AfghanWatch

Naming and Shaming in Afghanistan

2011-11-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

Herat University

Men seek revenge for “dishonour" of hearing their wife’s name spoken in public.

By Nasima Hamdard - Afghanistan

Khaleda Mohammadi, a 23-year-old university student from Herat, was beaten by her husband and banned from going to classes for three weeks, just because one of her male classmates used her name in public.
The student, who has been married for two years, said she was coming out of class one day when a classmate approached her and said, “Khaleda, we don’t have a test tomorrow. It’s been postponed until next week.”

Her husband was waiting by the front gate to take her home, and when he heard this, he leapt out of his car, grabbed the boy by the collar and asked him, “Why do you call out my wife's name in front of everyone? Isn’t it enough that you know her name?”
Khaleda said that when they got home, her husband beat her severely, demanding to know why she allowed the boy to use her first name.
“My husband told me I couldn’t go to university any more, and in fact I wasn’t allowed out of the house at all,” she said, adding that her husband only relented after three weeks when her father intervened on her behalf.
She now lives in fear of her husband, who has threatened dire consequences if someone uses her name again.
“My husband allows me to go to university –but with the proviso that that he will divorce me if someone says my name again,” she added.
Khaleda’s husband Feraidun, 30, insisted he had done nothing wrong.
“Out of pride, I can’t stand it when someone calls out my wife’s name,” he said. “I can’t look away and ignore it. She represents my honour. Every man who values his dignity must act like this, otherwise he has no pride.”
Khaleda’s story illustrates an enduring Afghan tradition that women’s names must not be spoken by men outside the family, or even spoken in their presence. Men who take their wives or daughters to the doctor will often will not tell medical staff what her name is, when they need to write it on a prescription.
Even within the family, husbands frequently avoid using their wives’ given names, instead addressing them as the mother of one of their children.
Although the taboo is commonest in rural areas, it also occurs in urban centres like Herat.
Nur Khan Nekzad, spokesman for police headquarters in Herat, said officers had arrested eight men in the past six months for using violence – sometimes involving weapons such as knives – after others had used their wives’ names.
That is what happened to Nasrin, 30, who said, “Two months ago, my husband went to buy groceries in the market. He saw a friend on the way, who asked him, in front of other men, ‘How is Nasrin?’ My husband had a fight with his friend and injured him with a knife.”
She said her husband beat her badly when he got home, demanding to know how his friend knew her name.
“So now he’s in prison, and I face an uncertain future,” Nasrin said, adding that she and her three-year-old daughter were living with her mother and father.
Rahima Yusufi, a lawyer with the local government department for women’s affairs, said her office had had ten cases referred to it in the last six months involving cases of this kind.
“In order to educate men and address the problem, the gender section of the women’s affairs department has organised three or four seminars for mullahs and imams, whose views enjoy great respect, because they can inform people about behaviour that goes against religious principles.”
Experts on Islam like Khalilollah Ahadi, a lecturer in sharia law at Herat university, say the name taboo does not come from the religion – uttering a woman’s name was just not an issue, as references in the Koran showed,
“Religious scholars have a duty to do some serious work to tackle such problems,” Ahadi said.
Sayed Khalil Moayed, a psychiatrist in Herat, said the name issue was part of a broader pattern – hostility to women working or studying, forced marriage and domestic abuse. Matters came to a head when tradition clashed with modern social patterns.
“In Herat society, when the name of someone’s wife is used, it is seen as a violation of the man’s privacy and dignity,” he said. “People feel such shame of their wives’ names that they aren’t even prepared to use them themselves. Men will say ‘my children’s mother’ or ‘my family member’.”
Moayed said the media could do a lot to change such attitudes.
But that is going to take time, and many men retain powerful prejudices.
Herat resident Wahidollah said Afghan men were sensitive about three things – disrespect shown to their country, their faith and their women. As for those who were insufficiently zealous in upholding their honour on these three matters, he said, “killing such individuals is permissible”.

Drone attacks in Pakistan are the best of a bad set of options

2011-09-30T02:14:00.001-07:00

The recent drone attack that reportedly killed Al-Qaeda leader Abu Hafs al-Shahri in Waziristan is the latest result of a Central Intelligence Agency campaign that began in 2004. Pakistan has protested against U.S. drone attacks, considering them a violation of its sovereignty.

Such protests have been ineffective. Strikes by the pilotless predators have increased since President Barack Obama took office in 2008. The United States considers them so effective that it is seeking a further expansion of drone operations in Pakistan, "The Washington Post" reported.

Many Pakistanis say the drones kill too many civilians and therefore should be stopped. On September 19, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, an adviser to Pakistan’s prime minister, told reporters that in order to build diplomatic pressure against drone attacks, the federal Ministry of Human Rights has decided to bring the issue before the United Nations. In April, speaking to parliament hours after dual drone strikes killed six suspected militants in Waziristan, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned the raids and said the Foreign Ministry had lodged a complaint with the U.S. Embassy, reiterating its stance that such attacks are counterproductive.

Sophisticated, Accurate

However, drones are considered one of the most sophisticated of modern-day weapons -- more precise than regular missiles -- and have the ability to verify targets without risking the lives of pilots. A recent study conducted by the New America Foundation shows that the 270 reported drone strikes in northwestern Pakistan from 2004 to the present day have killed between 1,661 and 2,601 individuals, of whom around 1,368 to 2,130 were described as militants in reliable press accounts. Thus, the civilian casualty rate since 2004, according to this analysis, is approximately 20 percent. The report states further that 35 militant leaders were among the killed insurgents.

This study proves two points. One, civilian deaths are not as high as Pakistani media, religious leaders, politicians, and other analysts have been claiming. The analysts question the claims of high civilian casualties because no media outlet or organization has ever published the names of those killed, their villages, dates, and the locations of the drone attacks. According to analysts, in a bid to minimize their losses, the insurgents try to conceal the identities of their associates killed in the attacks. They collect their comrades’ bodies and, after burying them, issue statements that all of the victims were innocent residents.

Secondly, Pakistani complaints about drone attacks would carry more weight if the Pakistani government showed more concern over the Haqqani network and Al-Qaeda safe havens in North Waziristan, where most of these drone attacks have occurred. Despite repeated American demands to launch a sincere military operation to eliminate these hideouts, Pakistan has refused to do so.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta recently said the Haqqani network, blamed for carrying out deadly attacks on coalition and Afghan forces in Afghanistan, will not be tolerated and that Pakistan should eradicate it. However, General Ashfaq Perviz Kayani will continue to resist going after the Haqqanis as they are a long-term asset of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency, the ISI.

Talking with Radio Pakistan, Cameron Munter, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, openly said they have evidence of Haqqani ties to the Pakistani government. The bottom line is that Islamabad does not seem to show any flexibility toward changing its strategic stance on these issues. In a situation like this, the only option the United States has is drones.

No Leg To Stand On

The fact that Al-Qaeda leaders (including Osama bin Laden, who was living in the garrison city of Abbottabad just a couple of hours' drive from Islamabad), foreign fighters, and Haqqani-led Afghan Taliban all live in Pakistan damages Pakistani credibility when it asks that drone attacks be stopped in respect of the country’s sovereignty. If American drone strikes violate Pakistani sovereignty, what about all of the foreign militants who not only launch attacks across the border into Afghanistan but are also a huge security threat to the people of Pakistan?

Farhat Taj, a Pashtun doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo and author of the newly published book "Taliban And Anti-Taliban," believes that “the people of Waziristan are suffering a brutal kind of occupation under the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. It is in this context that they would welcome anyone -- Americans, Israelis, Indians, or even the devil -- to rid them of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Therefore, they welcome the drone attacks.”

Drone attacks obviously come with costs, but they are the best of a bad set of options.

Afghanistan Feature: An Alternative View --- from Afghans --- of the Death of former President Rabbani

2011-09-24T02:45:00.000-07:00

By Josh Shahryar EA World View

On Tuesday, Burhanuddin Rabbani, the former President of Afghanistan, was killed by a suicide bomber in his residence. With Rabbani heading the council tasked with negotiating peace with the Taliban, his death is being portrayed as a tragedy for the country.

