Category Archives: Afghanistan

Afghan Trucks 2

Afghanistan, Contemporary Art, Gender and Sexuality, Travel

In a previous blog entry, I mentioned a photographic book by Jean-Charles Blanc on Afghan Trucks. In addition to legendary and technological themes, in this pre-Taliban world there was an interest in women as well, at least among truck drivers and those who appreciated truck driven art. Here is what the Introduction to the text says about the female image unveiled:

Occasionally another motif appears amongst these tablaux: that of women – a rare and daring theme for this Islamic society where tradition is so carefully guarded. they are depicted in the form of sensual, Felliniesque, sulphurous-eyed vamps whose looks are inspired from Indian statuary – the flesh of Marilyn and Sophia draped in Oriental clothing, and with just a few puffs of hashish their colored images spring to life …


to be continued

Loving Yemen

Afghanistan, Development, Journalism and Media, Osama Bin Laden, Terrorism Issue, Yemen


Yemen is not quite the desert journalists dream up

The journalistic war talk on terror took a sidestep over the past week or so as commentators sought to tweak the Wikileaks for all they could be imagined to be worth. Here was cable-ready proof that diplomats do not believe exactly what they say in public, that rulers are not always stable and “secret” communication may be secret for a reason. Ah, yes, diplomats with no clothing. But now it’s back to Al Qaeda. In a recent commentary for The Christian Science Monitor, a former senior international correspondent for CNN, Walter Rodgers, weighs in on Al Qaeda in Yemen.

The result is a prime example of run-of-the-treadmill sinthetic (spelling intended) reportage. All the right people are quoted, those who actually know something about Yemen. This includes a former ambassador, Barbara Bodine, a historian, Bernard Haykel and a young political scientist, Gregory Johnsen. Each is granted a short quote, although the reader has no idea what the full context of each comment was. So Ambassador Bodine at some point said “The issue is geography,” which clearly needs explanation. Unfortunately Rodgers flunks his geography lesson. Yemen is not “nearly all mountainous desert.” The only true desert areas in Yemen are along the coast and entering the Arabian desert, not in the mountain valleys and plateaus.

The journalist’s geographical blunders are equaled by his historical ignorance. Continue reading Loving Yemen →

Bin Who? Bin Laden?

Afghanistan, Humor and Satire, Osama Bin Laden

Two protracted wars drag on as the so-called “War on Terror” seems to be winding down in theory. In another year our hunt for the infamous Osama Bin Laden will be almost a decade old. The detour into Iraq, toppling a brutal dictator and ensuring a far more Iran-friendly government in Iraq, is reaching a deadened end, if you do not count the numerous advisors who will remain in and out of uniform. Then there is Afghanistan, which was the bane of the Brits in the 19th century, the Soviets in the 20th century and most probably the Americans and NATO in the 21st century. Billions of dollars and thousands of lives later the reason the United States originally got involved in the region, specifically to capture Bin Laden and bring him to justice, remains unfulfilled. Whether cooling his heels in a Pakistani border cave or a Swat safe house, the suspected mastermind of the 9/11 bombing is still out there somewhere.

Imagine if Bin Laden could be captured? Well, if you read German, you have a guide. While in Vienna earlier this fall I picked up a copy of Bin Laden Enthüllt, a comic book by Mohamed Sifaoui and Philippe Vercovici (Frankfurt: Eichborn, 2009). Continue reading Bin Who? Bin Laden? →

Afghan Trucks 1

Afghanistan, Contemporary Art, Travel

Way back in 1976 I picked up a delightful photographic book called Afghan Trucks, published by the Stonehill Publishing Company in New York. The photographer was Jean-Charles Blanc, who obviously had a far easier time trucking around Afghanistan than a photographer would today. The brief introduction says nothing about the photographer. It does say a lot about Afghan drivers:

“The driver and his mates are conditioned to a hard, lonely, even painful life, but its austerity is brightened by the dazzling exterior decor of the truck. Flowers transform it into a moving oasis: with rows of tulips and bouquets of roses clinging to its sides, the Afghan truck is like a traveling art gallery wending its way through arid mountains and deserts. Continue reading Afghan Trucks 1 →

