiny Disrupted: World History Through Islamic Eyes
Big History by David Christian. This history starts with the origin of the universe. This views human history in the biggest perspective. I listened to the author's Great Courses lecture series on the topic.
That is an incredibly simplistic and also largely incorrect assessment of what actually transpired. Contrary to popular opinion, the US did not support extremists in Afghanistan to counter the commies.
This is an amazing, amazing book that presents a very thorough recounting of the Soviet invasion and it’s aftermath by Steve Coll, a Pulitzer winner who’s currently the head of Columbia's school of journalism. I can’t recommend it enough.
I recommend reading Destiny Disrupted.
Europe didn't catch up to the middle east and China until about the 16th - 17th Century.
Reading the Blood Telegram was eye opening.
That book was based mostly on declassified US sources and Indian sources. Hopefully this book has more Pakistani sources to flesh out the story.
You may find this book helpful:
The South Asian Health Solution
Here's an interview with author that I found very interesting: https://peterattiamd.com/roneshsinha/
>You’re flat out wrong
According to Ghost Wars by Pulitzer winning Steve Coll, this is indeed a huge failing in American Intelligence. To say that the relationship between Woodley and Clinton was cold would be an understatement.
Clinton hated yhe CIA. He was straight up combative with them.
Just cause you have deluded yourself with mass media, doesn't even come close to what is actually true. They lie to you, regularly.
Here, I'll do you a favor. Read about it yourself, 20 bucks to be more educated. Hell of a deal.
https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669
I recommend a book by Rory Stewart. It’s pretty cool. He walked across afghanistan in 2003? He’s an English dude who wanted to walk across Europe through Asia and he had to skip afghanistan. Then he was able to get in and started in the north and went towards Kabul.
https://www.amazon.com/Places-Between-Rory-Stewart/dp/0156031566/ref=nodl_#
>Nothing Afghan about the Taliban? The movement was literally started in Kandahar.
it was heavily coopted by the Pakistani ISI after 9/11 https://www.amazon.ca/Directorate-C-I-Americas-Afghanistan-Pakistan/dp/1594204586
This was in direct response to your comment about comparing the military spending in Afghanistan with the whole military budget. I pointed out that was a false dichotomy but still entertained your non-sequitur. And then you went way down the rabbit hole and completely left the budget argument behind as some sort of collateral attack on the last 40 years of military doctrine. I am not saying that is not a valid discussion, I am saying it does not belong in this thread.
I don't even really disagree with some of your premises, I just think you are painting with too broad a brush. Have you read Ghost Wars by Steve Coll? If not, I highly suggest it. It covers your points well, but it with a bit more nuance in my opinion.
Check out this book: https://www.amazon.com/South-Asian-Health-Solution-Culturally/dp/1939563054/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1635539510&sr=8-2It is a "culturally tailored" low carb diet approach.
This is Ahmed Rashid erasure.
The cummies at GamingCircleJerk got big mad when I suggested reading his book in their "Donate to Afghan refugees" thread. I suppose I also could've told them what America coulda done to prevent the refugee crisis.
I'm gonna promote a book: "Taliban," by Ahmed Rashid. He's Pakistan's best and bravest investigative journalist, and this is the definitive history of the Afghan Civil War of the 1990s. I learned a lot that I didn't know; a lot that 98% of Americans (whatever their political leanings) don't know, tbh.
Since nobody here paid taxes until the 2010s, your conscience is probably clean. If your parents paid taxes in the 1990s, their money didn't go directly to the Taliban. Their tax dollars were laundered via foreign aid to Pakistan, where the ISI and Benazir Bhutto armed the Taliban, hoping that Pakistan would get strategic depth to counterbalance India.
I see you have posted on r/mumbai so perhaps this book might be helpful: https://www.amazon.com/South-Asian-Health-Solution-Culturally/dp/1939563054
Here is a podcast with the author: https://peterattiamd.com/roneshsinha/
<em>Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes</em> by Tamim Ansary is neat and gives a good overview of Middle Eastern/Islamic history up to the modern day. Not sure about books on the caliphate(s) specifically though.
There's also Tim Mackintosh-Smith's <em>Arabs: A 3,000-Year History of Peoples, Tribes and Empires</em>, but that starts out before Islam even. Still really fascinating, but a little dense.
No. If you are concerned about your health, read this book: The South Asian Health Solution: A Culturally Tailored Guide to Lose Fat, Increase Energy and Avoid Disease by Ronesh Sinha MD.
Also check the author's website.
I am currently reading Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes. I am nearing the end of the book. My reading has just reached World War 1. The author has been explaining why European domination of Middle East governments and the economy in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries convinced some Middle Easterners to adopt a more Western lifestyle even one hundred years ago.
If you’re a book person, Rory Stewart is also quite a good writer; The Places in Between and Occupational Hazards are great reads on the subject.
That's a really simplistic viewpoint on a very complex situation. For one, the Mujahideen were not jihadists. Osama bin Laden was there leader was was buddies with the CIA. He bought weapons and missles from the US, and the US stilulation is that they were not to be resold. Then the US sent a CIA agent to purchase weapons from Bin Laden under the guise they were a fighting force in the region. Bin Laden agreed. From there, the US shorted all weapons shipments to Bin Laden. Bin Laden, was on the hook, and lost face in the region as he had been selling US weapons under the table to local warlords.
Bin Laden was furious, and vowed revenge on the US for screwing him; but like all religious bigots, he failed to take self accountability into it. Had he followed the rules and not become a illegal US arms dealer, he would never have been shorted weapons he didn't actually need.
And thus, Bin Laden created his own vision as a victim and the US would pay dearly for it.
If you'd like to know more, read Ghost Warss. It's a legit attempt to state the facts with as little political or ideological leanings as possible and I highly recommend it. All information is sourced when possible with footnotes, and when not possible the author names the agent that provided the information.
https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669
I think we massively fumbled the withdrawal and are trying to play catch up, but we should have long been gone. I feel for the soldiers that served in Afghanistan. I know a few of them I am sure there is a sense of wasted investment. But 10 years ago or 10 years from now. The results would have been about the same. One of the big reasons no one has gone beyond just talking about it and using it as a bullet point for their agenda, is because everyone knew exactly what was going to happen. There are a shit ton of interconnected reasons for this.
There is a pretty good read in my collection if you want to read up or just refresh your memory: Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan
https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669
Here's an incredible legit resource on the history of the mujahideen and Afghanistan and the Taliban and how it all ties it together
Daddy Massoud is a national hero and (was) the living symbol of resistance against the Soviets. Then against the Taliban. The Panjshir terrain helped. He tried to warn us about 9/11. Pretty sure Rambo shook his hand. Thus ends my book report of Ghost Wars.
I'm glad his son and the former VP are organizing a resistance. I hope that some of our friends find their way there safely.