Afghanistan

(see also US-Afghan War & Afghanistan since US Invasion & Afghan American History, Life & Values)

Basics

CIA World Factbook. Includes map.

Human Rights Watch: Afghanistan.

Library of Congress Country Profile.

New Internationalist Profile.

UN Development Program, Human Development Indicators.

World Guide.

On the Web: Articles

Is it Better Now? New Film Depicts Old Realities in Afghanistan. Laura Flanders, WorkingforChange (2/20/02). NY audience responds to "Jung," presented by Italian doctor whose work is featured there.

Enshrouded in Fear, Meg Laughlin, San Jose Mercury (1/24/02). Difficulties faced postwar by Afghan women hoping to implement new freedoms.

Killing With Smaller Stones. Alexander Cockburn, Action Report Online (1/8/02). Changes under post-Taliban regime so far either minute or negative.

Practical Help for Afghans, Fred P. Hochberg, NY Times (1/5/02). Micro-lending may be key to rebuilding country.

No TV, No Chess, No Kites: Taliban Penal Code, From A to Z. Amy Waldman, NY Times (11/21/01). Examples of Taliban Penal Code and people who violated it.

Our Friends in North are Just as Treacherous and Murderous. Robert:Fisk, Independent (11/19/01). US & UK hope to use Northern Alliance & downplay their war crimes; but Alliance has its own plans.

Northern] Alliance Hires US Lobbyist. Frontier Post (11/18/01)
How she rationalizes her job

Mujahideen Back to 'Rob and Beat Us'. Jason Burke, Observer (11/18/01). Tense power struggle in one post-Taliban city; fear & mistrust among city residents

In a Rancid Jail the Deposed Lords of Kabul Await Death. Chris Stephen, Observer (11/18/01). Circumstance of imprisoned Taliban soldiers; stonings of foreign Taliban soldiers.

Three days in Kabul, Chris Stephen, (11/17/01). In taking Kabul, Northern Alliance looked more like oppressors than liberators.

Savage Victory. Paul McGeough, Sydney Morning Herald (11/17/01). Details war crimes of Northern Alliance, dangerous power vacuum after fall of Taliban.

Forget the cliches, no easy way for the West to sort this out. Robert:Fisk, Independent (11/17/01). Western & Afghan perceptions of new Afghanistan differ; 19th-c. borders meaningless today.

Grisly scenes from freed Kabul (11/14/01). Graphic image of Taliban soldier caught & killed by Alliance.

What will the Northern Alliance do in our name now? Robert Fisk, Independent (11/14/01). US & UK can't control murderous Northern Alliance, now idealized in mass media.

Slouching Towards Balkanization. Pepe Escobar, Asia Times (11/14/01). Analysis of immediate postwar situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

War's Dispensable People. Rina Amiri, Boston Globe (11/10/01). Humanitarian effort must be as serious as war effort.

UN Fears 'Disaster' over Strikes Near Huge Dam, Richard Lloyd Parry, Independent (11/8/01). Destruction of power plant increases civilian sufferings from U.S. airstrikes.

A Difficult War. Ahmed Rashid (11/8/01). Specific UN actions to organize post-Taliban government, & difficulties they face.

Coming Apocalypse in Central Asia. Geov Parrish (11/5/01). Millions of Afghan lives threatened by war-related disruptions. How to stop it?

Past Provides Lessons for Afghanistan's Future. Peter Tomsen, LA Times (10/28/01). Former US ambassador to Afghanistan examines options for post-Taliban government.

America's pipe dream. George Monbiot, Guardian (10/22/01) War always about industrial & commercial competition; this one no different.

Afghanistan & Pakistan at the Whim of a Self-Serving and Unreliable 'Friend'. Zafar Bangash (10/16/01). History of Northern Alliance bodes ill for Afghan future: further turmoil likely.

Flight From Afghanistan, Sydney Morning Herald (10/12/01). Graphic: Refugee movements From Afghanistan.

After Taliban, a Power Vacuum?, Peter Baker, Wash Post (10/7/01). Early warning from Northern Alliance: US has no plan for post-Taliban Afghanistan.

In New Glare, Questions Dog Afghan Rebels, David Rohde, & John Burns, NY Times (10/7/01). Background on Northern Alliance, both in and out of power.

Taliban's Drug War Risks Unraveling.(10/7/01). Taliban had suppressed opium production with US support. Now what?

The Oil Behind Bush and Son's Campaigns, Ranjit Devraj, Asia Times (10/6/01). Oil company interests & war in Middle East & Southwest Asia.

Our Afghan Warlords. Jonathan Steele, Guardian (10/6/01). Invasion of Afghanistan is a choosing of sides. Better to stop arming either side.

Some Things To Consider About Afghanistan Jason Vest, American Prospect (10/1/01).

On the Web: Specialized Sites

Afghan Women's Mission

Afghanistan for Children

Afghanistan maps from Perry-Castañeda Library at University of Texas

Afghanistan Solidarity.

Afghanistan's Web Site.

Central Asia-Caucasus Institute.

Digital National Security Archive (See for "Afghanistan: The Making of US Policy, 1973-1990")

Eurasianet.

Global Exchange.

Institute for Afghan Studies (Links to international treaties & accords concerning Afghanistan).

Map of Afghan ethnic groups.

Oxfam America (Links to articles/updates on humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan).

Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women (RAWA).

UC Berkeley Library (Afghanistan, Taliban, & US: selected internet resources).

WWW Virtual Library

In the Library: Articles

Ahmad, Eqbal & Richard J. Barnet. "Bloody games. The Soviet Union in Afghanistan," New Yorker (4/11/88):44-69.

Ahmadi, Belquis. "We have already suffered 20 years of war," Progressive (11/01):22.

Alterman, Eric. "'Blowback', the prequel," Nation (11/12/01):12.

Anderson, Jon Lee. "City of dreams: A peace of sorts comes to Kabul," New Yorker (12/24-31/01):50-57

Austin, Sara. "Where are the women? Debating Afghanistan’s future," Nation (12/31/01):11-13.

Baldauf, Scott. "Letter from Afghanistan," Nation (4/28/03):24-25.

__________. "Afghan military tied to drug trade," Christian Science Monitor (9/4/03):6.

__________. "Nation building, redoubled," Christian Science Monitor (9/8/03):1,12.

__________. "In Afghanistan's villages, ambitious push for democracy," Christian Science Monitor (10/24/03):7.

__________. "Insecurity threatens Afghan vote," Christian Science Monitor (12/31/03).

__________. "Afghans yet to lay down arms," Christian Science Monitor (10/14/03):7-8.

__________. "From battered lives, a love story," Christian Science Monitor (5/5/04):11-12.

Brinkley, Douglas. "Eisenhower in Kabul,"NY Times (1/12/02).

Buchbinder, David. "A soldier's life in Afghanistan," Christian Science Monitor (2/27/03):11.

Coursen-Neff, Zama. "Afghan women & girls still held hostage," Middle East Report 228 (fall 2003).

Collins, Bruce. "Fighting the Afghans in the 19th c.," History Today (12/01):12-19.

Dupree, Louis. "Tribalism, regionalism & national oligarchy: Afghanistan," in K. Silvert (ed.) Expectant Peoples: Nationalism & Development (NY: Vintage, 1967), pp. 41-76. Good background for later developments.

Gearing, Julian. "Afghanistan's communists waiting in the wings?" Middle East Report 451 (5/28/93).

Gerecht, Reuel Marc. "The counterterrorist myth," Atlantic Monthly (7-8/01).

__________. "The terrorists' encyclopedia," Middle East Quarterly 8,3 (sum 01):73-87.

Ghani, Ashraf. "Gulab: an Afghan schoolteacher," in E. Burke III (ed.) Struggle & Survival in the Modern Middle East (Berkeley, 1993), pp. 336-51.

__________. "The Afghan state & its adaption to the environment of Central & Southwest Asia," in H. Malik (ed.) Soviet-American Relations with Pakistan, India & Afghanistan (NY, 1987).

__________. "Persian literature of Afghanistan, 1911-78," in E. Yarshater (ed.) Persian Literature (Albany, 1988), on evolution of Afghan elite culture.

Halliday, Fred. "Kabul's patriarchy with guns," Nation (11/11/96):19-22.

__________. "The Communist regime in Afghanistan, 1978-1992: institutions & conflicts," Europe-Asia Studies 50,8 (12/98):1357-80.

__________. "Soviet foreign policymaking & the Afghanistan War: from 'second Mongolia' to 'bleeding wound,'" Review of International Studies 25,4 (10/99):675-91.

Harrison, Selig S. "Afghanistan: Soviet intervention, Afghan resistance, & the American role," in M. Klare & J. Kornbluh (eds.) Low Intensity Warfare (NY, 1988), pp. 183-206.

Hartman, Andrew. "'The red template': US policy in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan," Third World Quarterly 23,3 (2002).

Hitchens, Christopher. "Against rationalization," Nation (10/8/01).

Hussain, Mushahid. "The election of Rabbani," Middle East Report 441 (1/8/93).

Ijaz, Mansoor & Malalai Wassil. "Holding the line in Afghanistan," Christian Science Monitor (11/25/03).

Kazem, Halima. "Brewing power struggle in Kabul," Christian Science Monitor (10/17/03):6.

__________. "Aid worker's murder tarnishes Afghan province," Christian Science Monitor (11/19/03):7.

Khattak, Saba Gul. "Afghan women: bombed to be liberated," Middle East Report 222 (spring 2002).

Morrison, Dan. "Karzai weathers power struggle, but at a price," Christian Science Monitor (12/25-26/03):7-8.

Prusher, Illene R. "Afghan constitutional debuts," Christian Science Monitor (11/4/03).

__________. "Afghan president renews bid to rein in Northern warlords," Christian Science Monitor (11/12/03):12.

__________. "One year later: a reporter revisits Kabul refugees," Christian Science Monitor (12/23/03):12.

Roy, Olivier. "Dangerous ground (the Soviet war & occupation of Afghanistan)," Index on Censorship 28,5 (9-10/99):66-71.

Rubin, Barnett R. "The fragmentation of Afghanistan," Foreign Affairs 68,5 (win 89):150-68.

__________. "Afghanistan: back to feudalism," Current History 88,542 (12/89):421-.

__________. "Political elites in Afghanistan: rentier state building, rentier state wrecking," Intl. Journal of Middle East Studies 24,1 (2/92):77-99.

__________. "Afghanistan in 1993, abandoned but surviving," Asian Survey 34,2 (2/94):185-90.

__________. "Women & pipelines: Afghanistan's proxy war," Intl. Affairs 73,2 (4/97):283-96.

Rumer, Boris & Eugene Rumer. "Who'll stop the next Yugoslavia?," World Monitor (11/92):35-43.

Schaeffer-Duffy, Claire. "War's lethal leftovers," National Catholic Reporter (8/2/02):7.

Shadid, Anthony. "The shape of Afghanistan to come," Middle East Report
222 (spring 2002).

_____________. "Victims of circumstance," Middle East Report 222 (spring
2002).

Surowiecki, James. "The Marshall Plan myth," New Yorker (12/10/01):49.

Tohid, Owais. "For Afghan women: new regime, centuries-old barriers," Christian Science Monitor (8/25/03):7.

In the Library: Non-Fiction Books

Anwar, Raja. The Tragedy of Afghanistan. A First-Hand Account (rev. ed.; NY: Verso, 1989). On left politics before & during Soviet occupation.

Byron, Robert. The Road to Oxiana [1937] (London: Chaucer, 1981). Traveller's account of Iran & Afghanistan in 1933-34.

Chaffetz, David. A Journey Through Afghanistan: A Memorial [1981] (Chicago: U. Chicago, 2001).

Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan & Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (NY: Penguin, 2004).

Cordovez, Diego & Selig Harrison. Out of Afghanistan, The Inside Story of the Soviet Withdrawal (NY: Oxford, 1995).

Corwin, Phillip. Doomed in Afghanistan: A UN Officer's Memoir of the Fall of Kabul & Najibullah's Failed Escape (New Brunswick NJ: Rutgers U., 1992).

Dorronsoro, Gilles. Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to the Present (trans. John King; NY: Columbia, 2005).

