one’s theory accordingly.
“We attempted to enforce democracy and a Western imposed aid system which quite frankly has been a complete disaster” You famously and controversially spent some time “behind enemy lines” in the company of the Taliban. How would you describe the Taliban in just a few words? Polite. Generous. Incredibly hostile to strangers, but even more hospitable to their guests. I tested this analysis to the full when I was travelling with the Taliban in 2006. One section of the Taliban forces, just returning from fight-
VIVID 2nd Edition March 2008
ing the British, heard of my presence and arrived demanding that I be handed over to them and killed. The commander of the section that I was with, however, stood his ground and replied “not over my dead body”. Luckily for me the hospitality for a guest proved to be stronger than the hostility shown to strangers. How do you see the future of Afghanistan? Very negatively. There exists a direct connection between foreign policy and the Middle Eastern conflict. There was a unique historic opportunity in 2001 to really change things and put Afghanistan on different tracks, going in the direction of peace, stability and possibly democracy. However, we weren’t quick enough. We attempted to enforce democracy and a Western imposed aid system which quite frankly has been a complete disaster. As a result the future now looks grim. The Taliban are once more increasing in popularity and are finding it
easier to recruit. The current government is corrupt, the Taliban is not. On top of this the drug economy in Afghanistan is still twice as large as the national economy. You recently wrote an article for the BBC entitled “Little Hope for Afghans in 2008”. Given the long history of occupation and violent conflict what do you think Afghans actually hope for? Peace and security. Indeed, I think they want what the West wants for them, in terms of education and democracy. They are happy for the Americans to stay in order to realise these dreams, the problem is that we seem no closer to achieving them and people are beginning to believe that things were better under the Taliban. David Loyn’s book, ‘Frontline’ is out now. His next one, ‘Butcher and Bolt’, relates Afghanistan’s turbulent history and is out in the autumn.
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