She said Afghanistan had never really been one country, but a collection of regions dominated by ethnic warlords. For a start, the country is roughly 85 per cent Sunni Muslim and 15 per cent Shi'a.
Kabul is the the fifth fastest-growing city in the world; a decade ago it didn't qualify as a millisphere but now, with a metropolitan population of 3.7 million, it does.
Kabul is roughly 45 per cent Tajik; 25 per cent Hazara; and 25 per cent Pashtun, and these three ethnic groups are spread evenly throughout the country.
Baghlan province, where the NZ SAS Operation Burnham took place, is in the region historically dominated by the "northern alliance" of Tajiks and Uzbeks. Mazar-e-Sharif, after the largest city in the region, is the name I've given this millisphere, and geophysically it is the upper Amu Darya river catchment that drains north into the Aral Sea.
North is also the direction Afghanistan's opium takes on its journey to the West.
When the Taleban seized control in 1996, opium production fell to less than 20 per cent of what it was during the decade-long 1980s Russian/Mujahideen war.
Since the American invasion in 2001, opium production has climbed to greater than pre-Taliban levels -- despite the Americans spending US$7.6 billion ($10.84b) on poppy eradication programmes.
During the Russian occupation, the Americans supplied money and arms to the Mujahideen. Joining this "jihad" against the Russians were 25,000 Arab fighters including one Osama bin Laden, who famously then turned from being an ally of convenience to a sworn enemy of the US.
Working in Wellington earlier this decade, I met Monroe, a Maori soldier who, after serving his time in the New Zealand Army, signed up with the US-led ISAF and worked in Kabul, training Afghan armed forces.
His take on the situation was that only those on the bottom in Afghan society would sign up with the invaders. He called his recruits "homos and junkies" whom he thought would never beat the Taliban.
It is estimated the Taliban have only 25,000 farmer/fighters in the field. Despite a ratio of 12:1 in favour of the US and its allies, backed by sophisticated military equipment, the Taleban still control large areas of Afghanistan.
Before the Taliban, Baghlan province was controlled by the Hazara warlord Sadat Jafat Naderi who belongs to the Ismaili Shi'a sect which comprises about 20 per cent of all Shi'a Muslims. There are about 6 million Ismaili Shi'a in Afghanistan and about 25m worldwide.
The Ismaili Shi'a give their allegiance to the Aga Khan who, with a personal wealth of US$800m, is one of the 10 richest royals in the world. The Aga Khan was born in Geneva to a British mother and currently lives in France.
The Taliban use of asymmetrical warfare, such as suicide bombers, and their sanctuary over the border in the Pashtun tribal areas in Pakistan mean they are still a force to be reckoned with.
In the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great said: "May the gods keep you away from the venom of the cobra, the teeth of the tiger, and the revenge of the Afghans."
The New Zealand Army lost four soldiers during its time in Afghanistan; Britain lost 450; the Americans 2300.
Should we have been there and been identified as an ally of the Americans?
As the Dutch said, before becoming one of first Nato countries to bail out: "We came to help rebuild, not to take sides in a civil war."
The Dutch also couldn't stomach the corruption.
�When Fred Frederikse is not building, he is a self-directed student of geography and traveller. In his spare time he is co-chairman of the Whanganui Musicians' Club.
