Afghanistan

[DoggyDaddy]

Well plenty of people in California and Oregon seem like they're speaking a different language at times

No, it's the same language. Just radically different meanings to the words they're speaking.

Orwell explained it pretty well.

"Newspeak
Newspeak is the fictional language of Oceania Califoregon, a totalitarian superstate that is the setting of dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell. In the novel, the Party created Newspeak to meet the ideological requirements of English Socialism in Oceania Califoregon."

 

[KellyinAvon]

"Pelosi defended Biden's decision to remove U.S. troops, arguing it reduced the prospect of an attack on the homeland."

WTAF?

.

That's a level of stupid that's hard to fathom. She must be basing that on the homeless drug addicts in SF not going away.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

That's a level of stupid that's hard to fathom. She must be basing that on the homeless drug addicts in SF not going away.

Well, she never said whose homeland she was referring to. It sure didn't reduce the prospect of attack on our homeland. We just gave them back their training ground, shelter and lots of new weapons to use.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

Our enemies are terrified I’m sure.

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

You know, this first line of your quote illustrates just how fractured Afghanistan is and always has been. It's not that large of a country. The fact that you have so many different languages that are "native" shows that they will likely never be united under one government. I mean I know China has several dialects as well, but they cover a lot more territory. But we're not talking dialects. We're talking completely different languages.

It would be like people in east Texas speaking a totally different language from those in west Texas.

Yes, an extremely important point when talking about anything that has to do with Afghanistan. Not only completely different languages, but completely different cultures. Uzbeks, Tajiks, Pashtuns, Hazaras, etc all have totally unique cultures and geneologies.

Many of the causes of this lingering ethnolinguistic division has to do with the fact that the country was created without a single "Afghan" at the table.

The country's borders were initially drawn by Tsarist Russia and the British in India. The British were in frequent contact with Pashtun tribesmen during their colonial endeavors and when it came to naming the country, they named it "Afghan-" which was a synonymous term of Pashtun plus "-istan" simply meaning "Land of Afghans" or really, Land of Pashtuns.

Uzbeks, Hazaras, Tajiks, Turks, etc living in that land wanted nothing to do with the name or country "Afghanistan". An ethnic Uzbek living in the Badakshan province of modern day Afghanistan wanted to be called an Uzbek or a Badakhshani -- he had nothing to do with Pashtuns or this "Afghan" creation.

Beginning from the naming of the country by outside imperial aggressors, Afghanistan has always had issues of tribalism occurring along ethnolinguistic lines. It only makes sense -- the country was conceived by foreigners for foreign benefit without a single native person at the table even for consultation, let alone decision making.

Nowadays the name of the country isn't debated as much, it's simply accepted -- but not without displeasure by non-Pashtuns, especially the Hazaras, who the Pashtuns have systematically genocided over the past several hundred years especially during the monarchy period of Abdur Rahman Khan beginning in August of 1880.

Funny note regarding King Abdur Rahman Khan -- the British crowned him as the king, yet later he claimed he was chosen as king by God. The man was as horrible as leaders come.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Yes, an extremely important point when talking about anything that has to do with Afghanistan. Not only completely different languages, but completely different cultures. Uzbeks, Tajiks, Pashtuns, Hazaras, etc all have totally unique cultures and geneologies.

Many of the causes of this lingering ethnolinguistic division has to do with the fact that the country was created without a single "Afghan" at the table.

The country's borders were initially drawn by Tsarist Russia and the British in India. The British were in frequent contact with Pashtun tribesmen during their colonial endeavors and when it came to naming the country, they named it "Afghan-" which was a synonymous term of Pashtun plus "-istan" simply meaning "Land of Afghans" or really, Land of Pashtuns.

Uzbeks, Hazaras, Tajiks, Turks, etc living in that land wanted nothing to do with the name or country "Afghanistan". An ethnic Uzbek living in the Badakshan province of modern day Afghanistan wanted to be called an Uzbek or a Badakhshani -- he had nothing to do with Pashtuns or this "Afghan" creation.

Beginning from the naming of the country by outside imperial aggressors, Afghanistan has always had issues of tribalism occurring along ethnolinguistic lines. It only makes sense -- the country was conceived by foreigners for foreign benefit without a single native person at the table even for consultation, let alone decision making.

Nowadays the name of the country isn't debated as much, it's simply accepted -- but not without displeasure by non-Pashtuns, especially the Hazaras, who the Pashtuns have systematically genocided over the past several hundred years especially during the monarchy period of Abdur Rahman Khan beginning in August of 1880.

Funny note regarding King Abdur Rahman Khan -- the British crowned him as the king, yet later he claimed he was chosen as king by God. The man was as horrible as leaders come.

Thank you for that post! I had no idea about all that history. Sounds like the current administration (and those that came before) could have used your knowledge.

 

[Wolfhound]

Funny note regarding King Abdur Rahman Khan -- the British crowned him as the king, yet later he claimed he was chosen as king by God. The man was as horrible as leaders come.

I think King Biden is giving him some good competition.

 

[printcraft]

View attachment 153759
Our enemies are terrified I’m sure.

The guy better get his **** squared away quick because he's probably about a day away from getting the blame for "lack of planning" from the most popular president ever.

 

[grillak]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-conducts-live-fire-drills-214612460.html

for those of you who have been on the edge of your seats....here's what china says about the us withdrawal

 

[printcraft]

You stupid bastards.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-conducts-live-fire-drills-214612460.html

for those of you who have been on the edge of your seats....here's what china says about the us withdrawal

 

[printcraft]

 

[grillak]

You stupid bastards.

if falls in line with how they treat domestic criminals

 

[Magyars]

 

[1DOWN4UP]

 

[rooster]

This is from a Scottish journalist. TLDR: American troops not allowed to do anything, brits are doing patrols out to scoop up westerners and Afghan allies and bring them back to the airport. Brit and American commander had a screaming match.

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

Thank you for that post! I had no idea about all that history. Sounds like the current administration (and those that came before) could have used your knowledge.

there are tons of people more knowledgeable, but you're right about the administration needing to seek out good information and use it correctly. We can dream...

 

[gregr]

Obama is architect of Afghanistan mess, says former US special ops general

Throughout the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle and the Taliban's rapid takeover, one person has been strangely silent: former President Barack Obama.

www.yahoo.com

 

[rooster]

It gets even more embarrassing. The French are going outside the wire but not the Americans.

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

Digging into the history of Afghanistan with all the trade periods and the invasions much because of the trade routes, being a crossroads of peoples, empires and religions: It's fascinating stuff.

Comparing the square miles to something like the various nations / regions of Europe, then comparing to the US; it gave me something to chew on.

It truly is a fascinating history.
And the country is rife with historical places and artifacts demonstrating the different peoples and cultures that inhabited the land over time.

The incredible Buddha statues of Bamiyan province stood for nearly 1500 years before the Taliban destroyed them in March 2001. The location was a vibrant Buddhist monastery and a center of learning and commerce. The Buddhists who built them lived in carved-out caves, the style of the sculpture mimics their own homes:



A sad metaphor for Afghanistan that such a notable historical place was destroyed by Taliban intolerance.