Afghanistan Read online

  AFGHANISTAN

  AFGHANISTAN

  GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES:

  A NEW HISTORY of the BORDERLANDS

  DAVID ISBY

  PEGASUS BOOKS

  NEW YORK

  To the memory of Mohammed Malik Mehrodin,

  who, in Kabul on 3 November 2008, while unarmed,

  prevented the kidnapping by terrorists of a foreign aid worker.

  “Afghanistan has been known over the years as the graveyard of empires. We cannot take that history lightly.”

  —GEN David H. Petraeus, USA, 2009

  CONTENTS

  GLOSSARY

  CHRONOLOGY

  PROLOGUE — OUT OF THE VORTEX

  —

  PART ONE — LANDS IN THE VORTEX

  CHAPTER ONE — AFGHANISTAN: A COUNTRY DEFINED BY CONFLICTS

  CHAPTER TWO — DWELLERS IN THE VORTEX

  CHAPTER THREE — PAKISTAN IN THE VORTEX

  —

  PART TWO — THREATS FROM THE VORTEX

  CHAPTER FOUR — TRANSNATIONAL TERRORISM

  CHAPTER FIVE — AFGHAN INSURGENTS

  CHAPTER SIX — AFGHAN NARCOTICS

  CHAPTER SEVEN — AFGHANISTAN’S INTERNAL CONFLICTS

  CHAPTER EIGHT — PAKISTAN’S INSURGENCY

  —

  PART THREE — WINNING THE CONFLICTS

  CHAPTER NINE — COUNTERING AFGHANISTAN’S INSURGENCY

  CHAPTER TEN — AID AND DEVELOPMENT

  CHAPTER ELEVEN — CONCLUSION: THE FUTURE

  —

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  SOURCES

  INDEX

  GLOSSARY

  AB: Airbase.

  Al Qaeda: Literally “the base,” transnational Islamic terrorist organization associated with Osama bin Laden.

  Alim: (plural, ulema) Islamic clergy.

  ANA: Afghan National Army.

  AMF: Afghan Military Force (now disbanded).

  Amir: Leader.

  ANP: Afghan National Police.

  ANP: Awami National Party, Pakistan; primarily Pushtun members, dates to pre-partition nationalism. Winner of 2008 election in NWFP.

  ANSF: Afghan National Security Forces (including ANA and ANP).

  AP: Associated Press.

  Barevli: School of Islamic practice originating in the subcontinent. Influenced by Sufic and traditional practices.

  Baluchi: Ethnolinguistic group, native to Pakistani, Afghanistan, and Iran. Sunni Muslim, in Pakistani their tribal system remains strong under the leadership of hereditary sardars.

  BG: Brigadier General.

  Bonn conference/process: Transition to constitutional rule in Afghanistan, 2001–05. Process started with a conference at the Petersburgerhof resort near Bonn, Germany, in 2001 and included the Emergency Loya Jirga, Constitutional Loya Jirga, the 2004 presidential and 2005 parliamentary elections.

  CF: Canadian Forces.

  CN: Counter narcotics.

  COL/Col.: Colonel (US Army/other).

  Constitutional Loya Jirga: Meeting of 502 delegates that drafted the current Afghan constitution, meeting in Kabul December 2003 to January 2004. The draft constitution was not voted on but was adopted by consensus.

  Darbar: Ritualized assembly by a leadership figure to receive pledges of loyalty and provide benefits to clients.

  Deobandi: School of Islam established in India following 1857 and the rise of British rule. Deobandi practices aimed to return to Islamic roots and away from influences from the subcontinent and Sufic practices. Influenced by but distinct from Wahabism.

  Durand Line: Current border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which largely follows the line established by an 1893 treaty, surveyed under orders of Sir Mortimer Durand. No Afghan government has ever accepted the permanence of the Durand line, while all British and Pakistani ones have.

  Durrani: The main Pushtun tribal grouping of southern Afghanistan. Except for 1930 and 1978–2001, all Afghan heads of state have been Durrani.

  Falah-e-Insaniat: Successor group to Lashkar-e-Taiba, Pakistani group, name changed following 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack.

  FATA: Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Seven agencies administrated by the Pakistani federal government. All separate the Durand Line from NWFP. From south to north, consists of: South Waziristan, North Waziristan, Kurram, Orakzai, Khyber, Mohmand, and Bajaur.