That is, it is being portrayed as a tragedy by foreign correspondents in Kabul and observers who may have only started paying attention to Afghanistan after 2001. The story,
however, is more complex if the tellers are ordinary Afghans.

Immediately after I heard of his demise, I started getting calls, Facebook messages, and e-mails. So while I was going to write a "eulogy" for Rabbani, just as I did for Ahmad Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan President, in July, now I’m just going to serve as an outlet for other Afghan voices.

I am certain that, in addition to those portraying the tragedy of the event, there will be plenty of people --- especially Tajik nationalists –-- who will object to any criticism of Rabbani. And perhaps I may have friends and acquaintances who are partial in their opinion. The fact remains that some of the population, may be perfectly fine, and even happy, that Rabbani was killed.

I’m withholding the names of my correspondents for their safety.

“No, you don’t understand. How could you ever understand my pain? I lost kids to this [expletive]’s greed for power. Do you think I’ll go to bed now without thinking about how my three-year old died in my arms while we were trying to get out of Kabul? This changes nothing. All it did was remind me again of how much I have lost.”

“Call me later. I need to call people who don’t know. Sorry if my voice is shaking. I’m a little too excited over this.”

“First, they f***** us during the 80s by dismantling our de jure government and selling our country to foreigners. Then, they f***** us during the 90s by fighting among themselves. If only the Taliban had killed them all, they wouldn’t be able to f*** us right now when we have a shot at democracy.”

“I’m disappointed and sad. I always imagined he’d be abducted and then tortured before he died. Life is so cruel, Josh.”

“Don’t be happy over someone’s death. I don’t blame you for being happy, but it’s a little out of character. Now he goes to meet Allah and he will deal to him what he dealt to all of us. Leave it to the fires of Hell; it’s out of our hands now.”

“I wish you were closer so I could give you a big hug. Dilema zinda kadi qate zanget (Translation: You breathed life into my heart with your call).”

“First Gen. [Mohammad] Daud, then, Ahmad Wali Karzai and now Rabbani. Can we have [General Abdul Rashid] Dostum next month? I would really like to see Dostum die. I know you shouldn’t wish for people’s death, but I can’t help myself right now.”

“I’m going to turn off my TV. I don’t want this to be ruined by interviews with warlords who will tell me I should be sad.”

“Oh, so that was what it was. I was beginning to wonder why my warlord neighbor was upset this morning. I’ll make sure not to look too happy in front of him if I see him in the next week. I have kids to feed, *laugh*.”

“Here’s a joke: Rabbani goes to join his other friend Mazari [a Hazara warlord, killed in the 90s by the Taliban under the pretext of negotiations] in Hell. Mazari says, “You went to negotiate too?” … [I told him it was a terrible joke]… “Wait, in a few weeks, you will hear much better jokes from people all over Kabul.”

“Wait, they came to tell him they were Taliban representatives and wanted to negotiate with him or something? Look, you know I thought these negotiations with the Taliban are fruitless, but if this is how the Taliban are going to negotiate with the warlords, I’m all for it!”

“I’m going to save my happiness until Sayyaf, Dostum, Mohaqiq and all their other friends are dead too. Then, I’m going to take a pilgrimage to all their graves and then p** on all their graves. I don’t want anyone of them to be alive and chop off my p**** if I do it now.”

“Good thing you called me first. I didn’t want to call you because you know, I’m a Pashtun and I didn’t want you to think I’m happy because a Tajik warlord died. I’m going to be just as happy when they kill Hekmatyar [a Pashtun warlord] and I’m friends with his distant cousin.”

“Really? If I get virgins in Heaven, I’m going to give them to that suicide bomber.”

“Don’t talk about this, Josh jan. I know you are going to be angry about everyone trying to defend him. I’m going to be angry too. But you have family here still and they might hurt your family....[I told him my father does not approve of my views and the warlords know it]....It doesn’t matter. These are people. They are animals. They will harm people just for fun. Don’t you remember what they did in Kabul when they had power? Don’t write anything about them until they are all dead. Then maybe there will be some peace, you can come back and we can both sit and cry our fate. God d*** Rabbani and God d*** his other friends. Why do we have to live like this because of them? When is this going to ever end? When will they all die? Does God not listen to the prayers of a cursed nation? Khuda jan, ma megom ke yakeesha namaani! [O God, don’t let one of them live!]”

“…and Americans wonder why some people still love the Taliban. You are in America. Can’t you tell Americans that if they kill Rabbani’s other [expletive] friends, people will love them more?”

The Afghan Who Wouldn't Fight

2011-09-10T03:26:00.000-07:00

"Massoud sometimes used to stage sham skirmishes with the Russians to put off chances of suspicions about his activities among other Mujahideen groups"

Bruce G. Richardson

In 1983, when Massoud stopped fighting, the Central Intelligence Agency came to the disturbing conclusion that he had cut a deal with the Soviets. What made this particularly worrisome was that it was not the first time.

In 1981 and again in 1982, Massoud had stopped fighting, in exchange for Soviet offers of food, money and guarantees that the Red Army would leave his villages alone. This is an argument routinely enlisted by Massoud supporters to justify his war record. To carry
that argument to its logical conclusion, we see that such actions prolonged the war by allowing 40th Army troops to be relieved of duty in the Panjshir and free to kill Afghans elsewhere, not to mention to facilitate the free-flow of war materiel to Soviet military units. For the entire occupational decade, Massoud remained in the service of his Russian patrons.

At that time, the Agency reckoned that there were about three hundred serious commanders in action against the Soviets. The critical factor of terrain made Massoud indispensable. His Panjshir Valley redoubt lies close to the capital and airfields where the 40th Army were based. The Soviets also realized the strategic importance of securing their vulnerable lines of supply and communication along the precipitous Salang Highway that threaded its way through the imposing Hindu Kush massive from Hairatan to Kabul. Indeed, of such importance was this safety net for the prosecution of war, 40th Army commander General Boris Gromov noted that, "Massoud could convert the area into a graveyard for the Russian troops by only throwing rocks had he chosen to do so. We simply could not survive without keeping this area open."

The CIA realized early on that geographically, Panjshir was the key. In 1983, the Central Intelligence Agency dispatched Gust Avrakotos, acting chief of the South Asia Operation Group to London, acknowledging MI6's intimate connection to Massoud and to find out why Massoud had once again stopped fighting. At this time, U.S. law prohibited government officials from traveling to Afghanistan. The CIA could not, therefore, contact Massoud directly. British SAS commandoes, however, had no such impediments and made frequent trips to Panjshir.

According to Avrakotos, MI6 representatives related that Massoud complained of "receiving a disproportionate share of military hardware through the Pakistani ISI conduit," a supply system heretofore agreed upon by both the ISI and CIA, and that is why he stopped fighting. MI6 also claimed to have set up an arms pipeline for Massoud independent of the ISI. CIA Station Chief, Howard Hart, was deeply suspicious, even angered by Massoud's refusal to attack Soviet convoys on the Salang highway. He passed on his doubts to Langely. It was also of concern to the Agency that Massoud employed Soviet airborne commandos as his personal bodyguards. According to A.Fedotov, former CPSU and currently chief of the Ukrainian successor agency to the KGB, the SBU, the names of two bodyguards have been revealed, Islamutdin and Isometdin respectively.

However, Brigadier Muhammad Yousaf, who alone was in charge of weapons distribution to the Afghan resistance and renowned author of the "Bear Trap" challenges Massoud's position. He states that Hekmatyar and Massoud each received equal arms shipments of 19-20% from the U.S. funded, ISI pipeline in spite of the fact that ISI chief General Akhtar harbored the deepest suspicions about Massoud.

