Gulbuddin hekmatyar

[Catya Sher]

I have a vintage postcard of him which I have recently unearthed. He looks so much younger in that.

I was granted a rare interview by him in Peshawar a long time ago. He or one of his staff presented that card at that time. He's in a karakul cap. (If there happen to be any of his fans out there in the etheric zones who would be interested, let me know discreetly and I'll send you a copy...!)

Here, he sounded much more peaceful than the fiery speeches he was noted for in anti-Soviet times.
It's nice he spoke humbly about his fighters.
Otherwise he didn't say too much of startling nature.

For me the most interesting were the comparisons between the Russian and American tactics.

Anybody else?

[Catya Sher]

Well I know how to scan now. But I'm not sure what I do after that to get it to show up on a post here !

If anyone is willing to give me instructions, I'll be glad to.

I remembered after I wrote that post that I ALSO have:
a picture I took where he's actuallly SMILING a little.
With eyes cast down as conservative Muslims do.

THAT was a major rarity too, that I was permitted to actually take a photo of the reclusive leader. He was maybe like Mullah Omar a bit even then.
For he was quite nervous I think about Khad & other Soviet agents.
Americans he didn't trust at all - he was known for being vociferously anti-American.
In retrospect maybe people could say there was a reason for his dislike.
At the time it seemed far excessive.

I'm glad you said that about him.

I wonder too why Americans refuse to accept the obvious: that they are hated.
US officials and the media speak as though there's no tomorrow as far American-Afghan 'partnership'.
Never do they admit that even as little as one or two percent of Afghan population don't like them.
Sounds reminiscent of the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaties and Bridges etc.

Americans involved with Afghanistan today seem to be living in a dream world of illusions.

More likely: severe cases of chronic denial !

[khushal]

He is in the greedy camp with masood and dostom, They are responsible for destoying the country. They would stop at nothing to get power, They were so sick with greed and so power hungry that they destroyed respectable country and themselves. They have respect from no one, they cant even respect themselves.

[BLS_1919v2.0]

Americans are not exposed to Afghan civilians. Americans are around Afghans who praise American efforts(since they are becoming millionaires)

I think what Hekmatyar did to Kabul was wrong. Catya do you know his nickname in Afghanistan is "Rocketyaar"?

Or his sketchy relationship with Islamabad in the 70s (Massouds as well).

[Admin Khan]

He is in the greedy camp with masood and dostom, They are responsible for destoying the country. They would stop at nothing to get power, They were so sick with greed and so power hungry that they destroyed respectable country and themselves. They have respect from no one, they cant even respect themselves.

The only difference is that the present Govt is celebrating Masood's "achievements". Masood is our national hero, hip hip hurray!

Sona da sharam khabara da.

[khushal]

The only difference is that the present Govt is celebrating Masood's "achievements". Masood is our national hero, hip hip hurray!

Sona da sharam khabara da.

Dee khakeekat ka sharam neesh ta.

The only reason Masood is celebrated is because american dollars are
manipulating that celebration. The celebration is not real, Take away the american money from the equation and the truth is revealed.

Hekmatyar is not known as rocketyaar in afghanistan, only in kabul.

[Admin Khan]

Dee khakeekat ka sharam neesh ta.

The only reason Masood is celebrated is because american dollars are
manipulating that celebration. The celebration is not real, Take away the american money from the equation and the truth is revealed.

But the fact that he has been equated as our "National hero" is indeed a time for sharam for the Afghan nation. Hagha zmosh Ahmad Shah Baba oh hagha nor graan masharan ba tola da zhara da laasa seelab jor key.

The power of the dollar? I agree but even if the Americans do indeed leave and we still have this current Govt, he will remain as a national hero. We need a strong leadership to make a difference. You and I cant expect things to change if we are living and enjoying prosperous lives in the west. If you and I want to see a change, we have to flood our nation with educated people. I met an Afghan official the other day and I was shocked at his ignorance. It made me wonder, Its not really his fault. Who else does the Afghan nation have to offer?

I met the Karzais once and I argued that you guys are corrupt, blah and the usual. They argued that if I am sitting in the west, who am I to criticize them? They even went as far as telling my relative to leave his present job and to come to Afghanistan, they even offered an official position, lets leave it at that. He also argued that "none of you want to leave your western luxuries for a war-torn nation, so be quiet, at least we are in this war-torn nation unlike you hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have settled in the west".

