When I checked the news today, the horrific picture-- selected by Time as a front-cover--of Aisha’s face, an 18-year-old Afghan woman whom was sentenced by the Taliban to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws greeted me. International newspapers reported the news and the picture is now one of those... Continue Reading →
Plutocracy of blood? Afghanistan post-election
How much blood has been spilled in Afghanistan? It is very difficult to say; official estimates speak of an improbable 12,000 to a more probable, but still conservative, 32,000 casualties. Of these deaths, the "insurgents" of various affiliations (so not only the Taliban) would have been responsible, according to very conservative statistics, for almost a... Continue Reading →
From the Taliban to the Taliban: the case of Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh
Why did our European and US governments invade Afghanistan? How many of us can recall the general rhetoric of a Just War fought in the name of an ‘Enduring Freedom’ to liberate Afghan women from their burqa and Afghan men from their long beards, as well as bringing to justice bin-Laden? The Afghan campaign has... Continue Reading →
Unknown soldiers and the double paradox of the new Afghan šuhadā
After World War I western nations have their own Unknown Soldier to commemorate those soldiers who lost their life serving their countries and whose identity was lost forever together with their lives. Some nations, like the UK, used their main churches to host the grave of the Unknown Soldier, others, like Italy, built monumental shrines.... Continue Reading →