UNREPORTED WORLD: AFGHANISTAN OCCUPATION LITE
Reporter: Sam Kiley
Director/Cameraman:NICK HUGHES
Executive Producer: Eamonn Matthews
As recorded 7 October 2004
COMM: These are the foot soldiers of Americas Empire. Afghan and US troops heading into battle. Their mission: to attack the Taleban, win the war on terror, and bring Afghanistan peace.But I was to discover that in central Asia, America has already reached the limits of its power.
FILM
PTC: Ive just arrived at Kabul international airport and weve just been told that theres a terrorist bomb outside the building which has been planted just outside the airport building which is being diffused as we speak.
01:17:00
COMM: There had been frequent bombs in the capital aimed at wrecking the government of Hamid Karzai, Afghanistans interim president, installed by America after they toppled the Taleban regime
PTC: Ive just spoken to a British guy whos in charge of airport security and he told me that the bomb was found in some hand luggage that was discovered in the X ray machine, and handed to a deaf and dumb trolley guy who pushed it out o the fountain over there and chucked it in the water and soon after that the international forces came and disabled it.
01:50 COMM: The US promised peace, democracy. But its best not to travel by road. There are only 6,000 peacekeepers in Kabul. And 18,000 American troops are scattered across a country the size of France, Switzerland and Belgium combined.
PTC Its only a four or five hour drive east to Jalalabad but Im having to fly because the road which runs down through a river gorge is much too dangerous for foreigners to take therere regular ambushes and murders on this route
02:22 COMM: Osama bin Laden used to live on the outskirts of Jalalabad.Islamic fundamentalist groups opposed to democracy have concentrated their attacks here in the run up to the presidential elections.
02:37 COMM: Foreigners are seen by militants as propping up the American backed government, were a threat to ourselves and to others.
PTC: This was the site of a bomb one of three in the space of five days in down town Jalalabad about a week ago I can only move around this town with an escort of heavily armed guards who have been provided by the governor and his nephew.Three people were killed right here, bang in the middle of Jalalabad one of the busiest towns in the whole of Afghanistan.
03:1703:34 COMM: Survivors of these blasts were still being treated at the hospital . This isnt Iraq. This man said he didnt want Americans to leave but more US troops to bring security. He said he didnt want what had happened to him to happen to others.
Sync Sam: do you speak English? A little?
PTC: He was visiting his brother he told me who was a police officer when there was an explosion his brother rushed to help with the wounded when he crossed the street to get out of the way when he walked right into another bomb which injured his legs and burned him very badly.
10:04:02
COMM: Afghanistan is a nation without law or order. All of the casualties in this hospital were victims or gunfights, bombs and car wrecks.
COMM: Some bombs have deliberately targeted women.
PTC: Im on my way to visit the family of two women one who was killed and one who was very badly injured when they were trying to conduct voter registration on the outskirts of Jalalabad they are among more than 12 women who been killed or injured in bomb attacks by militants who dont want the elections to occur and especially not women participate.
04:4804:53 COMM: It turned out the injured woman was in fact a child. Zamzaman is six years old.
04:5305:12 COMM: She lost her leg and several fingers. Shed been sitting on her big sisters knee. The bomb was under their seat. Her sister Husay had been the leader of a group who had chartered a bus to take them into the countryside. Theyd hoped to persuade other women to vote in the election.
05:2605:47 COMM: Her mother told me how she heard of Husays death.PTC: Shereena said that theyd heard on the street that there had been an explosion then when they went to the site they were told that the bob had been placed under her daughters seat and that her daughter was so badly hurt and so badly blown up that she should not see her.COMM: Husay knew she was risking her life.Shed begged her daughter not to participate in the voter registration because it was so dangerous. But her daughter said that in the new Afghanistan where men and women were equally as an educated woman it was her job to stand shoulder to shoulder with the men and make sure that other women participate in the elections.
06:13 COMM: Husays father now pinned his hopes on democracy.Both Shereena and Walid Mohammed have said that if Afghanistan can have democracy and move forward to the selection of a president that actually serves the nation then her death will not have been in vain.
PTC: Im on my way to see Haji Zahir. Three years ago I was with him during the assault on Osama bin Ladens HQ at Tora Bora which is in the White Mountains just above Jalalabad that assault was a complete debacle in which all of al Qaeda managed to escape.
07:08 COMM: This warrior leader insisted that Afghans were yearning for peace but without more American troops they faced a dismal future.
