The USA has tried a series of unconventional tactics in Afghanistan and the Middle East for their doomed efforts to spread ‘democracy’ in the region. One of these tactics involved providing old tribal warlords with Viagra in return for their support. Viagra, the brand which sells Sildenafil, helps treat erectile dysfunction in mean and hypertension.
“Whatever it takes to make friends and influence people — whether it’s building a school or handing out Viagra,” one CIA officer, a veteran of several Afghan tours, told the Washington Post in 2008. “Take one of these. You’ll love it,” CIA officers told old Afghan men who could not perform their marital duties with their wives, who were often young.
The Afghan men frequently married four wives, the maximum number permitted under Shariah law. The reasoning behind such an offer was motivated by more mundane logistical realities of war.
“If you give an asset $1000, he’ll go out and buy the shiniest junk he can find, and it will be apparent that he has suddenly come into a lot of money,” one veteran said. “Even if he doesn’t get killed, he becomes ineffective as an informant because everyone knows where he got it.”
Viagra worked wonders for the US forces stationed in Afghanistan, intimately related to the manner it usually does. “He came up to us beaming,” the official said. “He said, ‘You are a great man.’ ” “And after that we could do whatever we wanted in his area.”
Explaining the decision, a CIA veteran said, “You’re trying to bridge a gap between people living in the 18th century and people coming in from the 21st century, so you look for those common things in the form of material aid that motivate people everywhere.”
Viagra is usually sold as a prescription drug but conventional norms do not apply to the CIA and in war. Urologist Christopher Saigal said in 2008, “Viagra can increase the risk of having a heart attack if you’re taking nitrates, which are used to relieve chest pain from heart disease.” It can also cause a condition known as priapism or an “erection that won’t go down”.
Men reach their sexual peak in the 20s and it starts going down after the age of 30. At 60 years of age, it is understandable that Afghan men were long past their peak burdened with four young wives they could not satisfy. Under such circumstances, Viagra would have come across as Manna from heaven for them.
The war in Afghanistan finally came to an end on the 30th of August, 2021 after the exit of all US forces from the country. There has been much criticism about Joe Biden’s handling of the withdrawal, where Americans have been left stranded in the war torn country.
