Farewell Kabul: From Afghanistan To A More Dangerous World by Christina Lamb

Author:Christina Lamb
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2015-04-08T22:00:00+00:00

Though I spent a lot of time with Karzai that week I found it hard to pin him down on anything serious. All he wanted to do was reminisce about the past.

One day after a counter-narcotics meeting, I asked how he felt about his country becoming a narco-state. He laughed. ‘As long as we produce poppy the world will be interested in us,’ he said. Then he became serious. ‘Remember in Argandab sitting under the pomegranate trees and someone came with a big cloak which he threw near our feet to sit on? That orchard, that beautiful environment is now a poppy field. What would it take for that family to turn that beautiful pomegranate orchard into a poppy field?’

I asked about the widespread allegations that his own brother Ahmed Wali was trafficking opium. ‘Yes, they say that,’ he said. ‘I’ve called him here, he’s met with the international community, and they’ve not given any evidence. I’ve called in the Brits, the Americans, and asked them repeatedly, repeatedly, for evidence, and there is nothing. It’s political, people trying to get at me by defaming him.’

The story I had heard was that when Karzai confronted him, Ahmed Wali retorted, ‘At least I’m only ruining Kandahar. You’re ruining the whole country.’

‘Are you absolutely sure he’s not involved?’ I asked.

‘Yes, to the extent he tells me repeatedly he’s not, yes I am.’

His facial twitch worked away.

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