Provincial Capital in Afghanistan Is Seized by a Warlord's Forces

nytimes.com ^ | April 9, 2004 | CARLOTTA GALL

[Destro]

Profile: General Rashid Dostum

General Abdul Rashid Dostum, leader of Afghanistan's minority Uzbek community. A nationalist whose biggest support comes from Afghan Uzbeks.

A long ally of Russia, I would not be suprised if Moscow winked his way though he is more than capable of this action on his own withou anyone's ok.

Dostum is not taliban/al-Qaeda's man but he is not our man either.

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[ConservativeMan55]

Why is all hell breaking loose everywhere?

[nuconvert]

I don't like the looks of him.

[mrs tiggywinkle]

He resembles Saddam.

[nuconvert]

"The governor and his top officials fled in the morning after a demonstration turned violent and protesters began stoning the governor's office"

They threw ROCKS at the building and he fled?? Sheeesh.....find another governor. What a wuss.

[nuconvert]

He does in a way.

Very low hairline.

I don't like him.

[Bogey78O]

They smell blood in the water and know that Bush has too much on his plate with trying to fight for his political life.

[2banana]

I was in Maimana (or Meymaneh) just a few months ago with the US Army. The city is evenly spit between Dostum's troops and Atta's troops. They pretty much hate each other and have fought for control of this city before.

Faryab province is mostly Dostum's turf. Atta has been slowly been trying to take control.

My 2 cents. I would rather have Dostum take over the whole damn place. Both guys are goons but he is much more westernized than the other warlords running around. Atta is hard core islam and thinks Afghanistan has already had too much western exposure. He also organized anti-American demonstrations because of the war in Iraq.

BTW, the governor and mayor are both supporters of Dostum. The "demonstration" was probably Atta's boys. This probably pissed Dostum off enough to send in his boys...

[Destro]

A Freeper said that Dostum resembles Saddam - in that part of the world that may not be such a bad thing.

[mrs tiggywinkle]

I sense evil from just viewing his picture. I agree with you...I don't like him.

[nutmeg]

Why is all hell breaking loose everywhere?

It sure looks that way tonight, doesn't it? :(

[rj45mis]

"Why is all hell breaking loose everywhere?"

Exactly what I was thinking when I read this caption. It almost seems like something the Clinton crowd would engineer to regain their powerbase.

[nutmeg]

Very interesting post (#9)... thank you!

[2banana]

Dostum looks alot older and fatter now. It has been easy living for him once the Taliban fell (including shopping trips/mistress trips to Uzbekistan).

[Destro]

Hey being a Central Asian warlord has its perks.

[Hamza01]

Maybe you're right about Dostum being the least unpalatable of the available alternatives. But, does it help us to have the legitimate governor of Faryab being run out of town? (legitimate being a relative term here)

By the way, I hear "Engineer" Hekmatyar's coming back politically, and that Burhanuddin Rabbani's making noise too. Is this correct?

And... How are the Pashtuns treating US soldiers?

Sorry, bro. But since you've got first hand knowledge, I just got to ask questions. We don't get much raw data here at home. Everybody's spinning.

Regards.

[Lakeside]

Well, Hillary hinted as much not too long ago. Something about foreign "incidents" turning the tide of our elections. The Dems. are certainly desperate enough that nothing would surprise me.

[2banana]

Hey being a Central Asian warlord has its perks.

Yep, even minor goons (warlord generals that are fat/40 year old) of the big goons have 3-4 wives and marry them when they are 13 years old. They space them out, of course. Most of them drink like fish (cheap russian vodka). There have been many a night when my team would come back to the safe house after a "meeting" with a warlord. Driving drunk on the roads with heavy automatic weapons. What a country...

[2banana]

It has been about 6 months but here it goes...

Maybe you're right about Dostum being the least unpalatable of the available alternatives. But, does it help us to have the legitimate governor of Faryab being run out of town? (legitimate being a relative term here)

I am actually good friends with the governor and the mayor of Meymaneh. Both are supporters of Dostum and the central government. The mayor is actually a US citizen who came back to help. That is why I think it was Atta's thugs who had a "demonstration" to get rid of them. BTW, both armies force men into their ranks with threats against their families. Both the mayor and the governor are pretty good people. Alot better than most "leaders" I met in country.

By the way, I hear "Engineer" Hekmatyar's coming back politically, and that Burhanuddin Rabbani's making noise too. Is this correct?

Hekmatyar may want to go legit, but on his terms. US Forces will kill him if they find him first. Not mush love for him since he destroyed most of Kabul with his rockets right after the Russians left.

And... How are the Pashtuns treating US soldiers?

Pashtuns are the least friendly to US forces and most Taliban were Pashtuns.

Sorry, bro. But since you've got first hand knowledge, I just got to ask questions. We don't get much raw data here at home. Everybody's spinning.

Yeah, it is a shame. And you can kick my ass for saying this, but Geraldo does a decent job on getting to the "real world" of Afghanistan (better than most reporters I have seen since I have been back).