Games without Rules: The Often-Interrupted History of Afghanistan

by Tamim Ansary

  10 Conversation with James Ritchie, June 14, 2006.

  11 Conversation with Wahid Mohmand, 2006.

  CHAPTER 31: DRUGS AND CORRUPTION

  1 Fariba Nawa, Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords, and One Woman’s Journey Through Afghanistan (New York : Harper Perennial, 2011), 100–101. See also Gretchen Peters, “The Taliban and the Opium Trade,” in Antonio Giustozzi, ed., Decoding the New Taliban (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), 14.

  2 Nawa, Opium Nation, 142–144.

  3 Joshua Partlow, “Afghan Minister Accused of Taking Bribe,” Washington Post, November 18, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/17/AR2009111704198_2.html?sid=ST2009111800831.

  4 Jonathan Landay, “Factory, Coal Mine Show Connections Matter Most in Afghan Business,” McClatchy Newspapers, Washington Bureau, November 14, 2010, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/14/v-print/103393/afghan-business-model-connections.html.

  5 Dr. Nadir Atash, Turbulence: The Tumultuous Journey of One Man’s Quest for Change in Afghanistan (New York: Planetpix Productions, 2009), 188–189.

  6 Ben Farmer, “Karzai Under Pressure After Investigations Target 15 Officials on Corruption Charges,” Telegraph, November 23, 2009, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/6636999/Karzai-under-pressure-after-investigations-target-15-officials-on-corruption-charges.html.

  7 Arthur Kent, “West’s Afghan Mission Undone by Farcical Spy vs. Spy Bribes,” Sky Reporter, August 31, 2010, http://skyreporter.com/blog/page/2/20100830_01/.

  8 Conversation with Humaira Ghilzai, January 2, 2012.

  9 Jonathan Steele, “US Convinced Karzai Half-Brother Is Corrupt, WikiLeaks Cables Say,” Guardian, December 2, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/02/us-karzai-half-brother-wikileaks; see also Dexter Filkins, Mark Mazzetti, and James Risen, “Brother of Afghan Leader Said to Be Paid by C.I.A.,” New York Times, October 27, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/world/asia/28intel.html?_r=1.

  10 Dexter Filkins, “Iran Is Said to Give Top Karzai Aide Cash by the Bagful,” New York Times, October 23, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/world/asia/24afghan.html?pagewanted=all.

  CHAPTER 32: TALIBANISM

  1 Christopher Reuter and Borhan Younus, “The Return of the Taliban in Andar District,” in Giustozzi, Decoding the New Taliban, 101, 105.

  2 Tim Golden, “In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates’ Deaths,” New York Times, May 20, 2005, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/20/international/asia/20abuse.html?pagewanted=all. Also see Carlotta Gall, “U.S. Examines Death of Afghan in Custody / Pathologist Described It as a Homicide,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 3, 2003, A-5, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/03/04/MN204728.DTL#ixzz1dtkZHw3U.

  3 Reuter and Younus, “Return of the Taliban,” 102–103.

  4 Duncan Campbell and Kitty Logan, “The Man Who Thinks He’s George Clooney. A Story of Today’s Kabul,” Guardian, July 9, 2004.

  5 Reuter and Younus, “Return of the Taliban,” 109–110.

  6 Joanna Nathan, “Reading the Taliban,” in Giustozzi, Decoding the New Taliban , 25–26.

  7 Peters, “The Taliban and the Opium Trade,” in Giustozzi, Decoding the New Taliban, 13–14.

  8 Tom Coghlan, “The Taliban in Helmand: An Oral History,” in Giustozzi, Decoding the New Taliban, 119–120.

  CHAPTER 33: THE TIPPING POINT

  1 “UNICEF Alarmed as Attacks on Afghan Schools Rise,” Unicef News, http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/media_35196.html. See also Carlotta Gall, “Taliban Behead High School Teacher in Southern Afghanistan,” New York Times, January 4, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/04/international/asia/04cnd-afghanistan.html.

  2 See, for example, Abdul Awaal Zabulwal, “Taliban in Zabul: A Witness Account,” 184–186, and David Kilcullen, “Taliban and Counter-Insurgency in Kunar,” 238–240, both in Giustozzi, Decoding the New Taliban.

  3 Mohammed Osman Tariq Elias, “The Resurgence of the Taliban in Kabul, Loar, and Wardak,” in Giustozzi, Decoding the New Taliban, 50–52.

  4 Nawa, Opium Nation, 176.

  CHAPTER 34: OBAMA’S SURGES

  1 Amy Belasco, Troop Level in the Afghan and Iraq Wars, FY2001–1012 (Washington, DC: CRS Report for Congress, July 2, 2009), http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R40682.pdf.

  2 Moshe Schwartz and Joyprada Swain, Department of Defense Contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq (Washington, DC: CRS Report for Congress, May 13, 2011), http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R40764.pdf.

  3 Quoting an English language radio station in Islamabad. “U.S. to Provide 85 Drones for Pakistan,” Xinhua News Agency, April 22, 2011, http://www.afghanistannewscenter.com/news/2011/april/apr222011.html#16.

  4 Sayyaf, a leading Mujahideen commander, and Amin, the Communist president, were related by marriage: their wives were sisters. In my village, some men were affiliated with Hezb-i-Islam while their cousins fought for Parcham.