SYNC Haji Zahir: We are also human and like a human you like peace, security, education, health so we like these things we need these things.
07:32 COMM: There are eight times as many US troops in Iraq as Afghanistan.Washington has concentrated what troops it does have on the hunt for bin Laden and the remnants of the taliban.
PTC: Im flying on an American Hercules transport aircraft into Kandahar which is the head quarters of their battle against the Taleban and al Qaeda.
07:59 COMM: Because of Iraq, American troops are badly over stretched here searching for bin Laden. Almost twice as many troops were used to hunt for Somali war lord Mohammed Aidid in five square miles of Mogadishu and they never found him.
In Kosovo there was one foreign soldier to every 50 local civilian, In Somalia the rate as one to a 200. Here its one to 1,115 Afghans.
COMM: Before going to the American base Id arranged to meet with Mohammed Satay, hes a former politician helping to run voter registration.He took me to hill above the city and pointed out Mullah Omars former home where the Taleban was founded.Kandahar is rarely patrolled by US soldiers.
COMM: Mohammed took me for lunch in the centre of the city. Technically its under the control of the Kabul government but I soon discovered why Americans keep out of Kandahar. Dozens of guns for hire working for local war lords were hanging around. No one could trust them. Here, Mohammed explained, the Americans were only renting peace.
PTC: Mr Satays saying that for 100 dollars they could work for me or they could shoot me in the back and thats one of the problems he says thats affected the whole of the foreign intervention in Afghanistan. Because they arrived with too few troops the foreign forces have relied on local Afghan forces as their foot soldiers, these guys are now back on top and are the greatest threat to democracy and I have to admit they feel pretty threatening sitting her at lunch.
09:55 COMM: Most afghans are as frightened of the warlords as the Taliban. We were attracting too much attention and decided to leave.
Sync: I dont like this place I want to go.
10:09 COMM: The day after we fled our lunch there was a gunfight in the centre of town over who should be chief of police, local journalists said seven people were killed.
SYNC: Well thats a relief, were still alive. I know that were targets and youre targets. You guys are very brave but Im not interested in getting shot at in Kandahar.
10:45 COMM: Mr Satay took me to a voter registration centre in the old city of Kandahar; they know theyre top of the bombers hit list..Sync: How many people have you registered at this site so far?PTC: These gentlemen here who are registering voters are registering nine thousand just at this little station and I asked them are you excited about these elections and does this excitement extend to actually being willing to die for the process because theyre under threat from the Taleban and other forces and they said absolutely after 30 years of war in this country they are prepared to give their lives if this means peace.
11:30
PTC: Im on my way to see a man called general Sharzai hes one of the local war lords and he has a very very close relationship with the Americans, so close in fact that he lives right next door to them in that building over there.
12:00 COMM: the Generals lobby is a portrait gallery of the top brass in the US armed forces whove beaten a path to his door.
Sync American special forces colonel. What medal is this?The army achievement medalHow many medals have you got General: about 80 or 90 medals.80 or 90 medals? Wow.
SYNC: Tell me how did you come to get involved so closely with the Americans?
12:42 COMM: He said he had been able and happy to provide 800 troops to guard his American guests.
PTC: General Sharzai tells me that all of his men fall squarely under the command of the Kabul administration although he did admit that they were paid via the governor here in Kandaharbul and as he put it his treasurer then picks up their salaries and distributes it..
13:11 COMM: His deputy insisted on a tour of inspection. Sharzais loyalties may be with the central government. But the truth is he runs a private army - and charges $400,000 a month to guard the Americans.
Sync: Hullo, hello, how old are you? How old is he? This chap in front of me is said to be 17 but he hasnt reached puberty yet.
[IS HE REALLY PREPUBESCENT ? Teenage ? ]
COMM: Pre-pubescent security guards are better than none at all. Thinly spread, the Americans have to hire forces locally to make up the numbers even for major operations.Inside the base I was invited to a planning meeting for Operation Devils Backbone, with Lt Col Michael McBride.
Sync Lt Col Michael McBride: Are we ready to do this thing.
