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2004-05-10 Afghanistan/South Asia

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Posted by Fred 2004-05-10 3:31:38 PM|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Patience. Moderation. Subtlety. A willingness to cut deals. Nuance. Flexibility.

Posted by Liberalhawk 2004-05-10 4:29:09 PM|| 2004-05-10 4:29:09 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 And a hotline to CENTCOM's targeting cell.

Posted by Steve 2004-05-10 4:49:48 PM|| 2004-05-10 4:49:48 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 Gotta disagree, Steve. Prior to Sadiq, was ANY warlord type physically attacked? (as opposed to Taliban) Not one. Khan, Dostum, Shirzai, Atta, etc are ALL alive and in good health. But theyve been progressively defanged. Not saying force hasnt been important - the USE of force in the Pashtun areas has given Karzai his base (outside of Kabul) - the Pashtun provinces have been his Normandy, as Kabul was his Isle de France. But in dealing with his dukes and counts, he has relied more on subtlety and political skill, supplemented by occasional threat of force, not blasting away. He has proven as masterful as any Valois. Im not sure that this is generalizable beyond Afghanistan, but I think there are lessons to be learned here. Lessons which the simple minded on both right and left and desperately need.

Posted by Liberalhawk 2004-05-10 4:57:15 PM|| 2004-05-10 4:57:15 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 There's also the fact that the warlords were on our side in the fight against the ~~Pakistanis~~ Talibs. Ismail Khan and Dostum and Atta have their good points, and all three of them have at one time or another been actually heroic. If Massoud hadn't been assassinated, the government in Kabul would probably look a lot different than it does, and that each of them would have more power than he does now, with an entirely different power dynamic.

Posted by Fred 2004-05-10 8:26:48 PM|| 2004-05-10 8:26:48 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 For the record, Khan is a title -- I know a Roseanne Klass "Khan", who demanded to some of these warlords (when she was Freedom House's Afghanistan chief) that she be khan and not khanoub, the female perjorative ... they just looked at each other and said "okay" :P

Posted by Edward Yee 2004-05-10 9:41:23 PM|| [http://edwardyee.fanworks.net] 2004-05-10 9:41:23 PM|| Front Page Top

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