کابل پرس

Afghan Officials and Taliban are two faces of the same coin!

Maiwand Habibi — 2009-10-27T18:41:18Z

Afghanistan held presidential elections on August 20 with the hope and expectation to end Afghan warlordisim. The warlords, who were largely responsible for assisting the U.S.'s ouster of the Taliban in 2001 are now deeply entrenched in Afghan society. They have positions in government, in the police, in the army and in business. Though they have largely relinquished their tanks and heavy artillery, most have been able to maintain their core militias in the form of private security companies, political parties or loose business networks.

Allegations of land grabs, rape, murder and kidnapping are rife. However, it turned to be a dramatic and full of fraud election that has totally damaged Karzi's credibility because of the fact that the power of government is still in the hands of corrupt and warlord-backed government officials. This election marks the return of the warlords who had dominated the Afghan government in the early post-2001 years.

Karzai again cut deals with many warlords to ensure his re-election. For example, he recruited the notorious Northern Alliance warlord Muhammad Fahim as one of his running mates in an attempt to split Abdullah's base. Fahim has been accused of countless human rights violations. In addition, he obtained support from the famous human right violator Dostum in his re-election.

This has led to the empowerment of the Taliban who are composed of several layers: first, a hard-core group of former Taliban commanders (including Mullah Omar) who operate out of sanctuaries across the border in Pakistan and who maintain ties with Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency; second, bands linked to al-Qaeda whose ranks have recently swelled with Arab, Chechen and Uzbek fighters operating in the craggy, northeastern ranges of Afghanistan; and, a third group, probably the largest, made up of local tribesmen who have allied themselves loosely with the Taliban as a result of President Hamid Karzai's often corrupt provincial officials pitting one tribe against another.

For Example, Mullah Salam, a tribal elder from Helmand province, scene of heavy fighting between Taliban and NATO forces, told Online Times why he switched to the Taliban:

"Karzai's people made promises to me, and I in turn made them to my tribe, but these were never honored." This in fact brought the idea in the Pashtun strongholds of Afghanistan, that it might be a good idea for a tribe to start siding with the Taliban, even though members of the tribe may not agree with their harsh medievalism. A critical mass is gathering, experts say. Elders who belong to once neutral tribes in Kandahar province are now telling their youths to take up arms against the foreign invaders, as their fathers did back in the 1980s against the Red Army.

In Tahkt-e-Pul, on the edges of Kandahar city, an influential mullah recently refused to preside over the funeral of a dead Afghan government soldier, a local boy. Meanwhile a Taliban, who died fighting the Americans or the British, was honored as a brave martyr. It is a disturbing change among Afghans who in 2001, after the dark years of the Taliban, welcomed foreigners bringing aid and offering progress.

The Taliban is surging into the vacuum created by Karzai's government, which is based on patronage rather than competence, coupled with the international community's often bungled and chaotic distribution of aid.
Afghan citizens are now experiencing intolerable incidents of human rights violations such as killing, bombing, kidnapping, and rape because both the warlord government and Taliban are in fact faces of the same coin

Op-ed: Afghanistan's Warlord Mafia Criminals Still in Power

Maiwand Habibi — 2009-10-12T14:10:39Z

When Karzai announced Fahim as his vice-president for the upcoming election, on May 5, 2009, AFP quoted Western diplomats in Kabul:
"International diplomats in Kabul alleged Fahim was currently involved in criminal activities, including kidnapping for ransom, as well as human rights abuses during Afghanistan's decades of war. A western diplomat speaking anonymously said that choosing Fahim will damage Karzai's credibility at the national and international level. The top UN envoy in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, had told Karzai several times not to pick Fahim as his running mate. When Karzai announced his candidacy, Eide said reporters that he is "saddened" and "disturbed" by Karzai's choice and believed the international reaction to it will be very strong. Eide's concern was shared by the circle of diplomats in Kabul. The UN hoped that the warlords would quit the scene to allow young and modern forces to take over, the source said.

According to numerous sources reported on May 4, 2009: International diplomats alleged that Fahim and his men were part of powerful criminal gangs behind recent kidnappings of foreign nationals in Kabul, bank robberies, weapons trafficking and narcotics activities. Fahim had given the order for the murder of Abdul Rahman, the Aviation Minister and is involved in the killings of hundreds of his opponents in the Kabul Airport in the early 90s. These claims have not been proven.

And reported by Reuters: Human Rights Watch's Asia director Brad Adams said in a statement after Karzai's announcement, ‘Fahim is one of the most notorious warlords in the country, with the blood of many Afghans on his hands from the civil war.'

Has the world really ended and has doomsday arrived now that a puppet like Karzai has chosen a world-renowned corrupt and notorious criminal as his vice-president? Has this wild animal from another planet suddenly landed on earth that all the Western diplomats especially Mr. Kai Eide doesn't recognize him? Are their recent comments about him honest and logical?

Unfortunately, no. All the diplomats, human rights organizations, United Nations, US and its allies are amply acquainted with the criminal Fahim.

They are actually the creators of Jamiat-e-Islami and its leaders like Ahmad Shah Massoud, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Dr. Abdullah, Younis Qanooni and Fahim himself. They are the ones who have titled Massoud as the ‘national hero' and Fahim and others as ‘followers of the great Ahmad Shah Massoud'! It was in UN-directed talks in Bonn in December 2001 when he was appointed as Vice President and Defense Minister! Now this is the peak of their hypocrisy that after years of silence, they are suddenly attacking his atrocities and co-criminals; their hypocrisy set new heights that among all these bands and criminal kingpins they have targeted him to be flushed down the drain to wash the blood from his brothers-in-creeds' faces.

Even our children would ask the US, United Nations and Mr. Kai Eide:
"In the occupied body of Afghanistan, was there only one dangerous, evil cancer called Fahim and that by removing him the annihilation of the Taliban and drugs and coping with other calamities would run effectively, and the sun of democracy, elections, reconstruction and emancipation would shine over Afghanistan?"

Was it not you who made the ‘looter, kidnapper, criminal' Fahim the ‘defense minister'? Was it not you that through your agent, Karzai, gave him the title of ‘Marshal'? If you deny and call it the sole decision of Karzai, then why didn't you condemn your puppet's treacherous and mocking decision, even with those pretending ‘diplomatic' criticisms?

When he killed Dr. Abdul Rahman, as even you admitted, then why did you allow him retain his post? When the university student, Jaihoon, murdered another student in front of everyone at Kabul University and Fahim brought him under his protection, why didn't you raise your voice? When you confessed that this traitor has his own armed gang, why didn't you tell him until now that Afghanistan is in your grip and he as a second degree lackey should know his limits?

The more odious part of your hypocrisy with the people of the world and Afghanistan is that from one side you are superficially divorcing ‘Marshal' while from the other side you are supporting the nomination of his twin criminal, the bloody and treacherous Dr. Abdullah for presidency and hardly move your lips about his heinous crimes.

Why did you allow another of his infamous twin like Qanooni to become the speaker of the parliament? Why did you let other famous criminals and drug kingpins and clos gangsters of Fahim like Ata Muhammad, General Daud, Zahir Aghbar, Haji Almas, Engineer Arif and dozens of other drug-lords like them to assume all high posts?

Why are you, Mr. Kai Eide not ‘saddened' and ‘disturbed' by the presence of 95% terrorists and smugglers in the parliament who are all the lackeys of Fahim, Sayyaf, Qanooni, Abdullah, Rabbani and Mohaqiq and not advised Karzai that his ministers would not gain ‘vote of confidence' but a disgraceful scar from the parliament. A parliament where Sayyaf, Mohaqiq, Rabbani, Khalid Farooqi and their brutal men attack Malalai Joya but never allow Perim Qul, Gulabzoi, Haji Almas, Haji Paenda Mohammad, General Uloomi, Mullah Rokiti and other filthy traitors like them to go through a simple investigation of their crimes; never do they allow even a word to be uttered about the shameful drug-trafficking of Zia Massoud, Qanooni, Izzatullah Wasifi, brothers of Hamid Karzai and other drug-lords and the business mafias of Afghanistan in Dubai, Europe and US that even the Western sources confirm it.

Mr. Kai Eide, maybe our people would consider you a friend if you would declare to the United Nations:

“I am not willing to serve a government whose head, with unparallel shamelessness has appointed traitors like Ismail, Anwar Jagdalak, Sarwar Danish, Khudaidad, Sabaoon, Farooq Wardak, Ismael Khan, Jabbar Sabit, Abdul Salam Azimi, Dr. Amin Fatimi, Amir Sangeen, Hanif Atmar, Karim Khuram and other terrorist Jehadi mafias and Khalqis and Parchamis on high positions; I am not eager to work with a government whose ministers, governors, ambassadors and generals are directly or indirectly connected to murderous bands, busy sucking blood and committing treachery against miserable and pained people of Afghanistan and each cell and fiber of their bodies stink with embezzlement and debauchery; I consider working with a government who publicly defend the rapists and enforcing of anti-women laws, as treason to the most grieved people on earth.”

We wish you could make Karzai understand that deriding people has a limit and they should never call replacing one corrupt and traitor minister, governor or police commander with another dirty criminal as ‘reforms.'

We wish you could tell him to end appointing looters, traitors and inefficient men as mayors; and not declare his wealth as only $10,000 because even the cats and dogs of his country would laugh at him. Did the millions of dollars spent on his election campaign come from him selling hotdogs?