  Fatwa: Muslim religious edict, issued by an alim, having the force of law.

  FCR: Frontier Crimes Regulations, British colonial (1901) origins that apply in the FATA rather than the laws of Pakistan.

  Frontier Corps: Pakistani paramilitary formations, established by the British, of Pushtuns recruited to serve in the FATA and nearby areas. Under the Ministry of the Interior. Commanded by seconded army officers. Pushtuns do not serve in their home areas. The main uniformed force in the FATA.

  Frontier Constabulary: Pakistani national police formation.

  FR: Frontier region. One of six regions in the NWFP with special (FATA-like) legal status.

  GEN: General (US Army).

  Ghilzay: A major Pushtun tribal grouping of south-central and eastern Afghanistan. Sometimes seen as rivals to the Durrani for power.

  GIRoA: Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (post-2001).

  Golden Age: Normally used, with or without irony (depending on politics), to describe the later years of the reign of the former King Zahir, 1949–73, notable for experiments with democracy, increased centralization of power, and ultimately setting the stage for the conflicts of 1978–2001.

  Harakat-ul-Mujahideen: Party formed for cross-border insurgency from Pakistan into Kashmir. Recruited from Afghan and Pakistani Pushtuns.

  Haram: Unclean for Muslims.

  Hawala: Afghan money transfer system with international links; hundi is Pakistani equivalent.

  Hazara Jat: Land of the Hazaras, region in central Afghanistan cutting across several provinces.

  Hoqooq: Local traditional dispute resolution body, especially dealing with land and water disputes.

  HiH: Hezb-e-Islami party of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, one of the Peshawar seven 1978–02, waged civil war against ISA 1992–96, joined insurgents post-2001.

  HuT: Hezb-ut-Tahrir. Transnational Muslim group advocating a worldwide Khalifait, explicitly eschewing violence.

  IEA: Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban regime 1996–2001).

  IRA: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (post-2001).

  ISI: Inter Service Intelligence directorate (Pakistan). Primarily the military’s “directed telescope” inside Pakistan, it has, as a secondary mission, planned and executed Pakistan’s Afghanistan policies since the 1970s, often to the exclusion of other governmental institutions.

  JIA: Jamiat-e-Islami-Afghanistan. Islamist political party with roots in Kabul pre-1978. Leader Dr. Burnhaddin Rabbani. Members included Ahmad Shah Massoud and Ismail Khan. Largely Dari-speaking. One of the Peshawar Seven parties 1978–92. Participated in ISA government 1992–1996.

  JI: Jamaat-e-Islami. Oldest Pakistani religious party. Supporter of Afghan Taliban, HiH and Hezb-ul-Mujahideen, Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir, and terrorist organizations. Opposed to JIA, sees US as leading an anti-Pakistan alliance.

  Jihad: Holy war. In Islam, can be internal (in the soul of the believer) or external (against an outside force).

  Jirga: Afghan meeting for collective decision-making or dispute resolution, similar to shura but less likely to be a standing body.

  JeM: Jaish-e-Muhammad. Formed to take part in cross-border insurgency in Kashmir, recruited mainly in Punjab. Successor to Harakat-ul-Mujahideen.

  JUI: Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam. Pakistan religious party, ally of HiH pre-1996 (part of MMA). Runs the largest network of Deobandi-influenced madrassas in Pakistan.

  khan: Ter
m of respect, especially for a patron but also for anyone in secular authority.

  LeT: Lashkar-e-Taiba, formed to take part in Kashmir insurgency, involved in 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack, declared a terrorist organization by UN.

  Lok Sabha: Lower house of the Indian parliament, subjected to a high-profile terrorist attack in 2001 by Lashkar-e-Taiba.

  LTG: Lieutenant General.

  Madrassa: Muslim religious school. Maderi is plural, although madrassas is colloquial English usage. May be free-standing or associated with a mosque (deeni maderi).

  Majlis-e-shura: Requirement for an Islamic government to have consultation, a body set up to provide such consultation.

  Malik: Pushtun tribal figure that provides interface with the government. In Pushtun, appointed by the government, became a hereditary position in some tribes.

  Maulavi: Alim associated with a madrassa, often a deeni maderi that is associated with a mosque.

  MG: Major General.

  MMA: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal. Popularly known as the “Mullah and Musharraf alliance,” a coalition of Pakistani religious political parties that, after the 2002 elections, formed governments in NWFP and Baluchistan.