Akhtar profoundly resented the gushing publicity about "this Afghan who wouldn't fight." He also knew that MI6 agents masquerading as journalists were part of Massoud's propaganda machine. As a case in point, British author Sandy Gall, allows that MI6s requested that he embark on a mission to Panjshir to produce a TV documentary that would show Massoud as a guerrilla chief possessed of military and tactical genius. Gromov would later write in his memoir "Limited Contingent" that "Massoud sometimes used to stage sham skirmishes with the Russians to put off chances of suspicions about his activities among other Mujahideen groups." A fact corroborated by the head of First Department KGB, Leonid Shebarshin, in his account of the Soviet/Afghan War, "The Hand of Moscow." Shebarshin characterized the fabled Panjshir offensives as fiction.

n 1984, CIA agent Gust Avrakotos, known amongst his colleagues at the Agency as "Dr. Dirty", due to his clandestine activity around the globe, flew to Peshawar in disguise to meet with Massoud's brother behind Deans Hotel. At this meeting, Avrakotos stated that the CIA would establish a Swiss bank account for Ahmad Shah, and that a circuitous arms pipeline that would circumvent the established ISI route would also be established.The question that cries out for explanation is.why? Both MI6 and CIA were under no illusions about Massoud's contractual obligations to the Russians. What could possibly motivate two governments engaged in covert anti-Soviet operations to ignore wholesale collaboration by a major recipient of their military and economical aid?

Though seemingly illogical, could it be possible that the British were still to this day actively seeking revenge over the humiliation suffered in the nineteenth century at the hands of the Pashtun tribes? As difficult as this may be to comprehend, 19th century Afghanistan history has amply demonstrated this phobia and the retributive foreign policy trait from Whitehall. From the American perspective, one could argue that Washington did not seek a military victory in Afghanistan, indeed, Agency insiders have not only talked disparagingly about Pashtuns but have also said they would not be overly concerned if the "Afghans went on killing one another." In their cold and calculating worldview, this would diminish the chance of a "fundamentalist government" from emerging in an anticipated leadership vacuum following a cessation of hostilities. This hypothesis is currently supported by Bush administration bellicosity towards the Pashtuns. During the initial days of the U.S. invasion the CIA attempted to render the Pashtuns statistically insignificant with the publication of fabricated census reports. With Massoud at the reins of power, the U.S. reasoned, a pro-Western government would emerge. But on the question of credibility, the transparency of Massoud's so-called pro-Western orientation became clear. See newly released "Through Our Enemies Eyes.""Massoud misled the media and Western politicians about his radical anti-Western views, his intimate relationship with the Russians, as well as his misogynistic orientation for over twenty years."

In recognition of promiscuous Swiss bank accounts and cash distributions provided by the CIA and other intelligence agencies to combatants in a time of war has led international jurists to seek an amendment to the Geneva Conventions. The distribution, such as provided Massoud by CIA and MI6, reportedly in the tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars belongs to the Afghan people and was never earmarked for Massoud's personal expenditures. Also, there is the concern that such an amorphous cash distribution to combatants in order to secure an outcome during hostilities must be perceived as "interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country." An eventuality currently codified and considered a violation of international law under the Convention.

The proposed amendment would stipulate full financial disclosure and accountability of covert and overt funds from a government entity to combatants. The original Swiss account established in 1984, for Ahmad Shah Massoud, is at the core of an ongoing rift between Fahim and Massoud's surviving brothers. Fahim claims the funds are the property of Shura-i-Nizar, while the Massouds steadfastly maintain that the money is for the sole discretion of the Massoud family to utilize as they see fit.

The current power base in Afghanistan, notably that of Ishmael Khan, Muhammad Fahim, Rashid Dostum and Burhanuddin Rabbani, have individual net worth in the hundreds of millions. In addition, each enjoys a lavish lifestyle, complete with well armed militias, the finest of automobiles, the finest in cuisine, sumptuous palaces in which to live, heated swimming pools, while the Afghan people, people they claim to represent are starving, lack potable water and shelter and or access to the most rudimentary educational opportunities and basic medical services.

It is to this terrible injustice, created by the intelligence services of Russia, the U.S., Iran, Great Britain and others that our esteemed jurists are dedicated to prevent in the future. It is a mockery of justice and an insult to ones intelligence to suggest that somehow the monsters bosses of the Northern Alliance hold legal title to these enormous sums, as if somehow they were gained through lawful endeavors. There is, however, hope, it is the fervent hope of the body of distinguished jurists that the enormous sums of ill-gained money now in the hands of those who are collectively known as the "warlords" can be foreclosed upon and returned to benefit Afghanistan and the people as a whole. World-class sociologists have stated unequivocally that closure from the horrors of war will not take place unless and until these predators are de-fanged.

Unfortunately for Afghanistan, at present the warlords are subsidized clients of Russia, the U.S., Iran, Great Britain and others.

When advised by recent travelers to Kabul of a route that threads its way out to the airport and renamed in Massoud's honor, or of the larger-than-life posters of his image that litter the cityscape, protected by strong-arm thugs, one is reminded that while in the service of the 40th Army, Ahmad Shah Massoud was unmoved by a series of intelligence reports that concluded that the Soviets were laying waste to a huge strip of land between the Pakistani border and their major garrisons and cities in Afghanistan. Villages were being bombed, irrigation canals destroyed, livestock slaughtered, crops burned, and civilians murdered, tortured and forced to flee the country. The Russian war machine had embarked on a scorched-earth policy. This will be Massoud's lasting historical legacy.

Justice perverted, Massoud's inner circle survives today, thanks to American airpower and diplomatic cover. In a cruel twist of irony, the war criminals and collaborators who were complicit in Massoud's extra-curricula activities, and those who sold out the Afghan people for rubles and dollars, now represent the current power structure in Afghanistan. In order to legitimize their hold on power, the "Panjshiri Mafia" has elevated the persona of Ahmad Shah Massoud to national hero status. While the world sleeps, anesthetized from the horrors of 25 years of bloodshed in Afghanistan by an uninformed press in tandem with Massoud's propaganda machine, the remnants of Massoud's criminal enterprises now seek absolution from their crimes against humanity by attaching themselves to their manufactured saint. Responsibility for this miscarriage, however, must also be borne by their patrons.Russia, the U.S., Iran, Britain and others who routinely employ criminals in order to secure a government or cause amenable to their dictate.

Hajani Hakima: Some women hide their faces from me

2011-09-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

Habibullah Sana

Hakmina, a female provincial council member, attends a women's
shura held in Jaji Maidan in Khowst Province, Afghanistan

A pistol hangs under her waistcoat, a turban on her head and she is completely dressed like an Afghan man - Hajani Hakmina is an unusual Afghan woman who actively took part in the Jihad against the former Soviet army in 1980s and has refused to marry a man.
"Some women hide their faces from me (thinking she's a man due to her dressing) and men behave with me respect," said the 55-year-old Afghan woman.
Hakmina was raised in a rural and farming family in Zadran District in the southeastern Khost Province. She is just the kind of women whom the late Pashtun poet Malang Jan lauded as such:
"Come all young girls to put zealous turbans on our heads today
"And give the zeal-less head-cover to the other inept men"
"I can plough fields and tender livestock," Hakmina said adding that
farming and animals' husbandry had become easier due to the spread of technology. Local people also admire Hakmina for her leadership skills, courage and straightforwardness and often ask her to arbitrate tribal disputes. This has acquired her popularity among the local people who regard her as a strong woman unlike other women who are largely considered as weak. Ironically in Khost Province and in the nearby Pashtun areas, tribal feuds often rise over weddings, land, pastureland and local resources and women hardly participate in the local decision-making processes.