COMM: Spies reported that a senior Taleban leader had been spotted in the Zabul region, just north of Kandahar.This attack would involve hundreds of Americans and Afghans. Militia leaders and the governor of neighbouring Ghazni province hired their men to the Americans as infantry.This operation was going to be big. And expensive. We pay the piper but they call the tune, one American officer whispered,
COMM: The Americans are so overstretched that three years after their arrival here, this was the first deployment of US and Afghan troops on any scale into the province of Zabul a vital and strategic area.It controls the road between Kandahar and Kabul. Its mountains are a haven for al Qaeda and stretch into Pakistan. The Taleban had ensured that only 10 per cent of the population here had been able to register to vote.
COMM: Wed been warned to expect 200 guerrillas.
SYNC: The aircraft buzzing over head have seen some people behaving suspiciously and they havent yet decided whether or not theyre actually going to search the village and as the colonel said in the briefing beforehand these are very delicate matters and if you kill ten so called bad guys, as he put it, thats a step forward but if you kill one innocent civilian thats ten steps back so theyre trying to tread fairly softly.
COMM:They decided to move in. It was soon clear that whatever the intelligence reports werehis was not a hamlet heaving with Taleban fighters.Without more troops on the ground the Americans can no more gather accurate intelligence than they can protect civilians. Colonel McBride ordered his Afghan troops to carry out the house to house searches. He knows that Afghans hate foreigners to see their womenThere were no guerrillas and no guns. All they turned up was a mystery.
COMM: A middle aged man was found lying on the floor of a mud building.He had no rational explanation for who had shot him.There were no stretchers, so the troops improvised and wheeled him away for treatment. And questioning.
COMM: The Americans would be in this village for just a few hoursThat would leave locals at the mercy of gunmen.SYNC: These two gentlemen have just told me that the Taleban do occasionally come to this village and extract food from the local community and he appears at least to us to be welcoming the presence of the ANA and the Americans.
18:24 COMM: At the end of the day two prisoners were taken. One was suspected of shooting at us as we landed. [WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM]
SYNC McBride: We have FBI agents with us who did a gunpowder residue on their hands so were going to interrogate them and see what we can find out
COMM: The Americans found very little out. No one knew who had shot the wounded Afghan. And no one found any illegal weapons in the village. This operation went on for another three weeks as the Americans continued their search.Some needle, come haystack.
COMM: I travelled to Herat Afghanistans prosperous western capital where the Kabul government was struggling to impose its will over governor ,Ismail Khan. He was , a legendary fighter against the Russian invaders of the 1980s and was exiled by the Taleban.
COMM: Khan was holding back customs duties from the government in Kabul and was holding back customs duties. Sitting in judgement on his subjects. These two women were asking for an uncle to be turned out of a house that had belonged to their father.
PTC: Ismail Khan has asked the two women to sit to one side. It turns out that the husband of one of them was a well known killer in the Taleban and was responsible for seven deaths including of one of the major military commanders here in Heart so it turns out not only to be a dispute about a home but about the citys past and its future.
COMM: 20 17 It was no secret Khans independent style infuriated the government in Kabul20 26Already thered been violenceIn March his son, Marwais, was killed in a shoot out with government forces. Said Miki, a local journalist, was with him when he died.
PTC: They got a phone call saying there was a plot against the governor. And it was being run by a man who was in the national army since Marwais was a friend of this man they decided to come here to the head quarters of the national army and discuss the problem.
20 57 COMM: What followed came close to sparking a civil war.
PTC: Marwais arrived here heard some shots coming from around the corner which is close to the HQ of the ANA he put his head around the corner and was shot dead. More RPGs were flashing across the street here and Said ran for his life down the road.
21 19 COMM: A counter attack followed.
Ismail Khan who was in the garden behind here came up and found his son was killed. He captured this small base and then rushed to attack the main base. Now Said tell me that although he official death toll was about 21 but the international media reported a death toll of some 200.
21 42 We joined Ismail Khan on a visit to an outlying village
Sync: body guards these are some of the men who would have fought with the ANA just after his son was killed.
COMM: Khan stopped at a nomadic camp - my chance to ask him about his power struggle with the American backed central government.
Sync: What were the circumstances of your late sons death? .he said.Can you describe the political plotting that went on.Ive said enough.
COMM: Perhaps Ismail Khan knew what was coming.A few weeks later he was sacked as governor of Herat by the central government. While he had the military power to fight back he didnt .Like many other war lords, hes waiting to see what the elections turn up.
COMM: Whatever happens in todays polls, Afghanistan, Afghanistan will remain a fragile patchwork of fiefdoms ruled by warlords. It has exposed the limits of the American Empire with so few troops in Afghanistan the best this superpower can manage is an experiment with democracy.