[khushal]

Admin Khan

That is true, but the whole system was built from scratch with the aim of building a corrupt government. When you are trying to build a government with people at the head that have blood on their hands and everybody blames them for destroying the country, the result is going to be nothing but corruption. When ever a foreign military builds a government with the aim to easily controlled it, they will build one that is weak and dependent on them. This is all done on purpose. I had a relative in the government who refused to be bought off and he was killed, body never found. There are people that have to pay off gangsters so they can drive on roads and not be shot at. I have a relatives whom the US approached and was offered a high ministery position but refused it because he did not want to work under a gangster that had no education on how to run a ministry. Why would the US put some uneducated warlord to run a ministry and have educated people under them that know how to administer. There are many that want to go to afghanistan and help rebuild the country, but they dont want to work under a bunch of gangsters that wll run the country to the ground. It seems the US is not inerestd in building a strong afghan government because they know the aghan mind is very independent and unruly and will not be easily controlled. They know this from history.

[Admin Khan]

Admin Khan

That is true, but the whole system was built from scratch with the aim of building a corrupt government. When you are trying to build a government with people at the head that have blood on their hands and everybody blames them for destroying the country, the result is going to be nothing but corruption. When ever a foreign military builds a government with the aim to easily controlled it, they will build one that is weak and dependent on them. This is all done on purpose. I had a relative in the government who refused to be bought off and he was killed, body never found. There are people that have to pay off gangsters so they can drive on roads and not be shot at. I have a relatives whom the US approached and was offered a high ministery position but refused it because he did not want to work under a gangster that had no education on how to run a ministry. Why would the US put some uneducated warlord to run a ministry and have educated people under them that know how to administer. There are many that want to go to afghanistan and help rebuild the country, but they dont want to work under a bunch of gangsters that wll run the country to the ground. It seems the US is not inerestd in building a strong afghan government because they know the aghan mind is very independent and unruly and will not be easily controlled. They know this from history.

I absolutely agree with you. The government is entirely dependent on American aid, In fact, IF America decides to leave Afghanistan, Afghanistan will be forced to dependent on either Iran or Pakistan. Afghanistan is a land-locked country and unfortunately its no where near as self-sufficient as its counterparts. I was in Germany recently and you would be astonished at the amount of educated Afghans Germany has. I met this family from Kandahar in which nearly ever male had graduated college and some of its family members even possed Ph.D's from Berlin University. I asked them if they would ever return back to Afghanistan and they gave me this little smirk and ignored my question. As pushy as I can be at times, I asked him again and he responded that as long as this corrupt government is in charge he is never leaving the Bundesrepublik. That is all he had to say to keep me quiet for another 10 minutes. I had to agree with him, no one wants to work for a Government full of war-lords who went from rags to riches.

Afghanistan can only prosper if we acknowledge our enemies and problems. We can't continue living with hatred and animosity for our neighboring nations. We must make our intentions loud and clear. Iran, we don't like it when you do this. Pakistan, we don't like it when you do this. We can't permit Pakistan or Iran to have its proxy elements in our country for its own strategic interests. We have to realize that we need education in order to become successful. We cant have countries telling us that your females should not receive education, especially when that country itself has its very own females flooded within its university systems. Masood became our national hero because quite obviously there is an agenda behind this, our language is under threat. I remember hearing Pashto everytime on an Afghan airlines but now, according to my uncle, all you hear is Dari and Dari only. Little things like what I just mentioned has a negative effect on our mind-sets and can lead us into thinking that our language isn't important enough to be acknowledged or that it can never serve as our lingua-franca. We are over 50 percent of the population Khushal Jaan. We need to appear dominant in all fields of our country. We need to be more involved in Science and Technology. We can't be led into thinking that we are the big-brothers and we need to defend this country while other ethnic groups receive Ph.Ds. I absolutely acknowledge that other ethnic groups have also sacrificed for Afghanistan, but my concern is with the illiterate Pashtun population who has been deceived into thinking that education is not important. We need to stop letting others play with our minds. We are Pashtuns, we are better than that.

In conclusion, If you and I want to stop seeing these war-lords destroying our cities and nation, we must receive proper education our selves and serve for our country. We can not continue sitting behind our computers in cozy chairs while criticizing Tajiks, Uzbeks or whomever for that manner for installing Masood as a hero. We need to realize that many Afghans were sadly very exuberantly happy when they found out that Masood is our national hero. We need to make a difference, we can't continue depending our older generations. Its time for us to do something. We should donate money to our people, do you have any clue how much $10 a month can bring a difference to an Afghan family? That is less than $.33 cents a day. We need to do something soon and quickly.

Es ist ein Vergnügen, Sie zu treffen Khushal! Eid Mubarak.

Staso wror,
-Admin Khan

[khushal]

Thank you admin khan,

I am sad to hear that our language is constantly under threat. I do beleive that the success of afghanistan depends on the pashtuns in Pakistan. If we dont have access to the arabian sea and the indus river, it would be extremely difficult for Afghanistan to be economically viable.

Eid mubarak to you and everyone else.

[Catya Sher]

Eid Mubarak to all !

Indeed it IS a critically important topic to debate in detail, this last part of the thread written by Admin Khan and khushal.

I see a cop-out, though, by the Karzais and all the regime people in their excuses.

