At Large
Judgment in Waziristan
A political outing with an Afghan tribal leader.
The job of an Afghan tribal leader has as much to do with settling disputes among his own people as it does dealing with traditional or new enemies. Khairullah was very proud of his ability to keep his people happy, or if not happy, at least not at each other’s throats. He was particularly annoyed with a lesser village chief who apparently thought he was tough enough to defy Khairullah’s edicts regarding water rights between clans.
“Come with me,” he said to the American. “I will show you how government works.” Khairullah used his school-learned English as a weapon.
Government in this case meant Khairullah.
They formed a small group: Big K, the American, and four AK-47’s slung over the shoulders of an equal number of hard-eyed bodyguards. Familiar? They started off on a set of small, spirited ponies that trotted along at a good pace. The trick to handling these steeds was to try to stay glued to the multiple small carpets that passed for a saddle.
It was definitely an impressive little patrol. Khairullah had a submachine gun slung across his back and the American fixed a really mean expression on his face. A farangay is not much feared in this part of Afghanistan, but tough tribal khans with solid reputations get the respect they deserve.
They came upon the target village after about a half hour riding. It wasn’t much of a village, just the usual mud brick homes and some corrals for horses and donkeys. Interestingly the village was entirely ringed by a mud wall. Perhaps at one time it had been a fort. Red coats tumbling out of the mud brick barracks to man the wall against the wild Pathans, as the British called the Pushtuns… an instant bridge to the past — or the future.
Khairullah dismounted and picked up a young child much to the delight of the crowd. Several elders in turn sought to touch Khairullah’s knees in the old custom of showing loyalty to their khan. He quickly pulled them up as a gesture of modern democracy, but he was clearly pleased with their attention. A middle-aged man embraced Khairullah and they exchanged multiple kisses on the cheek, first one cheek then the other, perhaps five times. It was perfect Pushtun manners.
So this was the man who was the reason for the trip. He was also a khan, though as a simple local headman he was of considerably lesser rank than Khairullah, a khan who led an entire tribe.
Here was the typical Afghan scene: Mafia-like politics, ghosts of past regiments, effusive greetings which combine the customs of Arabia, Central Asia, and the Macedonian legions of Alexander — and more. To get on to the social aspects of the visit they were quickly served tea accompanied by collections of berries. Squatting on hastily spread rugs, a pleasant exchange began between Khairullah and the village headman.
The conversation became more intense between the two men; the elders drifted off, disassociating themselves from the controversy. The American wondered if he, too, should make a diplomatic exit and put forth an effort to unwind from his own sitting position. One of Khairullah’s soldiers shot him a look that froze him in place. He went back to drinking tea.
The tense conversation ended abruptly. Both men stood up unsmiling and embraced as they had earlier but with more formality. Miraculously the elders all appeared again and stood around as if they had never left. That was their way of signifying approval of whatever had been agreed while not interfering in the process of the negotiation — or at least that was how it seemed.
As abruptly as the discussion had ended, the visitors mounted their ponies and headed back on the trail without ceremony. This had been a business trip in every sense of the term, and now that business was over it was time to leave.
Khairullah did not speak at all during the return trip. He rode on ahead alone, leaving his bodyguards straggling in the rear. Every now and then one of them would quicken his horse’s pace to move closer to his khan, but never close enough to annoy him. The American was acutely aware that if any danger lurked in these craggy highlands, it could come from any angle. Marksmen could take a quick shot from anywhere above or behind. It all seemed far more dangerous than the ride going to the village.
It took quite a while after they returned to Khairullah’s home community, but eventually he treated the American to an explanation of what had transpired:
“We have a custom that if a man — or clan — is wronged, then the victim can call for a punishment. There were many goats stolen. The other side said they weren’t stolen but that they were taken as payment for the goats eating the grasses where they should not have been, on the other family’s land. The village khan, the man you saw, decided that the crime had been greater by the man who took the goats than the one who let the goats eat on the other’s land. So the village khan decided to take away the goat stealer’s water rights and give them to the goat owner as payment.”
About the Author
George H. Wittman writes a weekly column on international affairs for The American Spectator online. He was the founding chairman of the National Institute for Public Policy.
