UNICEF builds school named after a criminal

It’s so good to hear schools are being built in a country with some of the worst literacy indicators in the world.

UNICEF has just completed spending US$60,000 on a school in the northern Balkh Province which has been named “Shaheed Mazari School”.

For a brief profile of Mazari’s criminal activities in Kabul in 1992-1993, see Human Rights Watch’s Blood-Stained Hands.

Two things are interesting about our warlords: alive they want private TV stations, mini palaces and ministries when dead their cronies name public schools, roundabouts and streets after them.

Daudzai: “We’re accountable to Iran” for bags of money

Two days after Waheed Omar was quoted in the local media as saying the President’s Office will soon provide accounts/details of the Iranian cash, Umar Daudzai, Chief of Staff, invited a few local journalists to his secretive office and repudiated the promise.

Daudzai said he keeps records of the payments to his/President’s Office and regularly reports invoices to his Iranian donors. “I can show you the files,” he told reporters.

He tacitly accused US government agencies of trying to abuse his authority.

“One day before the New York Times story, a person contacted my office and said if until tomorrow I don’t change the President’s decision about private security companies – I should read New Times tomorrow,” he cynically alleged referring to President Karzai’s adamant decision to disband all private security firms.

MPs, among many Afghans, had demanded the President to declare details of cash payments to his office by Iran. The scandal was disclosed in a NY Times story in October in which Mr. Daudzai was accused of promoting Iranian interests at the Presidential Palace in return for bags of cash.

Mr. Karzai has been on a highly confrontational mood towards US and NATO since Daudzai took charge of the President’s Office in 2007. Kai Eide, a former UN envoy who maintained friendly ties with Karzai, described Daudzai as an “unconstructive force” to BBC.

Karzai – unsurprisingly – defended Daudzai and called him a “patriot”.

The question vexing me is: why are our alleged patriot officials accountable to Iran?

آیا وقت خانه تکانی در ارگ فرارسیده است؟

چیزی کم چهارسال قبل از امروز نوشتهء "مافیای ارگ ریس جمهور را بکجا میکشاند" این نویسنده خشم اداره چیان ارگ را چنان برانگیخت که علاوه بر سایر اقدامات خصمانه، یک دشنامنامه طویلی بقلم آصف ننگ، سخنگوی وقت اداره امور، (البته به هدایت مدیران ارگ)، حوالی من گردید.

در آنزمان طی یک فرصت چندروزه ی رفت و آمد به ارگ به این حقیقت واقف گردیدم که شخص ریس جمهور در چنان یک سیستم پیچیده ی کنترول و نفوذ گیر مانده است که تصامیم، مدیریت و حتا تفکرشرا به گروگان داده است. از جمله مقاماتی را که من به اعمال کنترول و انحصار بر دستگاه ارگ مقصر دانستم یکی عمر داودزی، ریس دفتر، بود.

در دشنامنامهء آقای ننگ به من اذعان شده بود که "هتک حرمت به شخصیت های ملی که مایه افتخار ملت هستند" یک جرم بوده و انتقاد من از آقایون داودزی و فاروق وردگ (ریس اداره امور وقت) یک عمل زشت و دیکته شده است.

حالا روزنامه نیویارک تایمز، به نقل از مقامات ارشد حکومتهای افغانستان و امریکا، عمرداودزی را به اخذ رشوه از حکومت ایران و توسعه منافع رژیم احمدی نژاد در ارگ ریاست جمهوری متهم کرده است.

از شناختی که من از حامدکرزی دارم، فکر میکنم ضمن رد اتهامات وارده بر آقای داودزی از وی قاطعانه (شاید هم لجوجانه) حمایت خواهد ورزید.

داودزی، و سیستمی را که او در ارگ ایجاد نموده است، قویتر و منطقی تر از عواطف و احساساتی است که آقای کرزی بر اساس آن دولتداری میکند. چون شناخت آقای کرزی از وقایع و حوادث و بینش سیاسی او برخاسته از آموزه های نامریی سیستمی است که داودزی جزء آن است، نمیتوان توقع واکنش خارق العاده را از ریاست جمهوری در مورد اتهامات وارده نمود. در چند سال گذشته، آقای کرزی ناخودآگاه و کورکورانه چنان در سیستم کنترول و نفوذ بر ارگ فرورفته است که حالا از نظر فکری و عملی کاملا وابسته به اطرافیان چون داودزی گردیده است.

حمایت بلاقید و شرط ریس جمهور از اطرافیان و دستیاران نابکاراش حقایق را از انظار عامه نمی پوشاند، بلکه فقط این حس کاذب را در ارگ ایجاد میکند که "مردم نمیدانند".

قدرت حاکم بر ارگ و بخصوص بر ذهن و تصامیم ریس جمهور را نمیتوان تنها به عمر داودزی نسبت داد، چونکه او یکی از مهره های کنترول و نفوذ در سیستم دولتی افغانستان است. داودزی در چند سال گذشته به حد کافی در نصب و گماشت مقامات، در داخل و بیرون ارگ، دست باز داشته است و بنابر همین دلیل از گزند اتهامات معافیت دارد.

در چهارسال گذشته هم اوضاع عمومی کشور بصورت نگران کننده بدتر شده است و هم میزان تایید اجراات و محبوبیت شخص ریس جمهور به پایین ترین حد کاهش یافته است.

ارگ، که عادتا اخبار ناخوشآیند را رد میکند، شاید با جزء دوم این حقایق موافق نباشد و برای بخش امنیتی آن شاید دلایل گوناگونی را ارایه نماید. این روش جهت پوشش ناکارایی ها و غلط کاری های آن مقاماتی صورت میگیرد که در بوجود آوردن بحرانهای موجود نقش دارند.

اما وقتی مقامات برای توجیه فساد و غلط ورزی هایشان بهانه میتراشند، توجیه میآورند و به این و آن استدلال متوصل میگردند آیا ریس جمهور به نتایج کار توجه میکند و تصمیم مستقل میگیرد؟ و اگر موضوع داودزی را مثال قرار دهیم، آیا آقای کرزی به پاسخ این پرسش میندیشد که در چهارسال گذشته ارگ با داودزی چی دست آوردی داشته است؟

آقای کرزی هم گزارش سازمان صحی جهان در رابطه به عمومیت بیماری های روانی در شصت در صد نفوس افغانستان را طعنه آمیزانه مردود دانست و هم هرگونه علایم اینگونه بیماری ها را در شخص خود شدیدا رد نموده است. اما آیا این بیمار است که تشخیص میکند یا داکتر؟ ریس جمهوری که یکروز از ترس آیندهء تاریک یگانه فرزندش در محضر عام میگیرید، و روز دیگر به این سفسطه مباهات میورزد که خارجی ها بدلیل ثروت بیکران معادن افغانستان به افغانها دست به سینه ایستاده اند – آیا میداند این علایم از چگونه روان منشا میگیرد؟

یک متخصص بیمارهای روانی بیشتر از حرفهای پراگنده به سلامت فکری و واکنش منطقی یک مریض توجه میکند و مبتنی بر آن حکم تشخیص اشرا صادر میکند. دیده شود، آیا سلامت روانی ریس جمهور در حدی است که با یک خانه تکانی عمومی در ارگ، خودشرا از اسارت جاسوسان و فاسدان آزاد سازد؟

Who thwarted attack on UN in Herat?

A statement issued by the UN Secretary-General’s office is different from a statement issued by the Special Representative of the UN, Staff de Mistura, in one important way.

The SG’s statement first thanks “Afghan National Security Forces” but the SRSG’s statement first commends “the internal international security guards for their bravery and courage” in responding to Saturday’s attack on a UN compound in Herat Province.

At least two Afghan police guards were injured during the firefight with the attackers.

Shot in their own country in defense of the UN, why were Afghans treated secondary to “the internal international security guards” by UNAMA, one can ask the organization.

As everyone expresses gratitude that no UN staffer was affected in the incident, and also condemns, in strongest terms, the perpetuators, we don’t hear about the wounded heroes – why?

Hazaras win Kabul from Tajiks, Pashtuns

At least 12 of Kabul’s 33 seats in the upcoming Wolesi Jirga have been won, somewhat democratically, by ethnic Hazaras (9 men, 3 women).

The number is higher both from Tajiks 11 (8 men, 3 women) and Pashtuns (6 men, 3 women) respectively.

Hazaras also lead the gender-segregated lists in terms of their voting proportion with Haji Muhaqiq top among male and Fatima Nazari first in female representatives.

Also elsewhere in the country, Hazaras have scored high promising them a fairly good representation in the next parliament.

They win with ballots, not bullets, so deserve a big congratulation!

As to what will be the social and political consequences of this election amid growing insecurity, well, it’s too early to predict in our usually unpredictable circumstances.

Perhaps, as seen in Iraq, the US will have fewer friends than Iran among Afghan lawmakers.

Control, censor or coordination?

“We have been instructed not to talk to journalists. Only the GMIC [government media and information center] can talk,” director of the Afghan Red Crescent (ARCS) Office in Kandahar Province told me over the phone. I needed quotes/info for a story on conflict-related internal displacement – a humanitarian issue which falls within the core realms of the ARCS.

“Coordination” is the word you’d receive if you ask government officials why information is strictly controlled. The government, they say, should speak in one voice.

Principally and constitutionally, the ARCS should be independent and neutral from government politics. And when it comes to humanitarian information/analysis the ARCS must be a credible, transparent and accessible source.

Indeed, this war is not only about suicide/IED attacks and aerial strikes by warring parties. It is equally fought through propaganda, spin and lies. For this so-called ‘soft war’ there are structures, bodies and spin doctors.

Filtered information is not good for the health of societies, history tells us. The challenge is on journalists how to write the unfiltered truth.

How about wiping Afghanistan out of the map?

The strongest option being proposed to an anticipated “Policy Review” in December in Washington is the partition of Afghanistan into “Talibanistan” and “Warlordistan” along certain ethno-geographic lines.

As armed violence, corruption and political crisis mount in Afghanistan an increasingly vexing question is gaining more weight in Europe and US: How to cut short?

Peace-making with the Taliban has not given fruit, as has the overwhelming use of military force to eradicate them, so a new solution formula has been initiated by a former US official, Robert Blackwell: Let’s divide Afghanistan!

Blackwell and other people who back his proposal are not concerned about Afghans and their country.

They want an immediate end to US’s spending in Afghanistan. War is unaffordable – allegedly costing over US$100 billion to US alone – and Afghanistan has no oil. In fact, they want to say:
“Sorry Taliban, we’re running out of money to buy bullets and kill you!”

In 2005, when Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad suggested that Israel should be wiped out of the Middle East map in order to end a long-standing regional conflict, he was globally condemned and labeled as insane. Even George W. Bush refused Ahmadinejad’s challenge for a debate on the issue, and no foreign journalist dared to request an interview and question his philosophy.

However, Mr. Blackwell was invited to London this week to lecture a large group of British officials, journalists and writers. His blunders are well-reported by almost all major US and British media outlets. And this is no double standard – ignoring Ahmadinejad, reporting Blackwell – simply because no one can question Israel but Afghanistan, off course, is an open-to-all lab.

In case the new states of Talibanisation and Warlordistan do not live in peace and pose threats why not go one step ahead and eradicate both, or indeed the one Afghanistan, by a few nuclear bombs?

Off course every effort will be made to only target the Taliban and avoid civilian casualties.

Can a German-like Black Book curb corruption in Afghanistan?

Every government agency in Germany tries to avoid appearing in a Black Book which reports misuse and misspending of public funds by government authorities, deliberately or otherwise.

In 2009, the Black Book, published annually by the independent German Taxpayers’ Association (GTA), over 120 cases of wasteful and inappropriate expenses by various government agencies totaling 30 billion Euros were reported.

In one project, a provincial agriculture department spent 250,000 Euros on music parties for cows! Another government body procured camel’s milk worth of 40,000 Euros from Kenya to feed camel babies in Germany.

At least 1,600 articles appeared in the German print media about projects mentioned in the Black Book last year.

Ranked the second most corrupt state in the world in 2009 by the Berlin-based anti-corruption organization Transparency International, the Government of Afghanistan has no checkbooks to fear. Hardly any Afghan knows how much their government earns (from taxes, foreign assistance etc) and how much it spends on what projects.

Bribery, embezzlement and misuse of public money by government officials are rampant and hinder Afghanistan’s efforts to end conflict and implement development projects.

Donors who have a stake in a stable Afghanistan and have repeatedly and increasingly called on President Hamid Karzai to tackle corruption in his administration, but Mr. Karzai has fallen short in meeting their expectations.

It is widely believed that so long as Mr. Karzai refuses to take bold action against official corruption – starting with his own brothers, ministers and political allies – fighting corruption will only remain in words.

Facing little or no domestic pressure, Hamid Karzai has fiercely rejected external criticisms of his corrupt government under the pretext of national sovereignty. He wants to keep anti-corruption an Afghan government business with no foreign involvement.

However, critics doubt a highly corrupt government will really fight corruption.

Another concern is the abuse of anti-corruption by Mr. Karzai against his political rivals, particularly when only he is in full control.

Afghanistan needs not only a Black Book but also truly independent watchdogs in order to combat corruption effectively.

Perhaps German officials would have already banned the Black Book if the GTA had not been an independent entity. Founded in 1949, the watchdog is entirely funded by thousands of members who pay 50-90 Euros annually to enable it track their taxes.

In the immediate post-World War II years, Germans paid up to 90 percent tax to help rebuild their country.

Afghanistan may not have a large taxpaying population to form a similar association but Afghans definitely need a Black Book to tell them how much their government spends inappropriately.

The Return of God

A Church in the US state of Florida plans to burn copies of the Holy Quran on the 9th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The church’s pastor, Terry Jones, claims he “hates” Islam and will “burn Quran” for the “Love of God”.

In Iran a woman is facing death sentence for alleged “consensual” adultery. Iranian judges say the verdict is God’s command: God will be pleased with Sakina’s death, they claim.

The Vatican has remained silent in regards to Quran’s burning controversy. However, it has called on Iran not to hang the alleged adulterer woman. A French government facing immigration, pension and social scandals is willing to send its foreign minister to Tehran to request clemency for her.

As floods rage catastrophes across Pakistan, suicide attackers blew up mosques, shrines and police stations to “please the God”. Won’t God be pleased if the suicide attackers at least postpones their attacks and instead give hands to desperate flood-affected people?

God has returned into our lives/minds and forces us to sacrifice each other for His satisfaction, or so is the perception among some people.

Some would argue God never left our lives/minds, at least in strongly religious societies such as Afghanistan. It might be true but God was said to have given His place to human rationality in the 21st century. Perhaps, the politics of God have resurfaced.

Who to blame for Pakistan’s aid crisis: ISI or donors?

Foreign aid is all but sufficient in Pakistan where millions of people are surrounded by a severe humanitarian crisis. The post-flood environment in the worst affected provinces of Khyber-Pukhunkhwa and Punjab is alarmingly bleak as diseases, starvation and desperation join forces to bring about a major human catastrophe.

Politically the country is torn apart among corrupt and inefficient politicians who seem to be seeking personal interests from the crisis than lending hands to help their desperate people. There are conflicting calls coming from Pakistan’s political establishments regarding foreign assistance. Some rejects foreign aid categorically while others plead for billions.

International donor response to funding appeals has been criticized as weak and mean. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been demanded by the international aid community to fight highly contiguous diseases, feed the hungry, provide drinking water and assist people to regain a somewhat normal life.

However, it seems time has gone for Pakistan to receive immediate blank cheques from the West as it did in the past. People in most donor countries rightly say why aid to a country which exports religious terrorism? Will not the aid be siphoned off by the ISI (Pakistan’s notorious intelligence agency) to bankroll its Taliban protégés and sponsor more terrorist operations?

These are critical questions. Pakistan cannot rely on foreign generosity when its rogue state institutions only send suicide attackers, bombs and hatred to the world.

Will the unfolding flood crisis awaken Pakistanis and lead to radical political and institutional reforms?

The backlash is clear: ISI’s terrorism and Talibanization has weakened international sympathy with the Pakistani people. As ISI agents perpetuate violence abroad they bring home global condemnation.

The ISI, therefore, deserves a strong domestic condemnation for denying foreign aid to needy Pakistanis and turning Pakistan into a notorious terrorism hub.

Complaint about German Consular services in Kabul

(I emailed this to the German Embassy last week, but, unsurprisingly, have not received a response yet)


Dear Sir/ Madam:

I am writing to you to complain about the way German consular services are executed in Kabul, particularly for Afghan nationals.

Submission of a visa application at the German Consulate requires undergoing a highly disorganized, stringent and to some extent inhumane procedures.

Ironically, the Consulate does not arrange appointments to serve its clients.

