Table Of ContentAfghanistan’s
Hundred-
Year War
PHIL HALTON
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Praise for Blood Washing Blood
A curious fact about the Afghan war is that many soldiers we sent to
fight the Taliban — a movement whose name translates as “students” —
themselves became students, educating themselves about the history and
peoples of South Asia. Some of these warrior-scholars read deeply and
could hold their own in any room of grey-bearded tribal leaders. Phil
Halton is an exemplary part of that tradition, a careful historian who
knows the facts about Afghanistan but also knows the limits of any for-
eigner’s understanding. His sweeping narrative is foundational reading
for any student of the war or anyone curious about why our armies fared
no better than their predecessors.
— Graeme Smith, Emmy-winning journalist, bestselling author of
The Dogs Are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan
Rather than focusing on the more recent decades of war in Afghanistan,
Halton offers an astute analysis of the deeply rooted political issues driv-
ing conflict in Afghanistan over the last century. Blood Washing Blood is
an engaging and well-written text that will open eyes for scholars, policy-
makers, and general readers interested in one of the most enduring
conflicts of our time.
— James Tharin Bradford, author of Poppies, Politics, and Power
Through this sweeping and grand political history of Afghanistan, Halton
proves himself to be one of Canada’s leading warrior-scholars. Blood
Washing Blood combines meticulous scholarly research and ground-level
field experience in a compelling story about Afghanistan’s enduring war.
— Dr. Aisha Ahmad, University of Toronto, author of Jihad & Co.:
Black Markets and Islamist Power
Phil Halton has done an impressive job of objectively chronicling and
making unique sense of the devilishly complicated subject of contem-
porary political and social upheaval from an Afghan perspective. The
conflicts between Afghanistan’s strategic partners and adversaries, the
international community, and the coalition and governments of the
day is a backdrop to the “Afghan way” of personal, tribal, and ethnic
influences and loyalties that have shaped domestic power struggles —
something that is exceedingly difficult for outsiders to grasp. It is one
thing to see the continuing saga as an outcome of the Great Game, but
Halton nuances this by additionally portraying how Afghan leaders have
consistently levered the Great Powers to their particular purposes. This
is a very credible and readable work that resets the narrative around 100
years of upheaval, progress, and setback.
— Michael J. Ward, Major General (Retired), Deputy Commander
NATO Training Mission Afghanistan 2009–2010
I wish Blood Washing Blood had been available to read before my first
deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 2007 or even my second tour
to Kabul in 2012. I would have made it compulsory reading for my whole
combat team or task force. It provides a detailed but easily understood
analysis of the complicated, convoluted intricacies of Afghan history,
politics, tribal relations, and power struggles.
— Colonel (Retired) Alex Ruff, the Royal Canadian Regiment
Halton has an easy style, which he uses to effect in this well-researched
and highly readable history, while endeavouring to untangle a highly
complex subject. The author wisely goes back more than a century in
order to establish that the current animosities had their roots long before
the Soviets or the West found themselves fighting in Afghanistan.… This
book is at once both a warning and required reading for any who would
insert expeditionary military forces into parts of the world that they do
not fully comprehend.
— Colonel (Retired) Charles S. Oliviero, CD, PhD
Blood Washing Blood is an extremely readable account of a century of un-
ending Afghan warfare. It provides valuable context and understanding
of the human dimensions of a conflict in which the West has been mired
for the last two decades.
— Dr. Howard G. Coombs, Associate Chair War Studies,
Royal Military College of Canada
Understanding Afghanistan and its evolution necessitates a grounding
in its political history. In this volume, Phil Halton has taken a complex
topic and woven a detailed, highly readable narrative that makes the topic
easily accessible to anyone interested in the region and how it became
what it is today. The events of 9/11 created a resurgence in our interest
in Afghanistan. In Blood Washing Blood, author Phil Halton has shown
that the path to 9/11, and beyond, actually began much earlier. Tracing
the last century of twists and tumult in Afghan history, he has created a
narrative that makes a very complicated history readily accessible to the
contemporary student of the region.
— Colonel Tod Strickland, CD, Commandant, Canadian
Army Command and Staff College
Afghanistan’s history and evolution is often as mysterious as it is complex
to many outsiders, but Halton has expertly unpacked it for the reader
in this richly detailed and easily readable overview of its past hundred
years. Combining extensive research and sources with first-hand experi-
ence on the ground, he has given us an invaluable primer for unlocking
the reasons behind much of the recent conflict taking place there.
— Lieutenant Colonel Andrew B. Godefroy, CD, PhD,
Canadian Army Command and Staff College
In Blood Washing Blood, Phil Halton has brilliantly captured the essence
of the roots, goals, and nature of the Taliban insurgents who fought
Canadian soldiers in the dusty groves and sun-baked plains of southern
Afghanistan. It’s a compelling, nuanced, and unflinching window into the
heart and soul of the movement behind the insurgency.… Blood Washing
Blood is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the rival-
ries, hopes, hatreds, and complex motivations behind the Taliban and
the men who fill its ranks.
— Chris Wattie, author of Contact Charlie: The Canadian Army,
the Taliban, and the Battle for Afghanistan
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BLOOD WASHING BLOOD
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Afghanistan’s
Hundred-
Year War
PHIL HALTON
Copyright © Phil Halton, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise (except for brief passages for purpose of review) without the prior permission of
Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.
Publisher and acquiring editor: Scott Fraser | Editor: Cy Strom
Cover and interior designer: Laura Boyle
Cover image: istockphoto.com/RobinOlimb
Printer: Marquis Book Printing Inc.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: Blood washing blood : Afghanistan’s hundred-year war / Phil Halton.
Names: Halton, Phil, author.
Description: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20200272683 | Canadiana (ebook) 20200272802 | ISBN
9781459746640 (softcover) | ISBN 9781459746657 (PDF) | ISBN 9781459746664 (EPUB)
Subjects: LCSH: Afghan Wars.
Classification: LCC DS363 .H35 2020 | DDC 958.1/03—dc23
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council
for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of
Ontario, through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and Ontario Creates, and the
Government of Canada.
Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author
and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits
in subsequent editions.
The publisher is not responsible for websites or their content unless they are owned by the
publisher.
Printed and bound in Canada.
Dundurn Press
1382 Queen Street East
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4L 1C9
dundurn.com, @dundurnpress