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Irish Spectre| 10.23.09 @ 10:13AM
...fascinating stuff.
This calls to mind the pronouncement of the staggeringly arrogant Bush doctrine to export democracy to the world, so much of which the more we learn about, the more we learn how little we know.
George True| 10.23.09 @ 11:05AM
Irish Spectre said: "This calls to mind the staggeringly arrogant Bush doctrine to export democracy to the world..."
What a breathtakingly ignorant thing to say. First of all, it has nothing to do with the topic of the article. And secondly, it is patently obviously to anyone with eyes to see that while Obama and his Marxist fellow travelers were all pointing to Afghanistan as the "good war" and "the real front in the WOT", the Bush administration was well aware of the reality that there was no way they were going to be able to pacify Afghanistan as was done in Iraq given the terrain, the complete lack of infrastructure, and the stone age tribal culture.
If you want to talk about staggering arrogance, how about the Obama administration ignoring the peaceful demonstrators in Iran protesting an obviouisly rigged election while at the same time making common cause with their mass-murdering totalitarian overlords. What about Obama attempting to overthrow a democratic republic (Honduras) for thwarting the attempt of a would-be Marxist dictator (Zelaya) to install himself as president-for-life.
Bush looks pretty damn good to me right now in comparison to this Marxist Obama who aligns himself with the likes of Raul Castro, Hugo Chavez, the murderous regime in Burma, and the islamofascist fanatics in Tehran.
Irish Spectre| 10.23.09 @ 1:16PM
Dear Mr. True,
The point is that Bush's asinine foreign policy pronouncement was concocted out of whole cloth in a futile attempt to gloss over his administration's massive blunder concerning the supposed presence of WMD in Iraq. The column, addressing some of the exotic cultural intricacies of the land in which we are now mired, illustrates how naive it is for anyone to believe that we could successfully export to it one of our own key cultural features (i.e., democracy.)
You're welcome for me clarifying this, sir.
Oh, and who taught you that really dumb notion that repudiating our former president translates to accolades for his successor?
Dai Alanye | 10.23.09 @ 11:42AM
Much of Afghanistan is at present stuck in the Mafia or warlord style of governance. We must, of course, work with this when it is to our advantage.
But note that the khan needs to keep, to some extent, the approval of the people. It is all too easy for this to slip into dictatorship when the leader is too strong-willed, or into feuding factions when he appears weak and inequitable in his decisions.
To move on to a better form of government—that is, to voting for leadership rather than selection by inheritance or by domination through violence—is probably to the ultimate benefit of the Afghans. We can't expect such a change to come quickly or easily, and we probably shouldn't push it too strongly—but neither should we give up on it.
Let's just not call it "Democracy." What we want is effective representative government by whatever name and in whatever form.
George True| 10.23.09 @ 3:08PM
Irish Spectre: Perhaps I should not have assumed that criticism of Bush foreigh policy equated praise of Obama. Having said that, it is usually the case that when someone talks about the "failure" of the GWB administration, they are solidly in the BHO camp. If that is not the case with you, I am sorry I tarred you with that brush.
I would take issue with your contention that the assesment that Saddam either had or was well on his way to having WMD's was concocted out of whole cloth. Mossad, MI-6, and our own CIA were all convinced that he had a program to develop WMD's, specifically nuclear. Prominent Dems, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, had publicly stated that Saddam was well on his way to having WMD'sand he must not be allowed to have them. And whether or not he was able to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger or anywhere else, we absolutely knew that he had at least 1000 metric tons of high grade yellowcake. (That was removed from Iraq only last year amid great secrecy, and transported to Canada where it was processed into nuclear reactor fuel.) With a reconstituted WMD program, Saddam could have turned 1000 metric tons of yellowcake into at least 7 or 8 nuclear warheads, maybe more.
After Saddam was captured, he freely admitted to his interviewers that he fully intended to restart his nuclear program just as soon as he could once and for all be rid of those pesky UN weapons inspectors.