Ends
Reporter: Sam Kiley
Director/Cameraman:NICK HUGHES
Executive Producer: Eamonn Matthews
As recorded 7 October 2004
COMM: These are the foot soldiers of Americas Empire. Afghan and US troops heading into battle. Their mission: to attack the Taleban, win the war on terror, and bring Afghanistan peace.But I was to discover that in central Asia, America has already reached the limits of its power.
FILM
PTC: Ive just arrived at Kabul international airport and weve just been told that theres a terrorist bomb outside the building which has been planted just outside the airport building which is being diffused as we speak.
01:17:00
COMM: There had been frequent bombs in the capital aimed at wrecking the government of Hamid Karzai, Afghanistans interim president, installed by America after they toppled the Taleban regime
PTC: Ive just spoken to a British guy whos in charge of airport security and he told me that the bomb was found in some hand luggage that was discovered in the X ray machine, and handed to a deaf and dumb trolley guy who pushed it out o the fountain over there and chucked it in the water and soon after that the international forces came and disabled it.
01:50 COMM: The US promised peace, democracy. But its best not to travel by road. There are only 6,000 peacekeepers in Kabul. And 18,000 American troops are scattered across a country the size of France, Switzerland and Belgium combined.
PTC Its only a four or five hour drive east to Jalalabad but Im having to fly because the road which runs down through a river gorge is much too dangerous for foreigners to take therere regular ambushes and murders on this route
02:22 COMM: Osama bin Laden used to live on the outskirts of Jalalabad.Islamic fundamentalist groups opposed to democracy have concentrated their attacks here in the run up to the presidential elections.
02:37 COMM: Foreigners are seen by militants as propping up the American backed government, were a threat to ourselves and to others.
PTC: This was the site of a bomb one of three in the space of five days in down town Jalalabad about a week ago I can only move around this town with an escort of heavily armed guards who have been provided by the governor and his nephew.Three people were killed right here, bang in the middle of Jalalabad one of the busiest towns in the whole of Afghanistan.
03:1703:34 COMM: Survivors of these blasts were still being treated at the hospital . This isnt Iraq. This man said he didnt want Americans to leave but more US troops to bring security. He said he didnt want what had happened to him to happen to others.
Sync Sam: do you speak English? A little?
PTC: He was visiting his brother he told me who was a police officer when there was an explosion his brother rushed to help with the wounded when he crossed the street to get out of the way when he walked right into another bomb which injured his legs and burned him very badly.
10:04:02
COMM: Afghanistan is a nation without law or order. All of the casualties in this hospital were victims or gunfights, bombs and car wrecks.
COMM: Some bombs have deliberately targeted women.
PTC: Im on my way to visit the family of two women one who was killed and one who was very badly injured when they were trying to conduct voter registration on the outskirts of Jalalabad they are among more than 12 women who been killed or injured in bomb attacks by militants who dont want the elections to occur and especially not women participate.
04:4804:53 COMM: It turned out the injured woman was in fact a child. Zamzaman is six years old.
04:5305:12 COMM: She lost her leg and several fingers. Shed been sitting on her big sisters knee. The bomb was under their seat. Her sister Husay had been the leader of a group who had chartered a bus to take them into the countryside. Theyd hoped to persuade other women to vote in the election.
05:2605:47 COMM: Her mother told me how she heard of Husays death.PTC: Shereena said that theyd heard on the street that there had been an explosion then when they went to the site they were told that the bob had been placed under her daughters seat and that her daughter was so badly hurt and so badly blown up that she should not see her.COMM: Husay knew she was risking her life.Shed begged her daughter not to participate in the voter registration because it was so dangerous. But her daughter said that in the new Afghanistan where men and women were equally as an educated woman it was her job to stand shoulder to shoulder with the men and make sure that other women participate in the elections.
06:13 COMM: Husays father now pinned his hopes on democracy.Both Shereena and Walid Mohammed have said that if Afghanistan can have democracy and move forward to the selection of a president that actually serves the nation then her death will not have been in vain.
PTC: Im on my way to see Haji Zahir. Three years ago I was with him during the assault on Osama bin Ladens HQ at Tora Bora which is in the White Mountains just above Jalalabad that assault was a complete debacle in which all of al Qaeda managed to escape.
07:08 COMM: This warrior leader insisted that Afghans were yearning for peace but without more American troops they faced a dismal future.
