Lighter: yes, I agree. My understanding is that Afghanistan was progressive until the US started fomenting fundamentalism as part of an effort to unseat the Soviet-friendly government. And that led to the government asking for Soviet military assistance against the insurgency, which was represented as an invasion so that it could serve as an excuse for more US and Saudi meddling, leading eventually to the takeover by the Taliban. Now what was your point about that?

Teribus: the support you provided for your opinions ("just utter bullshit" "are you joking?" "that will not happen" "cannot imagine how this fact has escaped your attention") is difficult to present a rational argument against. Perhaps I should just say you're wrong and so's you're mother.