An Alternate View

Kabul

Laughter is not heard here
there is a silence over Kabul
One still hears the prayer call yet
there is a silence over Kabul
The powers that be are shooting again
there is a silence over Kabul
No Pushto, Tajik or Uzbek songs
there is a silence over Kabul
Gunfire mixes with Daari in the bazaar
there is a silence over Kabul
The Soviets are long gone but still
there is a silence over Kabul
The Pul-i-Churkhi prison all over again
there is a silence over Kabul
Minds have been imprisoned too long
there is a silence over Kabul
Hate speaks in many languages in the streets
there is a silence over Kabul
Amongst the bombs and the battle sounds
there is a silence over Kabul
Peace still eludes Afghanistan as
there is a silence over Kabul
When will the children see an end to this war?
There is a silence over Kabul.

By

Ras Siddiqui

This letter has been doing the rounds. Someone posted that here in one of the interacts as well. Now that it looks like afghanistan is not going to be bombed back to the stone age after all and the afghanis may receive financial & political help, all of which i hope come to pass, this article is a bit out of date.

I saw this guy other day on Charlie Rose on PBS. This letter has been circulating on various web sites, originating from www.tompaine.com.

Why did Afghans fought against Russians? All the problems of Afghans lie in answerinig this simple question.

How many Hungarians, Czech, Poles etc died to get rid of Russian occupation? What made Afghans a special case. The answer is illiteracy, faith, blind following, tribal culture. If you are ready and willing to be folled, Zia Ulhaqs will alaways be available.

It is easy to blame USSR, USA, Zia, ISI and Pakistan and keeping yourself aloof from any blame. On one hand they were/ are begging for food, depend upon duty free imports of refrigerators and air conditioners through Karachi (with no electricity in Afghanistan) and on the other talked about moving the chain from Torkhum to Attock. They certainly moved the refugees chain to Attock and beyond.

Neither Taliban nor Northern Alliance deserve any share in the future of Afghanistan. Either end the state or give it to UN mandate. To the best of my knowledge only one good guy came out of the mess in Afghanistan and his name is Ismail Khan.

One of my earliest memories is of the song ``Kabuliwala Aayah``, which my sister and brother would sing to me as a kid. I would always imagine Kabul as place of wealth & prosperity where large hearted, fun-loving people lives.

Sadly, the reality now is not the one that I had once imagined as a baby. Instead of Pictachoes and other dry fruits the Afgans are growing Opium.

Sometimes, I wonder whether the whole song was but the imagination of the poet or was there any truth in it ever.

Mona

Interesting article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/30/magazine/30AFGHAN.html

Americans are well aware of the pitfalls in trying to wage a ground war in Afghanistan. Their strategy will be to work with the Northern Alliance on the ground, while employing air power where necessary. They will fund, arm and train the Northern Alliance and collaborate with them on joint missions. At the same time, they will put enough pressure on Pakistan to ensure that it does not try to help out the Taliban. It will also lure Taliban commanders away by offering financial incentives. They will also try to rally ordinary Afghans by sending in food aid and doing massive propaganda. Essentially, the Taliban will be cornered within Afghanistan and will be hunted down. The world wide coalition building will ensure that it does not degenerate into a West vs. Islam issue.

The real issue is whether USA gets outsmarted by Islamabad. Pakistan is playing a very shrewd and cunning role in this whole game. Their objective is to somehow preserve a friendly Taliban regime in Afghanistan by getting rid of Osama bin laden. They know that directly confronting the USA will backfire badly. Therefore, they have adopted the Chanakya style deviousness of appearing to be on the side of USA while doing everything possible to get the Taliban spared. They are totally against the Northern Alliance or any other regime in Afghanistan that cannot be controlled by Islamabad. They have cunningly made their own stability an issue, which is stopping USA from going ahead with its military plans. Their problem is that the Taliban are too obstinate to play along. The question is whether USA can see through this game and act in its own interests or not.

SameerJB

To the best of my knowledge only one good guy came out of the mess in Afghanistan and his name is Ismail Khan.

wHO IS iSMAIL kHAN?

Mr Amit,

I think every country does whatever is in its best interest may it be US,Pakistan or India and I dont think any one may it be Pakistan or India can dictate/spoon feed especially US(currrent superpower).

US would do first and foremost whatever is in its best interest and dont take my word for it.History says it all!!.

From a Paki friend

Mr Amit,

Please read the following and see

Who was serving whose interest!!!

just another thought!!!

CIA Trained Pakistanis to Capture or Kill Bin Laden: Report

WASHINGTON, October 3 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) secretly trained and equipped approximately 60 commandos from the Pakistani intelligence to capture or kill Osama bin Laden in 1999, but the plot failed because of a military coup in Pakistan, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Citing sources familiar with the operation, the report said the operation was arranged by then Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with the Clinton administration. In return, U.S. promised to lift sanctions on Pakistan and provide an economic aid package. The plan was aborted later that year when Sharif was ousted in a military coup.

