Ethnocentrism in Afghanistan

I wanted to change gears briefly and speak about the difficulties of rebuilding the failed, war-torn state of Afghanistan while dealing with the obstacle of firmly enculturated ethnocentrist ideas among the local national population.

The word “ethnocentrism” describes a (Usually) subconscious pattern of thought that one’s own cultural behaviors are correct, and others are incorrect. However, these days it is typically used by leftist pseudo-intellectuals as a pejorative term to describe how white westerners inherently behave toward other cultures. To be honest, white westerners, especially Americans, are well known in many parts of the world to be friendly and accepting of other cultures, to a fault. I have witnessed what real ethnocentrism is, in Afghanistan.

I was in Afghanistan in 2013 and 2014, and while I currently have little to no concern for whether the place ever graduates to a status higher than the poo-pond at Kandahar Airfield, I did leave my sweat there in buckets, and my unit lost three good men there. The best men. They were the kind of men who, when they went down, you thought “If they can get those guys, they’re not even going to break a sweat getting me.” So I guess I do have some concern about what happens there, even if I don’t think I should.

The religious, ethnic and sectarian differences the local populations hold fast to and use against one another constitute the one of the biggest hindrances to increasing the general stability of the country. This is just one level of ethnocentrism that I myself observed during my time there as a part of US Intelligence (USI). We operated with great difficulty at times due to the unwillingness of opposing ethnicities, such as Pashtuns, Uzbeks, Tajiks and Hazaras, to work together based on these differences. That factor was present in the higher levels of government, in the media and even down at the grassroots level, showing that the cultural divide was quite deep. My own experiences reflected this well.

Ethnic orientation was always a major factor in political appointments. I believe this to be an example of self-fueling ethnocentrism.

I mentioned earlier “one level of ethnocentrism” I had observed. The other level of ethnocentrism, though it wasn’t conscious, intentional or malicious, was coming from those of us in USI ourselves. We spent months in country assisting, advising and training the local officials, military and police on how to promote stability, build and maintain infrastructure, create a cohesive community in their area, increase security and manage public works and systems for the population. We did this based on our own knowledge of what that stability and cohesion might look like in Afghanistan, but it was and still often is clouded by what it would look like in the United States. Dozens upon dozens of generals, officials and politicians have devised volumes of books and strategies on nation-building in third-world countries that look and function in a way that is in no way similar to the cultural environment in which we live. Interestingly, enemy forces in the region have proven adept at using ethnocentrism to fuel the fire of instability and sectarian violence. The Pakistani ISI adds their own unique flavor.

There are several complex cultural currents in Afghanistan that have been driving the overall unstable situation in the region. At this point, our troops have done the job they were asked to do to the best of their ability with the tools they were given.

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By Published On: August 29, 2020Categories: Grey Man, Opinion6 Comments on Ethnocentrism in Afghanistan

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6 Comments

  1. Georgiaboy61 August 29, 2020 at 06:05

    Tribal cultures are notoriously resistant to modernization and westernization. Our so-called leaders, military and political alike, who brag about “multiculturalism” and prattle on about their sophistication in such matters, are actually woefully-ignorant of how places like Afghanistan work on a day-to-day basis. And if these leaders actually knew some real history instead of the neo-Marxist cant which so often passes for it these days, they would know that no one has conquered the Afghans since the time of Alexander the Great.

    The tribes in places like Afghanistan – the Pashto and Dari and many others – have existed as they have for a thousand years or more. They may want cell phones, RPGs and Kalashnikovs -but they neither need nor want Jeffersonian-style democracy. That fact is why the Afghan government is a reality only in Kandahar and some of the larger cities. Outside of those enclaves, the tribal chieftains rule.

    The tribe is the oldest and most-durable social unit on earth, except perhaps the family itself – and tribalism is a form of family kinship anyway. The late author Leon Uris, in his novel “Exodus,” captured the essence of the tribe in his quote from an old Bedouin proverb: “I against my brother, I and my brother against our cousin, my brother and our cousin against the neighbors all of us against the foreigner.”

