setting-mellow433

This is true. A lot of westerners think Afghanistan is a barren desert but in fact the majority is mountainous and it's very scenic. What I don't like is how many have this automatic assumption without knowing basic information about the country.

Also I often notice westerners here (from a certain country) incorrectly refer to Afghanistan as being in the Middle East. It is not Middle Eastern, it is much more geographically east, it borders China and it is closer to India than any Middle Eastern country bar Iran. No wonder to Afghans it's the 'heart of Asia'

I also think a lot of Americans aren't aware of Afghanistan's connections with British India and the country's role in the 1947 partition. It's a very important point because it was the roots of political developments that led to the wars up to and including the events of the past weeks.