This is a miscomparison of tenses. The peninsular Arab armies of 700-1300 were unstoppable. But the parent commenter is asking about the armies of the modern er

This is a miscomparison of tenses. The peninsular Arab armies of 700-1300 were unstoppable. But the parent commenter is asking about the armies of the modern era. Actually a more interesting question is why /regular/ armies organized by the State in such countries are generally perceived as hopeless whereas /irregular/ militias such as we see in Afghanistan have proven so effective. It's clearly not a people thing since they are drawn from the same well.