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Why are we there? With almost no public debate, Canada has deployed the bulk of its available troops to a dangerous mission in a country with which it has almost no traditional ties.

Article Excerpt
They know a lot about war in Afghanistan. As far back as 4,000 years ago waves of Indo-Europeans are believed to have invaded what is today known as Afghanistan. In the 6th century BCE, the Persian Empire moved in. Alexander the Great briefly occupied the country In 330 BCE. There were many other invaders before Arabs arrived in the 7th century CE and brought with them the religion of Islam, to which most of the local population converted. In 1219, Genghis Khan arrived with his army from Mongolia.

In Afghanistan, as everywhere else conquered by the Mongols, the land and the people were brutalized and devastated. While all these other conquerors came and went, the people of Afghanistan kept busy by fighting wars among themselves. They also launched attacks on neighbours.

The British set out to bring the country under their control in 1839. After 80 years of on-again, off-again warfare the British gave up trying to subdue the Afghans. The country, within its current boundaries, became independent for the first time in 1919.

Afghanistan was ruled by King Amanullah who tried to modernize the place. But, religious and tribal leaders were offended by the king's reforms. They revolted and Amanuilah fled to save his life in 1929. His successor was bumped off in 1933 and Muhammad Zahir Shah became king.

For the next four decades, Afghanistan experienced a unique period of stability. King Zahir Shah turned to the Soviet Union for economic and military aid. By the 1960s, he was ready to try bringing Afghanistan up to date with the rest of the world. He ushered in a modern democracy, with free elections, a parliament, civil rights, education for women, and a modern university. However, the changes were mostly limited to Kabul.

But, as before, these reforms put him at odds with the religious militants who opposed him. As well, the wrangling among the country's tribal factions remained.

In 1973, the king travelled to Italy for an eye operation and his cousin, Sardar Mohammed Daoud, saw his chance to pounce. He declared Afghanistan a republic, with himself as president in a bloodless coup. Five years later, it was Daoud's turn to be ousted in a coup. This one was not bloodless as Daoud and his entire family was murdered.

The new regime tried another modernization scheme. Once again, tribal and religious leaders objected and took up arms against the government. By late 1979, a civil war was raging across the country and this got the attention of the neighbouring Soviet Union. On Christmas Day, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sent a huge army into the country to settle down the unrest. Mr. Brezhnev discovered what scores of invaders before him had discovered: the people of Afghanistan don't like being invaded and they are very skilled at making life hell for those who try...

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