A holy fighter
Hakmina was a young girl when the former Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 which prompted a religious war, Jihad. The war against the Soviets and its protected regime was mostly considered as a men's business and women were not directly involved in the Jihad. This was not the case with Hakmina.
"I practically and actively took part in the Jihad. I was carrying food and other supplies to the Mujahideen on camels. I had a communication radio which I was using to alert the Mujahideen about Russian aircrafts and other military activities." Russian airstrikes were particularly destructive for the Mujahideen who until mid 1980s had no military means to counter air attacks or defend themselves from air bombings. Most Mujahideen fighters were based in the neighboring Pakistan from where they were launching hit-and-ran attacks on Soviet and Afghan Government military posts in Afghanistan. Jihad against the Soviet invasion lasted for a decade and the war took a heavy toll on the Afghans. Over a million people reportedly lost their lives, more than six million were forced to migrate to Pakistan and Iran, and Afghanistan suffered enormous infrastructural destructions.
"I am fond of marksmanship and have learned to shoot guns far better than many men. I first learned shooting during the Jihad but even now I can shoot very well."
When the Jihad ended in 1989 with the withdrawal of all Soviet forces, Hakmina preferred to work at her village and devoted her time and energy on peacemaking and solving local disputes.

A spinster representative
A close look at her face would convince any visitor that Hakmina has grown old - wrinkles under her eyes and grey hair falling under her turban. Even when she was quite young, her father told her to marry but Hakmina did not.
"I don't like women's clothes and that's why I have not married," she responded when asked why she did not take her father's advice on marriage. Despite her dislike of female dress, she once dressed up in a female Hijab.
"I wish I could wear my own dress even in the Hajj but due to Islamic obligations I had to dress up like a woman in the Hajj."
Hakmina lives with two brothers and a sister in Khost city where she works as a member of the provincial council. Being a peoples' representative has put more responsibilities over her shoulders as she has to personally share the joys and sorrows of her extensive constituents.
Neymat Bibi, a female member of the provincial council, says Hakmina is a source of pride and inspiration for many women in the province. "She is undoubtedly stronger than men and we are really proud of her," said Bibi adding that men also had profound respect for Hakmina.
Contrary to common perception that Hakmina is unusual and not like other Afghan women, Bibi said there were many women in the rural areas who are as brave and strong as Hakmina. This was also confirmed by Hakmina.
"There are many women who work harder and are stronger than men but they are only known in their villages," she said.
As I ended the interview with Hakmina and Neymat Bibi, I was convinced that Afghan women are stronger than many men. The only area where Afghan women are way behind men is access to opportunities through which they can demonstrate their enormous potential.

Female Militia Chief Keeps Peace in Helmand District

2011-09-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hajiyani Abeda. Photograph: Guardian

Source: Trukishweekly

Veteran fighter has years of experience leading men into combat, besides being a mother of nine.

It is obvious how much respect Abedo, a paramilitary commander in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand region, commands. Walking through the bazaar in Marja district, laughing and joking, the diminutive figure is greeted by tradesmen and shopkeepers, some of whom step forward to kiss the commander’s hands.

What makes 70-year-old Abedo an exceptional warrior by Afghan standards is that she is a woman. She set aside the traditional roles assigned to women in Pashtun society, and pursued a long career as a muhajedin fighter.

Dressed in male attire and with a yellow Helmand cap on her head, she now controls security in her home areas, leading a force of 30 paramilitaries.

The mother of nine recalled how her military career began shortly after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. She fought side by side with her mujahedin husband until he was killed in battle eight years later.

“My husband was martyred during the early years of jihad and although it was difficult for me, I continued fighting,” she said.

After his death, she changed from female clothing and dressed like an Afghan man, and went on to command a 200-strong band of mujahedin. Although she escaped serious injury, she says she killed and wounded many enemies.

“There were many battles at that time and we would fight for several days without stopping,” she said. “My men would be martyred and many enemies would also be killed. Those are the demands of war.”

She says the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 was the high point in her life.

“When the Russians left Afghanistan, I couldn’t sit still, I was so happy,” she said. Laughing at the memory, Abedo said, “Being a leader and commander was enjoyable, especially when I gave orders to my mujahedin and they obeyed me. We’d attack the enemy and I would feel I was greatly honoured.”

Feeling that right had been done, she laid down her arms and tried to build a normal life with her four sons and five daughters.

“I waged jihad to satisfy God,” Abedo said. “I didn’t pursue jihad as some others did, to obtain positions and property in this world. Those who misuse the name of jihad took advantage of it to loot and steal from people. Their efforts have been futile – they will receive nothing in the next world.”

After years living in relative peace, Abedo was moved to take up arms once more when her business was threatened by conflict between the government forces of post-2001 Afghanistan and their Taleban opponents.

“The police would tell me not to sell to the Taleban, and the Taleban would tell me not to sell to the police,” she said. “Finally, the Taleban torched my shop.”

Refusing to be cowed, she called up ten young men from her village, formed them into a paramilitary unit, and was contracted by the government to maintain stability in the area.

“I will fight against anyone who wants to disrupt the security of my village and district,” she said.

Her stance naturally soured relations with local Taleban leaders, so she now takes precautions to avoid ambush – varying her movements, visiting the district centre only occasionally to attend council meetings, and living away from her own home.

Local officials are impressed with their ally.

“Besides being a very brave woman, Abedo has a very sound understanding of the tactics of war,” Baz Gol, who is in overall command of pro-government militias operating in Marja district. “In addition, the people very much support her. She works with us to in ensuring security and we are happy with her achievements.”

Abedo insists she has always prized her independence, so although she currently works with the Kabul government, she has no political or factional alliances.

“During the jihad, weapons and ammunitions were brought in from Pakistan independently, in my name, and I would give them to the mujahedin here. I was independent then and I am now,” she added.

Her record and current position means that Abedo is held in high esteem by members of her tribe and village.

“Abedo is a brave, unique and gracious woman,” said Nek Mohammad, a resident of Marja. “She should be counted as a hero of Afghan history. “During the jihad era, we witnessed some male mujahedin commanders signing deals with the Russians to stop fighting. Abedo fought bravely until the last moment, when the Russians left the country.”

Mohammad Sadeq, a resident of Lashkar Gah, recalled Abedo’s influence in the mujahedin war against the Soviets.

“I wanted to go to Marja district, but the mujahedin were in control of the area. There were checkpoints everywhere,” he said. “I knew Abedo and got a signed and stamped letter from her ordering the mujahedin not to touch me. I went on my journey with some trepidation, and when the mujahedin stopped me and started interrogating me, I showed them the letter. They said they would have killed me if I hadn’t had the letter, because I had come from the town and looked like a spy to them – but no one could ignore Abedo’s orders.”

Abedo said her militia members are registered and trained by the authorities, receiving 110 US dollars a month, and abiding strictly by official rules of engagement.

One of her men, Mirza, said, “Abedo is a woman who knows more than many men. If we face a problem, we act on to her advice and perform well because of it.”

Asked what she would do if her soldiers misbehaved, Abedo said, “I don’t allow my militia to do that. I don’t even want children complaining about them.”

Familiar with a wide range of weapons, she said her long experience gave her an edge over many others, even in the Afghan security forces.

“Modern-day youngsters in the police and army don’t have experience, and it’s easy for them to get killed in combat because they don’t know how to fight,” she said dismissively.

She has even greater contempt for cowardice, saying, “Those who are afraid of war cause others to be defeated. And liars, too, are marked for defeat. I hate them both.”

