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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Downhill in Afghanistan: The most remote place on earth is now the most dangerous,

War on Terror
Downhill in Afghanistan: The most remote place on earth is now the most dangerous
By Jonathan Power (jonatpower@aol.com)
Monday 22 September 2008 (22 Ramadan 1429)
The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is 1,640 miles long, much of it virtually inaccessible remote and mountainous, with only the locals able to move freely on goat and footpaths. This is the distance between New York and New Mexico. It contains the warlike Pashtuns who provide nearly all the Taleban insurgents. The 25 million Pashtuns are one of the largest tribal groups in the world. In fact, they are the largest ethnic group without a state of their own. Pakistani and Afghan government institutions have never been able to gain a foothold in these areas. Taxes are not paid and outsiders repulsed. This goes back to the time of Macedonian would-be conqueror Alexander. The British likewise were defeated. So were the Soviets. The latter killed more than a million Pashtuns and drove three million into exile in Pakistan and Iran and still they were compelled to retreat. As for post-independence Pakistan, it has never controlled more than 100 meters to the left and right of the few paved roads.

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