Response to "Taliban Poised at the gates of Kabul"

The article “Taliban poised at the gates of Kabul” is a typical example of irresponsible journalism – the kind of voyeuristic, fear-mongering, hope-crushing, let’s-give-up-on-Afghanistan-pandering journalism that we can expect from Rush Limbaugh, but elicits a response of deep disappointment when headlined on CNN.

I’ve been living in Afghanistan now for seven months, and this is my fourth visit to the country as a civilian. By the way, I am a woman. In this time, I’ve seen Kabul transformed from a city where every third building was damaged to a city with booming construction, a thriving retail business, increasing numbers of girls and women participating in life outside of their homes, a choice of seventeen channels on television, and a thriving banking industry. Afghans here get 6% interest on their deposits, something that we Americans can stand to be desperately jealous of.

An exhibit for briquettes (an alternative to wood) at the Kabul Agriculture Fair, 2008

Yes, there are security issues – serious ones. However, the tone of this article is one that gives insight to the saying, “a little knowledge is dangerous”. Reading this article would have my family and friends cringe with terror about my safety. However, the reality is, even with this current situation, the streets of Kabul are safer than those of Washington D.C., Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit etc. I challenge the author to compare the percentage of deaths caused through violence in Kabul vs. any of the cities above.

Yes, with the current population crush in Kabul, it would be easy for the Taliban to attack anywhere, anytime. Then – why don’t they? Could it be that they are increasingly finding it difficult to recruit? Could it be that the Afghan intelligence system is getting better? Is it possible that there are more patriotic Afghan police than corrupt? Has the author taken the responsibility to do a minor survey of ordinary citizens here to find out the overwhelming lack of support for the Taliban? Or has she convinced herself of abject terror – the same kind she is trying to convince the readers of.

To call Kabul as “one of the last bastions of security in Afghanistan” is a downright lie. There are no other words for it. A deeply dangerous and thoughtless lie. Has the author traveled to Bamiyan, Takhar, Daikundi, Mazar, Nangahar, Balkh, Panjsher, Herat and other provinces in Afghanistan? When I read the line out to several Afghans here, they just started laughing at the unbelievable level of ignorance.
Men and women gathering to see a play written by
women for women at an outdoor theater in Kabul

The author goes on to say after lamenting about the low wages of Afghan police and the resulting corruption, “Still, coalition forces have no choice but to keep rooting for Kabul's cops” Actually, the coalition forces can do something. If making Afghanistan secure is so important to the coalition, the high command could insist and make a serious and public recommendation that aid money be used to supplement the wages of the Afghan police and security forces. They could, on national television and in congressional hearings, say that increasing the pay of the Afghan police and army is an integral part of the strategy to improve national security.

But of course that brings me to my final question: If our press does not write about the horror that is Afghanistan instead of real and transformational solutions, how could we keep feeding the insatiable hunger of our military industrial complex?


The proud owner of the prize winning goat at the Kabul Ag Fair