The high cost of war

2011-08-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

By WILLIAM MARSDEN

Billions of dollars are being spent in Afghanistan by NATO forces on everything from fuel, transportation and security to food, salaries and entertainment for thousands of troops. Outside the wire, the average family subsists on about $2 per day

Summer in southern Afghanistan is a blast furnace. Temperatures rise over 50C. Air conditioning is what allows the frenzied pace of NATO's war during the fighting season. The price is astronomical. The Americans have calculated that in the past
two years they have spent $20 billion on AC. If you add the rest of NATO, that figure is probably well over $24 billion. That means that coalition forces spend more to keep themselves cool each year than Afghanistan's gross national product.
Every drop of fuel, drinking water as well as every morsel of food consumed on NATO bases is imported into this landlocked country
- most of it trucked in through Pakistan. The cost is enormous.
This year the U.S. Congress approved $113 billion U.S. for Afghanistan, which is five times Canada's total defence budget.
From October 2010 to May, the U.S. alone spent $1.5 billion on 329.8 million gallons of fuel to operate its generators, vehicles and aircraft in Afghanistan, according to an article in Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper. This works out to $4.55 per gallon, which is not excessive. But it does not include the high cost of getting that fuel through a war zone. According to Stars and Stripes, that increased the price tenfold.
Western companies have the transportation contracts. They pay Afghan security companies to assure the safety of shipments. Afghan security companies, often owned by warlords and prominent government officials, pay Taliban leaders not to attack them. In this way, western money helps support the insurgency.
One former Taliban commander, who had participated in beheadings of unco-operative villagers, told me that not all insurgent leaders - including him - are prepared to accept money from the security contractors. It seemed to be a moral issue for him. Perhaps this explains why suicide bombers this month attacked a fuel depot four kilometres outside Kandahar Airfield. Either that or the security companies hadn't paid up.
Given the high cost and the vital importance of fuel, you would think the military would not want to waste it. Not at all. High-ranking officers such as Canadian Brig.-Gen. Charles Lamarre, who is in charge of packing and moving Canadian equipment out of Kandahar, are driven around the base in armoured Toyota Landcruisers with V8 engines and their own drinking water coolers.
The lowest ranks have to walk. Civilians drive large fleets of Toyota HiLux pickup trucks, once the preferred vehicle of the Taliban.
The speed limit on military bases here is 20 km/h.
Leased cars and trucks are big business. Many vehicles are second-hand, shipped in through Pakistan. One military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said when U.S. investigators checked the vehicle identification numbers on the SUVs leased for the military they discovered many had been stolen in the United States.
Afghanistan produces large amounts of fruits and vegetables, but the handling of this food does not meet military health standards. The two main beneficiaries of the food-management contracts are an Amsterdam-based company called Supreme Group, which also supplies fuel, and the U.S. company KBR.

They serve up four meals a day. U.S. soldiers seemed to have the biggest appetites. They order up as many as eight eggs for breakfast plus sausage and bacon. Lunch and dinner are a selection of fish, beef, pork and chicken.
Hamburgers, hotdogs and french fries are staples. Dessert consists of ice cream and a selection of cakes and puddings.
A lot of the food ends up in the garbage.
KBR also has the multibilliondollar NATO contract to operate Afghanistan's three largest military airfields: Kabul, Kandahar and Bastion.
War is good business. KBR alone earned $13.1 billion U.S. from 2007 to 2009 from its logistics and maintenance operations in the Middle East, primarily in Afghanistan, according to its latest financial report.
Kandahar Airfield is one of the busiest airports in the world because of its 24/7 operations of military aircraft. Despite the gradual withdrawal of Canadian, Dutch and U.S. forces, the base continues to grow. It is now a small NATO city of about 30,000 troops and still expanding. The city has its own industrial park with two cement factories run by a Turkish company.
The base has it own central square with fast-food outlets and various stores selling audio equipment, cellphones, jewellery, rugs, scarves, clothing, toiletry items, sunglasses and bottled drinks (no alcohol). There are several barber and beauty shops. For recreation there are six gymnasiums, basketball courts, Canada's ball hockey rink plus rooms for pool, movies and games.
The base's latest addition is a football field. It has been months in the making with bulldozers and excavators, rollers and countless dump trucks carrying loads of crushed stone brought in to create the level playing field. As of this writing, the field was still awaiting its artificial turf.
The vast majority of civilian workers come from outside Afghanistan and have to be rotated through on tours. They pay no taxes to the Afghan government. In the case of Canadian employees, 80 per cent of their salaries are tax free if they stay more than six months.
According to the U.S. government, the annual cost of keeping a soldier in Afghanistan is $667,000. Some soldiers earn a good salary. Canadian soldiers told me that with danger pay they can make close to $100,000 a year.
SNC-Lavalin Defence Programs Inc. and the PAE Government Services of Arlington, Va., jointly hold the contract to maintain the Canadian army's base operations. The value of the contract, which began Jan. 2, 2003, is $400 million.
Meanwhile, outside the wire is a different story . ?Afghanistan is among the world's poorest countries. The average daily wage for a labourer is $2 and millions of families have barely enough to eat. Only about 10 per cent of Afghan households are connected to an electricity grid and those who are connected suffer regular blackouts.
After 10 years of war, the plight of women seems to worsen. Few women are seen in public in Kandahar City, the birthplace of the Taliban. Those who venture out are mostly widows covered in light blue burkas reduced to begging to feed themselves and their families.

"Things are getting worse and worse for women," a Kandahar City businessman told me.
Since Sept. 26, 2006, the Taliban have shot 11 women in Kandahar. Over the past six weeks, insurgents shot dead two young women, one of whom worked for the government and the other for an NGO, in central Kandahar City.
The list of murdered women includes three police officers, the director of the department of women's affairs, the only female member of the Kandahar provincial council, a midwife who worked in a health clinic outside Kandahar City, a woman who worked for the department of labour and social affairs and a woman who worked for a subcontractor of USAID.
Also during this period, men on motorcycles attacked seven girls walking to a school in Kandahar City by throwing acid in their faces. Four girls had to be hospitalized. Females teachers also were attacked.
The intimidation has worked. Fewer and fewer women go to school, according to government officials.
Over the past two years, the surge of U.S. troops in Kandahar and Helmand provinces has pushed the Taliban out of many of the districts where the insurgency has been the most persistent and effective.
The overwhelming NATO ground and air power coupled with the success of intelligence gathering, surveillance drones and night attacks by special forces have smashed the Taliban's attack forces.
Drones allow coalition forces to track insurgents, pinpoint their locations. Jet fighters, attack helicopters and/or Special Operations Forces are then sent out to arrest or kill them.
The Americans build small forward bases in the areas they clear, making it difficult for the Taliban to return and allowing villages to return to normal life.
Statistics show that Kandahar and Helmand provinces have seen increased violence over the past year, but this is primarily because of the surge.
Most recent NATO statistics show that the violence is beginning to wane.
The Taliban have fled to Kandahar City, where they believe they can hide and where their choice of weapon is the suicide bomber.
But even here, Afghan forces are effectively routing them out.
Two weeks ago the National Directorate of Security seized 33 suicide vests and 1,000 kilograms of explosives hidden in a minivan on the highway between Kandahar and Zabul province. The NDS said the vests came from "outside the country," which usually means Pakistan.
NATO, led by the Americans, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to build Afghanistan's government institutions. Yet voting fraud has paralyzed the Afghan parliament as lawmakers grapple with their own legitimacy. President Hamid Karzai primarily exercises power through regional strongmen, thus often undermining what institutions exist.
The insurgents target the strongmen and their supporters, making governance that much more difficult.

Sometimes, however, attacks appear totally random and without clear motivation. This week an IED placed in an ironmonger's shop killed the owner and a child and wounded four other civilians in a village in Helmand province.
There is no reliable court system in Afghanistan . ?Prosecutors
are considered corrupt. Police are incapable of building cases. Witnesses often refuse to co-operate. So when justice occurs, it is swift and often violent.
When the Taliban this week shot dead a 60-year-old man - for no apparent reason - the victim's two sons dragged the killers off their motorcycle and, with the help of other villagers, stoned them to death.
There is no front line in this war. You don't know where the danger will come from or when. Some people call it the wild west.
It's not. It's much more perverse. It's psychopaths and tyrants whose mentality dates to the dark ages but with Kalashnikovs and suicide vests and any other weapon they can get their hands on claiming to be the servants of God.

ISI resurrects Hikmatyar group to target Indians

2011-08-27T20:48:00.000-07:00

Rakesh K Singh | New Delhi

The Pakistani spy agency, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), with the help of Taliban, has revived the Al-Huda outfit of Gulbuddin Hikmatyar to target Indians in Afghanistan.

As many as 350 persons have been trained so far particularly to target Indian business interests and development works being executed in the war-torn country.

India’s premier external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), recently reported the development to the Centre. Following the RAW report, security of Indian assets has been beefed up with a view to thwarting any misadventure by the ISI-backed militia.

According to the report, the ISI will provide funds, training and shelter besides intelligence on movement of Indians to the trained recruits of Al-Huda for anti-India operations.

