Aohell

Back in the Saddle Again

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is the little mujahedin who could. And by "little", I mean heroin-dealing, murderous, and opportunistic. Back in the early 80's, Ronald Reagan and the Saudis saw fit to channel millions of dollars to Hekmatyar so he could engage in terrorist acts against Soviet soldiers. In order to get a little more spending money, Hekmatyar turned to pushing heroin, with the ISI helping transport the stuff and the CIA keeping the DEA and other law enforcement groups from putting a finger on his organization.

Since the Soviets left and the US' abandonment of Afghanistan, Hekmatyar has come around to biting the US in the ass for a change. He went Taliban and now spends his days plotting how to stick it to The Man, Uncle Sam in particular. His son is even taking up the family business of fighting foreign occupation forces and running drugs.

He was supposed to have been wiped out politically when the US invaded Afghanistan back in 2001. Four and a half years later, he's still in the bush, lobbing RPGs at government and US forces, now with the brashness and ability to carry out direct attacks. Casualties are high for the mujahedin - dare I use that word again? - but there's a lot more of them than there are US troops. They can win a war of attrition.

I mentioned the m-word. I think it's fair to use it. Whether the mujahedin spirit is directed against the USSR or its twin without the "SR" at the end, it's still mujahedin down deep. The same spirit that brought the USSR to quitting Afghanistan, mission failed and nation ruined, is alive and well and accepting cash, probably from Iranian sources this time. If Iran keeps its armies out of Afghanistan, it might just not lose there.