An historical lesson for the United States of America

They are standing on a rocky road…

The picture above shows soldiers, both young and into their mid-life, on high ground along a mountain road on the Pakistani side of the Khyber Pass. They are probably tired, both physically and emotionally, from the long grinding war. They are concerned about their wives and children, their country, their property and their future. Note that they are taking time out for God. They have an undying faith and they are resilient in the face of tough challenges. They have removed their foot-wear in honor of God. They are standing on a rocky road--shoeless--with makeshift prayer blankets spread out in front of them so they can bow deeply in their ritual to their God.

There were about two hundred of them; dirty, cold, maybe a little hungry, in civilian clothes some wearing shoes made from rubber tires. It was late October and the wind was blowing and the air was fresh and cold. They saw us struggling up the steep road in an old, beat up little car finally reaching the flat place. As I got out of the rickety, oil belching machine they cheered and ran to me and surrounded me wanting to shake hands or make contact in some way.

What the picture does not show…

What the picture does not show is that behind the scenes in every village and town there are legions of people supporting these fighters in every way possible. The weary fighters shown here have the help of collaborators and supporters of all ages from children to the very old, both male and female.

It is that backup support that makes it nearly impossible for a country to be over-run and held in bondage forever. Recent history will bear this out---Japan and Korea, Nazi Germany and Western Europe, the USSR and Eastern Europe, and the colonists who held India and a variety of African nations. Be they invaders with war as their tool or colonists with economics holding the power, it matters not---they will all be forced out.

I asked myself, what made them tough, what gave them courage, what motivated these rag-tag guerillas to stand up against the Soviet army? Could they succeed? What special talents did they possess? What were their tactics and their operational procedures? The following are some of my observations on these questions.

My wife grew up on a family farm in Kansas…

It seems to me that rural people and people of the land are tough. Farmers who work the soil and tend to livestock, out in the weather, up early, planting, harvesting, watching nature and relying on things natural everyday are a grounded strong breed of humans. My wife grew up on a family farm in Kansas. Like her siblings she was given daily chores to perform as a child. They were simple tasks at first and more difficult and physically challenging and important as she grew older and stronger.

As a family member, she felt family ownership of the property and she felt pride in her accomplishments. This made her strong and even courageous. If some outside force attempted to uproot her mother, father, brothers and this little girl from the farm, it would have been resisted. They were devoted to the ground they lived on. They were connected to it and it belonged to the family.

Sun Zu, in his book the Art of War…

What does a Kansas farm have to do with the toughness and resilience of the Afghan fighter? The Afghan rebels who opposed and drove the Soviet army out of Afghanistan knew their land. They knew their home and their culture and their religion and their property and it was that sense of rivers, mountains, villages and hamlets and earth that brought them courage and dedication.

Sun Zu, in his book the Art of War written a couple of thousand years ago, made the following point. It is very difficult to invade a foreign land and hold on to that land over a protracted period. The indigenous population will constantly dream up ways to oust the invaders and at some point they will find the power, resolve and method to do so.

Sun Zu also said that there is an easy way to raise up a powerful army. When a threat has been detected along the border and invasion is imminent, he suggested calling all the farmers and landholders to a meeting and telling them of the threat. They are told that if the invaders succeed that everyone’s land will be confiscated, animals taken, rice paddies, wives and children taken and nothing will be left and they will be killed. Such a message will cause a man to fight to the death because there is no other alternative.

… the freedom fighters in Afghanistan came right out of Sun Zu’s book

I believe that a message like the one described by Sun Zu was passed to the Afghan freedom fighters by some very wise leader. In fact, the freedom fighters in Afghanistan came right out of Sun Zu’s book. They decided to become a fast moving guerrilla/terrorist force. You can compare them to a boxer with short arms facing an opponent with long arms. The guy with short arms must get “close” to the opponent and pound away at him with body blows, shots at the kidney and the convenient powerful uppercut. The guerrilla must get very close to his enemy in warfare and hit at him from close proximity.

The guerilla must ask the indigenous population for support. Intelligence support should be first on the list. The Afghans had superb intelligence because the entire country was supporting the rebels and more then willing to report to the rebels all Soviet plans, movement and activities. The local population was in close and actually among the Soviets collecting information all the time. But the civilian population suffered from this practice as the Soviets burned villages and murdered people in an attempt to stop the flow of information. Yet the Afghans would not give up and this courage and dedication is a very powerful asset and it actually spurs the underdog on.

The key to this tactic of getting in close is to do all the damage possible and get out quickly avoiding the air and artillery support that will be called for and will come. The Afghans cached weapons everywhere around the countryside allowing them to move quickly without the burden of carrying the weapons. They picked up weapons and ammunition near the point of combat and right under the nose of their enemies.

Let me ask you…

The Afghans created fear. They got into the Soviet’s brains by attacking them at night, withdrawing and disappearing quickly, showing up where least expected, fighting with terrorist tactics and avoiding head on engagements. The psychological impact of this tactic repeated successfully time and again can become a frightening scenario.

The Afghans wore the Soviets out. They finally delivered the knock out punch when they used the stinger missile to take out the soviet attack helicopter.

In the final analysis the Afghan rebels showed the world that a bunch of farmers and city folks working together with a cause and a fearless attitude can defeat a super power.

Let me ask you, does this very recent event hold any historical lessons for the United States of America?