Two training camps were organised recently by the ISI to train
the recruits in southern Afghanistan at Chunar and mountainous regions of Nuristan in Afghanistan on Pakistan border, intelligence sources said.Both — Chunar and Nuristan — are areas dominated by the Hikmatyar group and the NATO forces suffered heavy reverses in the recent past while carrying out operations in these regions.

The Hikmatyar group is known for its mastery in ramming explosive-laden vehicles on targetted assets and executing landmine attacks.

India is funding over 300 developmental projects in Afghanistan, including construction of roads, bridges, hospitals, Government office complexes and also the Parliament building of that country.

India is the biggest donor country extending aid in revival of the war-torn nation pledging a budget of over $2 billion.Besides the construction engineers, supporting staff and the personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police guarding the work sites of the ongoing development projects there, the Indian assets in that country also include as many as 24 consulates across Afghanistan and the Indian embassy in Kabul.

Following the inputs, the Indian embassy and the consulates there have been alerted and a security audit of the installations are being carried out to further tighten the security measures, particularly the outer periphery of the office complexes so that any fidayeen attack or blast of an explosive-laden vehicle is checked at a reasonable distance from the perimeter of the buildings, the sources added.

The Taliban had attacked the Indian embassy in Kabul on October 8, 2009 killing 17 persons and injuring 63 others.

The Taliban had in the past also targetted work sites maintained by the Indian companies.The ISI move comes following reverses at the hands of the Americans amid talk of withdrawal of the US forces from the war-ravaged country.

Pak’s sinister design

According to RAW report submitted to the Centre, ISI will provide funds, training and shelter besides intelligence on movement of Indians to the trained recruits of Al-Huda for anti-India operationsTwo training camps were organised recently by the ISI to train the recruits in Southern Afghanistan at Chunar and mountaneous regions of Nuristan in Afghanistan on Pakistan borderIndian embassy and the consulates in

Afghanistan have been alerted and a security audit of the installations are being carried out

A deafening cry: Khost MP puts listening first

2011-08-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

by Zargona Salehi

KABUL (PAN): Sahera Sharif, a female lower house MP from the southeastern province of Khost, says she fields so many calls from constituents that she has lost hearing in one ear.

Those calls, though, were part of Sharif's work of listening to the problems of her province - and part of her work to release dozens of innocent Afghans from the jails of foreign forces based in Afghanistan.

Ilyas Wahdat, a Khost journalist who also serves as a faculty member at the province’s Sheikh Zayed University (SZU), confirmed that the female MP was popular for getting locals released from jails.

During the Parliamentary election, Wahdat interviewed a family whose members all voted for Sharif. The journalist said the father of the family praised Sharif for her role in getting his son released from an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) detention center.

A graduate of Kabul’s University of Education, the 50-year-old two-time representative serves on the Education and Higher Education Commission of the Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of Parliament. She says her aim in running for Parliament was to promote education.

She has worked as a member of the Academy of Sciences, on the faculty at Sheikh Zayed University, as Khost Director of Women’s Affairs, as editor in chief of a monthly publication for Afghan women, and as the head of Koranai-Zhewand, a program on Khost radio. She also once ran the Pashto section of a Peshawar newspaper.

She has two sons and two daughters, and performs household chores after early morning prayers.

She said many women had voted for her because of her popularity as a radio presenter, discussing household issues, heath, politics and cooking. She added that SZU students in Khost had also contributed to her campaign due to her position on the faculty there. She won her Wolesi Jirga seat with 4100 votes, she said.

"You might not believe me, but seriously I have lost hearing in my right ear because I receive so many calls from constituents," she said.

“I went to India for my ear, but nothing has helped so far." During the interview her daughter was fielding phone calls on the MP’s behalf.

She said she always helps her constituents with education-related matters.

Asked about rumours that she often fails to show up to the Wolesi Jirga, she rejected the allegations and said, "When there is no specific agenda in the house, I stay home. I prefer to stay home and individually meet my constituents and solve their problems."

Expressing discontent with the performance of Wolesi Jirga, she added, "Unfortunately Parliament has become place of traitors. A number of MPs are involved in land grabbing, some follow their personal interests, and there are some smugglers.

“I believe this is one reason why Parliament is failing."

Parliament, she said, "is in an awful situation and it is intentionally kept this way in order to lose its status to fail in its activities. I mean the government and parties don’t want Parliament to stand on its own."

She accepts the existence of the special election tribunal President Hamid Karzai created to investigate allegations of fraud in last year’s Parliamentary election, but complains that it was established to late.

"The MPs came; they were given the oath, ID card, status, five months’ salary, and passed the budget. Now [the tribunal wants to] replace them on the name of fraud."

The special court disqualified 62 of 249 sitting MPs and said other candidates should replace them based on the results of a vote recount. President Karzai recently dissolved the tribunal and referred the issue back to the Independent Election Commission (IEC), Afghanistan’s ultimate electoral authority.

If MPs are disqualified, Sharif asked, "Who guarantees the honesty of the new MPs?"

Sharif campaigned for Karzai during the first presidential election, but changed her mind and supported Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai in the second presidential election. She explains: "When I would turn to the [Karzai] government to share the problems of my constituents in the first parliamentary term, government officials did nothing but beat around the bush."

She blames neighbouring countries and international troops for insecurity in Afghanistan, but she said international forces should not depart until and unless Afghan military forces are well trained.

She supports the government’s bid to reconcile with the Taliban, but stressed the need to differentiate between armed groups and those who are fighting for some philosophy. "The Taliban who have become accustomed to killing cannot possibly join the reconciliation process," she said.

Sharif is unaffiliated with any groups inside or outside of Parliament. She believes members of such groups and parties are not free. She attends a poetry reading each Saturday, but she is not a poet herself. She is a fan of the songs of Afghan singer Sadiq Fetrat, known as Nashenas, and likes old Indian movies but seldom makes time to watch them.

She is the author of four books on politics, culture, economics and women’s education, and she speaks fluent Dari in addition to her native Pashto. She speaks English as well and has traveled to the US, France, Russia, Turkey, India and Pakistan. Sharif lived in Pakistan during the Taliban regime.

Suicide bomber arrested in kabul - Ali Shah Paktiawal in Action

2011-08-15T05:38:00.001-07:00

Washington Dropped the Ball on a Secret Afghan Wireless Communications Company that Might Have Prevented 9/11

2011-08-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

By Vanity Fair

Illustration by Barry Blitt.

Vanity Fair contributing editor David Rose reveals for the first time that in 1999 the Taliban had granted license to an American company, Afghan Wireless Communications, to construct a cell-phone, and, Internet system in Afghanistan. Had the secret deal, named Operation Foxden, been completed, the U.S. would have had complete access to al-Qaeda and Taliban calls and e-mails in a matter of months. “The capability we would have had would have been very good,” a former N.S.A. official tells Rose. “Had this network been built with the technology that existed in 2000, it would have been a priceless intelligence asset.” But, as Rose reports, “at the critical moment, the Clinton administration put the project on hold, while rival U.S. agencies—the F.B.I., the N.S.A., and the C.I.A.—bickered over who should control it.” This “was one tool we could have put in Afghanistan that could have made a difference,” says a former C.I.A. official. “Why didn’t we put it in? Because we couldn’t fucking agree.”

According to Rose, Ehsan Bayat, an Afghan-American telecommunications entrepreneur, who was also a counterterrorism source working for the F.B.I., had built close relationships with senior Taliban officials, including foreign minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil. Bayat was in the
habit of giving his Taliban friends satellite phones as gifts—phones that Rose believes may even have been used by Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar. Through his connections, and with the aide of British partners, Bayat brokered a deal to set up a company called Afghan Wireless. The Afghan Ministry of Communications would hold 20 percent of the company and Bayat would retain the majority share. According to details of the deal outlined in Vanity Fair, “not only would the new phone company be the sole cell and landline provider in Afghanistan, it would also control the “gateways” out of the country—all voice and data traffic, including that carried by satellite phones and the Internet.”Bayat did not respond to Rose’s request for comment. His former British partners, Stuart Bentham and Lord Michael Cecil, are bound by a gag order stemming from a 2003 suit they filed against him that was stopped and sealed under the State Secrets Privilege. “Through interviews with other individuals who are not legally restricted, and through voluminous contemporary documents made available to me, it has been possible to assemble a narrative,” Rose asserts. Bentham’s wife Margaret, who was present at meetings with Bayat in Britain and America, was a source for his reporting. “We always thought that this was how they would catch the terrorists,” she tells Rose about Afghan Wireless. “It wasn’t just about making money. We believed we were doing the right thing.”