This creates a situation in which applicants make long queues in front of the Consulate as early as 6:00am and linger until 12:00 when guards simply instruct them to “go” and “come tomorrow” for the same chaotic exercise. In the hot weather outside the Consulate no basic facilities such as benches, water, toilets etc are available for the languishing applicants. This is unfair, sir!

I spent three days in order to be able to submit my application to a counter where I was treated unprofessionally and indecently. Despite I had provided all the required documents (invitation letter from a German institute, health insurance etc) I was told to provide these very documents and comeback another day!

When I asked a German employee of the Consulate on 26 July to behave with me humanly and respectfully, he retorted that he was not there to solve my problems. The gentleman further told me that the chaotic and long queues are “problematic to everyone” but he nevertheless insisted the Consulate “would not arrange appoints” to solve the problems.

Both the guards and employees of the Consulate treated me roughly, indecently and without appropriate respect. I think this happens to every other applicant. The people who legitimately apply to German visas are not illegal migrants or asylum seekers and they should not be treated as such.

I have never visited Germany but I trust Germans are great and civilized people. Respect to other people, I believe, is at the heart of German culture which has made Germany a highly respected country in the world.

I hope you will seriously consider this complain and urgently reform and improve German Consular services in Kabul.

As an applicant and an Afghan citizen, I would be happy to provide further information if you will need.

Thank you in anticipation for your understanding.

Why Karzai does not like Wikileak’s revelations

The Whistleblower’s Afghan War Dairy embraced, surprised and shocked many leaders across the world but Hamid Karzai was not impressed.

“Most of this is not new…of this is what has been discussed in the past,” a Karzai spokesman told reporters in Kabul on 26 July.

He lied bluntly. His boss – Mr. Karzai – was surprised by the news.

However, Karzai – who was once crying loud to US/NATO to tackle the ‘sanctuaries, training facilities and ideologues of terrorism’ in Pakistan - preferred not to capitalize on the opportunity.

Karzai thinks the high-profile intelligence leak is a Washington-sponsored plot designed to damage his rapprochements with Islamabad.

What Gen. MacChrystal described Ambassador Holbrook in his blunders to a Rolling Stone reporter – “a wounded animal” – can be rightly referred to Mr. Karzai.

Since August 2009, Karzai lost his unwavering confidence in the US and NATO.

Karzai has said he gave almost everyone the opportunity to defeat the Taliban over the past eight years. He now believes US/NATO cannot and will not defeat the Taliban. He also feels he lost the blame game on terrorism and extremism to Islamabad as US/NATO refused his numerous pleas to tame and civilianize the ISI and end its bloody game in Afghanistan.

Disappointed in his Western patrons and increasingly fearful of his government’s survival, Karzai overhauled his politics and said hello to Islamabad and its Talib protégées.

As he tries to forge a ‘new’ strategic partnership with Islamabad and the Pakistani military, the Wikileaks revelations appear to him a conspiratorial move to derail his plans.

افغانها را کی به مسیحیت میکشاند: رهبران فاسد یا انجوهای خارجی؟

در پی نشر تصاویر مشاجره برانگیز مراسم تعمید شماری از افراد که ظاهرا به دین مسیحی گراییده اند از تلویزیون خصوصی نورین، مقامات و وکلای شورای ملی درامه ی فریبنده اسلامدوستی شانرا به نمایش گذاشته اند.

وزیر اقتصاد دو سازمان غیردولتی خارجی را که سوابق کاری طولانی در ارایه خدمات بشری و انکشافی دارند را بیشتر بدلیل موجودیت کلمه "مسیحی" در نامهای شان مورد سوءظن قرار داده و ضمن لغو موقتی جواز کار شان، خواستار تحقیقات جدی در مورد فعالیتهای آنها گردیده است.

مجلسین شورای ملی و ارگ ریاست جمهوری هم به هیاهوی موجود شتافته و با ابراز "نگرانی های شدید" مخالفت شانرا با هرگونه تبلیغ و ترویج مسیحیت اعلام داشته اند. حداقل در کابل و هرات شماری از جوانان احساساتی با راه اندازی تظاهرات خواستار به محاکمه کشانیدن موسساتی گردیده اند که هموطنانشانرا در جریان ناملایمات سه دهه کمک و مساعدت نموده اند.

در لابلای این همه احساسات و ناشیگری ها ما نه تنها ترس عمیق مانرا از عیسویت و یا روند عیسوی شدن افغانها آشکار نموده ایم بلکه خامی پیوندهای اعتقاد دینی جامعه خود را هم به نمایش گذاشته ایم. ما بدون حصول اطمینان از چگونگی تصاویر پخش شده (تصاویر از چی زمانی بوده اند؟ محل مراسم کجاست؟ آیا افراد مطلوب افغانها ها اند و آیا قبلا مسلمان بودند؟ چگونه، چرا و توسط کی ها به عیسویت رو آورده اند؟) فی الفور داد "محکومیت ها" را سر میدهیم و خواستار "مجازات" خارجی ها میگردیم و بدینترتیب اسلامدوستی خود را به مردم نشان میدهیم.

عدهء فکر میکنند مردم ما مظلوم واقع شده اند و بزور و خدعه به دین و آیین خارجی ها کشانیده میشوند. از اینجاست که مزبوحانه تلاش میورزند تا با برخورد شدید و خشن، با عوامل که ظاهرا مردم را به سایر ادیان میکشانند، دین و عقاید اسلامی خود را از تعرض و تغییر مصوون نگهدارند.

شکی نیست که هر دین و کیشی برای گشترش جغرافیای انسانی خود تلاش مینماید، همانگونه که دعوت از جمله ارکان برجسته اسلام میباشد. در حالیکه مسلمانان در بریتانیا، امریکا و سایر کشورهای غیرمسلمان تبلیغ اسلام میکنند و مردمان را به مسلمان شدن دعوت میکنند ما، کشورهای مسلمان، نه تنها به راهبان سایر ادیان حق تبلیغ و فعالیت های قانونمند را در جوامع خود نمیدهیم بلکه دعوت به سایر ادیان را جرم مینامیم. اما این امر مبلغین سایر ادیان را از وجایب دینی شان بازنمیدارد و آنها از طروق و راه های متفاوتی دعوت به دین شانرا ادامه میدهند. یک مبلغ و دعوتگر اسلام در همه جا قابل تشخیص میباشد و میشود با او هر گونه معامله حقوقی و قانونی صورت گیرد، اما ما نمیدانیم از جمله ده ها هزار خارجی مقیم کشور ما کی ها مبلغ عیسویت هستند و به دلیل همین فقدان شناخت ما به هر خارجی به چشم شک مینگریم. روش موجود بجای نفع به زیان مسلمانان میباشد چون در کشورهای غیرمسلمان مردم از مبلغین اسلامی اجتناب میورزند و یا حداقل به بیانیه های آنان بدیده شک مینگرند در حالیکه مسلمانان نادانسته به موعظه های عیسویت تا وقتی گوش میدهند که تارهای عقاید اسلامی شان کاملا پوده میگردد و با ساده گی تغییر دین میدهند.

نقص دیگر روش موجود اینست که ما پرسش های کلیدی را که در تشخیص عوامل اساسی انحراف شماری از هموطنان ما از اسلام نقش دارند را نادیده گرفته فقط از احساسات و شعار کار میگیریم.

چرا یک افغان که از والدین مسلمان تولد یافته، و در یک اجتماع کاملا اسلامی پرورش یافته و به کاملترین ادیان مشرف است در پی چند مصاحبه با مبلغین عیسوی با قبول تمام خطرات با دین، عقاید، هویت و ارزشهای خود را به یکبارگی ترک میکند؟

بیسوادی، فقر، عدم آگاهی درست از اسلام و تمایل مهاجرت به کشورهای غربی از جمله عوامل عنوان میشوند که افغانها، و شاید هم مردم در سایر کشورهای فقیر مسلمان، را به ترک اسلام و پیوستن به عیسویت میکشاند. مزید بر این موسسات خارجی متهم میشوند که در بدل ارایه کمک های بشری مردم را بسوی بیدینی و ارتداد تشویق مینمایند.

خب - افغانها چرا بیسواد، فقیر و بی خبر از دین شان اند؟ مسوولیت محو بیسوادی، فقرضدایی و ترویج سالم دین با کیست؟ و چرا دست گدایی افغانها همیشه به خارجی ها دراز بوده است؟

بیسوادی و فقر در افغانستان نه اذلی بوده اند نه تصادفی. اینها نتایج و پیامدهای فساد، بی کفایتی و جنایات وسیع رژیم ها و رهبرانی بوده اند که بیشتر از سه دهه حاکمیت را در انحصار گرفته اند.

