Purchase Your Mujahideen Action Figures! *RPG’s sold seperately

There never was a cohesive “Mujahideen” just like there is no cohesive Taliban. Afghanistan is a western construct of multiple ethnicities and several cultures. When there is a common enemy and a patron (i.e. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia or the US) these people will unite in common cause. Even before the Soviets left the Muj factions turned on each other. Once we leave, the many factions of the Taliban will fight over the lucrative narcotics trade. However, the Muj we armed did not go on to become Al Qaeda. Afghans typically went back to business after the Soviet Jihad. Foreign fighters with nothing else to do left the Afghan theater to go home and cause trouble in Arab countries. They eventually fell under the umbrella organization Al Qaeda. There are plenty of Afghans, both former Muj and non-Muj, who love us and our money. Their cause though is not worth one Marine’s life or all the money we’re pouring in there. But it is too simplistic to cite blowback as the Taliban’s call to arms. Read Steve Coll’s “Ghost Wars” for background.

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