“Even as Bayat negotiated a license with the Taliban, the F.B.I. agents put out feelers to the N.S.A,” Rose reports. “By building extra circuits into all the new network’s equipment, it would be possible to ensure that anytime anyone used a phone in Afghanistan, the call could be monitored at a ‘duplicate exchange’ at Fort Meade. The N.S.A. would capture the name of the subscriber and the number being called, and the call would be digitally recorded or, if desired, heard by American intelligence officers live, in real time.” By May of 1999, the equipment was on the ground in Kabul; in June “the Taliban signed a contract guaranteeing Afghan Wireless a monopoly on ‘all aspects’ of cell-phone traffic in Afghanistan for 15 years,” Rose reports. “The Taliban really wanted telephones. They knew they couldn’t do business without them,” says Alex Grinling, who had been the in-country manager for Afghan Wireless.

Operation Foxden hit a major roadblock in July 1999 when President Clinton signed an executive order preventing U.S. citizens from doing business with the Taliban. Bayat, with the F.B.I. backing him, sought an exemption but was refused. He urged his Taliban contacts to pursue alternatives. “They wanted to work with him alone, and urged him to do whatever it took to make this possible,” Rose reports. The N.S.A. didn’t give up either. According to Rose, the agency “not only backed the effort but concluded that the project was so promising that it justified a direct N.S.A. investment, set for around $30 million—a decision that could not have been made without approval by the highest levels of the agency.” Bayat tried to get around the ban by transferring ownership of Afghan Wireless to a company he and his partners set up in Liechtenstein. “Bentham was briefed on the N.S.A.’s continuing interest in Operation Foxden and was told that the agency was seeking ways of evading the legal issues raised by U.S. sanctions,” Rose reports. “He was also told that the F.B.I. had been given a ‘window of opportunity’ to get the network operational, and that it would ‘coordinate’ the operation with the rest of the U.S. government.”

The final blow for Operation Foxden came in January 2000 when the C.I.A. intervened. “For the next 13 months, until February 2001, the interagency review ground on, with a series of fractious meetings involving the F.B.I. and N.S.A. at C.I.A. headquarters, in Langley, Virginia,” Rose reports. “Richard Clarke, became personally involved, but neither he nor anyone else seemed able to resolve the impasse. The divisions were not just between agencies; some turf wars were internal as well,” Rose writes. “Thus, while the C.I.A. was seeking overall control of the operation, there was also an inside fight over which of its sections should take it over.” A former C.I.A. officer tells Rose that the agency did not want British involvement with the project. “We wanted to force them and M.I.6 out, because there was a question of control,” he says. Margaret Bentham recalls that once the C.I.A. got involved, the British partners were turned away from meetings. “They were told they could have nothing more to do with the F.B.I. and N.S.A.—pending the U.S. review—until further notice,” she says.

“There I was in bloody Kabul, wondering where the hell the cell-phone equipment was, fending off inquiries from the Taliban communications minister. But I couldn’t give him answers. It was a nightmare, ” says Grinling. A cell-phone network much like the one envisioned in Operation Foxden was eventually built, but not until after 9/11. According to Rose, “the C.I.A. made a direct investment of more than $70 million, which it transferred via a front company based in the British Virgin Islands.”

Confusion

2011-08-11T01:55:00.000-07:00

By Malali Bashir

Pedestrians in Kabul 201

I order a Qabuli Palao, chicken and Afghan bread out of a menuwhich also has some Western foods on it like pizza and burger etc. in a café inthe Shahre-Naw Kabul. While I am waiting for my food to arrive, I notice ayoung couple on the second next table to my right side. The girl is wearing adark noticeable makeup with a black scarf on her half covered head and jeanswith high heels. The boy is wearing yellow stripped sports shoes with yellowmarks on his black hoodie. This is the famous appearance of the bad guy ‘Prem’,who finally proves to be the hero, of an Indian TV serial ‘Kasauti Zindagi ki’broadcasted in one of the Afghan TV channels. In fact, many boys in Kabul canbe seen copying Prem’s hairstyle and costume.

On the table in my front, there are three women all covered inburqas seem quite interested, even though
they may not write about it, in allwhat’s going on around in the café with all the couples coming none of whomseemingly married to each other or engaged, apparent from their ring-lessfingers. (Engaged or married couples wear gold jewel-less rings on theirfingers). The women in burqas discuss the girls and disguise the low life ofwomen around them in the café. A bearded man comes from the men’s portion tothe family (where only couples and families are allowed) portion and asks themin Dari if they need anything else so that he could order it for them.

The girl gives a weird look, too smug about her jeans, to the womenin burqa and sneers. She drinks the last sip of her tea and shakes herhand with the boy and leaves without even bothering to offer anything about herpart of the bill. (The custom in Kabul is that the girlfriend does not have topay for anything. This apparently is the extension of Afghan generous andhospitable customs). The boy, apparently her boyfriend, calls someone from hiscell phone and says that he is waiting in the café and gives a very flirtatiouslook to a girl, who is sitting on the table next to me, of almost the sameappearance as of the before mentioned one.

I start eating and notice that another boy in his early twentiesarrives and joins the girl on the table next to me. This boy is wearing jeanswith a blue hoodie and black hikers. Weary of the corny Afghan food, probablyto them, they seem to prefer burger over chicken curry and naan. Assuming allWesterners use fork and knife instead of using their hands, just like Afghansdo, for eating any kind of food, the young Afghan couple starts cutting theirburger with a knife and uses forks on the smashed pieces.

Meanwhile, I hear some chattering behind me and a woman asks a manin Dari about how he got her phone number and later they happen to study in thesame university. Their flirtatious voices disappear for some moments, transferinto whispers and reappear again.

Prem’s copycat receives another girl seemingly another girlfriend.He might have received a big pocket money from his probably NGO owner or highrank government official dad or might have received his salary from a job that,before interviewing such youngsters, only checked his recommendation sourcesand not his credentials and aptitude and preferred him over a hundred morequalified ones. These youngsters usually learn English and computer on parttime basis in some private centers most of which give a sense of a platform forthe copycats of fashion icons basically from Bollywood.

As I finish my food, a woman with a child of almost a year in herarms and a boy of nine or ten on her side enter the café. They start gazing atdifferent tables and reach for the leftover pieces of the burger from thecouple next to my table. The woman let the boy eat first and she stands guardof the fear of blue collard waiter who may arrive soon and knock them out.

Pakistan pilot's 'remorse' for 1965 shooting down

2011-08-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

By Shahzeb Jillani BBC

Mr Hussain intercepted the Indian aircraft flying solo in an F86

A Pakistani fighter pilot who shot down an Indian civilian aircraft more than four decades ago has written to the family of the dead Indian pilot.

In his email, Qais Hussain said he was sorry for the loss of precious lives during the incident and was acting under orders from his superiors.

Mr Hussain was a young flying officer during the 1965 war between India and Pakistan.

The eight-seater plane had apparently drifted off course along the border.

The Pakistanis suspected it of being on a reconnaissance mission to open a new war front.

Mr Hussain was ordered to shoot it down, despite pleas for mercy by the plane's pilot.

The former fighter pilot said that when he landed back at an air base at Karachi, he felt highly elated for having completed the mission.

But the mood changed later that evening when All India Radio announced that the plane had been a civilian Indian aircraft with eight people on board.