It is a pity that you would never know that appointing Amanullah Guzar, a famous thug of Dr. Abdullah and Qanooni as the chief police of Kabul was equally insulting and torturous for our people as choosiing Fahim as vice president. But Hamid Karzai, mindlessly and unsparingly committed treason and is continuing to do so and is sure that none of his deceitful decisions contradict the interests and plans of the White House for the bleeding and occupied Afghanistan.

We wish you could be ‘saddened' when the parliament passed the disgraceful bill of National Reconciliation and forgave all the Jehadi, Gulbuddin, Talib, Parchami and Khalqi criminals. This is the mother of all the treacheries of the mafia parliament, the treachery which the US and UN considered the fruit of the flower of ‘democracy' and applauded it.

Now you, Mr. Eide and other very respectable and educated diplomats are sticking to the branches and leaves rather than the thick tree of Jehadi mafias just like so-called MPs such as Sabrina Saqeb, Ahmad Behzad and other Jehadi authorities who shamelessly call Fahim's nomination as a ‘blow to democracy' (as if democracy is established with the rule of Sayyaf, Qanooni, Mohaqiq, Rabbani, Khalid Farooqi and other criminals in Parliament!).

With the replacing of one devil from the dozens of other devils of ‘National Front' you also express your ‘concern' over the fate of democracy. Just as we said, you ignore Karim Khalili, Ahmad Zia Massoud, Rabbani, Qanooni, Abdullah, Sayyaf, Dostum, Mohaqiq, and other treacherous bands and storm against one of their twins.

In the occupied body of Afghanistan, was there only one dangerous cancer called Fahim and by removing him the annihilation of Taliban and drugs and coping with other calamities would succeed, and the sun of democracy, elections, reconstruction and emancipation would shine over Afghanistan? Was it not you who made the ‘looter, kidnapper, criminal' Fahim the ‘defense minister'? Was it not you that through your agent, Karzai, named gave him the title of ‘Marshal'?

Fahim is just a part of this whole putrefied system. Let us suppose that out of demagogy and conspiracy, Karzai accepts your call and puts Fahim aside, will the treason and corruption evaporate off this nation in the presence of the mentioned traitors? Has not Karzai repeatedly proved that his political power swings in the circle of backing the US and the fundamentalist murderers?

Therefore if the criminal Fahim is expelled from the scene or even executed like his brother Saddam Hussein, it would bring no speck of improvement in the horrendous condition of our unfortunate people because his like-minded brothers still hold onto power and have secret and open connections with Russia and the bloody regime of Iran so that in case they desert the US like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, they can use them.

The previous election was called the most anti-democratic and scandalous election in the whole world. This time, the US with its allies are again playing the game in this occupied country where hunger has forced people to sell their children and the US administration is sure to run these ridiculous shows which will be more anti-democratic and corrupt than the past since the ‘government' is gripped and occupied with the presence of Jehadi terrorists fully geared up with more money, more arms and more facilities to turn these elections for their own benefit.

If the election commission of Afghanistan was truly independent and not connected with the mafia government, how is it possible for Mirwais Yasseeni and Jabbar Sabit, both killers of Gulbuddin's party; Latif Pedram a rapist of Jamiat-e-Islami; Habib Mangal one of the Parchami torturers of Khad (KGB-run Intelligence Agency of the Russian puppet regime); Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai a faithful spy of CIA and an enemy of our Hazara people; Hedayat Amin Arsala famous for being CIA's ‘arm' in Karzai's regime; and tens of other candidates like them to be approved as candidates? Only approving assassins like Dr. Abdullah, Mirwais Yasseeni and Shahnawaz Tani is enough to seed a doubt concerning the neutrality of Independent Election Commission and the transparency of this election.

It is famous that Mussolini, in the threshold of elections in Italy, ordered all philosophers to gather and create a philosophy so that his party wins. But it seems like Hamid Karzai and his perfidious followers are so impudent that they ignore their godfather tactic and don't even stick to superficiality or creating philosophies. This is why they appoint Fahim and Khalili vice presidents with a hateful shamelessness and call other enemies of people to enter the ‘campaign' to show that the ‘election' is purely ‘democratic' but who doesn't know that the president is already chosen in the Washington.

There is no need for complaining. Everyone with a healthy brain would never expect free, transparent and democratic elections in an occupied country polluted by foreign troops and fundamentalist vultures. The possibilities of fraud are now such a common disgrace that even Sima Samar of Wahdat Party and her ‘independent' human rights commission openly talk about it!

Considering what has been stated in the past and now, we want the US and you, Mr. Kai Eide to simply leave us in our own state because the US and it allies and thus UN consider supporting the Jehadi criminals as their sacred duty and continue pumping more agents of CIA, young and old, to remain dominant in Afghanistan.

