A missed opportunity

[RAENORTH]

Our romp through Afghan history now brings us to the reign of the last king, Mohammad Ẓahir Shah. As Nadir Shah's only surviving son, he took the throne in 1933 on the assassination of his father, thus continuing the Barakzai Durrani dynasty. Then only nineteen years old, Ẓahir was not in a position to exert his will and the real power was held by two of Nadir's brothers, Mohammad Hasem Khan and Shah Maḥmud, who held the position of prime minister from 1929-46 and 1946-53 respectively. In fact, Zahir Shah was not able to govern on his own in 1963.

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[JohnFSK]

Having read these articles, I am sure I know more about the history of Afghanistan than 99.9% of the British public, sadly, including the Cabinet. We have got ourselves involved in one of the most fractious and warlike nations on earth, and are blundering around scarcely aware of what we are doing. What a bloody mess. No-one has ever managed to impose order on Afghanistan for long, and we will not be any different. In truth, it seems there is really no "Afghanistan" at all, merely a collection of warring tribes who hate us only slightly more than they hate each other. It's like Northern Ireland on steroids; the English found that conflict hard enough to understand, and we live next door and speak the same language.

[Bluehaven]

And during the "troubles" the UK had 40,000 troops in Northern Ireland.

And that was not even an invasion force, it was deployment because no other warzones existed, and the IRA "won", if we gather that Sinn Fein are now a part of the NI Govt.