Army Whistleblower Lt. Col. Daniel Davis Says Pentagon Deceiving Public on Afghan War

[Nihil]

21. You fail to understand the difference ...

... between having the region described as "Afghanistan" listed on the map as being "ruled"
and the fact on the ground that the people in that region do now acknowledge the "ruling"
empire as actually being in charge.

Britain "ruled" that region by buying or bullying the appropriate local rulers.

Go back to the earliest days of "conquest" and you will find the same thing throughout
history. "Graveyard of empires" was a poetic summary of the actual situation.

The local inhabitants have always ruled Afghanistan - with or without the approval
of some petty emperor in a foreign land.