Astonishing Pictures Of Afghanistan From Before The Wars

Back then, things were better in the USA too.

This is one of the better timelines I've found for the events of Afghanistan, going back to the early 19th century. That country has always had it bad or at least rough by how it seems for history.

Afghanistan Historic Timeline

Quite a land and quite a people. It's not a place the West ever should have gone, let alone stay longer in. Just my opinion.

Originally posted by pacifier2012
To me the photos of early Afghanistan show the gradual westernization of that country. Now it looks more like the way the Taliban would want it.

So your implying that every country needs be westernized?? Afghanistan is Afghanistan not the United States. Let the people be as they wish to be. The country looks more like how you and the white rulers would want it.

Unfortunately, Afghanistan can never return to her glory days. The Soviets completely decimated the country and destroyed many, many trees. It will never be the same.

Here is another factoid:

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Afghan drug war debacle: Blair said smashing opium trade was a major reason to invade but 10 years on heroin production is up from 185 tons a year to 5,800

There are a lot of cockroaches involved in the Afghan War and it sure is not the afghan people.

Originally posted by pacifier2012
To me the photos of early Afghanistan show the gradual westernization of that country. Now it looks more like the way the Taliban would want it.

That is the country before we aided the Pakistani ISI (Secret Service) in arming the soldiers of Afghanistan to fight the Russians. Its when we leave them alone that they pick up western ideas and habits, not when we are bombing them left and right.

Originally posted by fluff007

Just wow...

I truly feel for the people of Afghanistan. Their country has been absolutely obliterated..

A man in the 1960s left his job and home in Arizona and left to work in Kabul. He took his daughters and wife with him. Whilst he was there he took photos. And the contrast from then and now is astonishing.. But not in a good way.

Before the U.S. invasion, before the Russian war, before the Marxist revolution, Afghanistan used to be a pretty nice place.

Amateur photographer, and college professor, Dr. William Podlich took a leave of absence from his job at Arizona State to work with UNESCO in Kabul, bringing his wife and daughters with him.

Girls and boys in western style universities and schools were encouraged to talk to each other freely.

Kids grew up in a safe environment, unafraid of extremist influence.

Elementary education, even out in the rural areas, was standard. Kids and citizens alike felt opportunity hinged on education.

Women weren't required to wear burqas, but some would still cover up by choice.

While urban Afghanistan became modern, rural Afghanistan contained these quaint scenes.

Afghanistan had a national identity, and national style, despite all the 'western' influence.

www.businessinsider.com...

peace

But what a pity that we saw these a little late , about 12 years.

But who is here to be blamed ?

Maybe those airplanes which were bombing Afghanistan could take some pictures , but they didn't.

Originally posted by fluff007
reply to post by Telos

 

I've always been of the opinion that the actual situation in countries like Afghanistan, Iran etc are a product of continuous experiments conducted by some western countries like France, England, USA.

Lol you might well be right.. It would not surprise me in the least.

It really is very disturbing and sad..

Fighting over resources and trade routes. No one cares about "experiments", they care about how much money they can make exploiting another country.

And even when war "ends" it usually just means the other big guy is going to try to start organizing the next rebellion.

reply to post by fluff007


Well just think..
at one time the Greatful Dead played a three day concert in front of the Sphinx and Great Pyramid with light shows and fireworks. How do you think that would fly these days?

reply to post by mideast


Try 30 years too late. Don't forget Russia got em first.

reply to post by FlyingFox


Everywhere things were better. I helped with an estate sale recently, a 106 year old woman, and I looked through their scrap books and they traveled the world and every place was beautiful and safe.

The whole world has gone to pot.

Im sorry to you die hard American patriots but this has been blatantly obvious from the start for me

America invaded Afganistan for the same reason Russia did

Invaded Vietnam for the same reason France and others did

Opium!!!

Plain and simple

Disband your CIA biggest drug pushers in the world

if you can't see it your just blind

Originally posted by GogoVicMorrow
reply to post by mideast

 

Try 30 years too late. Don't forget Russia got em first.

