Graveyard of empires

It originates from the several historical examples of foreign powers having been unable to achieve military victory in Afghanistan in the modern period, including the British Empire, the Soviet Union and, most recently, the United States.

[13] U.S. President Joe Biden referred to the sobriquet while he delivered a public statement after the 2021 fall of Kabul as evidence that no further commitment of American military presence would consolidate the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan against the Taliban.

[14] The New York Times foreign correspondent Rod Nordland has stated that "in truth, no great empires perished solely because of Afghanistan.

"[15] Joint Services Command and Staff College lecturer Patrick Porter called the attribution "a false extrapolation from something that is true - that there is tactical and strategic difficulty.

[16] Nonetheless, the narrative allowed for argument from analogy and the thesis of "history repeating itself", which proved accepted amongst authors and political experts.