The plan was set in motion less than 12 months after U.S. cruise missile strikes against suspected terrorist training camps in Afghanistan as a retaliation for the bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

The Pakistani commando team was up and running and ready to strike by October 1999. The operation, however, was aborted on October 12, 1999, when Sharif was overthrown by General Pervez Musharaf, who refused to continue the operation despite substantial efforts by the Clinton administration to revive it.

In addition to the Pakistan operation, President Bill Clinton the year before had also approved additional covert action for the CIA to work with groups inside Afghanistan and with other foreign intelligence services to capture or kill bin Laden, the Washington Post said. The U.S. accused bin Laden of masterminding the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11 as well as the attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

© Xinhua News Agency

Don`t Let Our Friend

Pakistan Down

By LANNY J. DAVIS

nce again, Pakistan has stepped up to the line at the request of the U.S. — at great risk to itself. And once again, the question must be asked: Will the U.S. remember, not only at times of peril, as now, but during fair weather?

Based on history, the answer is, unfortunately, unclear. Perhaps this crisis will finally convince U.S. policymakers there are better ways to treat a friend, even one whose system of government is at times not entirely to our liking.

Make no mistake, the courageous decision of Pakistan`s leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to support the U.S. campaign against Osama Bin Laden, including likely military action against Afghanistan`s Taliban, puts the nation itself — and the general personally — at great peril.

Since its founding more than a half-century ago, Pakistan has attempted to establish a pro-Western, moderate government that respects secular values, similar to Turkey`s model. But in recent years, especially after the fundamentalist takeover of Iran, Pakistan has been threatened by Islamic extremists seeking to exploit poverty and illiteracy as the fuel for anti-Western hatreds.

Now Pakistan is in a far weaker position to resist these extremists, who look to Bin Laden as their hero. Tragically, U.S. policies over more than a decade are arguably one of the chief factors.

These policies — harsh sanctions on economic and military assistance — were imposed after Pakistan developed nuclear weapons capability in 1990. Ironically, the sanctions kicked in shortly after Pakistan played a critical role, again to its peril, in helping the U.S. turn back Soviet aggression in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Among the legacies of that war for Pakistan: a rampant drug trade, the CIA-trained Bin Laden and, ultimately, the extremist Taliban on its borders.

In the wake of Sept. 11, sanctions against Pakistan (and those imposed as well on India for its nuclear weapons program) fortunately have been removed. It is late in the day, given the serious deterioration in the Pakistanis` economic condition, but perhaps it is not too late for them to recover — or for us to learn important lessons for the future.

First, economic and military sanctions should not be employed when there is no evidence they are achieving their goals — or, worse, evidence that they are producing results counter to U.S. long-term interests, and certainly not when they are doing injury to a loyal, reliable friend.

Second, the best incentive for Pakistan to return to democracy and civilian control is through broad economic and educational assistance and for the U.S. to show patience and understanding as Pakistan attempts to reconstruct a more enduring democracy free of corruption and autocratic rule.

Third, Kashmir, the festering source of tension on the subcontinent, must be the subject of greater U.S. involvement. Pakistan and India have made progress in recent months. The U.S. cannot afford to stand on the sidelines any longer.

Finally, and most importantly: We must learn to treat our friends as friends — and to remember their loyalty and support through the good times as well as the bad.

``The invasion approach is a flirtation with global war between Islam and the West.``(Tamim Ansari)



With all the civility and and decency that I can muster right now -- under the circumstances -- I would have to say that the above mentioned statement/article is full of asinine crap and shitty anal ysis.

Ras, that was a beautiful poem. Thank you!

Gopal: Why is race so important to you?? If it helps - the original bloodline of all of us was a two inch tall mammal that scurried around hiding from the dinosaurs. If that is going too far back, then we can jump 64 million years and lo and behold: the first little monkey climbs down from the tree in the Rift Valley in Kenya. He was great...great granddaddy to you and to me, and to Nicole Kidman and to Sonny Liston too. Hope this helps you solve your need to find a bloodline.

`To get any troops to Afghanistan, we`d have to go

through Pakistan. Would they let us? Not likely. The conquest of Pakistan would have to be first.

Will other Muslim nations just stand by? You see where I`m going.`

Looks like people just dont watch CNN.

Nobody wants to ``Let Our Friend Pakistan Down``

It`s ``Our Friend Pakistan`` itself -- that insists on going down -- with its jihadi criminals running amuck -- inside and outside the borders -- with no rule of law -- while professing to fight a phony war against terrorism.

Mumbai-Delhi plane hijacked

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

By: A Chalomumbai Correspondent



October 4,2001



An Alliance Air Boeing 737 flight from Mumbai to Delhi was hijacked late tonight, acccording to Civil

Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain. The Minister said a hijack distress call had been received by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) in New Delhi where the plane had landed at around one A.M.

The Alliance Air is a subsidiary of the Indian Airlines. The plane is now parked at an isolated bay runway 27 of the airport. Police and fire vehicles have rushed towards the site. Unconfirmed reports put the number of passengers on board the flight at 52.