'Seeking mercy' Mr Hussain said that everyone connected with the incident felt sorry and dejected.

Forty-six years on, by writing to the daughter of the Indian pilot, he says he wants to set the record straight and offer condolences.

"It's not a apology, it's a condolence. I did not do anything wrong. I did what I was ordered to do in the line of duty. But I feel sad about the civilians who were on board that plane. It should not have happened," he said.

Mr Hussain said he decided to write to the family after all these years when an opportunity arose through his contacts in India, who put him in touch with the pilot's daughter.

"The incident is as fresh in my mind as if it happened yesterday," his letter to Farida Singh said.

"When I caught sight of [your father's aircraft] at 3,000 feet, I made a pass so close that I could read his markings and the number of the aircraft.

"Your father spotted my presence immediately and started climbing and waggling his wings seeking mercy. Instead of firing at him at first sight, I relayed to my controller that I had intercepted an eight-seat transport aircraft."

The email goes on to state that he hoped he would be called back without firing a shot. But after a lapse of "three to four long minutes" he was ordered to shoot it down.

"I feel sorry for you, your family and the other seven families who lost their dearest ones," the letter states.

So far Ms Singh's family has not responded to his email, but he hopes that one day he will be able to offer his condolences to them in person.

Afghanistan was doomed because of women! Really! (Videos & Pics)

2011-08-09T04:04:00.001-07:00

By Malali Bashir

Many people in West believe Afghanistan has been themotherland of insurgency and that conservative nature is in Afghans’ blood.With that perception, many think that being too traditional, religious andnarrow minded Afghans have ruined their country. But on the contrary many inPakistan believe God doomed Afghanistan because of our egalitarian women whoused to dress half naked.

This is the common belief in Pakistani society about Afghanwar and the plight thereafter. Many in Pakistan from well-to-do educatedfamilies, most of who make sure that the authorities remain happy with them inall circumstances, to the middle class and below poverty line and or uneducatedcan try to explain ‘why’ Afghanistan was doomed by God. There is no question ofwhether Afghanistan really was doomed or not.

They use the word “un-Islamic” to describe the condition ofthe Afghan society and the word “obscene” to describe the Afghan women of Kabulbefore the times the war erupted in
Afghanistan. Their party-going and enjoyingmusic is condemned till today. The “obscenity” of the then Afghan women isdescribed as “bear heads, trousers-less” (to mean their stockings), miniskirts”(míni-júbka the Russian word pronounced as Minozhob in Kabul for miniskirt).Many will just say “nakedness”.

To nobody’s surprise, Pakistanis having been addicted totheir local controlled media and the distorted history text books, Pakistanisare the victims of a system of brainwashing that has caused that societyextremism, lack of critical thinking and irrelevance or laziness to learningthe facts. These politically installed beliefs have also caused Pakistanis tothink themselves morally and religiously better than other Muslims especiallyAfghans as they are the immediate neighbors who share the same religion.

If these Pakistanis were to be believed, one could say thatPakistan and especially Punjab would have been wiped out of mother earth bynow. In cities like Lahore, brothels operate openly and the red light district,Heera Mandi, has been in existence since the time of the Mughals. The redlight district of Lahore, Heera Mandi, has been operating since the time of theMughals.

Apart from this, there is the presence of nightlife inPakistan. In cities like Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, underground concertstake place where live bands perform. These Western style places offer the richPakistani party goers with Muslim names and Westerners an opportunity to drink,dance and enjoy themselves some of whom might end up with each other for thenight.

Have any of the Pakistanis, who think Afghanistan was doomedand that too because of women who did not live according to Islamic rules, thenPakistan should have been doomed long ago for what has been going on there inconcealment even if the wrong doers (according to them) are two percent of thesociety for instance. Or the Pashtuns and Balochs, in Pakistan that are gettingbutchered daily like sheep and goats, doomed because of the deeds of those inPunjab? As they put it that way that because of the women of Kabul, whole ofAfghanistan was doomed.

The holy Quran says, “O ye who believe! Let not some menamong you laugh at others: It may be that the (latter) are better than the (former):Nor let some women laugh at others: It may be that the (latter are better thanthe (former): Nor defame nor be sarcastic to each other, nor call each other by(offensive) nicknames: Ill-seeming is a name connoting wickedness, (to be usedof one) after he has believed: And those who do not desist are (indeed) doingwrong. (The holy Quran, 49:11)"

This verse explains everything to Muslim Pakistanis, whothink themselves better Muslims, and who call names and defame Afghans. Thereis a big time need for such Pakistanis to come out of the hypnotizing fog of socalled Mullahs and the false propaganda of the Pakistani media. They need tounderstand that it takes especially a ‘cunning’ enemy to be able to seize thetime provided opportunity to destroy a neighbor on the name of brotherhood andreligion. Otherwise why Afghanistan could not do the same toPakistan? Corruption and selfish leaders exist in every nation and Afghanleaders are responsible for their part. But the whole world also knows who reallydoomed Afghanistan. Pakistan!

Similarity between Karzai and the Taliban

2011-08-07T15:08:00.001-07:00

By Malali Bashir

Afghan President Hamid Karzai made some unusualcomments during the Peace Jirga in Afghanistan. “Foreigners say we will not go[out of Afghanistan] unless the Taliban are defeated. Taliban say we will notgo [towards peace] unless they the foreigners are out. It seems like you [both]are agreeable with each other and we don’t know about this [secretassociation]. You may be tricking us.

This is exactly what a lot of Afghans believe -- thatthe U.S. is not serious about disabling and defeating the Taliban and theTaliban is unable to harm Americans seriously. Ironically, the Afghan publicdoes not trust president Karzai because he was “installed” by the Americans.Now it seems the Afghan president has realized, after almost ten years ofgoverning, what ordinary Afghans have thought about foreign troops and theTaliban insurgents all along.

Sarah Chayes in her book “ThePunishment of Virtue” writes, “In Afghanistan, there are ways you know things.Outsiders call it ‘rumor-mongering’ or ‘conspiracy theorizing’ and when theyask you for some evidence, for something concrete to substantiate this gutfeeling of yours, you shrug a little sheepishly because you have to admitthey’re right -- you’re only speculating. But still, you know. There is atuning fork vibrating inside you to the true pitch.”

Gradually, by the end of 2003,Afghans started raising their eyebrows and one could hear in taxis, cafes, andshops talks about the Taliban and Karzai being two stones in the hand of theUnited States sandwiching ordinary Afghans. Anecdotaly, it seems that a goodnumber of Afghans believe that the Americans have done little to smash topTaliban commanders, and have let them do whatever they want with the conditionthat they do not harm Americans and America. However, media reports suggestthat more than 5000 insurgents were killed in 2010. And, according toiCasualties.org, a website that keeps track of military casualties inAfghanistan and Iraq -- 711 coalition forces (499 of them American soldiers)were killed in 2010. Meanwhile, a U.N. report said that civilian casualties hadrisen 31 percent in the first half of 2010, including 1,271 killed.

When the Taliban was forced outof power in 2001, war-weary Afghans had great hopes for reconstruction anddevelopment of their country. They thought God was finally going to answertheir prayers and put those to justice who were responsible for the destructionof their country and nation. Now, many have lost hope in what they see as acorrupt government ruled by brutal warlords and witnessing the Taliban blowingup schools and cutting ears off of teachers. These atrocities, combined withhomes being destroyed and their family members being killed in foreign troops’bombardments, make for a dreadful combination.

It is time for President Karzaito let Afghans know that even though his government was set up with the help ofthe international community, he is now a democratically-elected president. Heshould be able, as a president, to persuade the U.S. to reduce air raids andcivilian casualties so that the public does not see the U.S. as being equal tothe Taliban in terms of atrocities against them. Karzai should also makeserious efforts to wipe out corruption, taking bold moves to remove corruptofficials -- without preferring one over the other. When Karzai got elected forthe first time, he came up with a slogan: “Right People In Right Places.” Heshould stick to that by bringing deserving people in for suitable jobs, and notplaying by the normal political rules.