شاید در تناسب به نفوس سایر کشورهای اسلامی شمار ملاامامان و علمای دینی در افغانستان زیادتر باشد، اما اینها با داشتن منبر و محراب و سایر سهولتها در ویرایش و توانمندی عقاید اسلامی مردم موفق نبوده اند.

در میان فقر، بیسوادی و سایر مشکلات شان مردم سردمداران جهاد و جماعت های اسلامی را میبینند که جسورانه آدم میکشند، جنایت میکنند و از راه های کاملا نامشروع پول و قدرت میاندوزند اما تمام غلطکاری هایشانرا در قالب اسلام میپوشانند. بنام جهاد و مسلمانی نه تنها حقوق حیات، عزت و مالکیت مردم وسیعا و پیهم نقض میگردد بلکه بالاجبار به نظام های برده گی و عصر حجر سوق میشوند.

وقتی کودکی در محرومیت ها، فقر و بیسوادی پرورش یابد و از رهبران بظاهر مسلمان خود بجز از جنایت و گناه چیزی خوبی نبیند، آیا میتواند در مقابل فریفتن های سازمان یافتهء مبلغین عیسویت از عقاید خود قاطعانه مدافعه نماید؟ و اگر افغانی بدلیل بیسوادی، فقر، عدم آگاهی درست از اسلام و مظالم رهبران بظاهر مسلمان دین اشرا ترک میکند تنها او باید مرتد شمرده شده و مستوجب مجازات باشد یا آنهای که مسبب کاستی ها و بدبختی های او بوده اند هم باید مسوول شناخته شوند؟

عوامل و مسببین اصلی گرایش افغانها به ادیان دیگر یکی دو موسسه خارجی نیست و ما نباید اغفال شویم بلکه در میان ما، حاکمان ما و رهبران ما اند که با اعمال زشت شان اسلام را بدنام مینمایند.

Hypothetical Karzai-Omar debate

The world is trying to convince the Taliban leadership to renounce terrorism and take part in Afghanistan’s existing constitutional political system.

Well, let’s imagine Mullah Omar extricates himself from the ISI and agrees to challenge the incumbent “president” in a debate.

Here is a transcript of the most likely arguments and counterarguments the two will exchange:

Karzai: “Welcome brother! It’s great you’ve extricated yourself from the ISI. This is your country and I am very pleased to offer whatever you want. My government and I are at your service. What ministries and provinces do you want? How many armoured vehicles? How many mansions in Shirchoor? What about a luxury resort in Pam Jumaira in Dubai? Would you like a visit to Panjshir to Masoud’s tomb? Or you like an Uzbeki Qaboli at Dostum’s palace in Sheberghan? Or….”

Omar: “Nonsense! I want to revive my Islamic Emirate. I want you out of the Argg. I want your brother out of Kandahar. I want your American patrons out. I want your corrupt ministers out. You’re a coward and a looser. I am the future of this country….”

Karzai: “Well, dear brother. We can work together. Tell me what do you want, please tell me. It’s not good you – like others- call me corrupt. Where is corruption? Who is corrupt? What’s corruption? I am a great president. Look how highly the Americans are talking about me. If you join my government we will increase the GDP to $100,000, we will make great roads and Afghanistan will make airplanes. We will defeat the world in technology and sport. Please! Don’t you want all this?”

Omar: “I can’t work with your tugs. They’re criminals and murders. I don’t want your dollars. I seek Islam and the rule of Sharia. You’re such a great liar! You think I am fool? I know you’re all bluff and nonsense. You use rousing lies and never abide by your words. You’re a puppet. I don’t trust you a penny…”

Karzai: “OK! OK! Fine I am a puppet - so what? I am corrupt and a warlord - so what? I am a liar and bluff master - so what? Who cares about these issues? This is Afghanistan my friend. Don’t waste your time with these futile slogans. Just enjoy man! We’ve suffered a lot but now it t is our time to relax and prosper. Condemn the Satan and let’s go to Hazrat Sahib and kiss his hands and forget about the past….”

Omar: “What about that ‘black list’? What about my friends?”

Karzai: “Hey brother! Don’t worry about anything. You’re our hero and the Afghan people are proud of you. I have an inclusive government which strives to serve you and others like you. Women and girls will wear burqa – as you wish – and I will not allow any journalist or media to cause you any inconvenience with freedom of expression, human rights, democracy and other similar issues. You just let me rule and I assure you’ll really thrive. Please, I beg you!”

Omar: “Let me think. I’ll let you know when I make up my mind. But what is Obama saying about all this?”

Karzai: “OK! Dear brother. Take your precious time. Obama respects you man! He is our friend. He wants peace and welfare in our country. I spoke to him last week and he said ‘tell my brother – Omar – how long this fratricidal war should continue?’ he hates war and loves peace. You know he won a Nobel Peace Prize. He said if you join my government he will also give you a Nobel Prize…”

Omar: “Oh! Yeah I like a Nobel but I don’t like it to be shared with Masoud, Mazari, Fahim and others. I want a Nobel only for my self to honor my endeavors for peace.”

Karzai: “You definitely deserve it brother, you deserve it! America is a very rich and powerful country. They can give us anything we want. Dollars, power, fame, prizes and anything you want – they’re very reliable. I swear they are very good.”

Omar: “OK! I got to go now. Tell Obama to call my Quetta number and talk to me about my Nobel and other issues. Sorry I can’t trust you though!”

Karzai: “Sure sure. I will tell him. He’d love to talk to you. He respects you…

Omar: “Bye!”

Karzai: “Bye my dear brother! Take good care brother!”

[ENDS]

AFGHAN TRANSLATORS LIVE IN FEAR AND MISTRUST

It was midday 5 May when Azizullah received a devastating phone call about the death of his 24-year-old son Sardar Mohammad, who was a translator with foreign forces in the southern Kandahar Province.

“They [foreign forces] told us that he was killed in a Taliban’s ambush in Chora District in Urozgan Province but we doubt it,” the bereaved father said adding that his son could had been killed “purposely” or “mistakenly” by his employers.

“He was hit in the heart with one bullet and was bleeding freshly when we received his coffin,” he said.

As with other similar cases the government did not launch a criminal or judicial investigation and his parents did not even know if they had a right to demand an impartial inquiry into their son’s death.

No one at NATO’s regional command in Kandahar Airfield was available to comment on Mohammad’s death and NATO’s spokespersons in Kabul refused to talk about the subject.

When Mohammad was offered the translation job in 2007 his family fled to Pakistan because they feared Taliban insurgents would harm them. The insurgents widely target people who work for foreign forces and the government.

Vulnerable

Hundreds of Afghans, mostly young males, work as interpreters and language assistants with over 120,000 foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan. They earn about US$400-1500 monthly based on their contract type and job location which could be a military base or a combat zone.

While the insurgents are their arch enemies several translators interviewed for this report expressed deep concerns about mistreatment and risks they faced from their own employers.

“They don’t trust us and if they find out anything suspicious about a translator his life will be in hell,” said an Afghan working for NATO forces in Wardak Province who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“We are not trained to be fighters and soldiers but they take us to front lines where god knows who kills who,” said another interpreter who used a pseudonym, Jalil.

“Our live is cheap, cheaper even than an insurgent’s life,” whined another translator.

Whether a misunderstanding or a reality such grievances have sometimes led to tragic events.

A “"disgruntled” Afghan interpreter reportedly shot dead two US soldiers before he was gunned down on 30 January in Wardak Province.

NATO’s press office in Kabul said it could not comment on the issue due to its sensitive and “classified” nature.

Unknown casualties

Over 1,780 foreign troops have died in Afghanistan since November 2001, according to a tally, but the number of local interpreters killed and maimed during their work for international forces is unknown.

NATO said it did not know how many of its local language assistants were killed over the past eight years.

“We have started tracking translators’ casualties since March [2010],” said Kevin Bell, a NATO spokesman in Kabul.

Ironically the translators are not protected by the country’s labour law and their work contracts are only managed by private companies which deliver human resource services to NATO and US forces in Afghanistan.

“Afghans working for foreign military forces, embassies and UN agencies are not covered by the labour law,” said Mohammad Ghaws Bashiri, deputy minister of the Ministry of Labour, Martyrs and Social Affairs.

“We don’t deal with their work and contractual disputes,” he said.

However, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said the government must enforce a low to protect its citizens employed by external civilian or military actors.