Worse than Vietnam

Afghanistan, Iraq War, Obama Administration, Terrorism Issue, Yemen


by Robert Wright, The New York Times, Opinionator, November 23, 2010

“We did the Cole and we wanted the United States to react. And if they reacted, they are going to invade Afghanistan and that’s what we want … . Then we will start holy war against the Americans, exactly like the Soviets.”
— Mohammed Atef, military commander of Al Qaeda, in November of 2000

You have to give the people at Al Qaeda this much: They plan ahead. And they stick with their goals. If bombing the U.S.S. Cole failed to get American troops mired in Afghanistan, maybe 9/11 would do the trick?

You might say. Last week at the NATO summit President Obama pushed the light at the end of the tunnel further down the tracks. By the end of 2014, he now tells us, American combat operations in Afghanistan will cease.

It’s not as if we need those four years to set any records. At just over nine years of age, this war is already the longest in American history. And this Saturday we’ll eclipse the Soviet Union’s misadventure in Afghanistan; the Soviets brought their own personal Vietnam to an end after nine years and seven weeks.

Is Afghanistan, as some people say, America’s second Vietnam? Actually, a point-by-point comparison of the two wars suggests that it’s worse than that. Continue reading Worse than Vietnam →

Keeping an eye on Karzai

Afghanistan, Humor and Satire, Journalism and Media



Heute, October 7, 2010, p. 5

While in Vienna earlier in the month I picked up a free Austrian tabloid called Heute. Leafing through the pages, it was obviously mainly about the upcoming election, lottery winners, local births in the Vienna zoo, movie stars and “Sexbombe Katy begeistert Fans.” But the layout on p. 5 was too precious not to comment on. Here is the fashion week model in a gold-laced dress with nipples poised not far over the head of Afghan President Karzai. One wonders if this was a total accident or if the editor was nurturing other fantasies.

It’s the Occupation, Stupid

Afghanistan, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Iraq, Iraq War, Islam and Christianity, Islamophobia, Osama Bin Laden, Terrorism Issue


[Webshaykh’s Note: In the current online issue of Foreign Policy there is an excellent essay by Robert Pape on the post 9/11 missteps and how a faulty narrative has not only bogged us down into two unwinnable wars, but also not made us safer from terrorism. Click here for the full article; I excerpt the ending here.]

by Robert Pape, Foreign Policy, October 20, 2010

Put differently, adopting the goal of transforming Muslim countries is what created the long-term military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Yes, the United States would almost surely have sought to create a stable order after toppling the regimes in these countries in any case. However, in both, America’s plans quickly went far beyond merely changing leaders or ruling parties; only by creating Western-style democracies in the Muslim world could Americans defeat terrorism once and for all.

There’s just one problem: We now know that this narrative is not true.

New research provides strong evidence that suicide terrorism such as that of 9/11 is particularly sensitive to foreign military occupation, and not Islamic fundamentalism or any ideology independent of this crucial circumstance. Continue reading It’s the Occupation, Stupid →

If war is still hell, does that mean it no longer exists?

Afghanistan, Iraq War, Journalism and Media


If you are bored enough to follow the cable or evening news, the top stories these days are all about politics. At this point we are all suffering from a Tea Party hangover, candidates who make ads claiming they are not witches or Nazi sympathizers, conspiracy theories of foreign money buying congress, and the latest notes inscribed on Sarah Palin’s million-dollar hands. It is as though the media has outsourced its integrity, what little it ever had in the broad historical sweep of journalism in this country. I remember an old saying in the days when people actually thought about peace: what if they started a war and nobody came? Well, now it seems that the mantra is what if a war is going on and no one cares. The two ongoing wars started during the Bush years are falling off the radar, as two recent polls have voiced:

In a nationwide New York Times/CBS News poll conducted last month, 60 percent of Americans said that the economy or jobs were the most important problems facing the country. A mere 3 percent mentioned Afghanistan or the war. Continue reading If war is still hell, does that mean it no longer exists? →