Josh Shahryar's Afghanistan Primer: The US and The "Warlords"
Friday, December 4, 2009 at 17:26 
After my rather scathing criticism of President Barack Obama’s troop surge plan for Afghanistan yesterday, I received many questions from readers on Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail about the realities of the situation. This is the first of three articles trying to offer some answers.Obama gets away with one thing and one thing only in his approach: he is not the person who has made the wrong choices since the Afghan Invasion of 2001. The first step in the War on Terror was perhaps one of the most misguided and poorly planned of President Bush’s policies. Here is a summary: remove Taliban, institute democracy, then capture bin Laden, and then maybe get out?
What Was Missing in Obama’s Speech: The Black Jail of Afghanistan
Afghanistan Special: Josh Shahryar on the Obama Not-So-Grand Plan
A Gut Reaction to Obama’s Afghanistan-Pakistan Speech: The Halfway House of The Long War (Part 1)
Afghanistan-Pakistan: Video & Transcript of Obama Speech (1 December)
The biggest blunder the US made, contrary to common belief, was not over the second step of democracy promotion but over the first one of regime change. Instead of using its superior military to fight the enemy, the US sought help from Afghan warlords who controlled less than 5% of Afghanistan’s territory and had been all but vanquished by the Taliban. This might have helped the US oust the Kabul Government, but it handed the country back to the Afghan warlords who may have committed some of the most heinous crimes against humanity.
Rewind history to the early 1990s.
After the ouster of the communist government of Afghanistan, these same warlords, then known as mujahideen and hailed the world over as freedom fighters, took over Afghanistan. For the next several years, the population was abused to the point where more than eight million Afghans were forced to leave the country. The rest remained at the mercy of men who ruled them with such brutality that just reading about it brings a shudder.
Hezbe Wahdat, one of the main groups led by a ruthless warlord named Ustad Abdul Ali Mazari, were notorious for their death dance. Stationed in Western Kabul, Mazari’s men, who were composed of the Hazara ethnic minority, would catch anyone who belonged to the Pashtun group and slaughter them without hesitation.
The death dance would proceed with a man being held down by several Hazara fighters. He would be decapitated and hot oil would be poured over his neck. This would make the body wildly jerk around.
Another group from the north, composed of the Uzbek minority, would place captured fighters and bystanders inside shipping containers, take them to the desert, and then fire hundreds of rounds. The lucky prisoners would be struck and die. Those who did not were left in the desert to die of starvation or thirst.
In the south, the Pashtun-led groups were notorious for sexually abusing young boys. This reached a point where commanders would openly marry boys as young as 12 in official ceremonies attended by their cronies. The situation was so dangerous for pre-teen and early-teen boys that they were kept at home until they grew beards
In this climate of fear, the Taliban entered the scene. Backed up by Pakistan militarily and by the Gulf states financially from 1994, they were able to take over the entire country within a few short years. Their forces were not much superior to their opponents; however, they used people’s hatred for the warlords to gain control of the country. At the time of the US invasion, they held all but one of 32 provinces of Afghanistan, ruling almost 95% of the territory and the population.
People always ask me how Taliban with their stone-age laws were able to rule Afghanistan for almost six years. The answer is simple: stone-age laws are better than no laws at all. They gave people something they had yearned for years –-- safety and security.
Previously, you would be robbed in daylight in front and inside your house. With the Taliban in power, you could haul sacks full of money from one side of the country to the other without hiding the fact that you were transporting cash. And except for targeting the Hazara minority, about 10% of the country’s population, they treated people far more mercifully than the warlords did.
Now the same groups of militias who committed the crimes of the 1990s form the majority of Afghan governors, provincial administrators, security chiefs, and army commanders, as well as the overwhelming majority of senators and representatives to the Afghan bicameral legislature. And they are only able to do so because of the US.
This is why the US invasion was a disaster from the very beginning. The US could have taken over Afghanistan without resorting to help from the much hated warlords, winning the hearts of Afghans. Instead, removing the regime that had brought peace of mind to many, Washington brought back the terror that had haunted them.
So, if the US strategy saved American lives at the start of the offensive, this conflict now takes American lives each week. Afghanistan now has both a Taliban, which not only exists but is enjoying success, and a corrupt and ineffective government.
The reason why the US cannot defeat the Taliban is not because they are powerful or America is weak but because the Taliban have the sympathy of a majority of the Afghanistan’s largely rural population. (The educated class, which makes up a small portion of the population, is simply hoping and praying that both the warlords and the Taliban could somehow miraculously cease to exist.)