“They must have access to legal protection and their rights, privileges and safety measures must be legally transparent and respected by their employers,” said Fareed Hamidi, a commissioner at the AIHRC adding that the translators’ work conditions must be humane and civilian.

Translators said they were entitled to a life insurance scheme which pays a sum to the family of a fallen translator (provided the death is during duty and meets all regulatory measures).

Dozens of interpreters recruited by the US military have been granted residence in the US over the past three years and Canada has announced it will provide special immigration services to some of the translators employed by its military in Kandahar Province in 2010-2011.

Big news no coverage

Kabul-based foreign journalists have missed a very important issue which has been taking place over the past three days!

It seems the world’s top TV channels, newspapers and online outlets are deliberately overlooking the ongoing strike at the Wolesi Jirga (lower house of the National Assembly) because reporting it could offend Karzai. Mr. Karzai was reassured in Washington last week that he would have a lapdog media.

The MPs are on a democratic strike against Karzai’s prolonged failure to introduce nominees for 11 ministries. Karzai has appointed the very same individuals as “care-taking ministers” who were rejected by Wolesi Jirga. According to a law recently adopted by the parliament ‘a care-taker minister can only work for no more than a month’ but the Karzai Argg does not buy the law.

Almost seven months have gone by since Karzai re-inaugurated himself but half of his cabinet is throng with ‘care-takers’.

A Taliban suicide attack usually makes breaking news and headlines unwittingly feeding dangerous propaganda. However, democracy and big democratic events hardly reach to editors’ desks in London and New York.

The problem is with this approach the Taliban are our news-makers and opinion-dividers.

Washington’s second bad choice: Dr. Abdullah

Washington has only concluded the glitzy and formal part of its hospitality to Afghan politicians but the informal and behind-the-doors meetings are still ongoing.

Almost the same policy-makers who held lengthy discussions with Hamid Karzai last week are now listening to Dr. Abdullah’s rants.

On Tuesday Washington Times ran a story on Abdullah’s malicious predictions on a number of issues including the upcoming Consultative Peace Jirga and talks with the Taliban.

Unsurprisingly Dr. Abdullah looks at every issue from his ethno-negativistic prism.

I am not astonished to see the Abdullah who tried to deceive some people with his fake Pashtun identity card during the presidential election is now a staunch and vocal Panjshiri (in fact a Shora-e-Nezaree).

He welcomed Karzai’s choice for the IEC only because Mr. Manawi is a Panjshiri and a Shora-e-Nezaree but he fiercely demanded all the key Pashtun ministers (defense, interior, education and finance) to be sacked in October 2009.

Abdullah is not short of ills and evils which I don’t want to focus here. I would like here to protest another of Washington’s historic mistake in my country which I fear will have grave consequences for us.

For over eight years we have been suffering and losing precious opportunities under a Karzai-centric US engagement in Afghanistan. As Karzai reaches to end of the show – or in order to have a B-plan in case Karzai dies – Dr. Abdullah is steadily making headway into corridors which led Karzai to the Argg.

This is wrong. Abdullah is by no means better than Karzai but has several worse factors.

Abdullah is not and should not be the future of Afghanistan unless the plan is to push the country from bad to worse.

The untold truth behind Hazara-Kuchi conflict

Why are Kuchi herders unwelcomed in Behsud, Bamyan and other areas in the Central Highlands where Hazaras make the majority of settlers?

The Kuchis flock to almost all other parts of the country where they are not treated as “invaders” or “Pashtun terrorists”.

Over the past five years seasonal pasture-related tensions in Behsoud have often erupted into dangerous ethnic conflicts as both Kuchis and Hazaras blame each other for repression and wrongdoing.

Hazars say Kuchis storm into their agriculture fields, inflict damages and disappear.

Kuchis say their traditional right to “public” grazing lands has been denied by Hazaras and in some instances local Hazara strongmen have grabbed their legitimate properties.

This is only a fake face of the problem.

As you go deep into the issue, listen to kingpins and use some intelligence the underlying truth goes into two directions: A) corruption, and B) ethno-politics.

A) Blessed with free and flooding dollars the Karzai regime earmarked over 160 million Afghanis (about US$31 million) to compensate warring parties (affected Kuchis and Hazaras) in 2009. Most of the money ended up in the criminal coffers of prominent ethnic power-brokers and government officials. However, the regime has failed to buy peace and accord with corrupto-dollars and the profiteers have re-orchestrated another violent drama again.

B) Tehran has brainwashed many Hazara leaders and activists with the idea of “an independent Hazaristan” – another Shia state in the region. Maps showing the Central Highlands, Daikundi and parts of Urozgan as a sovereign Shia/Hazara state have been produced to inspire the powerful Hazara leaders. Purging the region from non-Hazaras is a prerequisite for the ideal Hazara country. The U.S. foreign policy, undoubtedly, is pro-minority and Hazaras strongly believe they are following the path of Iraqi Kurds.

How a landlocked Hazaristan will live in a landlocked Afghanistan is a question Hazara protagonists need to ponder about.

What’s Karzai doing in U.S. barracks?

Karzai and McChrystal are buddies definitely. The top U.S. general has accompanied Mr. Karzai in his almost all provincial travels over the past few months; sitting legs-crossed, drinking tea and listening to Karzai through his interpreter. McChrystal has studied the embattled Afghan leader more than any other U.S. official in Kabul.

His spontaneous public apologies after every major civilian casualty incident involving international forces and indeed a major reduction in NATO’s notorious air strikes (which has reportedly decreased civilian deaths attributed to NATO) have made McChrystal a favorable figure.

In an unprecedented gesture of friendship Karzai popped into McChrystal’s dual headquarters – NATO’s HQ in central Kabul and U.S. (non-NATO) command center in Bargram Airfield – over the past one month.

Through these visits Karzai has tried to re-assure Washington that he’s not lost his mind totally to seek a new patron in the region. He just wants to say he does not like diplomats and envoys pressing him on corruption and inept but likes to work with non-critical generals.

“Don’t criticize me! Cherish me and I’m all your guy!” is what Mr. Karzai telling Washington.

Well-taken Mr. Karzai! Ambassadors Holbrook and Eikenberry have got their lessons and are not going to displease you in future. You’re status has been elevated to that of Hosni Mubarak and other U.S.-backed dictators in the Muslim world.

What for us in Karzai-Obama row?

Despite his groundless tirades, Karzai is defiantly the winner of recent Washington-Kabul war of words as he has been increasingly cherished by U.S. officials.

Ironically a military commander, Gen. MacChrystal, has played far better diplomacy in Kabul than the veteran diplomat Richard Holbrook. MacChrystal knows well how fond of commending is Karzai so he has all the sweets in his shop to keep the incompetent President pleased.

Just as Afghanistan is bound to its unfriendly geographic neighborhood Washington feels obliged to work with Karzai, no matter how ineffective or even harmful he could be.

Ice is melting between Argg and the White House and a victorious Karzai expects no “No!” but all “Yes!” during his May 12th visit to Washington.

Unsurprisingly and despite his displeasure President Obama seems ready to keep issuing “blank cheques” to Mr. Karzai, as did his predecessor.

Looking at Mr. Karzai’s shrewd skills in selling his inept, corrupt and criminal presidency to Washington makes me wonder why this man cannot, or does not want to, play his talents for his country?

Karzai deserves a strong bravo at least for his well-played survival tactics.

As corruption, warlordism and bad-governance win over democracy and good governance I feel sad for our generation’s unending miseries under a government loved by outsiders but disliked by most of us.

What have we, ordinary Afghans, achieved from this? Who is speaking for us in Kabul and Washington?

Is it UNAMA or UNAMK?

Immediately after Karzai announced his new handpicked head of IEC the UN SRSG rushed to his media room to report his ‘comfort*’ with the appointment.

Manawi, a senior Northern Alliance figure, was chosen through backdoor deal-making by Karzai and his Jihadi mentors.

Manawi is a Muslim cleric with no intellectual and professional expertise in democracy or elections management, but it’s apparently not important for the UN envoy to rattle for democratic principles in a country that is fast plunging in personal tyranny.

Manawi will not end our looming electoral crisis with verses of the Holy Quran.

The IEC needs institutional independence, operational integrity, democratic laws and procedures, and an apolitical leadership and/or governing system to run free & fair elections.

Ironically a cabinet minister requires parliamentary approval but IEC officials are entirely presidential appointees. Won’t it be right, instead, to say the “impendent” interior ministry than “independent” election commission – after all how do we define “independence”?

As for UNAMA or UNMAK is it the UN assistance mission for Afghanistan for Karzai?

