Chapter sixteen
Pakistan has played a significant role in keeping the Afghan people busy in a long-term war, enslaving them and conquering their places with dirty politics. They victimized people by not giving them the right to speak up and raise their voices for freedom.
Afghan nationalism was in the hearts of millions, and because of that, foreigners used and abused them. Afghans were warriors and defender with roots in Islam, beside their actual culture, and they defended their land from the countries that interfered in Afghanistan’s internal policies. In 1893, Afghanistan lost some land and people, used as a buffer zone by temporary agreement of King Abdul Rahman, in exchange for money and artillery worth £1.5 million. England said that it would return by the time that they agreed on, but before that time England had to leave India and Pakistan came to the picture, Afghanistan tried to take the land back from a divided India, from the Muslims Indians who are today the Pakistanis but did not succeed. This has not been forgotten in the minds of nationalist people. This land is called Pashtunistan or Pashtukhwa today by those who believe in their freedom,and its case name is Durand.
The Afghans had three wars with England over their freedom, but England could not succeed to take over Afghanistan as they were Governing in old India. Russia also aimed to take over Afghanistan to get to warm waters but could not while England’s struggled to divide the Pashtuns, though the goal never died in their minds. For decades, the Russians tried to be close to Afghanistan by forming economical and military treaties and influencing its society culturally and idealogically. Fundamental raise up,Finally, war broke out with Russia, lasting from 1979 through 1989. In that time, the Communists fought against Islam, and US ,Arabs and Pakistanis was involved, which both helped and interfered with Afghan matters with help from the radicals. The result of this was Osama’s stay in Afghanistan’s territory.
For the sake of west, freedom fighters took the name “Mujahedeen,” which means warrior of a holy war. In fact, the US was the one, as we say, to take the fish from the muddy water—from the name of Islam, supporting them in the fight, and named the fight as JIHAD.
In 1992, a warm war began within the country, between the Pashtun and some groups of Farsi talkers like Tajiks and Hazara — Ozbaks, and Turkman—as well as Communists and some Afghan traders who were Communists and fundamental Muslims. All together, they had a political war for power in Afghanistan, with the military leadership of Massoud from Pansher against Gulbudeen Hekmat Yar, a Pashtun and another fundamental leader of the brotherhood of Muslims in 1992. Most knew of Afghanistan’s destiny and the importance of that region for global business. They fought for power, not democracy or genuine national cause.
History is the speaker of truths and with today’s government and association with those groups in Afghanistan, women and children still suffers. There is poverty, and there is no real democracy. There are no real people in government to practice democracy in the right way, they are just Political business men.
In 1996, in time of Rabani, who called school girls “hookers” and closed the girls’ schools down, one of the Pashtun’s most fundamentalist leaders, Mullah Mohammed Omer, from the Taliban, for their own goal pushed Rabani’s people to the north, and especially the Pashtuns, stood by the Taliban, and the war turned to ethnic bloodshed.
The Taliban were a very fundamental. They attracted some Pashtun Muslims, ordinary people and old Mujahedeen by showing security, unity and the sovereignty of people in the country. This tribe had opponents from other tribes and struggled to defend themselves, and to keep the power of the majority in country from the hands of other traitors. The Taliban fought for two reasons: One was an ethnic reason, because the Farsi talkers of the Northern Alliance stood for separation against them for the benefit of western and other Eastern countries. The other reason was the idea of establishing Wahabism in the weak Afghanistan society and does their business with the other world. The Taliban got their ideas from the Arabs and Pakistanis. When the Taliban first came to power, the US in Bush time was mute about it like supporter, even though the situation of women was bad because the Taliban had taken away much of their freedom further. Two friends of the US who had close ties with the Taliban—Pakistan and Saudi Arabia—also had direct activity with the Taliban and had their people involved with them. Later, in the US and around the world, in the name of women’s rights, there was suddenly a cold war, after hundreds of years of victimization of women, for the purpose of US policy with Taliban that was changing.
In the Taliban, and under any fundamental leadership, in cities, women were not free from covering themselves, and had no privilege of attending school, and had no rights over their destiny. That was in last king and in Daud’s time that women had the most of freedom but in Kabul the capital, also in communists time they had the most of freedom, even with all misery of the war and even though they were not safe from the Communists’ and the Mujahedeen militia’s crimes against them.
