Karzai comes to Pakistan next week some time if i am correct…or maybe it was today. Not sure, but the question is how should the situation be treated or shoul Afghanistan be treated like another lost cause?
Re: Afghanistan - A lost cause?
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*Originally posted by CM: *
Karzai comes to Pakistan next week some time if i am correct...or maybe it was today. Not sure, but the question is how should the situation be treated or shoul Afghanistan be treated like another lost cause?
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In the short run: Afghanistan is stable, Taliban are being blasted into smithereens. Paktika was a problem, thanks to Pak-army ops in Wana area took care of it. Women are out of Talib shackles, and men don't have to look like furry hairball.
In the long run: Afghanistan will remain dir poor, just like it has been for centuries. Unless Afghans want to change, it will exist the way it always has. A romantically rugged, lawless, yet free in the valleys, with some powerless king in Kabul.
Pakistan can help by developing Balochistan, and FATA. This will provide jobs to poor Afghans and show them a possible path to prosperity within their own country.
Khuda Hafiz
Re: Re: Afghanistan - A lost cause?
I felt like Rahimullah Yousafzai few days Back… AFGHAN ESPECIALIST, I was on Leave at home.. and.. every second person was discussing the Situation with me 
As per wat I feel here talking to diff ppl in Media, NGOs etc…
US is not Leaving Kabul… as they are saying , when all is okie we will leave…
Pakistan has Stopped or may be Delayed interference in Afghanistan… this was the feeling till few days back.. BUT.. now as Musharaf promised his Support for Karzai, Pak might start the interference again.
Karzai Will be Next President, but If he has Ahmad Zia and Khalili as his Vice Presidents, he can never be a strong President.
The Future of Afghanistan can be good if U consider the constructino and development work going on.. BUT… I think the Future is DARK socialy…
Elections will tell a good story… After it, the situation will be a bit clear.
A lost cause? Not from a long shot. The heat is on in Afghanistan.
Iran has stepped up its support to the Farsiwan and Pakistan has stepped up its support towards the Pashtuns i.e. the new Pashto Satellite Channel, a very smart move by Pakistan to present itself as a “friend” of the Pashtuns. I wouldn’t be surprised if tomorrow Pakistan declares the name of NWFP changed to Pakhtunkhwa or Pakhtunistan. Or even better gives it its intended name “AFGHANIA”.
If it happens, then Pakistan will put a stamp in the region as a preserver and protector of Pakhtun identity and culture. Something Pakistan should have done a long time ago with total sincerity for its Pashtun populace, the second largest group in Pakistan, now it is doing with shame. You have to wonder, why all of the sudden a Pashtun channel (not even a TV, but a satellite channel!) and that from Islamabad? All of this and Musharaf yaari with Karzai paints a total different picture. Afghanistan is going to be rebuilt, whether Pakistan, Iran, India or Russia likes it or not. The new cons have a new pet by the name of Khalidzada. Khalizada is married to major power holder amongst the new cons. In the last year alone the number of American troops in Afghanistan went from 18000 to 30000, seems like a long camping trip. As far as Afghans wanting to change, that change as happened and it has happened in a big way. Thousands of Afghans, who had settled in the West after they were deprived from their nation due to the Soviet War and the Civil War that pursued are coming back in major numbers bringing all that they have learned with them. Afghanistan recently built its first car the “Ahoo”.
On the other hand India is trying its best to please all parties not just the Pashtuns. It has recently started to promote its interests using the image of the honorary Bacha Khan (Abdul Ghaffar Khan) by publishing some books. I have heard they might even make a movie.
Karzai is going to win the election that is for sure, whats going to happen after that is something else. Maybe, a civil war between the Pashtuns and the rest of the nation, or the rest of the nation just shuts up and knows its role in Afghanistan.
Here is one more reason why Pakistan needs to make sure that it plays a vital role in helping rebuilding Afghanistan, otherwise others will:
KOHAT, Aug 20: The National Bank of Pakistan in Kabul has earned a
profit of Rs 10 million with deposits reaching over Rs one billion in
seven months.
The NBP branch manager in Kabul, Syed Mahmoodur Rehman while talking
to Dawn exclusively here on Friday termed Kabul as a land of
opportunities with depth for all kind of investments.
He said that Afghanistan is gradually becoming a huge market with
bright prospects for Pakistani exporters. He said that people were
exporting mostly those finished goods where the government had
announced a rebate.
He said that Pakistan was the first country to open a bank branch
there and now other countries are following suit. Since December last
when NBP opened its branch in Kabul, several Pakistani, Indian and
local banks have been opened.
In the near future Iranian banks will also open businesses in Kabul
which clearly indicates that the situation in Kabul was improving and
its neighbours want to see it as a prospering country and play their
due role in its development.