* - Read de Mistura's transcript here: http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1741&ctl=Details&mid=1882&ItemID=8592

The Perils of Premature Afghanisation

Hamid Karzai, the self-proclaimed president of Afghanistan, and his corrupto-criminal allies are by no means ready or fit to take on responsibilities for all political, development and security affairs in Afghanistan. Karzai is fiercely seeking absolute sovereignty from the world in order to unilaterally run the country as his personal fiefdom. Giving this unreliable partner all what he wants will spoil the blood and treasure spent in the post-Taliban Afghanistan and will plunge the country in a chaotic feudalism.

There is no legitimate and competent political class in Afghanistan that can effectively assume the unassisted management of the country’s complex challenges. Corruption and cronyism are rampant and the Kabul regime, totally manipulated by warlords and criminals, has been ranked second only to Somalia in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index.

Politically the country is worryingly fragmented among rival groups loyal to Iran, Pakistan, India and other external powers. Over four months have gone since the re-inauguration of Mr. Karzai but almost half of his cabinet ministers are yet to be nominated and approved by an increasingly antagonistic parliament which recently rejected Karzai’s totalitarian amendments to the electoral law.

Security is worse than all times since the hardliner Taliban were ousted in late 2001. The quick fixes applied by donors in the national security sector have created a mercenary police and army that are hardly able to secure their own barracks without international military forces. The arrival of additional U.S. forces to fight back the insurgents from key southern provinces is widely perceived as a temporary remedy to the country’s untamable security challenges. In Marja city, in the southern Helmand province, the Taliban have told locals they will return in July 2011; when American forces will start leaving the country according to President Obama’s strategy.

Administratively the landlocked South Asian country is plagued by the legacy of over three decades of unrelenting war, brain drain and a lack of basic infrastructures necessary for the delivery of services and governance. Almost half of school-age children are out of school, everyday 48 mothers and scores of children die from preventable and curable diseases, and over half of the estimated 28 million population live with less than US$1 a day.

Hamid Karzai is at odd with Washington and London more than any time before in his political career. On 1 April Karzai accused the U.S., the UN and the EU of orchestrating “massive” fraud in the 2009 Presidential Elections. Like Iran’s Mahmud Ahmadinejad, Karzai thinks the U.S. is trying to “colonize” the region and install puppet regimes. He recently confided at journalists his personal determination to “stand up” to the U.S.’s colonial ambitions. Karzai has proved he is always ready to offer himself for sale to Russia, China and Iran if Washington stops providing him the blank cheques he used to receive from President George W. Bush.

Not only are the Taliban too strong and are seriously threatening to topple the Karzai regime should NATO forces withdraw quickly but the unfolding regional panorama is also too detrimental for the future of a stable Afghanistan. Intelligence and military officials in Islamabad, Tehran, Delhi and Moscow are strategizing on a post-U.S. Afghanistan divided among traditional Pashtun, Tajek, Uzbek and Hazara warlords and power brokers.

However, tired of an increasingly costly war American and European leaders have started a chorus of “Afghanisation” at a critical juncture while the destabilizing country urgently needs an overhauled strategic engagement from the West.

Contrary to the predominant pessimism that the war in Afghanistan is unwinnable and that Afghans are naturally unfit with democratic governance both peace and democracy are achievable in this ill-perceived Muslim country.

Afghans are not fighting each other out of luxury. They are sick of war.

For the current waves of armed violence, however, some Afghans have reasons, some have grievances and some others are being misled or exploited by internal and regional war-mongers. The problem of conflict in Afghanistan has been compounded by a huge lack of knowledge in the international community about the very reasons, grievances and incentives which fuel violence and rebellion.

Apart from Hamid Karzai and his travel jamboree policy-makers in outside Afghanistan have hardly known ordinary Afghans. Little is known in Kabul and Washington about the motives of young Kandaharis and Helmandis who are killing their own country’s police, army and government officials. Little is heard from educated youths in Kabul and Herat.

The Afghan war cannot be won in the far remote districts in Helmand and Kandahar. It cannot be the killing and capturing of rural Pashtun youths.

An Afghanisation is not and is different from total Karzai-o-fication of Afghanistan’s affairs.

Surrendering Afghanistan to Hamid Karzai’s paralyzed regime will be a catastrophic mistake similar to the one the Soviets did in 1989.

Irrefutably Karzai has failed. He must not fail Afghanistan with himself. And Afghans must not be forced to share his failure either.

Returning to Afghans the ultimate command over their country is an unavoidable destination. The world must have strategic patience until Afghans get ready to run their country alone.

Time is not right for Afghanisation now. It is time to find, befriend and empower competent Afghans who can take charge in the foreseeable future.

Will IEC’s resignations end electoral crisis?

The engineered resignations of IEC’s head and deputy will not solve electoral chaos in Afghanistan unless the entity’s constitutional independence is respected and ensured by Hamid Karzai.

Over the years we have repeatedly experienced a ‘bad to worse’ situation with Mr. Karzai’s cabinet reshuffling and senior appointments.

However, reform with individuals alone has proved ineffective.

What this country needs is system-based institutional development and reform.

IEC’s decision-makers must not be exclusively Karzai’s appointees. Their integrity must be screened and approved by the Parliament either.

The resignations offer an opportunity to circumcise Karzai’s absolutism and prevent replication of the electoral catastrophe witnessed during last year’s presidential election.

A genuinely independent elections commission will serve democracy, Afghans and state-building in this country.

Don’t expect “fair and free” elections in future if Karzai is allowed to replace Ludin and Najafi with other – perhaps worse – cronies.

بحران عقلانی انقلاب هشت ثور

یا دیروز و امروز جنگ و جنایت شده است و یا دیروز وامروز جهاد بوده است*


برای شمار از رهبران گروه های جهادی اسبق وضعیت موجود کشور با دهه شصت شمسی تفاوتهای اساسی دارد. عده از این رهبران دراوایل دهه پنجاه شمسی، سالها قبل از تجاوز قشون سرخ به افغانستان، به آغوش ذوالفقار علی بوتو پناه برده علیه نظام و حکومت وقت در افغانستان اعلان جهاد کردند.

با ورود نیروهای شوروی به افغانستان شمار معامله گران جهاد به حدی افزایش یافت که هرکدام، جهت دسترسی به پول و سلاح بیشتر، تلاش میورزیدند وفاداری خود با سازمانهای استخباراتی پاکستان را بهتر ثابت نمایند. در آنزمان سوزانیدن مکاتب، "پراندن پل ها"، به راکت بستن قریه ها و کشتار مردمی که با گروه های جهادی همکار نبودند، مطابق فتوا جهادسالاران افغانستان که در پاکستان بتصویب رسیده بود، یک عمل اسلامی و مجاز پنداشته میشد. برای آنکه از خطر مصون باشند، افغانها باید به کمپ های مهاجرین در پاکستان پناه میبردند و اطفال و نوجوانان شان باید درس خشونت و فرهنگ کلاشینکوف را می آموختند. اما آنهای که در شهرهای تحت حاکمیت دولت وقت بسر میبردند همه کمونیست و ملحد نامیده شده و واجب القتل شناخته میشدند.

اما امروز چی؟ حالا که ملاعمر و حکمتیار ظاهرا در پاکستان مستقر شده و بیشتر رهبران جهادی اسبق به افغانستان تشریف دارند. اگر چه حالا اسلام آباد از مهمانان افغان خود همانند دهه های قبلی پذیرایی علنی نمیتواند و ملاعمر و حکمتیار در قصرهای مجلل در پشاور و اسلام آباد بگونه آشکار برنامه جنگ و تباهی افغانستان را رهبری نمی نمایند، اما لانه های آنطرف مرز، که رهبران اسبق جهاد بنیان گذار آن هستند، امروزهم با همان تفکر محدود دیروز، جهاد در شرایط موجود را بر حق میدانند.

در اوآخر سال 1357 ده ها هزار سرباز قشون سرخ وارد قلمرو افغانستان گردید. در آنزمان برای اشغال یکعنوع مشروعیت تصنعی بر سرزبانها بود، از جمله اینکه حکومت وقت افغانستان خواستار حضور نیروهای کشور دوست و همسایه در خاک خود شده بود و هم اینکه مسکو- قبل از آنکه افغانستان در دام "امپریالیزم جهانخوار" اسیر گردیده و بر علیه منافع جماهیر شوروی مورد استفاده قرار گیرد دست به یک عمل پیشگیرانه برد - طرح که جورج بوش بر اساس آن به عراق حمله نمود.

