S a t u r d a y S t a r Ma r c h 3 1 2 0 0 7

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Afghanistan remains stuck in a
TIME WARP
Visiting the ruined city
of Kabul is like stepping
back in history, writes
Heidi Kingstone
M
ud drips from everything. It hangs
fromthe trees, fills the potholes that
deface every cracked, uneven, rub-
bish-strewn road. It cakes the feet
andshoes of Kabuls inhabitants and
seeps through their clothes, lungs
and history. When the mud dries it turns to dust.
Kabul is a city of ruins and ruminations, a
destroyed capital that lies in a valley surrounded by
snow-topped mountains 1 800m above sea level. The
thinair makes themappear unreal, likepaper cutouts.
Going to Afghanistanis similar to travelling back
in time. The new year fell on March 21 and the date
changed to 1386. It is not only a calendar shift. You
voyage back 600 years.
It might be easier for Afghanistan to turn into a
caliphate, as the Taliban would like, than for this
tragic, post-conflict country to blossom into a func-
tioning 21st century state, though some people are
trying. The question is whether they will succeed.
Afghanistan is one of the five poorest countries
in the world, and the only one not in sub-Saharan
Africa. After almost three decades of war and five
years of peace there are virtually no pavements to
walk on. The city has only a fewhours of electricity
a day, and in some areas on the outskirts of Kabul,
people still draw water fromwells.
Buildings are scarred and pockmarked, barely
standing, destroyed, decaying and bombed out.
Houses and shacks, full of bullet holes, collapsing
roofs, line dusty streets, and open sewers dont func-
tion. They get plugged up and create serious hygiene
problems .
To get a driving licence youmust pay a corrupt of-
ficial about $25 (R180), and they deliver it straight to
your house. Sometimes it seems that the real danger
in Afghanistan comes from the insane drivers,
who feel more comfortable in the middle of the road
driving directly at one another.
The problems here are complex, not only politi-
cally but practically, socially and culturally. People
heat their houses witha bukhary, a wood-burning or
diesel stove. But the smoke is heavy and there are no
trees inKabul. The beautiful forests of south-eastern
Afghanistan are disappearing. Wood is sold on the
black market to Pakistan for scaffolding.
Wood is not only scarce but expensive, a serious
problem when the temperatures dip below minus
20C. It also makes it difficult to get oxygen in the
city. The pollution is appalling and the foul air sits
in the bowl created by Kabuls geography.
On the mountainsides all around the sprawling
capital, people have built illegal houses. Steep paths
lead down to the city, and they rely on melted snow
or rain for water. Squatter settlements like these
comprise much of the citys housing stock. It makes
normal hygiene simple things like taking a shower
impossible. Public baths cost Afs50 (about $1) for a
private cubicle or Afs20 for a communal one.
All around the city, meat hangs fromhooks at tiny
stalls, shiny silvery fish are nailed to boards for dis-
play. Sheeps heads are neatly piled on the ground
underneath recently slaughtered carcasses. Carts
where traders sell their goods are filled with ba-
nanas, oranges, potatoes, radishes, cauliflowers,
tomatoes and eggplants. Sellers constantly dust off
the produce with a long-haired brush.
Groups of women in their forbidding, pleated
blue burqas walk together or stop to talk to one an-
other. Burqas are an urban phenomenon, as women
in rural areas need to work.
It is also an Arabic word. Here they use chadari,
which is the equivalent in Dari or Pashto, the two
main languages of Afghanistan. Women are recog-
nised by their feet or shoes. The most surreal vision
is of a woman all covered up but wearing high heels.
Still, it is mostly men who dominate the streets,
wrapped warmly in their patos, the traditional
heavy khaki blankets that ward off the winter cold.
Five years ago there was a Taliban government,
a fundamentalist regime. Now there is, very loosely
defined, a democratically elected government
headed by President Hamid Karzai, backed and
supported by the international community.
In reality his remit doesnt extend outside Kabul.
The 34-provinces are runindependentlybygovernors
who sometimes have close links withwarlords, some
who even are warlords, and others who prefer not to
travel to their dangerous provinces at all.
Many who would be considered war criminals
have seats inparliament. Bitter realities and political
horse-trading have challenged effective leadership in
this narco-economy, and has alienated Afghanis. An
amnesty bill was recently passed in parliament that
granted all members immunity fromwar crimes.
Just a few hours drive from Kabul, anti-govern-
ment elements, some close to the Taliban, are incon-
trol of a few districts, but no provinces have fallen
under their control. One inducement to recruitment
is that the Taliban pay well.
In a country of massive unemployment, joining
up can mean earning $7 to $10 a day or $50 to $100 a
month. Its a good place for angry young men to go.
The Taliban peddle the idea they will bring secu-
rity, but so far they havent. The insurgency in the
south and east, and sometimes close to Kabul, is a
direct cause of this.
In1983 the Soviets invaded. They were defeated by
the Mujahideen, and the Russians withdrewin 1989.
The country then fell into civil war that ended when
the Taliban brought security to Afghanistan in
1994, when they seized power.
After 27 years, people were sick of the illegal
armies whose commanders were largely corrupt
warlords. They destroyed Kabul, which had hardly
been touched by the Soviets. By the time the Taliban
triumphantly arrived, with their harsh fundamen-
talist ways, people craved stability. Then9/11. Slowly
another war gained momentum.
During those decades, an estimated 1-million
people were killed in Afghanistan, 65 000 were
murdered in the capital, and millions fled about
one-third to Pakistan and Iran. Anyone with skills
found work elsewhere.
Left with no healthcare, no education, no infra-
structure, it was inevery sense a ruined state, whose
social fabric had been destroyed.
