Hanan Habibzai

The New York Times  By  MARK LARSO KABUL — What do the Greek, Mongolian, Latvian and British Armies have in common? They’ve all been in Afghanistan before: the Greeks under Alexander; the Mongols under Genghis Khan:the Latvians as part of the Soviet Union; and the British more than a few times. They are also current members of the International Security Assistance Force, and contribute troops to the coalition mission in Afghanistan. One need only look to the flag poles at Camp Eggers in Kabul to see a record of the contributing nations (47 to be exact). Not every nation’s forces are substantial in number — in some cases they are no more than a handful — and of course very few are engaged in outright combat operations. Most are assigned to training, mentoring or other critical support operations. The Georgian troops, for example, have been used to protect entry points into forward operating bases around Kabul. Their country’s dedication is such that they were kept here even aft...

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar said Monday that the insurgents' strategy aims to increase operations nationwide and battle the U.S.-led coalition in a war of attrition. But in a sign that NATO's campaign against the Taliban may be hurting the militants far more than they have acknowledged, Mullah Omar also appealed for funding from Muslims around the world. Mullah Omar, who has not been seen in public since being driven from power following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., said the Taliban wants to boost operations across Afghanistan to "compel the enemy to come out from their hideouts and then crush them through tactical raids." In his message for Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday on the Islamic calendar, the Taliban leader also claimed that NATO forces were in Afghanistan for the "achievement of some colonialist objectives and goals, so it is the religious and humane obligation of the ...

By Hanan Habibzai Zaher Jan is just 11 years old, yet he has the responsibilities of someone four times his age. "I wake up at six in the morning everyday to go to the city to clean cars," he says. "When someone stops his car alongside the road, I start cleaning. Many times I've had to listen to the abusing words of drivers; sometimes they even slap my face saying, 'why are you cleaning my car with out my permission?' "But sometimes a driver is sympathetic, and gives me ten Afghanis. This kind of sympathy happens once or twice a day. But, mostly, I get harassment for these ten Afghanis. One Naan is sold for ten Afghani. If two people show their sympathy in a day, then I'm very happy, because I'd be able to bring two Naans for my family.'' Jan's Naan will feed his widowed mother and 9-year-old sister. They live together in a house, falling apart at the seams, in Kabul, where Jan's father was killed in gun battle two years ago. ...

By Hanan Habibzai Former US President George W Bush appeared once again in news when he launched his memoir earlier last week. In his book Mr Bush clearly mentioned direct orders for water boarding terror suspected prisoners. This apparently becomes a reminder for human rights activist who already launched protests against Bush’s recent remarks. According, Hoffingdon Post The American Civil Liberties Union joined a growing chorus in the human rights community calling for a special prosecutor to investigate whether former president George W. Bush violated federal statutes prohibiting torture.'' Former US president strongly defended the use of water boarding and denied it amounted to torture, as critics and some allies claim. It’s appeared very delighted for some critics of Mr Bush's policies when the British Government has long regarded it as a form of torture. UK Prime Minister David Cameron Asked whether US use of water boarding had prevented attacks in the U...

Reporters Without Borders deplores the continuing illegal detention of Radio Kapisa director Hojatullah Mujadadi and calls for a humane gesture from those in charge of the National Directorate of Security ahead of Aid al-Kabir, which begins on 17 November.  A request for his release was refused on the grounds that he was being held in connection with terrorist activities but the NDS has produced no evidence of this. Mujadadi’s detention, which is completely illegal, has been condemned by several senior Afghan officials including by a high level representative of the justice ministry, who recently wrote to the attorney general urging him to speed up the investigation. But, in the absence of any serious investigation on the part of the NDS, the case is blocked. Despite former Kapisa governor Ghulam Ghawis Abubaker’s public denials following the revelations made by Reporters Without Borders, we are in a position to say that he played a role in Mujadadi’s arrest.  We have been ab...

By Hanan Habibzai The attack on Kabul on January 17 this year , which took place only metres away from the Presidential Palace, was evidence that not only have the international community and the Afghan government failed to win the people’s hearts and minds, but also they have lost their trust. The military conflict has now reached even the heart of Kabul. It is hard to imagine anywhere safe in the whole country. But at this time of intensification of conflict, a debate is taking place among Afghan parliamentarians questioning the presence of the US and NATO in Afghanistan. This is the anti-Western sentiment that the Taliban have for long been whispering into the ears of ordinary Afghans in the villages and valleys of the restive regions. Those Afghans who saw their children die, those who watched their women and elders in pools of blood, are increasingly becoming susceptible to this type of rhetoric. Many are in the process of changing their minds about the international troops. T...

By Hanan Habibzai Intellectuals and poets have a commanding presence in Afghan society. It is the poets who often mirror the feelings of ordinary people, revealing much about the mindset of Afghans in the face of occupation and civil war. Now, it is the smell of fresh blood rather than the delights of Afghanistan’s mountains and fields that occupies the poets. As an Afghan, when I read their works, I am shocked by the state of my country, and see in that state the failures of my government and the international community. When Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election last year, many Afghans, intellectuals included, believed the end of the Bush era meant a let-up in their suffering. But after the U.S. bombardments on the western province of Farah on May 4/5, the latest of many in which scores of civilians have been killed, most have lost faith. Local elders say the strikes took 147 lives. If true, that makes the strikes the bloodiest since the war began in 2001, though the ...