از شش سال و اندی بدینسو ده ها هزار سرباز امریکای و سایر کشورهای غربی در افغانستان حضور دارند. برای شمار تحلیلگران غربی، و عده ی از افغانها، در میان اشغال شوروی اسبق و حضور فعلی نیروهای امریکای در افغانستان تفاوتهای اساسی حقوقی وجود دارد. به باور اینها موجودیت سربازان امریکای و متحدین نزدیک اش در افغانستان از شورای امنیت سازمان ملل متحد مشروعیت میگیرد، مشروعیتی که مسکو برای سربازان اش تامین نموده نتوانسته بود.

اما نمیتوان باور کرد رهبران جهاد افغانستان، که فتوا قتل هموطنان خود را از پاکستان صادر نمودند و با قساوت شیرازه های مادی و معنوی کشور خود را ویران ساختند، اصل جهاد دینی شانرا در روشنایی قطعنامه های شورای امنیت تایید و یا رد نمایند. احکام اسلام از فیصله های شورای امنیت، که یک عضو مسلمان ندارد، مشروعیت نمیگیرد اما عکس آن، از نقطه نظر دینی، جواز دارد. بنابراین غیر دینی خواهد بود اگر گفته شود جهاد فعلا مجاز نیست تنها بدلیل اینکه شورای امنیت آنرا مشروعیت نمیدهد.

بآنهم اگر تحلیلگران غربی تفاوت در حضور نظامی امریکا و شوروی اسبق در افغانستان را از زاویه قطعنامه شورای امنیت تفکیک مینمایند، رهبران اسبق جهاد این تفاوت را از بعد دسترسی شان به منابع قدرت بررسی مینمایند. خب، حالا استاد ربانی، صبغت اله مجددی، استاد سیاف و دیگران چگونه میتوانند – از نقطه نظر دینی – ملا عمر و حکمتیار را متقاعد سازند که جهاد آنها از پاکستان بر ضد افغانستان به حمایت آشکار آی اس آی روا بود اما اکنون از اینها حرام است؟ رییس جمهور کرزی که خود در شهر کویته پاکستان زنده گی میکرد و از همانجا شاهد تباهی وطن و بدبختی هموطنان اش بود و از همانجا دولت ببرک کارمل و نجیب اله را دست نشانیده مسکو و محکوم به فنا میدانست، اما امروز که خود در سایه حمایتهای نظامی، سیاسی، اقتصادی و حتا معنوی واشنگتن درهمان ارگ ریاست میکند، مخالفین خود را جنایتکار و تروریست میداند! آیا تفاوت این نیست که دیروز شخص دیگری در ارگ بود و امروز شخص او؟

جالب است اگرگفته شود: جهاد با طرح آی اس آی، پول سعودی و سلاح های غربی بر علیه شوروی شرعی بود اما جهاد با همان طرح و همان پول، البته بگونه مخفی، علیه غرب حرام است. دلیل هم فیصله های شورای امنیت در نیویارک باشد. از بابت بازسازی و کمک هم نمیتوان استدلال منطقی نمود. با گذشت بیشتر از شش سال مداخلت امریکا بازهم بیشتر از 18 ميليون نفوس کشور مصونیت غذایی ندارند و افغانستان پنجمین کشور فقیر و عقب مانده در جهان محسوب میگردد.

جنگ دیروز که بیشتر از یک و نیم میلیون کشته، صدها هزار معیوب، میلیونها آواره و ویرانی کشور را با خود داشت – و بعد از پیروزی هم فجایع ناگفتنی یی را بر مردم تحمیل نمود – هر هشت ثور بنام پیروزی جهاد برحق با شکوه تر از استقلال 1919 جشن گرفته میشود، اما جنگ امروز، با سالانه 7-10 هزار کشته، بنام تروریزم و وحشیگری تقبیح میگردد!

آیا ما با منطق فاتح جنگ مواجه نیستیم؟ مشابه منطق برنده گان جنگ اول جهانی که فاتحین جنگ را برحق، خوب و سزاور تمام مکافات و امتیازات محسوب کردند اما بازنده گان جنگ را بد، مسوول و تاوان ده قرار دادند – منطقی که جنگ بزرگتر با بدبختی های بیشتری را بوجود آورد.

ما یا باید قبول کنیم که هم دیروز به بهانهء خدا و دین، و در اصل برای برنامه و اهداف کشورهای دیگر و یا برای دسترسی به قدرت، وطن خود را ویران و میلیونها هموطن خود را به خاک و خون کشانیدیم و هم امروز دست به همچو جنایات میزنیم – و یا باید دیروز و امروز هر دو را بنام جهاد علیه بیگانگان تقدیر نماییم.

یک افغانستان نوین نمیتواند تنها بر منطق برنده گان جنگ، که هر چند سال تعویض شده اند، ایجاد گردد. مادامیکه یک عمل واحد، و در اینجا کشتن مردم و ویرانی افغانستان، برای بعضی ها مایه ی افتخار (بنام جهاد) و برای شمار دگر ذلت و محکومیت تروریست را داشته باشد چگونه میتوان از یک افغانستان نوین – جاییکه عدل و انصاف برای همگان یکسان توزیع میگردد – حرف زد؟

از همینجاست که حکومت حامد کرزی با بحران انصاف و عقلانیت مواجه گردیده است.

حکومت کرزی بهترین فرصت عملکرد فراتر از منطق فاتح جنگ و ساختن یک افغانستان واقعا نو را داشت چون بعد از سرنگونی طالبان هم ابزار و هم اوضاع برای یک آغاز نو آماده گردیده بود.

بحران موجود در افغانستان نه با تغییر اعضای کابینه حکومت کرزی و نه با افزایش شمار نیروهای ناتو حل شده میتواند. این بحران، همانند گذشته ها، ریشه در حاکمیت و منطق یکجانبه فاتح جنگ دارد و اساسا با عقلانیت و خرد سازگاری ندارد.

بعد از دهه ها جنگ و مصایب بیشمار مردم افغانستان از بُعد روانی با انصاف، عدالت و عقلانیت راستین تسکین نگردیده و فرهنگ مصونیت زورداران اساسات اعتماد مردم به یک نظام نوین را جدا خدشه دار نموده است.

تا وقتیکه مردم در افغانستان مطمین نگردند که جنایتکار - صرفنظر از اینکه در ارگ، در وزیراکبرخان، در دشتهای هلمند و یا کوهپایه های بدخشان است – مستوجب یکنوع سرنوشت است، نمیتوان به حل بحران فعلی امیدوار بود

این نوشتهء دو سال قبل است که در یکی از روزنامه ها هم بنشر رسید*

President Obama’s midnight visit

His furtive, short and clad-in-dark visit to Presidential Palace in Kabul and Bagram Airfield on 9:15pm-11:59pm on 28 March 2010 demonstrated how insecure and unreliable Kabul is for the U.S. President.

“Now, I know for most of you, you didn’t get a lot of notice that I was coming,” Obama admitted to thousands of American soldiers at Bagram Airfield, arguably the safest and most protected location in Afghanistan.

However, he fell short to elucidate the fact that prevalent insecurity and fear of Taliban attacks forced him to make a rather stealthy and sneaky visit to Kabul.

I may look impolite to call him a “coward” but I am afraid this is the impression President Obama has left with his surprising visit.

Undoubtedly Mr. Obama spent more hours in his Air Force One on the long way from Washington to Kabul than with his troops and partner in Kabul.

He gave a 372-word speech in the heavily fortified Karzai Palace as helicopters and jets roared overhead but did not answer a single question from journalists.

Arguably for U.S. Presidents Afghanistan means Hamid Karzai and therefore meeting Karzai means visiting Afghanistan and Afghans.

Bravo Mr. President! You visited Afghanistan. Get back to the Oval Office and revamp another policy/strategy for Afghanistan because you’ve got first-hand knowledge.

Where Afghan and American democracies disagree

I read with fear a Washingtonpost article in which Afghanistan is described as democratizing and developing because a music TV show –American Idol – has been badly mimicked by a bunch of disconnected youths in Kabul.

Hank Stuever, author of the article titled TV preview of 'Afghan Star' naively writes: “The Taliban cruelly dialed Afghanistan's clock back to the Middle Ages, so it now falls to the producers and performers of "Afghan Star," the country's version of "American Idol," to bring pop culture forward to at least a David Cassidy level of cool.”

