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| Afghanistan |
| Warlord's doing for the Pee-pul... |
| 2002-05-05 |
| Bacha Khan [Padshah "Mr Big" Khan Zadran] is nothing if not blunt. As the dominant faction leader in eastern Afghanistan, he is waging a bitter battle against the country's interim leader, Hamid Karzai, for control of this vital region near the border with Pakistan. He rained rockets on the city of Gardez last week to force out a provincial governor installed by Karzai and now threatens to do the same here in Khost, where another Karzai appointee arrived this week. Yep. He's a busy fellow... Today Khan issued vivid instructions to be delivered to his brother, Kamal Khan [aka Mini-Me], who acts as his deputy in Khost. "Tell Kamal Khan to [expletive] this new governor. [Expletive] him, pack him and send him back to Karzai," he said in an interview. Ummm... Yep. That's fairly blunt. Okay. We've established that he's not exactly what you'd call a good citizen... For months, the standoff between Bacha Khan and Karzai tested the Kabul government's capacity for subduing regional potentates. Now it is developing into a test for the United States, as well -- not just because the Bush administration has an interest in stability in Afghanistan but because the conflict is playing out in the wrong place at the wrong moment. In other words, he's a bucket on the American foot... The hunt for al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives has focused on the same three eastern provinces that Khan covets and has torn apart, and where the United States and its allies are preparing for a large military operation. American military and civilian officials have watched the confrontation with growing alarm, yet have resisted being dragged into Afghanistan's feuds. The picture wasn't too clear when it started. Now it looks like Khan's the candidate to get whacked. Will we whack him now, or wait until we've finished in eastern Afghanistan? Khan says he knows the Americans will do nothing to stop him and that he can act with impunity. Even as his forces were firing rockets into Gardez last weekend, killing at least two dozen civilians, Khan was meeting with U.S. officials. "Americans are not here to take sides in internal matters in Afghanistan," Khan said confidently. "They have a specific mission to follow, which is to hunt al Qaeda." That's the situation at the moment, anyway. In private moments, U.S. officials make clear they consider Khan an untrustworthy, power-hungry brute. Yet as unsavory as he may be, they acknowledge they have little choice but to work with the man who holds sway in the region that most interests them. "If we only worked with people who didn't have blood on their hands, we wouldn't have anyone to work with in Afghanistan," said one U.S. official. "Right now, if you're the enemy of our enemy, you're our friend." On the other side, when you stop being useful terrible things could happen. And who's gonna notice someplace like eastern Afghanistan? Karzai's government issued an ultimatum to Khan this week to give up his battle for power within a week or face troops sent down from the capital. In an interview, Khan dared him to try. Khan said his fighters had surrounded Gardez and would not rest until the man Karzai installed as governor of Paktia province in January to replace Khan, Taj Mohammed Wardak, is driven from the city. Sounds like open rebellion... Another Karzai-appointed governor arrived in Khost this week to assume his duties, but Khan's brother, Kamal Khan, still occupies the governor's office. The new governor, Hakim Taniwal, a retired sociologist who had been living in Australia, has no troops to enforce his authority but has been staying with Kamal Khan's local rival, Mustafa, the police chief, whose own gunmen roam the city in masks and dark glasses. Before leaving Kabul, Taniwal said he would rely on support from Pashtun tribal elders who are tired of the fighting. "The people will support me," he said, "because they cannot stand the situation. The shops are closed, the city is closed. The people don't like it." Rotten choice. In that area, if he doesn't have guns he doesn't have anything. He's just an ineffectual nice fellow in a turban and somebody will pot him when they get the opportunity. But Bacha Khan also claimed a popular mandate and insisted that Taniwal be withdrawn. "The same thing would happen in Khost as happened here," he said outside Gardez. "And it will be Karzai's responsibility. He created the tension. He's the cause of all the fighting and killing. If Karzai does not want to be held responsible for the killing of women, children and old men, he should call him back." "And let me have my way." Karzai's threat to dispatch the army did not appear to move him. "If he sends troops," Khan said, "people will fight and die, and this is also his responsibility." Somehow rebels always try to put the responsibility on the other side. Dunno why... None of this, Khan stressed, should be taken as an indication of personal ambition. He complains he has been misunderstood by the outside world, and wants to reclaim leadership of three provinces not for himself but for his people. "This is the only wish of everybody in greater Paktia," he explained calmly. "The whole people dream about me being back in power. I'm just responding to their wishes." Hand me a tissue, please... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |