Brothers in arms

Previously I compared the fall of Kabul to that of Khartoum, 1885. Then, the British were helping the Ottomans fight Sudanese Mahdists. Unsuccessfully. That war's initial phase provides several parallels to the U.S. in Afghanistan. The world's most powerful empire suffered a crisis of confidence, both at home and among its Muslim allies. Fanatical Islam gained a staging area, whence it might expan