The US wants a reason to ensure their long presence and have no plans of uprooting its own creations, that is, Al-Qaeda and Taliban. The former, while spitting on the true meaning of democracy, is undertaking the disgusting projection of a government containing all the bands of Islamic fundamentalists, including Hezb-e-Islami for whose acid-attacker leader Gulbuddin, they had placed a prize and the Quislings of Khalq and Parcham, which is the most unforgivable treachery of Obama against our country.

Since 2001, the US and NATO have turned Afghanistan into their testing ground for weapons and their killings of our innocent and defenseless people tally ten times than that of the barbaric Taliban and later deny it with tormenting indifference or justify them.

For Obama and his administration, governments, parties and people are only worthy if they abide by his orders and interests and it is of the least importance if they are anti-democratic, corrupt, criminal and anti-people. Therefore it is not astounding when US honorably freed the murderer like Ghairat Baheer and today, they are engaging in friendly talks with Gulbuddin party terrorists like Humayun Jareer and Daood Abidi for reconciling with Gulbuddin and further negotiations with these more blood-thirsty Draculas than Fahim.

You might say that if US leaves, the Taliban terrorists may take power. We request you, please don't pity on us. If US would have been an enemy of Taliban and their ideas they would drive out all Talib ideologues from US and their educational centers and place them right with Noriega. People of Afghanistan, just like other nations, want freedom, democracy, justice and welfare. The majority of our people connect the Taliban with the Middle Age and are not ready, at any cost, to accept their rule. Taliban are an inerasable and shameful scar on humanity and have caused tremendous ignominy to our people. It was US's wish to replace the rascals of Northern Alliance with them through Pakistan.

Mr. Brad Adams, our people not only call choosing of Fahim as ‘insolence to Afghanistan' but moreover creating a government full of National Front, Taliban and Gulbuddin mafias as a disastrous and unforgivable insolence. The esteem of ‘Human Rights Watch' in our country depends on exposing and condemning this cruelest conspiracy of US against our wounded people.

Mr. Kai Eide, you should tell US and the western diplomats to lay their hands off this most evil and painful contempt against our people.

This article is the opinion of the author and is not endorsed by or been fact-checked by Kabulpress.org. It is published in Kabulpress.org in support of our policy of non-censorship and free speech.

Structure of Karzai's new government

Maiwand Habibi — 2009-09-17T06:19:50Z

Mr. Karzai has completed eight unsuccessful years of his government and it was originally assumed that he would not run for election on 20 August 2009. Even though he ran for election, it was thought that the people would not give him a single vote. However, the recent political situation, political compromise, conspiracies, excessive expenditures on campaigns, too many promises and Pashtuns lack of interest shows that Mr. Karzai will proudly wear the presidential crown and rule for the next five years . The people, particularly the Pashtuns, will face a dark, unbearable next five years.

Now that Afghans are certain to accept Karzai for next five years. It appears from his promises, his eight years as president, and his political compromises his next term will look like this:

1: The next five years of Mr. Karzai will be weaker than the previous one. He will be just a symbol and the real authority will rest with warlords as long as Mr. Karzai curries their favor. Afghans will suffer more violence and injustice. However, Mr. Karzai will not be able to do anything and will just close his eyes upon them.

2: Mafia land-grabbers will be strengthened. One of the cabinet members has already declared that on average, 1000 hectars of land is controlled by each warlord. Now that this mafia remains in control, the average will definitely increase.

3: Poppy cultivation and drug smuggling will increase which will further damage Afghanistan in the International community because Mr. Karzai has allied himself with the drug dealers. The best example is his releasing five drug dealers from prison to campaign for him.

4: The raping, human trafficking. and kidnapping Mafia will get significantly stronger since Mr. Karzai's coalition has agreed with them and all their demands have been accepted.

5: Most of the government's structure and cabinet will remain dominated by the warlords.

6: Violation of law, corruption, and nepotism will reach its last stage, because these factors are all related to the coalition and Afghanistan's compromised government.

7: The number of ministries will increase from thirty to forty. Advisors will grow to more than two hundred since Mr. Karzai has promised at least five ministries to the weakest political party to keep them happy.

8: Most of his cabinet will consist of his campaign supporters and contributors. In addition, they will be given provincial governor offices and ambassadors positions.

9: The Afghan passport will lose its value because most of the ambassadors will be illiterate and have no knowledge of culture and tradition. Therefore the international community will call our government warlords, and human rights violators, and we will be frisked at each airport as thoroughly as possible.

10: Pashtoons will be scattered and deprived. They will have no influence or power in government.

11: According to Mr. Karzai's promise 20 out of 100 seats in government will be given to Mr. Khalili and 15 out of 100 to Dostum.

12: Media and freedom of expression will give only lip service to a free press, and a single word against warlord will be a death sentence to the author.

Afghanistan's next five years will be quite challenging to both the international community and to the Afghan people themselves.