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December 31 Live does come full circle.Flags raised on half-mast for the founder of the taliban
They were both born in 1953 and they were both murdered by the same evil forces which have been plagueing this part of the world for round about a dacade now. Benazir Bhutto and Ahmad Shah Massoud.
But this is where the similarities end. Bhutto had another six years longer to live when the Pakistani leadership cheered at the death of Massoud. They stood both on opposite ends of their intentions for Afghanistan. One a true patriot with benevolent intentions for a peaceful and independant Afghanistan. The other in collution with her secret service aimed at controlling Afghanistan.
There are some now who try to lift Benazir Bhutto up to a political and intellectual level which she could never claim in her living years. These individuals originate from two camps: we have the naive democracy-worshipping western politicians, the parliamentarian tree-huggers, who fell for the surface of a western-educated, fluent English speaker and of course for the fact that she was a woman who made it to the top in a Muslim society. She was an opportunistic alternative to the laming horse of Musharaf whom the west - due to lack of viable alternatives - had vehemently supported so far but who presented the western governments with a bit of a sticky wicket when he declared martial law, something deeply resented in tree-hugging circles as it is always the process which counts, never the outcome. Despite these tendencies - or maybe because of them - the west always manages to support the wrong leaders.
And then there is the other camp of Bhutto supporters - the feudal subjects whom the Bhutto dynasty had been reigning over for generations of their extensive land-ownership. The Bhutto clan is a typical representative of the ruling class in Pakistan which has still largely denied the middle-class to enter politics and take up ruling positions. Not much of demoracy there.
What Benazir's supporters are also conveniently overlooking but should be considering more thoroughly before rampaging through towns and villages and before shedding undue tears is the fact that it was the Bhutto government in her two terms that created and supported the Taliban in Afghanistan in collaboration with the ISI. They wanted to subdue Afghanistan in their back yard with forces directed by them. And now this sinister game starts back-firing: the tribal areas which they sought to control are getting more and more out of control and the radicals are moving into the Pakistani heartland.
Now the brainchild has killed one of its creators just like the monstor attacked Dr. Frankenstein.
One should feel a sense of vindication at this closed circle but it is too sad to think of the destruction left in its path and the thought of suffering yet to come.
Afghanistan has suffered much from the political meddling of Pakistan and its western allies. It is therefore an act of disrespect from side of Hamid Karzai to let the national flags fly on half-mast on the day of Benazir's funeral, as who raised the flags to half-mast when another taliban victim died? Do the flags fly on half-mast today when we commermorate Massoud's death?
December 12 Kabul Diaries - 12th December 2007The first snow !
 We had it coming - for the last few days temperatures had been heading south and the blue skies are gone. During my last trip to Panjshir I captured the last mild weather of the season. Ever since there has been a persistant layer of clouds which first released rain and now snow. During the day, though, it's still +3C so now everything is melting again, turning the city into a mud puddle. Forget about your good shoes - those traditional rubber slip-ons are the best: waterproof and easy to clean. Those are no good for the office of course so I will still end up cleaning and scrubbing my normal shoes and boots. |
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