Before the Taliban that were strict them self on women, the fundamentalists were in power, women were disrespected and dishonored. They were forbidden to attend school, a scenario that had been perpetuated for years by families as well. For the sake of security and prejudice, those who opposed the Taliban used women’s rights as source of political power. Still, women don’t have rights over their own appearance and destiny in any tribe in Afghanistan, and the US-made government has done nothing to give them their rights by finger-puppet Government. There are women who work for the government, but they are chosen by the government and are only fake symbols for the sake of western countries. In reality, both yesterday and today, no woman has complete rights over her own destiny, and has no right to make her own choices either inside or outside the home.
The fundamental Taliban’s order, which was supported by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and some other hands, fought ethnically against political groups of Farsi talkers until the diplomacy of the US no longer worked with them. With Osama and with the oil and gas deal of UNOCAL the US started using its influence in there and started working with the warlords, old groups of fundamentals and the left over of Communists and the Setamies and whole minorities leader, Massoud.
The Pashtuns fought for unity and sovereignty, and the Taliban fought for their own ideas as a united group with the Pashtuns against Tajik’s political groups.
Other countries supported the Northern Alliance and the Communists against the Pashtuns in the name of minorities’ rights, and inflamed civil war with the Pashtuns. They also attacked Pashtuns in the cold war. The Pashtuns blamed them for what they’d done throughout the years, especially to Pashtun women and families. The Pashtuns sacrificed a lot because of the name of Taliban and fight over power; power because of other countries interest economically.
For years, foreigners have run both local and foreign policy for the nation, which has survived ideological and civil war. Most Pashtuns died for the Taliban name, but the reality was that that Northern Alliance was eager to kill them freely, with no law, under the name of the Taliban, because in time of treading the country the Pashtun would be resistant’s.
Afghanistan’s leaders have been bought and bribed by the US and Russian, through the wars in the last century. I experienced this from both sides, and witnessed these countries’ direct interference. The values of the Afghan people changed in the last two decades, thanks to the Northern Alliance, which values killing, looting, raping, and dishonoring and disrespecting people and their culture—especially dishonoring women was their job, but one day around the world ,for the sake of fight with Taliban, their followers were screaming about women’s human right…?At that time UNOCAL was going to be involved economically with Taliban!
I have always hoped that no country, and especially not the American government, would destroy Afghanistan’s culture and run its Politics for them by victimizing Pashtuns in the name of the Taliban or someone else. The real Afghans fight politically and verbally for the honor of Afghanistan and to free it from the ugly and inhuman power and conduct of anyone in there. I hope they struggle, politically and verbally, in the matter of their sovereignty and prestige, which the culture taught those thousands of years ago. I also hope that the real Afghans, from any tribe, don’t forget their people’s wishes for peace and freedom. With all its wartime victimization, the country needs internal repairs and a powerful army to keep it and its people safe. They also need to run their foreign policy strongly, without war, for the sake of the national benefit, and first should deal politically and economically with America or any other country in peace manner.
Right now, the Afghan army is made up of couple thousand Afghans from the Northern Alliance, which nobody trusts them, ally countries like the US and England, and other countries that they gathered as a United Nations army are there and US is as invaders by the name of fight with Al -Qaeda and Taliban ? I only want the United Nations in there as peacekeepers, especially to keep the women from social misery.
The US’ takeover of Afghanistan and interference in Afghanistan policy is not new; it goes back to the time when they fully supported the fundamental fighters (the Mujahedeen) against Russia. After that, they let the people get divided or weakened people and separated them part by part. Uncovering its policy in both the West and East for its business (Oil and Gas) this time, the US unlawfully invaded Afghanistan and chose the wrong Afghan men to run the government through a fake grand council wherein the members were only those who wanted the US’ power in Afghanistan, or people from the current Afghan government who did not have the credibility to run an administration. Still, there is no peace and no real development and changes in the system, and the people are not given their right to speak their mind the way that it should be, US is busy there with its policy and conducting its business, and Afghan fake Government, host of US…still did not accomplished any good for general real people sake. Poverty and crimes are in high level, drugs and smugglers are strongly and obviously are in the picture, the national wealth like before in Afghan-soviet war time are transporting to other countries by old same war lards and people involved in Government,generally people live in poor health, just there are some fashion shops and new build building for shows and comfort of those that they can play with dollars ,streets are full of beggars that most are children and women,thift and bribery are now in culture of Governmental and business people instead of dignity, honor, and valuable ethics which are real influencing power .The Taliban are still in the picture, fighting for their religious and power cause. Their cause attracts foreigners and allowed Osama to take advantage of the Taliban further in the mountainous area of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Millions innocents lives there are in danger. I was emotionally torn about all the episodes of the nonstop cold and warm civil wars, after the Soviet Union invasion People were hopeless for Afghanistan’s future because of some groups, including the so-called Jihad parties or warlords, pro–Russian defeated Communists and pro-China Setamies; Common people left Afghanistan for good, though it was against their own wishes.
