Posted on 08/16/2021 9:53:25 AM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
American and Afghan scholars and diplomats say it is worth recalling four decades in the country’s recent history, from the 1930s to the 1970s, when there was a semblance of a national government and Kabul was known as “the Paris of Central Asia.”
Afghans and Americans alike describe the country in those days as a poor nation, but one that built national roads, stood up an army and defended its borders. As a monarchy and then a constitutional monarchy, there was relative stability and by the 1960s a brief era of modernity and democratic reform. Afghan women not only attended Kabul University, they did so in miniskirts. Visitors tourists, hippies, Indians, Pakistanis, adventurers were stunned by the beauty of the city’s gardens and the snow-capped mountains that surround the capital.
“I lived in Afghanistan when it was very governable, from 1964 to 1974,” said Thomas E. Gouttierre, director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, who met recently in Kabul with Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan. Mr. Gouttierre, who spent his decade in the country as a Peace Corps volunteer, a Fulbright scholar and the national basketball team’s coach, said, “I’ve always thought it was one of the most beautiful places in the world.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Muslims.
Capable of ruining a society even faster than a Democrat.
Thank you for posting.
“Muslims.
Capable of ruining a society even faster than a Democrat.”
Ha. I’d say it’s a photo finish.
Calling it “the Paris of Central Asia” isn’t saying much.
Pittsburgh calls itself “the Paris of Appalachia.”
And Utica is the Paris of upstate NY.
Islam happened.
Women in Kabul could wear Western clothes, but out in the country, not so much. I trained to be a Peace Corps Volunteer in the late 60s and we were told to not even mention or refer to any Afghan woman—wife, mom, sister—it could well cost us our lives. Yes, there were some Afghan prostitutes but even patronizing one of them could get us killed.
So if that was the ‘Golden Age’ to be looked back at nostalgically; it wasn’t all that golden in 95% of Afghanistan
And before too long, Paris will be called, “the Kabul of Europe.”
We have too many scholars in charge and not enough hard men who have the will to protect a garden from weeds.
Interesting. Thanks for posting that.
Paris has been Paris for centuries and has a rich history behind it. Making a "Paris" in backward, impoverished, mostly desert Central Asia actually was an achievement. The fact that it didn't last may have made the achievement even more impressive.
Beirut was the “Paris of the Middle East”
Now, Paris is the “Beirut of Europe”
Good point, and one that should make the people in Pittsburgh feel better about their city.
bookmark
And Petticoat Junction is the Paris of Hooterville.
Many great powers have tried their hand at converting Afghanistan to a democracy and they have all failed miserably. The US, the Russians, Great Britain all thought they were smarter than the Afganis and could install a stable democracy into the country but in the end realized they could not.
After watching the film and reading about the Taliban taking over the country, I can assure you there will never be another golden age of Afghanistan.
Wrong link.
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