A morning excursion

[On Nov. 28, 2021, Afghan boys read the Quran, Islam’s holy book, at an Islamic religious school under Taliban rule in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Photo by Alfred Yaghobzadeh/Abaca/Sipa USA (Sipa via AP Images)]

Some days ago now, something drew my attention to the article at reference 1, which I have now got around to looking at. An article which may itself have been prompted by the report at reference 3.

It seems that the present rulers of Afghanistan - the Taliban - are doing very well for themselves out of gold mines and out of aid (a lot of it from the US). Maybe they are still doing drugs. In any event, not much better than gangsters on the take. But they also provide a home for Al Qaeda, which gets a good share of the spoils and which is busily plotting to make trouble for their immediate neighbours and others. These being the people who did 9/11 and on whose account the US went to war in Afghanistan. Having previously made use of such people in its eventually successful attacks on the Soviet occupation.

At which point I looked up the population of Afghanistan. Around 40m - so more than half the size of the UK in population - 90% Sunni, 10% Shia - 75% rural & tribal - and growing fast. Which is a lot of poor young people without enough to do. In itself a good recipe for trouble.

What a mess. Hopefully I will take a proper look at reference 3 shortly.

Then downstairs to breakfast and another depressing piece, this one about Israel in the NYRB, at reference 7. Another place which is going nowhere good under current management.

PS: there seem to be a number of places now where either the government or (in the case of the US) a possible government have allied themselves in an unsavoury way with unsavoury religious groups. Trump with the Bible Belt. Putin with the (Russian) Orthodox Church. Netanyahu with various religious extremists (including, indirectly, Hamas). Saudi princes with the Wahhabi mullahs. Modi with an intolerant brand of Hinduism. And here, Afghani warlords with Al Qaeda. Marriages of convenience which look unlikely to end well for the rest of us. And to think that I used to think that my father was a bit hard on our established church, that he could ease up on his church and parson bashing.

References

Reference 1: Al Qaeda Is back - and thriving - in Afghanistan: The architects of 9/11 are profiting from gold and gem mines in the Taliban-led country - Lynne O’Donnell, FP (Foreign Policy Magazine) - 2024.

Reference 2: https://www.ghco.com/. A media group, now the owner of FP, once the owner of the Washington Post, sold to Jeff Bezos (of Amazon fame) in 2013.

Reference 3: Corruption and Kleptocracy in Afghanistan Under the Taliban - Jessica Ludwig, Albert Torres, George W. Bush Institute - 2024.

Reference 4: https://www.bushcenter.org/. 'The George W. Bush Presidential Center is a nonpartisan institution advancing the timeless values of freedom, opportunity, accountability, and compassion'. Hmmm. I associate to Past Master Blair and his sanctimonious goings on.

Reference 5: https://www.alfredyaghobzadehphoto.com/. The source of the snap above, via reference 3. There is also a scattering of soft porn - this including an elephant with dancing girls at the Lido.

Reference 6: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Yaghobzadeh.

Reference 7: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda.

Reference 8: Israel: The way out - David Shulman, NYRB - 2024.

Reference 9: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/05/freedom-and-despair.html. Previous notice of Shulman.

Reference 10: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-places-in-between.html. A rather different sort of report from Afghanistan. Again, as it happens, from a rather right-wing source.