This problem has endured since the Soviet takeover too. I wrote about the problem of Afghan intellectuals and other very skilled, talented people in many fields who had neither a place in Moscow-run Kabul, NOR in Peshawar trying to advise the Mujahideen.

It's a very tricky question.

It seems to me that people who moved to the West chose the best of the options available during the time periods of these two regimes. They are hopefully acquiring very valuable skills and cosmopolitan experience which could help later to put together a truly Afghan system and society. Whenever that day arrives.

Everything during these two occupations has been brittle, artificial due to the need of subservience to a foreign agenda brought by culturally extremely different powers who threw their weight around in particularly heavy-handed ways. Probably neither really accomplished any lasting good to benefit Afghanistan - despite all the propaganda of each.

So I think Afghans in the West should not feel guilty at all, because their day can arrive later to wield influence.

The stories told above are so terrible about the nature of the current regime. Anyone would have to be greedy or mentally unbalanced to sign up for roles in that unsavory environment.

So my point is that the Karzai types know all too well how rotten it is: therefore they try to make Afghans in Europe and America feel ashamed as a way to deflect attention from their own massive failures to accomplish anything to benefit the country despite the billions poured in. They have a lot to answer for to God and to their fellow people - and they know it well!

But they want everybody to forget about that part...!

So they blame those Afghans who are diligently working to learn various professions and acquire knowledge in a multitude of fields. That's a transparently obvious tactic.
Don't anyone fall for it!

I wonder what type of position Admin Khan's relative was offered, out of curiosity?
It's certainly wise of him and everyone else to refuse such clearly dangerous offers.
These would be cases of short-term gain but ultimate loss. Best to wait for the right time when one can make some difference in the system.

[Catya Sher]

Oh I know.
I have always been wary of him. Only recently did it sound as though he is more constructively contributing based on comments on this Forum.

Speaking of Massoud's anniversary yesterday, the double 9 day, I always questioned WHY he was given such a big billing.
It was actually the French who played him up due to his speaking of their language - I always assumed. Americans were not interested until more recently when it suited their interest. Now, from the posts above, it sounds as though there was a big fete organized to commemorate him in Kabul?

Was he officially declared National Hero?

I always knew something was wrong about him, but did not have the details. I felt that the coverage by Edward Girardet so exclusively focused on Massoud and Panjshir in The Christian Science Monitor was not really fair or representative of the entire country's efforts to turn back the Soviet onslaught.

So let's say images of these commanders as presented by the West's media machine have been distorted and skewed.

If the French had been fair, they would have focused more than they did on for example, Amin Wardak, an excellent speaker of French and highly effective commander and humanitarian assistance provider for his region.

Where do these images get manufactured, one wonders. They often aren't fair.

About Gulbuddin, I feel at least he's organizing resistance. The interview makes him look humble, as though maybe he repents his previous bad actions. But obviously he would refuse a question about whether he is sorry for the rocketing, etc.

Perforce, the interviewer had to stay within the margins of agreed neutral topics to gain access at all, no doubt. That's how it almost always works.

I will post the picture - or try to - I'm terrible with this kind of computer stuff! - I mentioned later on, it's a souvenir from those early days of the jihad.

We have to say: well at least he stood up and fought the Communist regime way before most Afghans. Compare with say Bulgaria or a country like that. There were NO Gulbuddins or Jelaluddins there. Hence, the country remained a dutiful Soviet satellite for decades of misery!

[Catya Sher]

Thanks for saying that, Afghanlady!

One can feel waves and waves of furious feelings emanating out that he was named this. It's really really really bad, I agree.

A Pashtun nationalist party also did? Goodness! They were forced then?
They couldn't possibly be enthusiastic. If so, they must be pretty unpopular!
Was that back when this first happened, about 2002 ? I'm not quite clear about the timing.

I'm glad you confirmed how hated he is.

Did they put on afghani currency notes or anything like that?
Is it just a title or his picture is all over the place everywhere you look in government offices, for example? I wonder how big the scale of his being pushed on the public actually is.

[khushal]

I think alot of Pastuns inside Afghanistan and outside have come to realize that as long as America is in Afghanistan, the Tajics would rule it. If one thinks about the history of Colonial rulers. They always used the minorty against the majority. If the Colonial rulers put minorities in power they would be technically weak without outside support therefore dependent on the Colonial rulers. Its a kind of marriage. The minority government needs the Colonial rulers to keep control and the Colonial rulers need that government of minority people to control that society. That is the reason 99% of the resistance is Pushtun. America has come to realize that the Tajic Generals cant handle the insurgency so their next plan is to create militias in different parts of the country to control the insurgency. Karzai is against the militia plan fearing the country may split up. Another fear comes from where the development is happening. Almost all the develpment is happening in the north and west and hardly any in the the south and east. History shows that when a country has two different economies, one developed and one undeveloped, natural forces would play its part and the country will split.