SYNC Haji Zahir: We are also human and like a human you like peace, security, education, health so we like these things we need these things.
07:32 COMM: There are eight times as many US troops in Iraq as Afghanistan.Washington has concentrated what troops it does have on the hunt for bin Laden and the remnants of the taliban.
PTC: Im flying on an American Hercules transport aircraft into Kandahar which is the head quarters of their battle against the Taleban and al Qaeda.
07:59 COMM: Because of Iraq, American troops are badly over stretched here searching for bin Laden. Almost twice as many troops were used to hunt for Somali war lord Mohammed Aidid in five square miles of Mogadishu and they never found him.
In Kosovo there was one foreign soldier to every 50 local civilian, In Somalia the rate as one to a 200. Here its one to 1,115 Afghans.
COMM: Before going to the American base Id arranged to meet with Mohammed Satay, hes a former politician helping to run voter registration.He took me to hill above the city and pointed out Mullah Omars former home where the Taleban was founded.Kandahar is rarely patrolled by US soldiers.
COMM: Mohammed took me for lunch in the centre of the city. Technically its under the control of the Kabul government but I soon discovered why Americans keep out of Kandahar. Dozens of guns for hire working for local war lords were hanging around. No one could trust them. Here, Mohammed explained, the Americans were only renting peace.
PTC: Mr Satays saying that for 100 dollars they could work for me or they could shoot me in the back and thats one of the problems he says thats affected the whole of the foreign intervention in Afghanistan. Because they arrived with too few troops the foreign forces have relied on local Afghan forces as their foot soldiers, these guys are now back on top and are the greatest threat to democracy and I have to admit they feel pretty threatening sitting her at lunch.
09:55 COMM: Most afghans are as frightened of the warlords as the Taliban. We were attracting too much attention and decided to leave.
Sync: I dont like this place I want to go.
10:09 COMM: The day after we fled our lunch there was a gunfight in the centre of town over who should be chief of police, local journalists said seven people were killed.
SYNC: Well thats a relief, were still alive. I know that were targets and youre targets. You guys are very brave but Im not interested in getting shot at in Kandahar.
10:45 COMM: Mr Satay took me to a voter registration centre in the old city of Kandahar; they know theyre top of the bombers hit list..Sync: How many people have you registered at this site so far?PTC: These gentlemen here who are registering voters are registering nine thousand just at this little station and I asked them are you excited about these elections and does this excitement extend to actually being willing to die for the process because theyre under threat from the Taleban and other forces and they said absolutely after 30 years of war in this country they are prepared to give their lives if this means peace.
11:30
PTC: Im on my way to see a man called general Sharzai hes one of the local war lords and he has a very very close relationship with the Americans, so close in fact that he lives right next door to them in that building over there.
12:00 COMM: the Generals lobby is a portrait gallery of the top brass in the US armed forces whove beaten a path to his door.
Sync American special forces colonel. What medal is this?The army achievement medalHow many medals have you got General: about 80 or 90 medals.80 or 90 medals? Wow.
SYNC: Tell me how did you come to get involved so closely with the Americans?
12:42 COMM: He said he had been able and happy to provide 800 troops to guard his American guests.
PTC: General Sharzai tells me that all of his men fall squarely under the command of the Kabul administration although he did admit that they were paid via the governor here in Kandaharbul and as he put it his treasurer then picks up their salaries and distributes it..
13:11 COMM: His deputy insisted on a tour of inspection. Sharzais loyalties may be with the central government. But the truth is he runs a private army - and charges $400,000 a month to guard the Americans.
Sync: Hullo, hello, how old are you? How old is he? This chap in front of me is said to be 17 but he hasnt reached puberty yet.
[IS HE REALLY PREPUBESCENT ? Teenage ? ]
COMM: Pre-pubescent security guards are better than none at all. Thinly spread, the Americans have to hire forces locally to make up the numbers even for major operations.Inside the base I was invited to a planning meeting for Operation Devils Backbone, with Lt Col Michael McBride.
Sync Lt Col Michael McBride: Are we ready to do this thing.
COMM: Spies reported that a senior Taleban leader had been spotted in the Zabul region, just north of Kandahar.This attack would involve hundreds of Americans and Afghans. Militia leaders and the governor of neighbouring Ghazni province hired their men to the Americans as infantry.This operation was going to be big. And expensive. We pay the piper but they call the tune, one American officer whispered,
COMM: The Americans are so overstretched that three years after their arrival here, this was the first deployment of US and Afghan troops on any scale into the province of Zabul a vital and strategic area.It controls the road between Kandahar and Kabul. Its mountains are a haven for al Qaeda and stretch into Pakistan. The Taleban had ensured that only 10 per cent of the population here had been able to register to vote.
