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Axis of Evil |
Iran shuts down Hekmatyar |
2002-02-10 |
A little more light makes its way through the murk of Iranian policy. Not only are they split between their own wimpish moderates and the raving religious hard-liners, they've also been sheltering Hekmatyar for a few years. Hekmatyar isn't so much anti-American as out for the main chance, which involves personal power for himself, regardless of the price to anyone else. He commands a network of proxies and allies within Afghanistan and it's more likely they, rather than the moderate end of the government or - at least without plausible deniability - the ayatollahs, who are working actively to destabilize Afghanistan. The Iranian heirarchy's denials could even be sincere, since Hekmatyar's a very small frog in the Persian pond. |
Posted by:Fred Pruitt |