by Fariba Nawa
Marjah district, search for Darya in, 296, 300, 315–18
poppy farming in, 34, 43, 100, 157–58, 165, 177, 275, 276–77, 298, 307–8
Sangin district, 289–302, 318
search for Darya in, 276–85, 287–304
Taliban in, 276, 284–86, 300–301
Herat province. see also Ghoryan district, Herat province
author returns to (2000), 5–9, 18–29, 86–89
author returns to (2002), 74–77
after author’s family escapes, 45–47
author’s family properties in, 9–11, 12–13, 14, 16, 24–27, 41, 85–86, 106–10, 126, 197, 198
bathhouse, 13–14
described, 11, 24
history of, 11, 283
Khalqi attempt at women’s liberation, 40
literacy campaign in, 40
Lycée Mehri, 13–16, 26
mujahideen attacks in, 12–16
120-day wind, 95–96
opium smugglers in, 16–17, 47–52, 61
Taliban activity in, 21–22, 27, 86–87, 100
Herat University, 76
heroin
addiction rates, 310
in Afghanistan, 2–3, 18, 34–35, 81, 192, 195, 230–41
at Argu opium bazaar, 168–73
China White/crystal, 236–38
in Europe, 91, 195
legalization of, 310
in opium processing, 135, 177, 213, 234–36
heroin (cont.)
in the U.S., 60–62, 65–66
value of, 35
heroin laboratories, 34, 177, 213, 232–38
hijab, 88–89, 95, 104
Hizb-e-Islami party, 262
Holbrooke, Richard, 308
Holland, legalization of narcotics, 310
Hossaini, Sayed Akbar (Haji Baba; maternal grandfather), 10–11, 21, 41, 49–51
Human Rights Watch, 78
Huntington, Samuel, 57
Ibrahim, Dawood, 136
Idrees (NIU officer)
family of, 269–72
murder of, 258–65, 276
Imam, Colonel (Sultan Amir Tarar), 37
Imran (guide in Helmand province), 287–303
India, 136
informants, 51, 112–13, 133, 210, 216, 217
Institute for War and Peace, 135
Iran
Afghan refugees in, 109
border war on drug trade, 141–42
border with Afghanistan, 141–42, 145–47
drug smuggling to, 49, 91, 101, 103, 106–9, 129–32, 141–45, 177, 195
female dress requirements, 5, 7, 44, 166, 276–77, 282, 299–300, 318
Ghurid dynasty in Ghoryan, 83–84
Islamic Revolution (1979), 43–44, 147
people smuggling to, 45–47, 106–7, 146–47
Revolutionary Guard, 135
ISI (Pakistani intelligence), 12, 42, 262
Islamabad, author returns with Agence France Presse, 58, 66–68
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), 230–31
Islamic Revolution (1979), 43–44, 147
Islamic Unison (Afghan newspaper), 9
Ismailis, 174
Jalal (opium dealer), 138–40, 145
Jalali, Ali Ahmad, 241
Jami, Nuruddin, 11, 26
Jamiat-e-Islami, 12
Jan, Sayyed, 226, 229
Jawan, Mr. (opium smuggler), 16–17, 47–52, 61, 80, 81, 92–93, 106–10
son, Kamran, 6–7, 20–21, 92–93, 109
Jawid (driver), 279
jihad (holy war), Soviet invasion and, 42
Kaaba (house of God in Mecca), 125
Kabul. see also Karte Parwan
author home in Project Taimani neighborhood, 265–67
author’s mother visits, 183–87, 188–90, 197–98
author travels to, 27, 77–79
civil war among mujahideen rebels, 45–47, 53–54, 175, 262
Communist destruction of, 17
counternarcotics compound, 260, 261, 270
four official gates, 207
Loya Jirga (grand assembly of 2002), 77–79
media explosion, 189
as microcosm of all issues for narcotics, 267–68
Nejat Center (addiction treatment), 191–92
plot against Taraki, 41–42
Polytechnic University, 37, 77–79
population growth, 224–26
Pul-e-Charkhi prison, 41, 211–15, 282