He said that most of the depositors were foreign NGOs and embassies
but much was needed to be done to encourage the business community to
make transactions through banks in a legal manner.
He said that the trade volume between the two countries was recorded
at 600 million dollars in financial year 2003 which was expected to
cross a billion dollar mark during the current fiscal. However the
undocumented trade which was in billions of dollars required
government attention to legalise it and earn tax from it.
He said law and order was slowly improving and the Afghan government
had made fool-proof arrangements for the security of foreign
nationals, especially Pakistanis. To a question he said that the
government of Pakistan had given extraordinary incentives to bankers
in Afghanistan. The salary pacakge was the same as in New York.
Another official of the bank, Mohammad Ali Paracha said: "The
situation in Kabul was very different from other parts of the country
where fighting is going on between warlords and the allied troops
with remnants of Al Qaeda and Taleban. In Kabul one can see people of
different colors, races and religions and the locals have now learnt
how to deal with them in their day-to-day life."
About the general situation in Kabul he said the price of the
property was going up in Kabul and some Pakistanis had also set up
their offices there and were doing business. Most of them were doing
business in partnerships with local people.
Life in Kabul could be compared with any other big city because
mostly foreigners and big businessmen were staying there. The people,
even the kiosk owners were open-minded and sold all sorts of drinks.
During his seven-month long stay there he had felt that the northern
part of the country was calm as compared to the south. The people in
the north and Kabul were more liberal than the conservative south and
southeast. This he noticed from the people roaming in Kabul, the
majority of whom belonged to the north.
A Peshawar-based currency dealer told Dawn that hundreds of Afghans
daily took millions of rupees through illegal means to Afghanistan
without any check at the border. Each carrier used to take as much as
Rs two million on his body to Kabul as there was no checking at the
border.
note to antiobl, those hairballs are now all over Pakistan. ;- )
Yes but they are being tracked and eliminated. Good to hear that Afghanistan is starting to prosper though.
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*Originally posted by Shah Sur Khan: *
The NBP branch manager in Kabul, Syed Mahmoodur Rehman while talking
to Dawn exclusively here on Friday termed Kabul as a land of
opportunities with depth for all kind of investments.
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His Name is Syed Mahmood Ul Hassan :) I know him personlay, a very good fellow.
As I have said earlier as well... "The Future of Afghanistan can be good if U consider the constructino and development work going on.. BUT........... I think the Future is DARK socialy...."
You have described its Economical aspects... Now wat about the social ones...
e.g.
One Social Aspect...
Young Boys are getting minimum of 300 to 400 USD if they know english...
The Pay scales will not be this much high for long, So wat do U think, if these yough boys are used to big amounts,,,, will they be able to work on less amount in future......?
Majority of the young Generation as they have money in their pockets are just roaming aroung the city, having latest mobiles and cars and spoiling their time. They are goigin towards destruction socialy...
The problem Parents are having with these boys is..... They dont listen to their FATHER, the reason is again.... they think they dont need their Parents for economical needs, so they are a sort of .. wat we call... KHUD SIR...
This is only one aspect of the Socialy dark Future of Afghanistan... You can find watever you can find in any western country openly in Kabul... dont U think its spoiling the YOUNG GENERATION, the actual Future of Afghanistan.....?
The Development is going on.... Every day new constructions, big buildings are emerging.. Roads, etc... BUT at wat cost.....?
Yes there will be some changes but they will be alright. If nothing dramatic happened to Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Islambad then Kabul will be alright. Or maybe dramatic changes did occur in these cities but we are all fine with them, I'm sure Afghans will learn to live with it aswell.
^LOL
Kinda funny to see you not trashing Pakistan for once
I was under the impression that Pakistan always backed the Pashtuns in Afghanistan against the Uzbeks, Hazaras,,,, I thought this was especailly true under Zia when Akthar Abdul Rahman Khan was head of the ISI. I don't beleive this is a new development
As for the current govt. are'nt all the key post headed by Northern Alliance members?
Whatever the case, I hope Afghanistan does really well after so many years of war,,,,
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*Originally posted by elahi: *
......Whatever the case, I hope Afghanistan does really well after so many years of war,,,,
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We all hope so. I am sure the Afghans will be OK in the long run. No doom and gloom here.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by elahi: *
...Pakistan always backed the Pashtuns in Afghanistan against the Uzbeks, Hazaras,,,, ....
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Not "always". During anti-Soviet campaign Pakistan was the source (or channel) for every major resistance group including Uzbeks and Hazaras. The things went bad only after the departure of Soviets. There are many reasons for that change. As we all know Pakistan was not the only player in the region.
Khuda Hafiz