COMM: Wed been warned to expect 200 guerrillas.
SYNC: The aircraft buzzing over head have seen some people behaving suspiciously and they havent yet decided whether or not theyre actually going to search the village and as the colonel said in the briefing beforehand these are very delicate matters and if you kill ten so called bad guys, as he put it, thats a step forward but if you kill one innocent civilian thats ten steps back so theyre trying to tread fairly softly.
COMM:They decided to move in. It was soon clear that whatever the intelligence reports werehis was not a hamlet heaving with Taleban fighters.Without more troops on the ground the Americans can no more gather accurate intelligence than they can protect civilians. Colonel McBride ordered his Afghan troops to carry out the house to house searches. He knows that Afghans hate foreigners to see their womenThere were no guerrillas and no guns. All they turned up was a mystery.
COMM: A middle aged man was found lying on the floor of a mud building.He had no rational explanation for who had shot him.There were no stretchers, so the troops improvised and wheeled him away for treatment. And questioning.
COMM: The Americans would be in this village for just a few hoursThat would leave locals at the mercy of gunmen.SYNC: These two gentlemen have just told me that the Taleban do occasionally come to this village and extract food from the local community and he appears at least to us to be welcoming the presence of the ANA and the Americans.
18:24 COMM: At the end of the day two prisoners were taken. One was suspected of shooting at us as we landed. [WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM]
SYNC McBride: We have FBI agents with us who did a gunpowder residue on their hands so were going to interrogate them and see what we can find out
COMM: The Americans found very little out. No one knew who had shot the wounded Afghan. And no one found any illegal weapons in the village. This operation went on for another three weeks as the Americans continued their search.Some needle, come haystack.
COMM: I travelled to Herat Afghanistans prosperous western capital where the Kabul government was struggling to impose its will over governor ,Ismail Khan. He was , a legendary fighter against the Russian invaders of the 1980s and was exiled by the Taleban.
COMM: Khan was holding back customs duties from the government in Kabul and was holding back customs duties. Sitting in judgement on his subjects. These two women were asking for an uncle to be turned out of a house that had belonged to their father.
PTC: Ismail Khan has asked the two women to sit to one side. It turns out that the husband of one of them was a well known killer in the Taleban and was responsible for seven deaths including of one of the major military commanders here in Heart so it turns out not only to be a dispute about a home but about the citys past and its future.
COMM: 20 17 It was no secret Khans independent style infuriated the government in Kabul20 26Already thered been violenceIn March his son, Marwais, was killed in a shoot out with government forces. Said Miki, a local journalist, was with him when he died.
PTC: They got a phone call saying there was a plot against the governor. And it was being run by a man who was in the national army since Marwais was a friend of this man they decided to come here to the head quarters of the national army and discuss the problem.
20 57 COMM: What followed came close to sparking a civil war.
PTC: Marwais arrived here heard some shots coming from around the corner which is close to the HQ of the ANA he put his head around the corner and was shot dead. More RPGs were flashing across the street here and Said ran for his life down the road.
21 19 COMM: A counter attack followed.
Ismail Khan who was in the garden behind here came up and found his son was killed. He captured this small base and then rushed to attack the main base. Now Said tell me that although he official death toll was about 21 but the international media reported a death toll of some 200.
21 42 We joined Ismail Khan on a visit to an outlying village
Sync: body guards these are some of the men who would have fought with the ANA just after his son was killed.
COMM: Khan stopped at a nomadic camp - my chance to ask him about his power struggle with the American backed central government.
Sync: What were the circumstances of your late sons death? .he said.Can you describe the political plotting that went on.Ive said enough.
COMM: Perhaps Ismail Khan knew what was coming.A few weeks later he was sacked as governor of Herat by the central government. While he had the military power to fight back he didnt .Like many other war lords, hes waiting to see what the elections turn up.
COMM: Whatever happens in todays polls, Afghanistan, Afghanistan will remain a fragile patchwork of fiefdoms ruled by warlords. It has exposed the limits of the American Empire with so few troops in Afghanistan the best this superpower can manage is an experiment with democracy.
Ends