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| Afghanistan |
| CIA is sad shape, no Dari speakers |
| 2001-10-28 |
The agency in charge of lining up the right warlords is the CIA. In an interview with Newsweek last week, Robert C. McFarlane, the Reagan Administration national security adviser, said the CIA ``has failed miserably. There's an appalling lack of intelligence skills. I haven't yet found one Dari speaker in the agency -- or anyone who speaks any other Afghan dialect, for that matter. Or any analyst with real knowledge of Afghanistan's history, its tribal cultures, the networks that exists here.'' But American officials are wary of former Afghanistan chieftains who suddenly appear offering to produce miracles, for a price. Just a month ago, a former Afghan commander, Haji Zaman Ghamshirik, returned from exile in France and opened a guest house in Peshawar, Pakistan. He recently offered to play Let's Make a Deal with U.S. officials. ``He phoned at 9:50 one night saying he could deliver Osama bin Laden and bring down the Taliban,'' a knowledgeable foreign diplomat tells Newsweek. ``He just wanted a guarantee that he would get the $5 million reward, a satellite phone, and the governorship of Nangarhar Province.'' Gosh. That's terrible. We'll surely lose. We should just pack up and go home now. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |