Isma‘il Khan, the powerful warlord of Herat and a good part of western Afghanistan, has escaped an assassination attempt. Don't be misled by the BBC headline about an "Afghan Minister": he's a lot more powerful than that. He's also freezing his participation in the Karzai Cabinet. Juan Cole is much better on the background: this looks like the senior members of the Karzai Cabinet are starting to revert to their own satrapies. Note the quote that the US fate in Afghanistan will be worse than the Russians: that's coming from a member of Karzai's Cabinet, and a staunch bastion of the old Northern Alliance. He has maintained good ties with Iran — Herat is a Dari (Persian)-speaking region, with close links across the border. Isma‘il Khan has been warlord of Herat and seems intent on returning to that duty. After all, he looks the part, as you can see.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Isma‘il Khan Escapes Assassination
Isma‘il Khan, the powerful warlord of Herat and a good part of western Afghanistan, has escaped an assassination attempt. Don't be misled by the BBC headline about an "Afghan Minister": he's a lot more powerful than that. He's also freezing his participation in the Karzai Cabinet. Juan Cole is much better on the background: this looks like the senior members of the Karzai Cabinet are starting to revert to their own satrapies. Note the quote that the US fate in Afghanistan will be worse than the Russians: that's coming from a member of Karzai's Cabinet, and a staunch bastion of the old Northern Alliance. He has maintained good ties with Iran — Herat is a Dari (Persian)-speaking region, with close links across the border. Isma‘il Khan has been warlord of Herat and seems intent on returning to that duty. After all, he looks the part, as you can see.
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