The Americans had invaded this hell hole almost 17 years ago. And still it is the same hell hole it was for the past 2,000 years. Before that, it was the turn of the Russians. They wasted their men and money in this useless piece of barren land. I still don't understand why the foreign powers need to invade Afghanistan. There is no oil or any other resources there.
Conspiracy theorists would say there is something there... Opium.
Anyway, back to the country, yup, it's been quite fucked up for a long time already. There seem to be a time when it started looking Western though that would never be again after the Taliban made everyone even more conservative.