A clear-eyed view of the conflict in Afghanistan and its century-deep roots.

The war in Afghanistan has consumed vast amounts of blood and treasure, causing the Western powers to seek an exit without achieving victory. The seemingly never-ending conflict has become synonymous with a number of issues — global jihad, rampant tribalism, and the narcotics trade — but despite being cited as causes of the conflict, they are in fact symptoms.

Rather than beginning after 9/11, or with the Soviet “invasion” in 1979, the current conflict in Afghanistan began with the social reforms imposed by Amanullah Amir in 1919. Western powers have failed to recognize that legitimate grievances dating back as long ago as that are driving the local population to turn to insurgency in Afghanistan. The issues they are willing to fight over today — secularism, modernity, and centralized power — are not new ones; in fact, they have been the source of a hundred-year-long social conflict.

The first step toward achieving a “solution” to the Afghanistan “problem” is to have a clear-eyed view of what is really driving it.