Afghanistan

[Bruce Appelbaum]

I lived in Pakistan during the mid 1980s when the Russians were in
Afghanistan.  Interesting times.  An ammunition dump explosion in the middle
of Rawalpindi resulted in the deaths of thousands of squatters around the
site.  Not quite on the scale of the World Trade Center, but being in the
middle of it, I can appreciate the terror.   (BTW, those deaths were denied
by the government of Pakistan).

Has it occurred to anybody that the U.S. aid to the Afghans resisting the
Soviets during that time (arms funneled through Pakistan) ultimately
resulted in the rise of the Taliban, who filled the vacuum left when the
Russians pulled out?

In a slightly humorous aside, while I was living in Pakistan Cat Stevens,
who had recently embraced Islam, was paying a visit to the country.  He is
now known as Yusef ul-Islam, I believe.  He was also to visit Afghanistan,
and had written a song about it:

Afghanistan, land of Islam
Afghanistan, land of Islam

That's about all I remember of the song.  I do remember, that Mr ul-Islam
was roundly criticized by Pakistanis because they couldn't see what the big
deal was about him coming that the press had to play it up so widely.  After
all, many Christians were embracing Islam without newspaper articles and
press conferences.



end

Regards

Bruce Appelbaum
Yorktown Heights, New York