In rural Afghanistan, Taliban gingerly welcome girls schools

[aziqbal]

well done

its a positive sign, women need to be educated

where and how this whole not to educate women came about God knows

 

[jamahir]

There was a long discussion on some other platform about "when communism can work", an ex-Soviet anti communist guy highlighted many scenario mainly citing the development of Central Asia and other "backward" regions then an ex-Afghan communist asked why Afghanistan couldn't achieve the same, the Soviet guy replied the same what I told you; surprisingly many other ex-Soviets agreed with the hypothesis.

It's of course an anecdote from an internet guy; I don't have any credible or academic sources to back it.

But I personally think the hypothesis carries some weight.

I think given time and more Soviet technological assistance in civilian fields, Afghanistan would have developed. I must mention that during the 80s an Afghan went to space to stay in the Mir space station of the Soviets. There are photos on the net showing Afghan colleges and people, especially women, getting trained in computers and other technologies.

I was reading an article until minutes ago about how after the fall of the Najibullah government he was betrayed by his formerly trusted men :

Not just Dostum, most of his partymen had also abandoned Najibullah. Foreign minister Abdul Wakil and army chief General Mohammad Nabi Azimi, keen on their own political and physical survival, wanted to offer Najibullah as a prisoner to the advancing Mujahideen forces. They had rushed to the airport on getting news of Najibullah’s escape attempt, and asked Sevan to disembark the plane to avoid further embarrassment and potential violence (they wanted Sevan alive and safe given his UN connection). Wakil, accompanied by many other members of the Watan party, castigated Sevan for trying to get Najibullah out of Afghanistan secretly. In his next step, an angry Wakil sent out a national broadcast via Radio Kabul stating that “Najibullah tried to escape but had been stopped by the armed forces…He must be held to answer certain questions to the Afghan people. The government had no intention of killing him. The soldiers at the checkpoint could have killed him, but did not.” In a matter of hours, Najibullah had become a “hated dictator” for Wakil, and Massoud, who was leading the Mujahideen into Kabul, had become his “esteemed brother.”

The article is about how India messed up Najibullah's attempted escape from Kabul which then led to his capture by the Taliban, then a tortured death.

@Naofumi, I am logging-off now. Any reply you leave I will read tomorrow.