  IEA: Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban).

  IRoA: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (post–2001).

  ISA: Islamic State of Afghanistan (Northern Alliance supported, 1992–2001).

  LTG: Lieutenant General.

  NDS: National Directorate of Security (post-2001 Afghanistan intelligence service), the Amaniyat (literally, security). Also abbreviated NSD.

  Northern Alliance: Pro-ISA, anti-HiH and Taliban coalition 1992–2001 mainly of Tajik, Hazara, and Uzbek groups which included substantial Pushtun allies in the form of Dr. Abdurrab Rasul Sayyaf Ittehad-e-Islami (one of the Peshawar Seven) and the Nangarhar shura of Haji Qadir (previously part of HiK) plus a number of Pushtun leaders that were opposed to the Taliban, including Hamid Karzai, who became president of Afghanistan. Ahmad Shah Massoud was the major figure associated with the Northern Alliance.

  NSP: National Solidarity Program.

  Orientalism: Projecting a self-made and culturally biased understanding of a foreign culture, regardless of fact.

  PATA: Provincially Administered Tribal Areas in NWFP. Laws of Pakistan normally apply, with modifications, in these areas. Swat is a PATA.

  Peshawar: Capital and largest city of NWFP, on traditional trade routes from the subcontinent to Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass. Headquarters of the Sunni Afghan resistance parties in 1978–92.

  Peshawar Seven: The seven Sunni Afghan resistance parties supported by Pakistan during the 1978–92 conflict with headquarters in Peshawar. All except JIA were led by and predominantly composed of ethnic Pushtuns.

  PIB: Pakistan Intelligence Bureau. Pakistan’s civilian-based intelligence agency (CIA equivalent). Secondary to ISI under military governments, has been emphasized by some elected governments but has never been allowed to control Afghanistan policy.

  Pir: Saint in human form, holy man. Important in traditional Afghan Islam as a focus of devotion. Can be hereditary. Considered unIslamic by Deobandi and especially Wahabi influenced Islam.

  PRC: People’s Republic of China.

  Purdah: Literally “veil,” the practice of female separation from non-family members in the private sphere of life.

  Qawm (also quam): Afghan affinity group, a building block of Afghan society. Based on blood ties, ethnicity, locality, religious practice, or other bonds.

  Qazi: Alim learned in Sharia law.

  Salafi: Fundamentalist Islamic movement that aims to recreate the practices of the first generation of Muslim believers.

  Sardar: Hereditary Baluch tribal leader, having much stronger and more unitary authority than a Pushtun tribal chief.

  Sayid: Descendant of the Prophet Mohammed.

  Sipah-e-Sahaba: Pakistani terrorist group with roots in violence against Shia landlords in south Punjab. Participated in conflicts in Kashmir, Afghanistan (where they committed atrocities against Afghan Shias), and the FATA.

  Sharia: The body of Islamic religious law, Sunni and Shia. The legal framework within which the public and private aspects of life are regulated.

  Shomali Plain: Fertile agricultural area to the north of Kabul, subjected to ethnic cleansing and scorched-earth policies by Al Qaeda-inspired Taliban in the late 1990s.

  Shura: Body for collective decision-making and dispute resolution. Usually comprised of a number of local elder males with a claim to some legitimate authority.

  Shura-e-Nazar: Council of the North, organization Shah Massoud in 1980s. Became part of Northern Alliance, founded by Ahmad.

  SSG: Special Security Group, Pakistan Army special operations forces.

  Sufi (Sufic): The inner, mystical dimension of Islam, applicable to Sunni and Shia Islam. As a mystic in direct personal communion with the infinite, there is tension between the Sufi and the alim, who has an intervening role between the two.

  Tablighi Jamaat: Deobandi-influenced Muslim organization, publically eschewing political violence. Believed to operate worldwide and have tens of millions of members.

  Takfir: Muslims that are worse than infidels. The Al Qaeda-Taliban definition of these individuals is shared by few genuine theologians, who dispute whether this is a valid categorization.

  TNSM: Tehrik-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammed. Founded by Sufi Mohammed and son-in-law “radio mullah” Fazlullah. Operates in Bajaur, Swat, and NWFP.

  Transport Mafia: Colloquial name used to describe many predominantly Pushtun firms that handle Pakistan’s inter-city and international truck traffic.

