Originally Posted by
usedtobeATC
At first, British soldiers promoted European civilization in India and Afghanistan and drew Durand lines, until now the region can`t calm down. Then the Americans seized Iraq, so much so that gangsters crawled out of all the holes there and democracy went everywhere in the American way. In Syria, too, if the Russians had not prevented it would have been the same. The next hundred years, perhaps, the Chinese will promote their own orders there. I forgot to mention about the Russians in Afghanistan, at least they were building socialism there.
At least the original British interventions in Afghanistan had some intellectual and pragmatic justification, namely to stop the threat (probably nonexistent) of Russian interference in India.
The justification for the US intervention in Afghanistan was equally valid , namely to capture Osama Bin Laden and shut down Al Qaeda , but rapidly disintegrated with the total inability to understand Pakistans position and a refusal to negotiate with the Taliban, who probably would have given Bin Laden up.
Hence 20 years of folly.
The USA since WW2 has never really worked out what its Superpower status really means.
Empire or not ?