Maybe 230 when Persians get them back ?

The thing about Afgansitan from 1900s until the Soviet invasion is that its governments changes so often that for a year or two you would have what you see in these pics quickly follow by a harsh and more strict islamic style law. It has always been a nation of revolt, coups, and warfare. I do not expect that to ever change.

Originally posted by Twix404
reply to post by 35Foxtrot

 

Simply put, staying out of other peoples business unless it directly involves expressed concern from the Senate and its peoples. Or really, going to war only when necessary.

The Constitution doesn't go into reasons or acceptable criteria for going to war. Your use of "constitutional" threw me. I now understand you mean to describe a kind of rational isolationism.

reply to post by 35Foxtrot

The President is to be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States. In this respect, his authority would be nominally the same with that of the king of Great Britain, but in substance much inferior to it. It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces.; while that of the British king extends to the declaring of war and to the raising and regulating of fleets and armies – all which, by the Constitution under consideration, would appertain to the legislature.

That's what it looked like before the rest of the western world found out that Afghanistan was loaded with trillions of dollars worth of natural resources. Can't be letting a country mine and use their own resources, that's just plain crazy talk there.

First of all I'm not coming from patriotism as I am not American, wealthy, or works for any form of government agency but one thing I keep seeing is everybody saying America this America that, the American's did not invade Afghanistan, a coalition including American's and with large corporate rather than national interest's used the war on terror brand to justify using national military assets to fight a thankless war were ordinary young kid's some still teenager's and other's barely out of there teen's to clear an area of strategic and RESOURCE (mineral's such as copper, rare earth metal's and though it failed oil exploration, uranium deposit's) for there own long term investment purposes and the instilling of puppet regime's once this Corporate takeover is complete is just a step in the game.

The same thing happened in Iraq and the British were not too happy after playing there part to lose all the best contract's for oil to the American company's in fact our nose was quite put out so when the opportunity arose to do the same in Libya we and the French cooperated in ensuring those contract's went to our company's and the American's (Corporation's) aware of this were actually reluctant to get involved as they new there was no financial incentive.

In short it is not and never was the American's or British or French or the west as the twisted mentality and religious interpretation of Al Quaeda propagates or there innocent beheaded victim's.

I would ask any of you to read about the Indian Mutiny and the Madrasa religious school's (though I personnaly don't regard islam as a religion but a cult from my own theological point of view) and you will begin to understand were this problem began though despite the photograph's Afghanistan was only marginally governed and the outer tribal area's always ruled by tribal law in fact they have been fighting one another for almost 1400 year's due to multiple ethnicity's and shifting tribal alliance's, it was regarded by the british empire as too costly to suppress and the one time a small force was sent into the country the tribe they had bribed into an alliance betrayed them resulting in a terrible massacre and the taking of many English woman (wife's of the officer's, soldier's and merchant's), indeed many afghan's are probably descended from those English women who survived and bore there captors children.

I think in the long run, eventually, the chickens will come home to roost.

The pushy, greedy murderers that run the world are starting to be universally despised. Even people in their own countries hate them. Among many of the young and educated in the most developed countries in the world, people are beginning to grasp the idea that in the 21st century, pushing people around with the military is not only not necessary because there are so many more intelligent ways to solve problems, but is actually counterproductive.

Having militarists in charge of the national foreign policy is the equivalent of putting football players in charge of the Smithsonian Institution.

They just aren't qualified for the job. I don't want to be too abrasive, but as a group, they just aren't smart enough. There is a growing feeling that these people need to be relieved of a responsibility for a job they are failing at.

There are some nice documentaries on Afghanistan on YouTube. I saw one which involved interviews with many Afghani women and a theme that ran through everything was the repeatedly stated ambition of many little girls in the hijab to become a doctor. Becoming a doctor is the top of the ladder for a woman in Sharia ruled Afghanistan. Their country needs doctors. We need to get out of their business.

We need to get the criminals at the top of our own societies out of everyone's business.

Religion = psychological cancer