Should the Us and Afghanistan Remain Allies

Should the U.S. and Afghanistan remain allies

The U.S. should remain allies with Afghanistan in order to reach and maintain peace nationwide and because Afghanistan offers a number of natural resources such as minerals and natural gas, that are useful to the U.S.. Similarly, the U.S. is also a useful asset to Afghanistan. For decades, Afghanistan has been named one of the poorest and most underdeveloped countries in the world. The U.S. would be fruitful in advising them on reform.

Afghanistan’s Demographics and Economy

Afghanistan, located in Central Asia, has an estimated population of nearly thirty-two million people (Qazi, 2012, para. 1). Pashtoons, Uzbeks, Tajiks and Hazaras are the four chief ethnic groups that make up the population however; there are other numerous groups that add to the diverse nation. The country itself is a mix of rocky ranges and desert plains in its western and northwestern regions while the southeast and northeast regions are steep and mountainous. The entire country covers about 251,773 square miles.

As previously mentioned, Afghanistan houses a number of natural resources that consist of gems, coal, iron ore, gold, copper and natural gas. Out of those, it is their gems, copper, iron coals, and natural gases that have been the objects of development. Unfortunately, even with all those valuable resources, the country has struggled economically. Since before the 1970’s, Afghanistan has been thought to have one of the lowest standards of living in the entire world (Economy, n.d., para. 1). There are several reasons why the country has not been able to grow economically. It has been said that part of their economic instability comes from the effects of many years of war, while another reason can be attributed to hidden or unreported illegal revenue from drugs, weapons, and human trafficking. Their number one source of revenue derives from agriculture because most of the population is made up of skilled farmers and herders (Economy, n.d., para.2).

Afghanistan Battle History

From the beginning of the 1820’s until the end of the early 1900’s, the country became involved in the rivalry between Russia and Britain as they fought for control of Central Asia. Eventually the British invaded Afghanistan and took over for almost a century until they were run out of the country in 1919 (Harvey, 2003, para.8). Then in 1979, Russia invaded the country in an effort to take over to take over, but in 1989 Russia was defeated by Afghanistan and withdrew from their country.

Currently, Afghanistan is involved in, what has been dubbed, “the longest war in history” with the United States. This continues to put a damper on an already weak economic situation. The war began in 2001 when Osama bin Laden, an extremist out of Afghanistan, arranged an attack on the United States; since then the