>>>>Afghanistan was closed, even more closed than China. We visited China back in 1981. We visited India too.
Afghanistan was considered backward, extremely primitive and secretive. There were no tours there so folks who did go there went on their own, not an easy thing to do. I don’t even think that they had an airline. Having an airline was considered a mark of advancement for a country.
Even Pakistan had an airline. It was called PIA, Pakistan International Airlines I think....lol,we used to say the OBVIOUS — pain in the ....
What else? Not much to say. When I read or watch T.V. about Afghanistan I still cringe.
It is SUPPOSED to be pronounced Af-ran-in-stan, with the “r” in “ran” like a French “r”—very gutteral. I’ve never heard it pronounced here with anything like that. ..and who cares? :o) I don’t. They can have their third world sewer. They have NOTHING for us. If there HAD been anything, the USSR would not have given it up. We should never go near there.<<<<
In fact Afghanistan wasn’t such a crappy place back when and it was developing pretty rapidly.
It had an airline, ‘Ariana’ if memory serves me well.
Afghanistan actually slided into barbarism in late 1980s, about time the USSR lost interest in propping a secular regime and withdrew troops.
So called Soviet-Afghan War was pretty similar to current events in Syria. Russians weren’t perfect but they certainly were a less evil side.
So called Soviet-Afghan War was pretty similar to current events in Syria. Russians weren’t perfect but they certainly were a less evil side.
I never thought that the Russians were more or less evil than the Syrians. The Russian history of brutality to its own people is unparalleled. I had a chance to visit Russia in 2008; I heard their stories and saw that things were okay there but that the Russians had a l-o-n-g way to go to catch up with even the Chinese. I believed (and it's only a belief) that the Russians still had a l-o-n-g way to go.
Where I live are a ton of Chinese and Russian refugees. Both groups seem to be adjusting very well to the American way. It seems, naturally probably, that the younger the immigrants the better they adjust. The oldsters have a tough time. Not easy for them. They weren't used to having to work like dogs for the good stuff.
I lived in the middle east for five years and didn't see the horror that I thought to expect after reading and hearing all the anti-Muslim/Arab stuff here in the USA. The big/huge difference is that the Arabs have the good ole capitalism idea, rather, that life is a dog-eat-dog world and people don't get things handed to them. The Russians seemed to still think that the "state" should take care of them. I guess it's tough to get off the 80-year-old nipple. Communism worked for the lazy, stupid, incompetent, unassertive and non-competitive. Everyone got stuff without having to life a finger. Not good for people.
My husband and I worked for ARAMCO. I worked with 30 Saudis. They treated all men the same; they treated their women like children--and many of them acted like children. They treated foreign women from 3rd countries okay and European women very well.
We American women were treated like princesses and queens. We could do no wrong. Hahaha, I had some interesting confrontations with the Saudis. I always won because I was the American woman--TOTALLY unafraid and secure in who I was. Bullies, though few in number, are both male and female and exist everywhere. My DAD taught me to deal with them at a very early age.
Sidenote: My dad was in north Africa during most of WWII and went to Anzio. He would never talk about it but he did NOT like the Arabs. They cheated him once. He didn't get over it.
If the Afghani leadership hadn't been so corrupt, there would have been no need/opportunity for foreign takeover.
Our group of ARAMCO women visited Damascus way back when his father was in charge. We loved it. We were all shoppers and had a fabulous time. ARAMCO always had to bring a SECOND ARAMCO plane just to haul all the stuff we ARAMCO women bought! I didn't buy much because I never was a shopper--very unwomanly of me. But...I did buy jewelry. GREAT deals! Gold was cheap, cheap, cheap and you could NOT buy gold that was less that 22 karat.
Sigh, I don't wear it any more and gave away most of it to female family members!