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From the category archives:

Afghanistan

How to Buy an Afghan Carpet–It’s Not Easy

I am not a carpet kind of guy. Left to myself I would be quite happy plodding around barefoot on the beaten earth floor of a Neanderthal cave, or scuffing through the dust floor of an Ethiopian tuqual. But others seem to find great pleasures in tightly bound and painted hairs ripped from the backs [...]

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Afghan Soldiers Can’t Read–and Can’t See Either

This week in Afghanistan the NATO General in charge of training the new Afghan Army, Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, said he would like to see all Afghan National Army soldiers reading at the First Grade Elementary School level by October of 2011. Think about that statement for a moment and be very amazed. Things are [...]

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Torturers and Torture Chambers I Have Known

A few years ago I was splitting a bottle of Dewar’s Scotch with one of the most senior drug control police officers in the Afghan government, (drinking is an activity more common than you would think in that Islamic nation,) when the conversation turned to torture. There had just been a sensational case involving the [...]

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The Mad Mullah and the Giant Earthquake

Northern Pakistan was hit by a 6.1 or possibly 6.4 earthquake this afternoon. The shaking was also felt throughout southern Afghanistan including Kabul. There’s nothing unusual about this and indeed earthquakes are pretty common in the region.  They’re caused by the ongoing collision of the Indian subcontinent with the under belly of Asia.  It’s a [...]

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NATO Soldiers, Booze and Bullets

I see that General McChrystal, the most senior military commander overseeing the NATO operations in Afghanistan, has had to shut down all drinking at his headquarters in Kabul. According to his daily report of activities released by his staff he decided to ban all drinking by his troops because too many of them couldn’t do [...]

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Quiet August Days in Afghanistan

The news from Afghanistan since the election hasn’t been good.  More bombings and general uneasiness.  conditions remind me of the late summer a few years ago when I wrote the following dispatch for a newsletter I had going called “The Kabul Papers” I haven’t written a “Kabul Papers” for a long time now and it [...]

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Life in Afghanistan Before the Taliban

I don’t know who took these pictures but the story is that they were taken in 1968 by a British diplomat. If anyone knows who I can contact to see whether I can display these with permission I would appreciate the contact info.  And should the owner of these pictures want them taken down I [...]

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Water is Life

Travelers, even the type that heads for a cosseted resort in a first world country, know to be careful about the local water.  But what do you do when you are in a country where there is no safe water? Buy bottled water you’d say. Most of the time that would be a good idea, [...]

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