git em

They were never in the Middle East. Afghanistan is in Central Asia. Wrap your heads around the fact that not every Muslim country is "Middle East" and that it's 3000 km from Kirkuk to Kabul.
And if you mean "Russia fighting muslim insurgents", well, let's not forget the lengths they went to, to crush the Chechen rebels.

Fair points on both counts. I guess I never thought to confirm Afghanistan's place on the map and just assumed it was part of the middle east

Well it is next to the Middle East so I guess you could call it the "Slightly to the Right East".