I was bothered by the US’ ignorance about the Russian war, in which 1.5 million Afghans died and 400000 got crippled or wounded for US causes. The warriors and warlords took enough benefit from this; their wealth and income, at that time, came mostly from US and growing opium, which America ignorantly let the Mujahedeen guides or commandants do, to fund the war and the victory that the US claimed. But in the Taliban’s time, the US ordered the Taliban to ban the growth of opium, and they did it in little time because for the US to recognize the Taliban officially, US had two faces when it came to drugs in Afghanistan.
The victory against the Russians was actually the victory of the common Afghan fighter, who went by many names under many leaders. Many young innocents fell for the democratic, Communist government and died for the Communists and Russia. Those young men always wanted changes in the system, which was a monarchy at that time of their movement before Duod, which was full of conspiracy, victimization and ignorance in both internal and foreign politics.
I was not only emotionally devastated but also psychologically affected by all aspects of the wars in my life because my people, my family and my friends were involved on both sides in the time of the Communists, and the Mujahedeen.
The US in time of Bush went to Afghanistan to defeat the so-called Arab terrorists and their caregiver government (the Taliban). America covered their military action in Asia, especially Afghanistan, under the name of bringing democracy and peace and defeating the Taliban and Al- Qaeda. Still, this case is uncertain, and quite questionable. And the outcome of the US and British military action in Afghanistan was not only to turn over the Taliban’s authority to terrorism, but also a second time of power for the warlords, who had caused the Taliban to come into power besides Pakistan’s push, which ruined the prestige of the Pashtuns.
Some thought that this military action on the part of the US would bring democracy and stability to the region, but the situation didn’t develop positively. Democracy did come to Afghanistan but because of looting, abuse and people taking advantage and doing wrong, the prospect of peace and stability is obscure.
I became worried and uncertain, and lost in many thoughts—especially about the fate of women in general. In present circumstances, they can’t get their rights, after decades of victimization by those who did victimized them and rule over people. Women are belong to men or others in family like slaves until they die; I was even a victim of it myself.
I was concerned about what would be next after the US invasion of Afghanistan. Would the US fight and bombards the Pashtuns further because of Taliban? They(Pashtuns) had already fought for nine years, for ethnic reasons, with the Farsi-talker dominated groups, most of which were militias in Kabul and were known later as the Northern Alliance, established in 1992.
The war of some people in Afghanistan—the Taliban—against the US is unknown now to me. I don’t believe that they would have the chance to govern in Afghanistan not because of the US, but because they have lost their credibility among the most common Pashtuns.
I wonder if the US will only fight Osama bin Laden, his group, Al- Qaeda, and his host, Mullah Mohammed Omar? Or will the Pashtuns all in rural areas is under pressure for the Taliban’s sake all the time? Will Osama soon be dead, or captured alive, by the US, with the struggle and with the propaganda that the American government shows in the media? Even though he sends his threat freely the war will end some time soon?
From the beginning, Americans fought destructively, with 5,000-pound bombs and mass killing of Pashtuns, because the Taliban dominated the Pashtuns, even though they themselves were the smallest fraction of Pashtuns. The US’ fight was like the Northern Alliance’s fight with hatred; George W. Bush mentioned, at the time of 9/11, the words “revenge” and “crusade.” His comments were very sensitive when the bombing began, and he fought like Russians: with aggression toward everyone. This time, everyone was the ordinary Muslim Pashtuns.
I was wondering, at the beginning, before the bombing, would the US have mercy on innocent believers? The bombing could show the US’ hatred for and revenge on all fighters, ethnic and religious, at once on the front line, where everyone was a left over from the Pashtun, the Mujahedeen or the common people. They had stood against the opposite side—for the US—in the Soviet-Afghan war many times. Many were orphans of war, put into defense positions on the front line, innocently trained by the Taliban.
I also wondered if the US would get out of my homeland after finding Osama’s Nest. For seven years, he has not been found even though they know where is he staying? Though he has claimed to be the master of the World Trade Center and pentagon attack in New York and Washington. It should not be forgotten that now, the US has a lot of enemies in the east. Probably, Osama bluffed his claim to 9/11, to make himself seem as big as life to the radical Muslims and the enemies of the US. He played the game, just like those in Washington, who think of themselves as the only power on earth even while knowing their own weaknesses at home. For revenge against the Taliban and Osama, they have used the name of religion for their own other purposes, but killed Pashtuns. They continued invasion, which is only for the benefit of big business.