Irish Spectre| 10.23.09 @ 4:30PM
Nope, I didn't assert that the WMD assessment was concocted out of whole cloth, although it was on balance an incorrect assessment. My "whole cloth" comment pertains to the after-the-fact reason that was given for us going to Iraq; Bush changed his reason for that action, because the WMD one was proven wrong, though I tend to believe that this was a failure of intelligence, rather than a lie.
...apology accepted for you assumption that I'm an Obama man; nothing. I am a constitutionalist, and so nothing, but nothing, could be further from the truth.
Dai Alanye | 10.23.09 @ 8:24PM
You've got this one wrong. The reason for going into Iraq was to break the most culturally-advanced Muslim nation free of the terrorist bloc. WMDs were given center stage because it was an easier notion to sell to the UN and NATO, not to mention the Dems in the US.
So Bush's true reason has proven out, as Iraq—though it still has problems—has become the first quasi-democracy in the Islamic camp.
But as far as WMDs go, you might want to explain the tens of thousand doses of nerve gas antidote found, and the many thousand sets of anti-gas protective clothing, and the thousands of barrels of "insecticide" found hidden on military bases.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, I suppose. Perhaps Saddam simply had an abiding fear of arthropods.
Irish Spectre| 10.24.09 @ 1:10PM
...not sure of your point here, Dai Alanye, except maybe to corroborate my point about the lack of WMD, and maybe too to curiously cheerlead an utterly arrogant and inevitably futile "Manifest Destimy" brand of foreign policy.
Attempting to sow democracy overseas via the business end of an M-16 is not worth American citizens' blood, not least of which because it doesn't work. Here's to the hope, at least, that we don't have to deal with more than one Viet Nam per century.
Johnny Knuckles| 10.23.09 @ 5:22PM
Fine reportage, Wittman. This is the kind of straightforward, minimum-spin story we'd read in Life magazine a lifetime ago.
Brian Donlevy| 10.24.09 @ 11:07AM
You're a jackass for trying to use this site for commercial purposes. That enuf of a reply for you?
Richard Baker| 10.24.09 @ 7:51PM
Irish Spectre ?:
You know why whiskey was invented? So the Irish wouldn't rule the world. Are you writing to this post under the influence, lad? Seems like it, sure. Are you trying to prove the beginning of this message?
Irish Spectre| 10.24.09 @ 11:31PM
That is one heck of an intellectual challenge, Richard! May I call you "Dick"?!
Richard Baker| 10.25.09 @ 7:00PM
Irish Spectre:
That's it? Obviously, you don't have the blarney, lad. Pity.
www.us-bapeoutlet.com | 4.5.10 @ 9:48PM
www.us-bapeoutlet.com
poptropica| 4.9.10 @ 8:13PM
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Hercules won’t help you until you have all five items from Zeus’ quest. Once you have the five items, bring them to Athena. Zeus will appear and steal them. The big jerk! Once this happens, talk to Athena and she will tell you that Hercules will help you. You’ll need to have the magic mirror from Aphrodite because Hercules doesn’t want to have to walk. He’s so lazy!
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You can see how to do this in the videos, but basically you need to jump up when the Hydra is about to strike. He will rear one of his heads back to attack and his eyes will bulge out. poptropica
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I’ll have a full written walkthrough very soon, but in the meantime, here are some answers to some of the frequently asked questions about Mythology Island. Having trouble? Post a question in the comments and I’ll try to answer it!poptropica
Getting Hercules to Help You
Hercules won’t help you until you have all five items from Zeus’ quest. poptropica
Once you have the five items, bring them to Athena. Zeus will appear and steal them. The big jerk! Once this happens, talk to Athena and she will tell you that Hercules will help you.poptropica
. You’ll need to have the magic mirror from Aphrodite because Hercules doesn’t want to have to walk. He’s so lazy!
Getting the Hydra Scale
You can see how to do this in the videos, but basically you need to jump up when the Hydra is about to strike. He will rear one of his heads back to attack and his eyes will bulge out.Poptropica When this happens, jump up in the air and then try to land on top of his head. That head will get knocked out. When all five heads get knocked out, the Hydra will be asleep and you can click on him to get one of the scales. poptropica