Once Upon A Time In Afghanistan

31 Replies to “Once Upon A Time In Afghanistan”

1. What happens in Afghanistan should remain there until the troops come home. Cheers;

2. Personally, I blame Bush.

3. Thanks, EBD. I couldn’t access these fascinating pictures at the FP magazine site.

4. Interesting stuff. While Kabul was quite modern I wonder what the situation was like in the provinces during that era.

5. Finally, some truth about the history of Afghanistan! And you didn’t have to be a history buff — there were plenty of pre-9/11 books available in your Public Library documenting a modernized Afghanistan from days of yore and other current “terrorist hotbeds” such as Yemen.
   But nincumpoop Lefty pundit journalists such as Eric Margolis continue to engage in revisionist history and pretend that places like Afghanistan have always been stuck in the 13th Century and are therefore unsalvageable (mirroring the defeatists attitude of the extreme Right).
   Unfortunately, everything in history is “Viet Nam revisted” to writers who are too lazy to do basic research.

6. Great find, EBD!
   I never realized the Afghanistan people had lifestyles similar to ours a short time ago.
   What happened? How did the Taliban come to be so powerful? A power vacuum? The commenters to MOHAMMAD QAYOUMI piece are all over the map.

7. What strikes me is the significant presence of hijabs. That seems to indicate that the conservative Muslim presence was there during this “golden age”. Perhaps it was nascent.

8. And let’s not forget Lebanon,once referred to as the Paris of the North.
   Ron in Kelowna,IMHO,what happened was the Useless Nations,PC’ness,and gutless Western and European Nations.

9. Yeah, the old neighbourhood sure has changed. While I never really followed Afghanistan modern history, the defining “WTF” moment for me was when I heard a story about historic Buddhist temples and statues being torn down because it offended the regime at the time. Archeological treasures being forever ruined as if to deny the past. Even stranger is that none of the other middle east countries followed that practice. Could you imagine Giza being bulldozed?
   After that the stories about women’s liberation under the Taliban started showing up, yet there was never really any big stink about what was being done in the name of the ‘religion of peace’. Go figure.

10. As ron in kelowna noted, the comment thread is all over the place and an interesting read.

11. Soon to happen in Europe.

12. Great article, thanks EBD. It brought a tear to my eye knowing what is happening today. How could society disintegrate so rapidly? Why did the people let it happen?

13. This just illustrates that destruction is easiler than building.
    The Soviet Invasion adn subsequent war enabled the Taliban to dominate the ashes. The Takiban then conducted a deliberate campaign of destruction to put A-stan into the 12th century.
    Sorta like the Sierra Club, with assault rifles, operating in a vaccuum.

14. That seems to be what happens when the Islamists gain a foothold. Destroy reality and replace with 13th Century barbarism. Lovely, just frigging lovely.
    I guess it appeals to the illiterate and brutish among men globally, although the Arabs seem to have a particular bend in that direction.

15. “Why did the people let it happen?”
    For the same reason the Y2K panic and climate alarmism happened. For the same reason people can become convinced that things are so bad they believe only their government can “save” them. Because they get their “information” from The Ruling Class via the media. Am I wrong?

16. I think the comments on the article are pretty clear. I’ll ignore the usual ‘Blame America’ stuff (eg, “the US let the Saudi export their reprehensible wahabbist primitivism to the rest of the Islamic world” – a comment explicitly stating that the US has authority over what the Saudi do!).
    But, it’s clear that these images are both confined to Kabul and even more, to a small elite population in Kabul – and have absolutely no relevance to the majority of Afghans, who live within rural peasant communities, without roads, electricity, etc.
    And the other issue that is clear, is the dominant role that Pakistan has played and continues to play in the chaotic mess of Afghanistan.

17. Thank you for that, it was a thoroughly engaging and informational article. It’s very sad to see what was once an obviously well-functioning, prosperous, growing and westernized Afghanistan reduced to (almost literally) rubble.

18. Add Somalia to the list. Ayaan Hirsi Ali documented the rise of barbarous Somali islamism that replaced the earlier peaceful version.Seems to be driven by Wahabist Arabs and Saudi funded madrassas.

19. The women in the picture do not look any different than the women of North America in the 50s and 60s. My mother never went out without a scarf, kerchief or hat on her head. Slacks were not a regular wardrobe item and dresses at least knee length with no cleavage shown covered with a sweater was the norm.
    Sharia has accomplished what it intended. Where’s Heather Mallick now?

20. Afghanistan used to be a hippie stop on the road to enlightenment or should I say cheap drugs. After that it was off to Marrakesh for more drugs then on to visit your favourite yogi in India.

21. Clearly all that female flesh on display below the kneee caused mass male madness, just as the Koran predicted.
    Yes the provinces would have been the same as they are today.

22. and “Little Mosque on the Prairie” is just a really fun sitcom on CBC… the problem is Islam, and the tacit approval of all it’s evils by so-called “moderate” practitioners by refusing to condemn them.
    There is be no accommodation with we infidels on the part of the Muslims – there should be none from us to them.

23. oh.
    so the ultra ultra right wing nice folks over at Blackwater who make more money by portraying a pocket of 1200 A.D. history are, gasp, WRONG !!!!???????? how can this be ?????? mr prince is such a hero to the right wing. after all remember the ambush his hardass minions pulled on an american convoy???? (google it. I dont have to).

24. Ron – no you are not.

25. “who make more money by portraying a pocket of 1200 A.D. history”
    Uhhh … what?
    ENGLISH. Do you speak it?

26. Alex
    The beagle was typing English well enough some threads back for you to take up his cause.
    Just say’in.

27. Next time think instead of “say’in”. You’re not in highschool any more. It’s ok to think yourself instead of blindly sucking up to the popular kids and always trashing the outcasts.

28. Alex
    In a previous thread you picked up the meme from beagle and IMO expanded on it in a broad brush manner.
    When called to task you fuzzified the muddification or ignored valid “data points”.
    In this particular thread you are mocking the long eared one for his grammar.
    So tell me Alex…who is sucking up to the popular kids again?
    Just ask’in.

29. I’m not sure if you’re senile or just a liar. Either way, your recollection of the previous thread bears no relation to reality. That, combined with your inability to understand why it’s ok to agree with someone on one subject and disagree with them on something else, means that I won’t be wasting any more time on you.

30. Happy New Year Alex.

31. So much for “they’ve always been stoneage barbarians”.