  5 David Hastings, “The Runaway General: The Rolling Stone Profile of Stanley McChrystal That Changed History,” Rolling Stone, June 22, 2010, http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-runaway-general-20100622.

  6 Spencer Ackerman, “25 Tons of Bombs Wipe Afghan Town Off Map,” Wired, January 19, 2011, http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/01/25-tons-of-bombs-wipes-afghan-town-off-the-map/.

  7 Taimour Shah and Alyssa Rubin, “Taliban Proudly Describes Secrets of Great Escape,” Sydney Morning Herald, April 27, 2011.

  8 Geneva Sands, “Gingrich: ‘I Don’t See a Path Ahead’ for Reform in Afghanistan,” Hill, March 13, 2012, http://thehill.com/video/campaign/215749-gingrich-i-dont-see-a-path-ahead-for-reform-in-afghanistan-.

  CHAPTER 35: ALL THAT GLITTERS

  1 Kirk Semple, “Big Weddings Bring Afghans Joy, Debt,” New York Times, January 14, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/world/asia/14weddings.html?pagewanted=all.

  2 Conversation with Rahmani, now doing his doctoral studies at UCLA, June 17, 2011.

  3 Peters, “The Taliban and the Opium Trade,” 9.

  4 Elizabeth Rubin, “Studio Kabul,” New York Times Sunday Magazine, October 24, 2010, 40.

  5 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1506942/.

  GLOSSARY

  badmash Common thug.

  Bala Hissar Fortress and palace complex overlooking Kabul.

  buzkashi Equestrian sport in which riders struggle for possession of a goat carcass, which they compete to move to designated goal posts.

  chad’ri Full-body covering worn by traditional Afghan women in public; also called a burqa.

  dalak Itinerant rural barber and dental surgeon.

  Deobandism Fundamentalist Islamic movement born at the Deoband religious seminary in India.

  Eid Either of the year’s two major Islamic holidays.

  Farangi Foreigner, but specifically connoting European. A corruption of Frank.

  fatwa A precedent-setting legal ruling by an authorized religious scholar.

  ghulam bacha (slave son) A boy taken from his parents and raised at court to serve as a factotum for the king.

  hazrat Term of respect for a religiously important man.

  Hezb Political party.

  imam One who leads prayer and takes care of a mosque; also, term of respect for a person with religious credentials.

  Jeshyn Celebration. Specifically, a later summer festival celebrating Afghan independence; suspended in Communist times.

  jihad Armed struggle in defense of Islam or the Islamic community.

  Jihadism A fundamentalist Islamic movement that regards jihad as the primary duty of Muslims.

  jirga A village council; also a meeting of the village council.

  kafir Infidel.

  kahrez Underground irrigation canal.

  kalantar An agent of the state, elected by locals but charged with reporting on local affairs to the king.

  khan Title for a feudal lord, usually a big landowner.

  Kohistan A region just north of Kabul; literally “land of mountai
ns.”

  kotwal An employee of the Ministry of the Interior, appointed by the state to keep an eye on local events.

  kuchi Nomad. Literally, “one who moves.”

  loya jirga A grand council attended by delegates from all the tribes of Afghanistan, convened to consider matters of national importance.

  madrassa Islamic school; seminary.

  malik Village headman.

  mawlawi Eminent religious scholar.

  Mes Aymak An area south of Kabul containing immense deposits of copper ore.

  mirab Respected village elder responsible for adjudicating irrigation water disputes.

  mirza A privileged bureaucrat responsible directly to the king. Abbreviated from “Amir zada” or “Amir’s child.” Mirzas usually started out as ghulam bachas.

  muezzin One who chants the call to prayer from the minaret of a mosque.

  mufti A religious scholar who advises judges on legal interpretations.

  muhtasib Officer of state morality police, charged with enforcing Islamic conduct.

  mujahid One who participates in jihad, usually an Islamic guerilla.

  mujahideen Plural of mujahid.

  mullah A cleric who performs the religious ceremonies of daily life.

  mustaufi Exchequer, equivalent to treasurer.

  Nizamnama A secular legal code promulgated in the 1920s.

  Paylucha A Kandahar street gang that later rebranded themselves as Mujahideen. Literally “the barefoot boys.”

  purdah The practice of secluding women from the sight of men who are not close relatives.

  Pushtoonwali Unwritten code of conduct traditional among Pushtoons. Its tenets include the obligation to shelter travelers, practice hospitality, lavish generosity on guests, defend the sexual honor of female relatives, and avenge harm done to one’s kin.

  q’root A dried yogurt used in most Afghan gourmet dishes.

  qala Rural fort belonging to a feudal lord; sometimes housed an entire clan.

  qazi Judge.

  Ramadhan The month when Muslims are enjoined to fast during the day.

  Shari’a The code of conduct elaborated over the centuries by Islamic scholars. It includes a complete legal code covering civil and criminal matters as well as injunctions pertaining to religious and daily life.

  shura Islamic term meaning “council.”

  Taliban A radical Islamist movement originating out of the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan. Literally, plural of talib: “seeker” or “student.”

  wazir A king’s chief office; equivalent to a (cabinet) minister.

  Wikh-i-Zalmayan Student activist group of the 1940s that embraced modernism and Pushtoon nationalism.

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