Afghanistan and the United States of America: (a study of their relations)

Many books and articles have been written about Afghanistan by western writers, some of which are the result of profound and intellectual studies and have presented Afghanistan in a fairly realistic light. Unfortunately, most of them look upon Afghanistan as a wild and barren country noted for dogs, nomads, barbarian tribesmen; a "Land of Mystery" a "Secret Kingdom," a "Forbidden Country," a "Country of D[r]eams," or a "Land of Romance." Most Afghans fail to understand such references to their homeland. In fact, all of these legends about Afghanistan are the by-products of an extensive propaganda subtly carried out by her enemies, namely, the British Government of India and Russia with the purpose of keeping the rest of the world away from her borders and to accelerate their own imperialistic and political schemes. The result is that many Americans know very little about the country itself, its productive and political potentialities and its desires in the field of international relations. This lack of adequate knowledge has created many misunderstandings and false notions. Although many scattered articles and reports have been written concerning Afghan-American relations, thus far unfortunately, neither an Afghan nor an American has made an attempt to write at least a "booklet" on this vital subject covering every aspect of the Afghan-American relationship. The present writer, in an attempt to fill this gap, has tried to collect all the documents and official records available in the Afghanistan Embassy in the United States, in the United States State Department and in other similar sources, together with secondary sources written by both Afghans and Americans, to provide a critical survey of Afghan-American relations since 1921.