How did I miss this?
In the midst of a pretty long, pretty good article on the Iranian's effort to exert some influence in Afghanistan, this was buried.
How was this not big news?
Maybe there's more story than this shocking line, but I find it hard to believe this was not on the front pages.
(Later: Articles: AFP, a brief AP, and an A25 WaPo.)
Unrelated, but in the same story:
[On Dec. 20 in London, British officials charged the interpreter for NATO’s commanding general in Afghanistan with passing secrets to Iran.]
How was this not big news?
Maybe there's more story than this shocking line, but I find it hard to believe this was not on the front pages.
(Later: Articles: AFP, a brief AP, and an A25 WaPo.)
Unrelated, but in the same story:
“U.S. policies, particularly under the current administration, have created a huge amount of resentment around the world,” said a senior Iranian official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. “I’m not saying Iran is gaining power all over the world. I’m saying the U.S. is losing it fast.”
posted by mikevotes at
9:58 PM
6 Comments:
VERY interesting article. I just read an article in the Economist about the Pustuns, and in the end it was mentioned that Sharia Law was on the rise.
Not sure if that is connected, but the two together do paint an interesting backdrop for the arena in Afghanistan facing NATO that differs vastly from the US vs. Taliban one that is usually posited in the news.
Suffice to say, it aint no picnic.
By
Praguetwin, at 7:51 AM
Sorry, "Pushtuns".
By
Praguetwin, at 7:52 AM
Sharia is largely pushed by the Sunni side(or subsect wahabbi.)
And it is interesting because Pakistan put the old Taleban regime in place largely to affect influence on Afghanistan, partly for their own border disputes, but partly to stave off Iranian influence.
Historically, the Iranians and Afghani Sunnis have been rivals, so the fact that the Iranians are now finding well received influence through reconstruction and aid probably indicates just how bad the daily lives of Afghanis really are.
Western Afghan has always been more influenced by Iran, but if they have really reached into Kabul (and this is not a US propaganda story) it says alot about the desperation of the Afghani people.
(And, again, you don't have to be perfect. I figured out that typo without the correction.)
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 8:04 AM
Thanks for the clarification. The Economist article wasn't clear about where the Sharia was coming from, but since most Afghanis are Sunni, that would make sense.
Do you happen to know if there are any Shia Pushtuns?
By
Praguetwin, at 9:29 AM
I don't think so. There may be a few scattered, but the tribal areas like alot of Pakistan outside the big cities are fairly uniform extremist Sunni.
The 1980's effort to expunge the Soviets from Afghanistan was driven by the establishment of so many Saudi funded madrassas which largely taught the extremist wahabbi version of Sunnism.
The conversion efforts generated the soldiers and religious base for the cross border fighters, but also left stringent Sunnism as a remnant of the effort.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 11:34 AM
Thanks I appreciate it.
I did a little reading up and found this short but informative piece written in the spring of 2002. It confirmend what you say stating that "most Pushtuns are Sunni."
My limited knowledge reminds me that those making the big decisions probably have even less in many cases.
And in many cases they have less desire to learn.
By
Praguetwin, at 6:10 AM
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