  TTP: Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Coalition of Pakistan Islamic radical insurgent movements, under Behtullah Mehsud.

  Wahabi: Islamic movement originating in Saudi Arabia, aiming to implement a “pure” Islam free from local or traditional accretions.

  Westphalia: Treaty of 1648 often cited as creating the modern nation-state system.

  CHRONOLOGY

  1709: Kandahar revolts under Ghilzay chief Mir Wais Hotaki, secedes from Persian Empire.

  1747: Pushtun chief Ahmad Shah Durrani conquers Kandahar, Ghazni and Kabul, establishes a kingdom and dynasty.

  1776: Capital moves to Kabul from Kandahar.

  1839–42: First Anglo-Afghan War.

  1849: Second Sikh War ends. British annexation of Peshawar and most of what is now NWFP.

  1857: Indian Mutiny. End of HEIC, British imperial rule established in India, replacing Mughal Empire, leads to crisis in Islamic politics in the subcontinent.

  1878–80: Second Anglo-Afghan War. War ends with Afghan acceptance of most terms of the Treaty of Gandamack. Afghanistan gives Britain control of foreign policy in return for support for Kabul government, but retains sovereignty.

  1880–1901: Reign of King Abdur Rahman, “the iron amir” who created the institution of Afghanistan nationhood, consolidating rule from Kabul by force of arms.

  1893: Durand Line created.

  1919: Third Afghanistan War. Kabul tries to raise tribes on British side of the Durand Line.

  1919–29: Reign of King Amanullah in Afghanistan, identified with nationalism, reform, and modernization.

  1919: Amritsar massacre in the Punjab. Start of popular movement for decolonization in the subcontinent.

  1921: Anglo-Afghan Treaty. Afghanistan regains control over foreign affairs from New Delhi.

  1926: Treaty of Neutrality and Friendship with the Soviet Union.

  1928–31: Civil wars in Afghanistan. Following a revolt against the modernizer King Amanullah in 1927, he abdicated in 1929 in favor of his brother Enyatullah. He was succeeded by as king by Habibullah Kalakani (executed 1929) and Mohammed Nadir, who repeals most of Amanullah’s reforms (assassinated 1933).

  1929: Tajik leader Habibullah Kalakani (also known as Bacha-e-Saqao) seizes power for nine months.

  1933: Zahir crowned king of Afghanistan, reigns until 1973.

  1944–46: Safi R
evolt. Kunar valley ethnically cleansed of Safi Pushtuns.

  1947: Partition of Indian Empire.

  1947–49: First conflict in Kashmir. Pakistan recruits lashkars of Pushtuns from both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

  1949: Golden Age starts in Afghanistan, with experimental reform, democratic measures, foreign aid from Soviet Union and US.

  1961–63: Years of deteriorating relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Afghanistan’s claims to Pushtunistan lead Pakistan to close the border to trade.

  1965: Indo-Pakistani war. Afghanistan remains neutral.

  1970: First year rains fail in Afghanistan. Leads to widespread crop failures in 1970–73; hardship in rural Afghanistan hurts Kabul’s legitimacy.

  1971: Pakistan loses war with India, resulting in secession of East Pakistan as Bangladesh. Afghanistan remains neutral. Pakistan starts looking at countering India through “strategic depth” and Islamic approaches that would provide international strength and threaten India; both affect Afghanistan.

  17 July 1973: King Zahir overthrown in bloodless coup by his cousin, former Prime Minister Prince Mohammed Daoud. End of Golden Age. Afghanistan declared a republic.

  July 1975: “Panjshir revolt” by Pakistan-trained Islamists. Religious leaders also lead uprisings in Badakhshan, Jalalabad, Laghman, and Paktia.

  28 April 1978: Military putsch by Communist Khalqi army officers in Kabul. Daoud and many others in his family and leadership—secular and religious—murdered. People’s Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (PDRA) established.

  May 1978: Start of widespread arrests and executions.

  Summer 1978: Start of largest national rising of the twentieth century in Afghanistan.

  21 March 1979: Herat uprising against Soviets leads to increased military intervention, use of firepower.

  1979: Start of external aid, largely routed via Government of Pakistan (especially ISI) for the Afghan resistance. US, China, Saudi Arabia, many other countries supply funding but Pakistan insists on a monopoly on resource allocation.

  27 December 1979: Soviet invasion, new Parcham-dominated Afghan government put in place under Babrak Karmal.