    Debating the distinction between tribalism and what the author calls ethnocentrism seems rather pointless, since in places like Afghanistan they are, for all intents and purposes, one and the same.

    • Johnny Paratrooper August 29, 2020 at 08:39

      You really think they don’t understand a bunch of poor, cross-eyed inbred retards? That’s pretty funny. Look what they did to the west.
      They took use from skirts and leggings to yoga pants in 10 years. Using celebrities and advertising. And now all of our women parade around in their underwear. Let’s be serious. They do what they want, when they want.

      We celebrate Islam, despite their core spiritual documents being full of words and laws that would get you lynched if you were a white christian.

      We need to stop the signal. That’s what we really need. And viciously assault anyone who won’t listen.

      PUT ON THE GLASSES OR EAT THAT TRASHCAN!

      • Georgiaboy61 August 30, 2020 at 00:10

        @ Johnny Paratrooper

        Re: “PUT ON THE GLASSES OR EAT THAT TRASHCAN!”

        No need to try and feed me that trashcan, trooper…. I’ve been sounding the alarm about the danger of Islam for more years than I can easily count, thank you. You’ll notice that I did not say the dangers of “Islamic extremism,” “Islamic fundamentalism,” or similar politically-correct bravo sierra.

        My point about Afghanistan – or anyplace involuntarily occupied by a foreign power, for that matter – is that there is no quicker way to make an enemy than to invade his country, and then tell him you are going to force him to change his way of life for his own good. In our absence, the tribes of Afghanistan pass the time fighting one another, just as do the various tribes of the Middle East. One of the things – the very few things, in fact – capable of getting them to quit waging Sunni-Shi’ite warfare against each other or whatever internal strife happens to be going on – is the chance to do jihad and slay some infidels.

        In my view, nation-building in a place like Afghanistan or Iraq is a fool’s errand and always has been. They don’t want what we are offering, and in any case, European-style representative democracy won’t grow in the soil of the Islamic world. Here’s an idea: Maybe we ought to mind our own business, and quit allowing the NWO to use our military as de facto mercenaries. Tell the Arabs and Israelis – and the western oligarch billionaires – to fight their own damned wars. Eighty-five years ago, retired Marine Corps General Smedley L. Butler, a two-time recipient of the Medal of Honor and veteran of numerous wars both large and small, published a book called “War is a Racket.” Although his observations are nearly a century old, they remain as valid today as ever.

    • Gray Man August 29, 2020 at 10:40

      I will say that I’ve seen the point that “no one has conquered the Afghans in X number of years…” Firstly, that requires there to be something that is “Afghan”. The Afghans barely considered themselves to be Afghans. Afghans are something westerners invented. Most Afghans aren’t overly interested in being Afghans as much as they’re interested in being Pashtun or Uzbek, or their family or tribe. Religion comes before country too. Hard to “conquer” a people that don’t even exist as a people outside of the fact that they live inside the same lines on a map that westerners drew up themselves a long time ago. They don’t live as one and our lines do make a difference to them.

      Second, it depends on what you mean by “conquered”. If you mean “We roll in and go where we want, when we want, and do what we want and don’t encounter enough resistance to stop us, then yes, we have them conquered. Once upon a time the Russians rolled in and GOT PUSHED BACK OUT. We basically have people who are contracted to go there and make six figures doing busy work. I have a guy I used to serve with who volunteers to go because of the excess gym time he gets. We might not be able to compel civilized behavior from the people, but that’s because they’re barely a nation at all.

      As far as the difference between tribalism and ethnocentrism, I don’t have much of a debate with that. It’s essentially major tribalism and minor ethnocentrism at the level of the unwashed masses, and that script is flipped when you’re talking about the younger, more educated and modernized Afghans. They’re not all completely rooted in tribalist ideas anymore But the ethnic pecking order is still there.

      I don’t necessarily blame them. You can’t trust anyone there.

      • Johnny Paratrooper August 29, 2020 at 22:41

        They are a bunch of inbred liars in Iraq.

        “Deceive the unbelievers”
        “Lie in ambush behind every rock”
        “Take from them”
        “Cross their path wherever they may walk”

  2. Anonymous August 29, 2020 at 09:45

    5

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