Hank wrongly links the duplicate show’s cell-phone text voting to a new “culture of democracy” and puts a hugely exaggerated number – 11 million! - for the viewers without mentioning where and how he got the statistics in a country which is yet to count its people.

He compares the show to a “Borat”-like mimicry of the Western pop culture and lauds an Afghan girl – Setara – as “outspoken” for dropping her scarf and doing a funky dance in a show.

Himself a gay, Hank writes about a man - Daoud Sediqi - who used to run the “Afghan Star” show as a modernizer and an enlightener. Off course he does not mention the fact that Mr. Sediqi has ran away from his country (applied for asylum in a Western country) apparently because he was imposing an indigestible pop culture on his conservative nation.

Eight years on with billion of dollars spent and hundreds of Americans and thousands of Afghans killed there is still no common understanding of “democracy and development” between Afghans and the Americans, sadly.

We, Afghans, love our traditions, religion and values regardless of how bad or derogatory they are perceived in the West. We love our sisters, daughters and mothers to have their scarves and avoid dancing in clubs and discos.

We believe democracy means legitimate, accountable and efficient governance – not a corrupt regime of warlords imposed by fraud. We consider development means achieving human security from physical violence, hunger, illiteracy, preventable diseases and poverty. We don’t think eating McDonald burgers and wearing tight jeans would solve our problems. Blindly copying the Americans way of life does not fit us and would lead us nowhere but to problems we have repeatedly suffered since 1919.

A distinct Afghanistan, albeit democratic, is possible between the Taliban’s Middle Ages and the American Idol.

The ‘Afghan Star’ is a fake, fragile and alien social product which cannot be digested by a majority of Afghans. Its expiry date is: ‘when US forces withdraw’.

PS: This is understandably not a thorough critique of Afghanistan’s democratization, but a few quick observations.

Government’s “corrupt” spokespeople

A journalist friend who works for a prominent – wealthy and generous – media corporation gave me an embarrassing answer when I complained to him about the unavailability and bad behavior of some government spokespersons (frankly the MoI spokesman).

“We bribe them,” he said “and we don’t need to call them to inquire about an incident or an issue but they call us and keep us [exclusively] update up-to-the-minute.”

When I asked him what “bribe” means he said: “a bottle of wine, a telephone handset or a coat from Dubai!”

I hopelessly hope this is untrue!

Ironically, these days it is easy for me to get a quote/confirmation/rejection from the Taliban’s spokesmen. Zabihullah Mujahid regularly texts me security incidents as they happen, albeit with hugely exaggerated figures.

However, I spend hours to catch a government spokesperson on the phone and the worse thing is they often gave me rubbish!

Alas! Corruption is everywhere in this country.

I may need a “spokespersons’ relations budget” – bribing fund – in order to be able to access prioritized information.

Is Great Game re-Starting in Afghanistan?

Reuters has quoted President Karzai as saying “Afghanistan does not war any proxy wars on its territory”.

Yes, Mr. Karzai there is a lot Afghanistan does not want, but in reality it has often been forced to unwanted directions. We did not want Soviets to invade our country, but they did. We did not want Pakistani and Iranian generals to rip apart the very foundations of our society, but they did. And our history is indeed replete as such.

The problem is we are too wishful and too little realist.

You need to do more than politely pleading to Iranian, Indian and Pakistani officials to leave us alone.

As it appears, whether we want it or not, our country is again falling into the dangerous quagmire of regional rivalries – perhaps another Great Game.

تيروتنه

نن سبا يوه ستره تيروتنه د ګڼو خبريالانو او شنونکو لخوا تکراريږي: "په تيرو اتو کلونو کي د رسنيو پرمختيا او لاسته راوړنې د ولسمشر کرزي د واکمني له سترو لاسته راوړنو شمير کيږي"ا

اکثر دغه متناقض استدلال په هغو خبرونو او شننو کي ډير اوريدل کيږي چي د حکومت لخوا پر رسنيو د بنديزونو، له خبريالانو سره د چارواکو د زورياتيو او يا نورو ناسمو چلندونو په تړاو وي

د غيرحکومتي رسنيو پرمختګ د هغو سلګونو او آن زرګونو خبريالانو، ليکوالو او فرهنګيانو ګډه لاسته راوڼه ده چي د لږو امکاناتو په لرلو او د سترو خنډونو، ګواښونو او ننګونو په زغملو يي د ژبې، قلم او فکر په مټ د رسنيو نهال پاللي او روزلې دې

افغانستان کي د رسنيو پرمختګ د شهيد صمد روحاني، اجمل نقشبندي او ګڼو هغو خبريالانو او ليکوالو د سرښيندنو له برکته ترلاسه شوي چي د تيرو اتو کلونو راهيسي له هر زورور او واکمن څخه يي څاپيړې خوړلي دي

د بيان د آزادي او د رسنيو د بريا اصلي ساتونکي او ګټونکي نه حامدکرزي، نه يي مخالفين او نه يي هم باندني ملاتړي دي - بلکه هغه ويښ ځوانان او پيغلي دي چي ګډ نوم يي افغان خبريالان دې

لطفا، په وينو او خورا سختو ستونزو ګټل شوي د رسنيو د برياوو وياړ د سياسيونو او واکمنو په دستار مه ټومبوي

Dostum tasked to stabilize the North

“I have brought to you regards and gratitude from the Commander-in-Chief of the army and the President, Mr. Hamid Karzai, for your votes [in the elections] - the votes which you gave to your Dostum,” the bury militia leader, Abdul Rashid Dostum, told dozens of supporters in an emotional talk in Sheberghan city last week.

In his bilingual talk, in Uzbeki and Dari, Dostum leaked Kabul’s increasing agony about widening insecurity in the northern provinces and, indeed, the alienation of local power holders such as Ustad Atta in Balkh.

“Your votes were vital,” Dostum shouted, falling short to say ‘votes were vital for his own survival and impunity from prosecution for his alleged egregious crimes’.

A garish show-of-power, Dostum’s visit was aired at his private TV channel, Aina – mirror.

Dostum said he will tour the North – Kunduz, Baghlan, Jozjan, Faryab, Maimana – at the behest of Mr. Karzai in order to find out why insecurity is slipping out of control.

“A Woloswal [district governor] called me and said he would resign if the situation is not improved. I told him better you coward resign!”

Watching Dostum’s empty slogans I recalled his allegiance to former Moscow-backed Dr. Najibullah whom Dostum had vowed to serve “until the last drop” of his blood. He was instrumental in the collapse of Najibullah’s regime, however.

In 1990s Dostum made and broke several other allegiances.

Dostum is signing his old mantra only to his new patron.

He is now Hamid Karzai’s ‘Iron Fist’ in the North.

Story Behind Washingtonpost’s Kabul Bank Story

Andrew Higgins revealing piece on Kabul Bank and capitalist cronyism in the highest hierarchies of the Kabul regime is fascinating.

But do you know how a Washington-based columnist found out the strict secretaries of an extremely corrupt and inaccessible regime in Kabul?

Well, here is an enlightened answer: Higgins wrote some of the findings of an enhanced anti-corruption unit in the US Embassy in Kabul. The unit is comprised of investigators from the FBI and State Department. The unit looks into large-scale and unlawful financial transactions from Kabul; monitors the accounts of senior government officials and their family members; and checks other financial flaws.

Higgins’s story is intended to scrutinize and warn Hamid Karzai and his corrupto-criminal allies in an undiplomatic way as Washington has fell short in hammering the Kabul regime for fear of losing leverage on an increasingly intractable Karzai.

“Hey guys! We know what wrongs you’re doing…if you don’t stop we will let everybody know about them and off course we can add to the spice with more revelations!” is Washington’s indirect message to the Kabul regime delivered through the Washingtonpost’s article.

[Photo by: Andrew Higgins - showing Karzai's home in Dubai's luxury port Palm Jumeirah. ]

AIHRC’s ethnic organogram

I found this rather unusual and hopeless table in the human rights commission’s website which I think is in response to widespread criticisms on Sima Samar’s alleged (president of the commission) Hazara cronyism.

The table is unhelpful though as it confirms that Hazara’s weight is far heavier than all other ethnic groups.

If Pashtun are 45% of the population they should have 290 of the 646 posts; Tajiks (30%) should have 193; and Hazaras (12%) should only have 77 – certainly not 170!

The table is also ambiguous as it does not specify the ethnic balance in terms of senior and junior posts. So, is it fair to count a Tajik door-keeper equal to a Hazara boss?

The table is also dodgy as the Sadaat, Qezelbash and Bayat ethnic groups it mentions could in the meantime be Hazaras.