> Behalf Of Marvin Long, Jr.
> If we're talking about the Raj's, the Mongols, and Alex da Great
> controlling Afghanistan, should we also take a moment to think about *how*
> they did it? My guess--and it's only a guess--is that they did it simply
> by being more barbaric than the Afghans. I'm talking about slaughtering
> villages that resist and erecting garrisons in their places, raping the
> women, mounting the heads of their chieftains on spears for public
> display...you know, a bit of that good old-timey warfare. Do we have any
> historians here who know what means were used, and who'd be willing to
> hazard a guess as to whether the US will be willing to use similar?
>
If by the Raj's you mean the British (usually called "the British Raj"),
they definitely didn't apply barbarism to the Afghans. At least, not
directly.
Standard British colonial practice was to ensure a local ruling structure
amenable to British interests was in power. These were either the previous
local rulers who had been "persuaded" to accept British guidance - usually
by liberal use of the Scottish Highlanders - or the local ruler's opposition
who had allied with the British. After that, the locals ruled themselves
under British direction. This meant any barbarism was by the locals on the
locals.
Britain's greatest defeat at Afghan hands, the retreat from Kabul in the
1840s (I think) was where a totally incompetent General was placed into
command of the British forces who were trying to bolster a hated local
Afghani leader. Part of the problem was the British commander voluntarily
put himself and his forces into an indefensible fortification outside Kabul,
separate from his supplies and the British governor inside Kabul, and then
when all other options were lost, started trusting the wrong group of
Afghanis. The Afghanis had by then eliminated the British
political/intelligence officials who'd been trapped inside Kabul.
Apart from a handful of British women, only one British soldier of the
10,000 or so garrison plus uncounted wives/camp followers survived.
Brett
