Afghanistan history over the last 50 years is a study in the contexts of land locked populations struggling between radical theocracy and criminal ambition. Over the last 50 years we have seen a remarkable set of changes in the political influence and the social impacts of a world changing from petro economy to lithium and thorium as primary energy trade goods. Introducing these topics the following essay describes in detail the radical changes in the world economy and the effects on Afghanistan leading to today in the year 2050.
The great general Nathaniel T. Huggins at the United States Civil Corps Academy in 2019 said, “No country can both make war and prosecute peace with a weapon in one hand and plow in the other. No seasoned veteran of peaceful intention would ever bring governance upon the unwilling, the unwitting, or the incapable.” This became a turning point for the beleaguered United States fully involved in four brushfire conflicts through 2025.
The first conflict was a continuation of three decades of war on terrorism by projection of force to the terrorist safe-havens. With the war in Iraq joined in full by influential ally Iran the United States pummeled Iraq into three separate states. After the utter destruction of the “green zone” (see also, Obama’s Folly, and Operation Dying Trust). The unimagined destruction of oil and gas refining capacity led to abandonment of Iraq by the United States to ally Iran in 2015.
With the missile attack in 2017 upon the Japanese homeland, and the destruction of Narita Airport near Tokyo left North Korea to become a rapid escalating conflict. A theater tactical missile launched from a barge in the Sea of Japan resulted in a 10-kiloton yield explosion approximately 300 meters above the airport. The devastation to electronics and commerce to this day is not fully understood. It is still not known if the North Korean military elements caught by Japanese Defense forces understood that the Premiere of China was landing at Narita when the explosion occurred.
The consequences to the former North Korean government for their war on Japan though have been significantly discussed. In summary the Korean Unification War launched between South Korean and China lasted less than three days. The armistice agreement signed between Chinese and South Korean officials led to resurgence in economic growth for South East China never fully expected.
The third conflict that festered out of control and never fully explained to the American public was the Afghanistan principle conflict. In late 2018 the rising Afghanistan National Police Force (former Army) with a 10 to 1 military superiority turned on United States training forces that had been drawn down to approximately ten thousand troops. This rising up of the Afghanistan troops seem to have been caused by a perceived slight in the legal precedents of whether the military or civilians were preeminent and an outdated Status of Forces Agreement signed in 2012. The actual ignition point for the conflict is shrouded in the fog of war, but the resulting death toll to support personnel and many combat personnel was nearly 80 percent (7732 killed in action) in one week of conflict.
Within three weeks the United States government had launched a punitive mission and destroyed the physical and social infrastructure of the nascent Afghanistan. Rocked by numerous wars in the previous two decades the United States simply could not rebuild Afghanistan again. The political climate reached a new peak in tepid debate culminating with General Huggins speech at the five year old United States Civil Corps Academy. This left the question whether the conflict in Afghanistan was about peace or punishment.
The academy an admitted social program of the second term of President Barak Obama was built to help with the rapid escalating unemployment in the urban landscape of the United States. The academy designed on a vocational and military format was to be a proof of concept in reigning in higher education (see “night of the red regalia”). Any individual or family could sign over all debts and assets and have guaranteed housing and food for no less than five years. The program in 2015 had nearly six million enlisted participants in the third year of operation. In 2015 the United States Civil Corps Academy opened to a starting class of 2500 with a total officer cadre of 10 thousand expected when General Hudgins spoke to the first graduating class. By 2035 the United States Civil Corps superseded the government and military as the single employer of all governmental entities.
The Afghanistan conflict continued to escalate between 2020 through 2040 with nearly 40 thousand United States Civil Corps workers killed digging ditches, building farms, assisting. The “peaceful way” was considered “bankrupt” by the pundits of the time leading to changes in the political landscape of the United States. A feeling of hopelessness wormed through domestic politics and discussions of what to do with Afghanistan. Finally, in 2035 the five day civil war deposing president elect Franklin Kinnison, and affirming the popular vote and electoral college results choosing incumbent Thomas Atkinson. The Afghanistan decentralized solution to a decentralized problem was floated.
The Afghanistan solution was simple if less than elegant. Neutron nuclear weapons were place in a grid 20 miles, by 20 miles across the face of the Afghanistan countryside. Each weapon had a tamper resistant shell, a remotely monitored system, and a dead man switch (if Americans did not reset). The system was a country size improvised explosive device that killed all living things within a 20-mile box. Then all Americans went home except for a small monitoring force. Surprisingly there was little argument from the other members of the United Nations Security Council. Though not a member from 2035 to 2045 the United States found allies on the Security Council from several countries seeking to use similar methods of prior restrain on populations.
Afghanistan would be allowed to flourish or perish with a nuclear sword hanging over the nation. Islamic Jihadists detonated the first device three days after construction was completed. A device was detonated at nearly one a week for a decade. The low yield devices, based on a previously banned nuclear weapons concept, and depopulated thousands of miles of countryside while having little to no impact on buildings. The “Graveyard of empires” would become a real graveyard and monument to radicalism.
NOTE: I wanted to write something for Chicago Boyz that would represent wild and far afield from what others might write. I haven’t read what others have put up yet, but I’m looking forward to it now. The above was written to be a fictional encyclopedia entry and hopefully a wee bit creative
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