"Never get involved in a land war in Asia," cautioned Wallace Shawn as Vizzini in the 1987 film, "The Princess Bride." Despite such clear warnings, western powers continue to fall for this best known of the classic blunders. Twenty years ago, shortly after 9/11, the United States embarked on a war in Afghanistan to remove the Taliban from power and install an autonomous Afghan democracy. After the longest war in US history devolved into stalemate, US forces began their withdrawal in August. Almost immediately, the fragile government collapsed and the Taliban once again claimed power. This spells bad news for everyone who does not adhere to their fundamentalist Islamic rule, especially women. While fear is now the true ruler of Afghanistan, there remain glimmers of hope amid the chaos. Later this month, three table tennis players from Afghanistan will participate in two top-tier tournaments in Doha, Qatar. Mustafa Bakhtiyari, Mohammad Hosseini and Behrooz Daneshmand (pictured) will first take part in the WTT Star Contender Doha from September 20-25. After a two-day breather, they will take part in the Asian Table Tennis Championships, conveniently located in the same venue. Their participation in these events is not remarkable in and of itself—they are, after all, international tournaments—but it represents much more. The three athletes were granted special wild card spots by the Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA). "Our government may have collapsed but our people are still standing and will keep standing tall," said Afghanistan Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) president Heleena Kakar. "We’ll fight in every sphere of life for their bright future. Our table tennis team will represent Afghanistan in Doha and demonstrate to the world that nothing can take us back to the dogma of Stone Age. "We will also never forget those who stood with us in our bad days," she continued. "On behalf of ATTF and the people of Afghanistan my deep sense of gratitude goes to ITTF group for being a true partner." International Tennis Federation (ITTF) CEO Steve Dainton echoed the sentiment. "We are happy to have the Afghanistan team participating at the WTT Star Contender and the Asian Championships together with other nations," said Dainton. "One of the most remarkable things that sport can do is to bring people together." While no one is naive enough to think the problems in Afghanistan can be solved with ping-pong alone, neither can anyone deny the the power of such partnerships to promote peace. A world without such glimmers of hope would be, in a word, inconceivable.

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