Why is Afghanistan known as the graveyard of Empires?

Afghanistan is called the Graveyard of Empires because of the subsequent collapse of that nations worldwide sphere of influence soon after. (The Macedonian, Sassanid, Mongol, British and Soviet Russia all tried to take over the region but all of them failed miserably. They also crumbled soon afterwards except in the case of British Empire who crumbled a century later.) Afghanistan has historically been an extremely strategic piece of land to hold, given its location in Central Asia. Many of the super powers have tried and had major difficulties capturing Afghanistan. Alexander the Great was able to conquer Persia in 6 months and then spent nearly 3 years attempting to subdue Afghanistan. The losses incurred and the resistance faced were some of the contributors to the eventual fall of his empire after his death. In the case of the British they had 3 Anglo afghan wars spanning the 19th and 20th centuries. The end result of these struggles were heavy British losses as well as the end of the British soldiers in the history of the British Empire happened in Afghanistan. In fact the greatest massacre of British soldiers in the history of the British Empire happened in Afghanistan. More than 166,000 people had set out on the retreat from Kabul and in the end only one man, Dr. William Brydon, a British Army surgeon, had made it alive to Jalalabad. It was believed that the afghans let him live so he could tell the grisly story. The Soviet Union attempted to capture Afghanistan in its sphere of influence by spreading socialism there. While it initially gained traction, religious and tribal forces within Afghanistan resisted and this led to the Soviet-Afghan war. With help from the CIA and Arab/Muslim fighters from other regions, the Mujahideen succeeded in drawing the USSR into a protracted struggle that many believe led to the crumbling of the Soviet Union. So it can be argued that the US conflict in Afghanistan which began in 2001 and continues to this day is another example of technological and military being unable to subdue the tribal forces in Afghanistan. Afghanistans geography is very hard. It is a country of mountains and deserts, of quite severe winters and that makes it difficult not only to fight in, but also to operate logistically. It limits your mobility and it is difficult to project power. So no wonder that the countrys Graveyard legend dies hard. Obama is hoping for a turnaround in US fortunes in Afghanistan, but any strategy will need more troops and more treasure.US economy is already under great debt and deploying more troops in Afghanistan will place it under more burden, while victory remains elusive and undefined, and the cost in dollars and lives keep rising.

TEHREEM AZHAR