For anyone looking for a read, Return of a King by William Dairymple tells the story of the first British-Afghan war. It was published in 2012, and the author spent some time in Afghanistan getting insight from the locals. I thought the end was worth sharing:
The following morning in Jalalabad we went to a jirga, or assembly, of Ghilzai tribal elders, to which the greybeards of Gandamak had come, under a flag of truce, to discuss what had happened the day before. The story was typical of many I heard about Karzai's government, and revealed how a mixture of corruption, incompetence and insensitivity had helped give an opening for the return of the once hated Taliban.
As Predator drones took off and landed incessantly at the nearby airfield, the Ghilzai elders related how the previous year government troops had turned up to destroy the opium harvest. The troops promised the villagers full compensation and were allowed to plough up the crops; but the money never turned up. Before planting season, the Gandamak villagers again went to Jalalabad and asked the government if they could be provided with assistance to grow other crops. Promises were made; again nothing was delivered. They planted poppy, informing the local authorities that if they again tried to destroy the crop the village would have no option but to resist. When the troops turned up, about the same time as we were arriving at nearby Jagdalak, the villagers were waiting for them and had called in the local Taliban to assist. In the fighting that followed, nine policemen were killed, six vehicles were destroyed and ten police hostages taken.
After the jirga was over, two of the tribal elders of Gandamak came over and we chatted for a while over a pot of green tea.
"Last month," said one, "some American officers called us to a hotel in Jalalabad for a meeting. One of them asked me, 'Why do you hate us?' I replied, 'Because you blow down our doors, enter our houses, pull our women by the hair and kick our children. We cannot accept this. We will fight back, and we will break your teeth, and when your teeth are broken you will leave, just as the British left before you. It is just a matter of time.'"
"What did he say to that?"
"He turned to his friend and said, 'If the old men are like this, what will the younger ones be like?' In truth, all the Americans here know their game is over. It is just their politicians who deny this."
"These are the last days of the Americans," said the other elder. "Next it will be China".