Dupree, Louis. Afghanistan (Princeton: Princeton U, 1980).

Elliot, Jason. Travels in Afghanistan (NY, 1999).

Gauhari, Farooka. An Afghan Woman's Odyssey (Lincoln: U. Nebraska, 1996). First-person account of life after Communist coup of 4/78.

Gulzad, Zalmay A. External Influences & the Development of the Afghan State in the 19th C. (NY: Peter Lang, 1994).

Halliday, Fred. Threat from the East? Soviet Policy from Afghanistan & Iran to the Horn of Africa (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1982).

Haynes, Jeff. Religion in Third World Politics (Boulder: Lynne Reinner, 1994). Section on mujahidin in 1992.

Ide, Arthur Frederick. Jihad, Mujahideen, Taliban, George W. Bush & Oil: A Study in the Evolution of Terrorism & Islam (Garland TX: Tanglewild, 2002).

Kakar, M. Hassan. Afghanistan. The Soviet Invasion & Afghan Response, 1979-1982 (Berkeley: U. California, 1997).

Klass, Rosanne. Land of the High Flags: A Travel-Memoir of Afghanistan (NY: Random House, 1964)

__________ (ed.) Afghanistan: The Great Game Revisited (rev. ed.; NY: Freedom House, 1990).

Magnus, Ralph & Eden Naby. Afghanistan: Mullah, Marx & Mujahid (New Delhi,1998).

Maley, William & Fazel Haq Saikal. Political Order in Post-Communist Afghanistan (Boulder: Lynne Reinner, 1992).

Mehta, Sunita (ed.) Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths & Claiming the Future (NY: Palgrave, 2002).

Mills, Margaret A. Rhetorics & Politics in Afghan Traditional Storytelling (Philadelphia: U. of Pennsylvania, 1991).

Mousavi, Sayed Askar. The Hazaras of Afghanistan (NY: St. Martin's, 1997).

Olsen, Asta. Islam & Politics in Afghanistan (London, 1995).

Pratap, Anita. Island of Blood: Frontline Reports from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan & Other South Asian Flashpoints (NY: Penguin, 2001).

Rasanayagam, Angelo. Afghanistan: A Modern History (NY: Palgrave, 2002).

Roy, Olivier. Afghanistan, from Holy War to Civil War (Princeton, 1995).

__________. Islam & Resistance in Afghanistan (NY: Cambridge, 1986).

Rubin, Barnett. The Search for Peace in Afghanistan, from Buffer State to Failed State (New Haven, 1995).

Saikal, Amin & William Maley (eds.) The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan (NY: Cambridge, 1989).

__________ & William Maley. Regime Change in Afghanistan: Foreign Intervention & the Politics of Legitimacy (Boulder: Westview, 1991).

Scott, Peter Dale. Drugs, Oil & War: The US in Afghanistan, Colombia & Indochina (Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003).

Shrani, M. Nazif & R. Canfield (eds.) Revolutions & Rebellions in Afghanistan (Berkeley: U. California, 1984).

Tanner, Stephen. Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Present (Boulder:Da Capo, 2002).

Tapper, Richard. The Conflict of Tribe & State in Afghanistan (London,1983).

In the Library: Fiction

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner (NY: Riverhead, 2003).

In the Library: For Young Readers

In the Library: Poetry

In the Library: Drama

In the Library: Photography

Dannin, Robert (ed.) Arms Against Fury: Magnum Photographers in Afghanistan (NY: Thames & Hudson, 2002). From World War II to the Taliban.

CD & Audio

"Memories of Herat," Aziz Herawi, World Music Institute & Music of the World (1996). (CD)

Film & Video

"Afghan Stories" [2002], dir. Taran Davies, 60m. Moving documentary, focused on individual human beings as survivors.

"Afghanistan Unveiled" Asia Foundation project (2003) ??m.

"Charlie Wilson's War" [2007], dir. Mike Nichols, 97m. In video stores. Whitewashed dramatic version of how a Texas Congressman & a millionairess friend got the U.S. into the Afhan war of resistance to Sovier invasion.

"The True Story of Charlie Wilson" [2007], dir. ?, ?m. TV documentary.