The village-dwellers have two choices. They can either support the US military as it finds Taliban hideouts and brings the enemy to justice, then wait for the Americans to depart and leave them at the mercy of the warlords. Or they can continue to lie low and let the Taliban exist, hoping that when the US leaves, the Taliban will get rid of the warlords again.
The choice between a harsh Islamic regime that allows you to live a peaceful life if you lock your wives at home, grow beards, and pray five times a day or between a group of bandits who would pillage your property, rape your women and kill you is quite simple. The Afghans may be illiterate, but they’re not stupid.
If Obama and the US are serious, they still have plenty of time. They could do what the Taliban did and remove these criminals from the Afghan government. This would immediately win the hearts of Afghanistan’s people. If the US chooses otherwise, then it should not blame itself for failing to gain the support of the Afghans.
Reader Comments (59)
Thanks Paleene. And spot on with the analysis of how bad the situation is just by looking at the comments. Should be writing the next piece on just that. Sad really.
To NightOwl:
I criticize the point that you figured it out, i say, why what if Mr. Josh could impartially address the issue which would not target some specific ethnicities in the country. During the late 1990's the capital came under high bombardments and missiles from Masoud and Sayyaf and Gulbaddin Heykmatyar factions which turned the city into rubbles and killed almost 500 thousand innocent civilians, mostly Hazaras. We critisize that why Mr. Josh try to show the issue just reflexive and far from facts and realities. And this is our right. We have our voice now and we forcefully shout justice, we bring down such propagandas.
To Paleene:
Reference to your comment " Thus leading to that some members of the target groups obviously forget about basic rules of discussion by heavily insulting people for their opinion and forgetting everything about civilized contacts"
What do you mean by civilized contacts? Criticism is criticism, Josh has unjustifiably issued a number of false news and reviews about our people, and we have defended ourselves, and that is our right.
Josh has crossed the redline of journalism and trying to brain wash the world, first he has brain washed you, because you tell him well done Josh, that is what you just blindly accepted his propagandas and don’t have least information about the country and its people. I suggest you to search for history books.
To the Web Master enduringamerica:
Please, remove this title as soon as possible, because the blames which address a certain people in Afghanistan have not real basis. We strongly condemn his work and through this website we want him to apology us....
Josh,
“Non-interventionism is great – but once you’ve intervened the dynamics of conflicts change. Then, it’s not always the brightest idea to simply leave. That is what happened in Afghanistan in the late 80s and is very much the root of all the troubles”
I take issue with your assertion that root of Afghanistan problem started in late 80s when the interventionist left. Afghanistan problems are centuries old. Interventionists, as you call them, always intervene when there is political, societal or economical rot. Indeed there was so much rot in Afghanistan that even after kicking interventionist out, thanks to the U.S., Afghanistan was not able to get it together. Problems in Afghanistan are much more fundamental and it is intellectually dishonest to point finger on foreign intervention or whether they departed early or overstayed their welcome.
As a tax-payer in the U.S. I do not want to spend a penny of my tax money in Afghanistan for fighting anybody. It is not worth a drop of blood of our military men and women. I would prefer to invest money in genetic engineering projects that would lead to the destruction of poppy crops. Getting rid of opium business will get rid of corruption in Afghanistan, eliminate source of income for al-Qaeda and will save humanity.
With regard to al-Qaeda and Taliban, as I said earlier you cannot fight ideology with bombs and missiles. You can only fight ideology through education providing that people are ready and willing to embrace progress. If Afghanistan people do not, their homeland will remain a safe haven for the world renegades, domestic and foreign, and no other country and its army can save it. The way I see it Afghanistan is a millennium away from becoming a progressive society.
After the russia the keyplayer for afghanistan's distruction was ahmad shah masud, once he took over the government with his dam prisedent Rabani he never accepted other tribes such as, Pashtuns,Hazaras,Uzbeks bla bla bla in the govrment. He just turned his gun towards them. He attack the hazaras from air and land in western kabul, Burning them alive, beheading,rap, etc etc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afshar_Operation
The writter dont have a basic knowledge of the kabul war, he writtes what he is been told by other people, he didnt do any research at all. He just collected som propaganda against the hazaras and other tribes and published it here to get paid.
An assurance that no one is paid for contributing articles to Enduring America and a reminder that this is only the first of three analyses that Josh Shahryar is posting on the Afghanistan situation. The second and third articles are likely to address some of the issues raised in these comments.
S.
The article is written completely out of journalistic framework. It seems that Mr. Josh is so anti-Turkish rooted in Afghanistan. I do not know why he is judging like that. Even if we going to see the next article why should you started with insulting Hazara and Uzbek ethnic groups in Afghanistan. Unfortunately this is the weakness of our societies that we do not consider the social phenomena of Afghanistan without knowing all the facts.
"I take issue with your assertion that root of Afghanistan problem started in late 80s when the interventionist left. Afghanistan problems are centuries old. Interventionists, as you call them, always intervene when there is political, societal or economical rot. Indeed there was so much rot in Afghanistan that even after kicking interventionist out, thanks to the U.S., Afghanistan was not able to get it together. Problems in Afghanistan are much more fundamental and it is intellectually dishonest to point finger on foreign intervention or whether they departed early or overstayed their welcome."
Before the US decided to break all international protocols and supply arms to rebels in Afghanistan, the country had a de jure, I REPEAT, de jure government. This means that it was legal. It had UN representation and it had control over the entirety of Afghanistan's land. Let us for a minute forget that the US wants to spread "Freedom" and "liberty" all over the world. It does not matter whether the then Afghan government was run by communists. It was legal.
In comes the US, supplies arms to rebels, topples a de jure government and then without bothering to ensure there is a legal government in Afghanistan, it simply abandons it to be shredded to pieces by the very people it armed. I think the US should take responsibility for that and it has.
"As a tax-payer in the U.S. I do not want to spend a penny of my tax money in Afghanistan for fighting anybody. It is not worth a drop of blood of our military men and women. I would prefer to invest money in genetic engineering projects that would lead to the destruction of poppy crops. Getting rid of opium business will get rid of corruption in Afghanistan, eliminate source of income for al-Qaeda and will save humanity."
That is entirely up to you. Do what you would like to do. It is your vote, your government and your country. But remember, there are international laws governing international conduct. Please ensure your government does break any of those laws when it's out hunting.
"With regard to al-Qaeda and Taliban, as I said earlier you cannot fight ideology with bombs and missiles. You can only fight ideology through education providing that people are ready and willing to embrace progress. If Afghanistan people do not, their homeland will remain a safe haven for the world renegades, domestic and foreign, and no other country and its army can save it. The way I see it Afghanistan is a millennium away from becoming a progressive society."
Again, that's opinion. And your opinion matters. Ensure that it is heard and that in the future, the US does not intervene in other countries' internal affairs like it did in Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Iraq and Afghanistan.
I think you totally misunderstand what I tried to argue. I neither dislike the US nor do I want American blood to be spilled. Every human being is valuable. Every human being is important.
The crux of my argument is that by removing the warlords - be they Tajik or Pashtun or Uzbek or Hazara or Aimaq - the US would ensure that fewer American lives are lost in the long run - since it already seems like the US is going to stay in Afghanistan for a little while longer.
No one would be happier if fewer lives were lost. I am not a warmonger. But if there is a war, then it should be fought smartly. The US is ALREADY in Afghanistan. If it pulls out, I won't blame it. If it stays, then I will criticize its conduct if it ends up costing both American and Afghan lives.
To 27. Zahir Irfan
Thank you for your comments on my post.
I can assure you that I agree in your right to defend yourself - absolutely no doubt about it. If only you would grant this right to anybody else, we would have freedom of speech at its best.
Therefore, I only will point you to a single (and not even the worst, IMHO) point in your post which makes me doubt you fully comprehend what the right you claim for yourself would mean if you would grant it to others.
"Josh has UNJUSTIFIABLY issued a number of false news and reviews about our people, and we have defended ourselves, and that is our right."
So - you are allowed to speak out your opinion (=defend yourself), but Josh doing the same is unjustified??? That is, what freedom of speech excactly NOT is.
And freedom of speech is an essential part of what I mean when I talk about civilized contacts - so fare you asked me about that.
Josh,
People of Afghanistan need to take responsibility to neutralize their warlords. They should not expect U.S. or UN or NATO to do it for them. You had an election and people voted to keep Karzai who has become warlords partner in crime.
I understood your argument perfectly. My point is that it is up to people in Afghanistan to not put up with government corruption or tribal brutality. Look across the border in Iran, Iranians are standing up to their own government. America is not the world 911.
Megan,
Certainly. I agree with your point completely. Afghans do need to take action to solve their own problems. My argument is two tiered. First off, the warlords were thrust back into power because they US not only allowed them to, but also implicitly supported them after the fall of the Taliban. They are very well armed and they have hundreds, perhaps thousands of militiamen in their service. The people of Afghanistan cannot both fight the Taliban and the warlords at the same time. However, if the US helped them to achieve this goal, it would work out. Neither can do it on their own.
Secondly, the election in Afghanistan was heavily rigged in favor of Karzai AND Abdullah because they have backing from these same warlords. The people of Afghanistan are stuck with them. Everything you see going on within the Afghan government is in one way or another a result of support by the same warlords.
I also share your sentiment re; opium and the illegal drug trade. Well, the same warlords are responsible for that as well - with some help from the Taliban. In conclusion, pretty much every problem you see in Afghanistan - INCLUDING the Taliban - is a result of these men.
As for Iran, certainly, the people of Iran have proven what popular uprisings could achieve. However, compared to the government in Afghanistan, the government in Iran is composed of angelic personalities. Any uprising in Afghanistan would result in massive massive bloodshed. Even protests NOT aimed at the government in Afghanistan result in people getting brutally suppressed.
In closing, as I've said before, I would also like to see the war end - swiftly and with as little human cost as possible. It is no one's interest for the Taliban to come back to power and start providing safe-haven for terrorists - neither America's nor Afghanistan's and certainly not the rest of the world's.
If this situation could be helped by amending current US policy of simply sending more young American men and women to die for a futile cause, then why not? The US does not need to send more troops to Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban, capture bin Laden or help stabilize the place.
It just needs sound planning.
"Interventionists, as you call them, always intervene when there is political, societal or economical rot."
Or is it when there is a geopolitical prize to be won? The mess we see in Afghanistan right now is a result of a Cold War proxy war between two empires. A result of the Soviet push into the Middle East through war and occupation and the American attempt to block that push through similarly brutal means. It's sad and ironic that out of that imposed mess Al-Qaeda would emerge but that's blowback for you.
"There are nations where its people either do not understand the meaning of democracy or not seeking it. I am sorry to say this but Afghanistan is one of those nations."
You don't sound very sorry. What makes you think you can judge an entire nation's desire for progress? Ever heard of RAWA or other groups like them?
Somebody,
Well, I think there's a lot of pain and hurt associated with the Afghan war. To many US citizens, it looks like Afghans are ungrateful and barbaric and do not understand the meaning of democracy or civil rights. And they may be right - but not entirely.
There is a size-able portion of the Afghan society that truly believes in democratic values and civil and human rights. The problem is, they have been marginalized. As you mentioned, organizations like RAWA's work is commendable and so is the work of people like Malali Joya and Ramazan Bashardost.
Thank you for adding that different dimension to the debate.
“With regard to al-Qaeda and Taliban, as I said earlier you cannot fight ideology with bombs and missiles. You can only fight ideology through education providing that people are ready and willing to embrace progress."
*********
Only ideology can fight ideology. Cold War is a case in point.
The Afshar massacre and mass rape in Kabul by Jamiat/Shura-i Nazar forces under the command of Ahmad Shah Massoud in February 1993. This massacre and mass rape of mainly Hazara civilians took place in Afshar, Kabul. Some of those responsible for the killings and rapes that took place hold positions of power today.
Josh,
I don't know how stupid you are? of making Mazari the Hero of Afghanistan a warlord, if you have any proof please let us all know.
I also do not know that how you say Hazara's are 10% population while the statistic inside afghanistan shows it around 19-25%.
So, Please read more about Afghanistan, then write your topic.
Deedar Ali
Hi Josh!
I read your whole article today. Your writing shows how illiterate about Afghanistan's history you are. You don't know any thing about the realities in Afghanistan. You have been in Europe during all these civil wars and the recent events. First of all if you like the sever regime of Taliban, Why did you escape to Europe? You could have remained in Afghanistan and enjoy Taliban regime, jailing your wife and daughters at home and letting your son study all the religious subjects. If you had a reason to leave Afghanistan and go to other countries, give this right to other people too to hate the Taliban and their harsh rules. I accept your point that now there are a lot of corrupted people in Government that most of them were the former warlords. But remember that the some of our achievements, that no one can ignore, were enabled with the struggles of some people who loved this nation, who sacrifice their lives to see a prosperous Afghanistan, such as ustad Abdul Ali Mazari and many other respected people.
When you say that the Taliban severe regime is better than the current government of Afghanistan and US armies, it shows that you even don't know about world. No country can be counted as an island, without any relation with other countries. Each single action that takes place in one country, certainly affects the whole world or at least neighboring countries. Afghanistan is not a country that doesn't have to do anything with other countries. Look during your lovely regime Taliban, The heart of US economy was destroyed by Al qaeda and Taliban. Doesn't US have the right to ask for this?
When now US or any other country comes to Afghanistan to help people, they are fulfilling their responsibilities toward world. You should take this as a blessing. But unfortunately your closed mind doesn't authorize you to look toward world with open eyes.
I suggest you to explore more about history and also international affairs. Then you can have an open vision toward all the events that take place.
About your article,
We can not take these articles as a proof for what is going on in country. Every person who writes something has bias. That mujahed that you mention only sees the doors of heaven opened for mujahedin and doesn't think if the others have the right to complain about their severe regime.
"But if the US is going to spend so much money and expend the lives of so many young American men and women, then at least it can do its best to ensure that their lives don’t go in vain."
Josh, agreed but Afghanistan has been the graveyard of so many armies throughout history and I don't see how it can be any different for the US. The peoples of that region greatly resist foreign intervention. The Soviets brought them together in a haphazard conditional coalition, the Saudi's and the US via the Pakistani ISI armed them to the teeth and when the Soviets left, they resumed fighting amongst themselves albeit with modern weapons.
"Then, it’s not always the brightest idea to simply leave. That is what happened in Afghanistan in the late 80s and is very much the root of all the troubles."
Agreed, it's not the brightest idea to leave but it also not the brightest idea to stay either. Catch-22. There is only so much that can be done by outsiders either way. I reassert, the peoples of the region will have to sort it out for themselves. Yes, they have modern weapons, yes, they have 30 years of battle experience under their belts and yes poppies to fund the whole damn thing. It will continue to be a bloody mess and a tragedy with or without foreign intervention.
dear writer it is better to have ur Afghan name than a fool english one. it looks that u r one of the taliban's suside attackers who is ready for bloody acts in afghnistan. anyway what the others did in afghanistan that has a long history and many reasons which needs lots of research. I am a hazara it was good to write not biasedly. why u did not write about Pushton's and Tajiks bruitlity in Afshar that thousands of old men and women, children were masscared and young girls and women were raped and sexually abused. and Taliban massacare in Mazar sharif that 10 thousand hazaras were killed at once. they were civilians and non armed people.
the most important think and brave act of President Bush was a decision that invade afghanistan. fight against Tabliban and Al- qaeda two fundemental-fascist Islamic-Sunni, Arab and Pushtun bloody bands that there is no idea and underestanding of human dignity behind their wild activities.
Tablibans goodness proved by their wild attacks to civilians and afghanistan's infrastractures. they were the same in the passed but a big difference that we had no media if there was it was baised one.
action speaks louder than voice
each blinded person can have a judgement like this writer. Taliban's sucide attacks, slaughtering people, denial of women rights, exterimism and closed door policy with international community is clear for every one. mr. writer you don't need to overturn these facts. another reason that ur essay is a fiction sort of writing is that no one can imagine instead of having a look to the pictures of Kabul. it is easy to find which part is destroyed. west part of Kabul absolutely uncomparable than another other parts. Hazara's were living there. Do they distroyed their house by themself? If not while Pushtun's closed and Tajiks close the way's to Hazarajat these demolished houses had there poeple inside thik how many people different age, gender were died under these distroyed buidlings. Dasht Chemtala mass graves by Sayaf and Kanda Pusht in Zabul were Pushtun's gifts for Hazara's. furthermore, the gifts of both Pushtun's and Tajiks for Hazara's in afghanistan during the support of Hazara's from king Amanullah Khan gifted Sal Saqawi (means son of Saqaw's massacre in Hazara jat especially in Ghanzi my hometown). Tajik's in Ghani used body's of Hazar as fertilizer in their garden. no one denies the massacre of Abdulraham 60% of Hazaras in afghanistan just 80 years ago it was also a joint project of Pushtun's under the support of Tajiks as religious sectarian brutality.
President G. Bush did the correct job on the base of his national interest and expansion of democracy and human rights. Hazara's were civilized citizens and will support this correct decision of American president G. Bush and will support 100 per cent the decision of President Obama and remain as American freinds / allies for ever in the region.
Josh!
What is a journalist?
You must excuse from more 10m hazara people. Because you abuse their father who only wanted justice and equall right among all nation in Afghanistan. Who is veryyyyyyy beloved for 19-25% people in Afghanistan.
You did not make only a mistake in your article, but it is really a blunder mistake and shame for a journalist.
Try to get more and real information, whatever you want to write or publish an article.
It's unbelievable that so many people are missing the substance of Josh's article and are instead nitpicking on details and making ad-hominem attacks instead.
Two relevant facts: 1. Josh specifically referred to the persecution of the Hazara minority so keep your pants on already. 2. Several sources place the Hazara population of Afghanistan at approximately 10% (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_afghanistan#Ethnic_groups). I'm certainly no scholar but I figure you can't go wrong with four sources.
Yes, it seems everyone has their favourite warlord and tribalism is at an all time high but please try not to make it so obvious when trying to engage in a rational discussion or at the very least do try to remain civil.
(Sorry. Josh requires no defence, I just felt compelled to continue to write given the appalling unfairness of some of the comments above.)
in respone to somebody, hey man several hundered of years others use used u as blind dogs and nowadays they are using as well to bite and eat others. they can say every thing and you will do that is ur wildness. god has given to you wisedom and eyes to see and think. if you are blind and if you are not illiterate. go to afghanistan and have a look. it is not important what the other say. remember the proverb in Dari that mean it is for way what you hear than what u see.
the facts in Afghanistan is clear today. every day the news of opuim, kidnup, suside, corruption a shame for you. other told you dogs and donkeys but you are happy. becuase it sensble and meaningful for u.
Somebody,
You mentioned that Hazara's are about 10% Afghanistan's population. What a good justification!!! Even if hazara's are only 5 people, do you give yourself the right to insult them or abuse them? If they are minority, it doesn't mean that you can do everything you want on them, or you can say anything to them! If they are minority, do you have the right to insult their founder? It shows that how much your logic is strong!!!
[Removed by moderator] that I believe, because he wrote very poorly about warlords, and I would like to say that I am man whom worked with Mazari in West Kabul, whatever he said, is not right and even he dose not have any single documents on hand (film, pictures, eye witnesses & etc) and let me to write a brief information about conflict about 90s.
While, this Sunni Mujahiddin were deciding about interim government in 90s at Pakistan and they ignored Hazara and Uzbek people totally, in that government and in meantime both bloody Ahmad Shah Masoud and Gul Beddin Hekmatyar had disagreement and fighting with each other, and Masoud cheated both, Mazari and Dustom to stand against Pashtons and this three ethnics groups must take the power from Pashtons in Kabul and as well from Pashton mujahidin, further Masoud's militants had occupied Kabul lonely and,
Later Masoud’s ignored all, Hekmatyar, Mazari and at the end Dustom, to be honest all this militants gunmen and power and all mujahidin leaders in killing the Kabul civilians (any Ethnic groups) mostly Hazaras; and please refer to Afshar genocide in 1993 by Masoud, Rabani and Sayaaf,
Hazaras did not had way/chance in order to go out from Kabul, and from Kabul mountains Masoud used firing by tanks or artillery machines gun (I have documented film and pictures in this regards,)
Coming about majority and minority! We do not know about population of Afghanistan exactly in order to judge who majority or minority groups are, this country always rolled by manpower and not any law or constitution
After 1996, Taliban or Pashton is a problem in terms of insecurity in this country and after Sep 11, basically Pashton Taliban became a problematic issue for international community, presently all suicide attack and killings is leading by Pashton and let me to tell that Taliban 100% Pashtons of Afghanistan and Pakistan that conflict area is belongs to Pashton and these people did not agree for development of country and themselves,
As average everyday 30 Pashton men lose their life through this situation, because of Pashton Taliban, here more foreign troops coming to Afghanistan and not other ethnics even if focus on Northern provinces it the Pashton area that suffers and support the militant’s oppositions,
As result, after Sep 11, some of warlords gained a name like National Hero, father of nations ( people of this country dose not national interest since they are not nation yet) and some still named warlords since they do not power at the moment,
Within eight years the country gained a vary bad name in world because of Pashton leaderships see Karzai could not led this country in good manner, corruption of Pashtons (I don’t ignore others here) and opium cultivation mostly in Pashton area, moreover 70% of international aid spent in Pashton area ( please compare annual budget of Helmand with Daikundi) and
I hope you should realize the reality in this country all the time,