Some have called Afghanistan 'the graveyard of empires,' and it probably is the graveyard of empires.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Afghanistan is a rural nation, where 85 percent of people live in the countryside. And out there it's very, very conservative, very tribal - almost medieval.
There is a direct line relationship between what happened in Afghanistan in the work up to 11 September 2001 and what we're doing in Afghanistan today.
Afghanistan is where much of the al Qaeda journey began. It is the main site where Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar and their cohort rose to prominence fighting the Soviets in the 1980s. Afghan territory holds special significance to the group, which is committed to retaking it and re-establishing it as the base of a global movement.
Afghan society is very complex, and Afghanistan has a very complex culture. Part of the reason it has remained unknown is because of this complexity.
The Afghans themselves say that if you put two Afghans in a room, you get three factions.
The Helmand area used to be the breadbasket of Afghanistan. There was a time when a substantial number of the grapes we ate came from Afghanistan.
If the United States is treating Afghanistan as a sovereign country it has to prove it.
The Afghans are probably the world champions in resisting foreign domination and infiltration into their country.
A military or government hierarchy is anathema to the dispersed population and diverse tribes of mountainous Afghanistan.
Afghanistan was always a backwater in the Islamic world.