On the outskirts of Kabul, at the foothills of snowcapped mountains, stands a haunting reminder of how far this land has fallen. The Royal Palace of Afghanistan is an empty, pockmarked ruin surrounded by dirt trails and goats. While it is true that the Soviet Red Army caused great destruction in its invasion and occupation of this land in the 1980s, most of the catastrophic damage one can find around Kabul was self inflicted.