Five years after the overthrow of the Taliban,
it is difficult to assess the current state of affairs,
but primarily, the situationleaves little roomfor wild
optimism. One success is that millions have re-
turned to Afghanistan, the largest refugee return in
history.
The election, while far from perfect, was a suc-
cess; girls and boys have returned to school; and the
polio eradication campaign has resumed. Slowly
things are being rebuilt, but its technically still a
war zone.
Conflict and bad leadership have left a tragic
legacy of unmapped minefields. Changing frontlines
worsened the problem because different groups
mined different areas. Each year, 700 people are
maimed, significantly downfromthe average annual
toll of 1 600: children, farmers, civilians, and soldiers
are the casualties. One demining group, The Halo
Trust, has been in the country for 19 years. They
expect it will take another 10 years for them and
others to complete the task.
As the seasons change and winter turns to spring,
the Talibanand the Nato forces launched onMarch 7
the long-talked-about spring offensive that will bring
killing and chaos once again to the south of this
rugged and barren land.
Five suicide bomb teams have apparently entered
Kabul, waiting for the right moment to attack the
obvious targets military HQ, armoured vehicles,
UK and US embassies, ministries and softer
targets.
The streets leading into the capital are patrolled
by the Afghan National Police and the Afghan
National Army, looking for weapons and extrem-
ists. Darkened film on car windows is illegal,
allowed only for government officials and diplomats.
But it is inthe southwhere the battle for Afghanistan
will be won or lost.
Afghanistans pivotal problems remain poppies,
Pakistan and politics.
Karzai is weak and inexperienced. He runs a cen-
tralised government in a country where the regions
are strong.
The military will tell youthat out of 34 provinces,
only five are dangerous, but those five once ruled the
country. The south, primarily, which remains the
critical battleground, and the east of the country, are
at this point practically lost to the extremists. Unlike
the Iraqis, the Afghanis are positive about the Amer-
ican/Nato presence, but that is unlikely to last
forever, especially as the killing intensifies.
Akey problemis that Pakistangives sanctuary to
the Taliban in Baluchistan and North West Frontier
Province. Suicide attacks, improvised explosive
devices and beheadings of hostages techniques
that al-Qaeda perfected in Iraq are being imported
and used here with increasing frequency by the
Taliban. DVDs of beheadings are sold locally in the
south and widely distributed.
This is a rigidly traditional and hierarchical
country, where mullahs and maliks (mayors) and
tribal leaders are respected and listened to. The idea
of democracy as we understand it is too foreign to
take root in the near future.Some 80% of the
population live in the countryside, while about 85%
of women and about 60%of men are illiterate.
Honour killings continue with alarming regular-
ity. Women are treated as chattel, girls are married
off at 13 years old to pay off their parents debts
despite a constitution that guarantees the rights of
women and a parliament that consists of 25%female
representation. In Bamiyan province, where the
Taliban destroyed the Buddhas, there is a female
governor. None of this prevents women being
beaten.
Corruptionunderlies everything inthis total cash
economy. Ninety-two percent of the worlds heroin
comes from Afghanistan, and much of it can be
found on the streets of Western cities.
More poppies have been eradicated in Helmand
this year than in all of last year. This is the south-
ern province where they grow, but this is not the
whole story. Poppy production overall has increased
by 59%in 2006 and is helping to fuel the Taliban
resurgence.
It took Pakistan decades to eradicate poppies,
and then they had a functioning government,
judiciary and police. Here they have one policeman
for every 1 000 people, and because they are paid so
poorly about $50 a month they are notoriously
corrupt.
The billions thrown at Afghanistan could have
contributed to rebuilding this country. Sadly, most
of it has lined the pockets of non-governmental
organisations, corrupt officials, and funding the
military.
Its fair comment to say that neither the Afghanis
nor the Americans should expect miracles, although
that is whats needed. The optimism and hope that
Afghanis felt when the Taliban fell and the Ameri-
cans came in has been greatly diminished in a
sea of disappointment, corruption and unfulfilled
promises.
In retrospect, the Americans didnt realise the
scale of devastation. Lowlevels of education and an
untrained workforce have resulted in low-level
capacity, despite some outstanding exceptions,
including some in the government.
This has also contributed to the government
being unable to spend the bulk of its budget over the
past four years.
As a result, many Afghanis want to leave, and
there are long queues outside the Indian and Iran-
ian embassies. Who can blame them? The influx of
Indian movies and culture is also having a powerful
influence on young Afghanis.
It was bad under the Russians, worse under the
Mujahideen, and worst of all under the Taliban.
Culon yomanbadter, translated fromArabic, means
things are getting worse and worse. There are lots
of bullets, but no silver bullet. Will it take years or
decades or even centuries to fix Afghanistan? Is it
even possible? Or will it all simply turn to dust?
The optimism and hope that Afghanis
felt when the Taliban fell and the
Americans came in has been greatly
diminished in a sea of disappointment,
corruption and unfulfilled promises

An Afghan boy (main image)

holds toy gun as he walks with
his father to celebrate Nawroz, a
new year ceremony at the Sakhi
Shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan last
month. A Nato soldier sits guard
on an armored vehicle during a
military exercise on the outskirt
of Kabul during February (top
left). An Afghan boy walks by an
unused old car in Kabul,
Afghanistan (top right). Women
celebrate the new year. (middle)
Photographs: AP
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