Qala-e-Fatullah, 311
riots in, 268–69
suicide bombing in, 310–12
Tajbeg Palace, 42
Kabul Airport, 135, 136, 206–7
Kabul University, 35, 37, 39–41, 282–83
Kaftar (opium smuggler), 108–9
Kajaki Dam, 301
Kamran (family neighbor in Herat), 6–7, 20–21, 92–93, 109
Kandahar
author’s family moves to, 38–39, 275, 281–84
author visits in 2002, 280–81
poppy farming in, 43, 100, 151, 158, 165–66
search for Darya in, 280–81
Taliban defeat of mujahideen in, 17
Karmal, Babrak, 38–39
Karte Parwan, 216–29
author home in, 184–85, 188–90, 197–98, 218–23, 265
described, 218–19
drug raid, 216–18, 223–24, 311–12
foreign occupants in, 218–19, 221–22
suicide bombing in, 310–12
Karzai, Ahmed Wali, 227, 240–41, 307–8
Karzai, Hamid, 73–74, 136, 141
Bonn Agreement (2001), 68, 79, 157, 225–26
corruption and, 141, 225
drug trade and, 82–83, 141, 226–29, 240–41, 306, 309
family base in Kandahar, 280
peace declaration of 2001, 267
Taliban and, 268–69, 305–6
kerakash (drug middleman), 49
Khair Khana, 269–72
Khaleeq (Rustaq police chief), 239
Khalili, Karim, 78
Khalilzad, Zalmay, 78–79
Khaliq, Mullah, 263
Khalq Party, 38–41
Khan, Abdur Rahman, 32, 84
Khan, Amanullah, 140
Khan, Haji Juma, 136, 260
Khan, Ismail (warlord), 12, 17, 53–54, 74, 78, 88, 100, 112–13, 115, 140–42
Khan, Wazir Akbar, 269
Khan Mohammed, 146
khishlaq (village constructed on edge of mountains), 176
kidnapping, 247–50, 257, 300–301
Kunduz province, 259, 271–72
land mines, 12, 42, 52, 92, 145, 287, 313
Laos, 33
Lashkargah
author’s family lives in, 274
Little America project, 274–75
Loya Jirga (grand assembly of 2002), 77–79
Lycée Mehri (Herat school), 13–16, 26
mahr (financial restitution for divorce), 121
mahram (male relative/travel companion), 6–8, 22, 292, 298–99
Malik, Abdul, 263
Manan, Mullah, 263
Mansfield, David, 160
Maoists, 40
Maria (wife of great-uncle Ahmed), 21
marijuana, 196
Marjah district, search for Darya in, 296, 300, 315–18
Marxist revolution, 38
Masooda, Aunt, 76
mass graves, 67, 255
Massoud, Ahmad Shah, 53, 68, 78, 150, 227, 232
assassination by Taliban, 12, 56, 179, 219, 230
mujahideen unite under, 17, 18
in Muslim Brotherhood, 37–38
Mehdi (opium dealer), 143–45
Mehri (Afghan women’s magazine), 9
Mina (niece of Imran), 294–96, 299
Mobin (travel companion), 6–8, 18–21, 27–29
Mohammed, Haji Baz, 136, 260
Mohammed, Lal, 208, 210–11
Mohammed, Prophet, 187
money laundering, 101–2, 130, 133, 137
>
Mongols, 11, 32, 200, 303
morphine, in opium processing, 135, 235, 236–37
Morrison Knudsen, 274–75
mujahideen rebels. see also opium trade
Afghan Army mutiny to join, 40–41
al Qaeda and, 66
assume control of Afghanistan (1992), 17, 52–53, 67–68, 184
attacks on Herat, 12–16
civil war among, 45–47, 53–54, 175, 262
controls on women, 88–89
defeat in Kandahar, 17
move to northern provinces, 174–75
opium trade and, 42–43, 52, 157, 175–82
in Pakistan, 44–45
pedophilia among, 17, 279
seven factions, 12, 17, 31, 42
Soviet invasion and growth of, 42–43
Taliban and, 66, 174–75
U.S. support for, 12, 32, 42–43, 185–86
music, 311
Hindi, 27–28, 29, 87
Taliban ban on, 7, 8–9, 22–23, 76, 77
Muslim Brotherhood, 37–38
Nadeem, Mohammad Ashraf, 67
Naeem (husband; IT technician), 87–89, 310–12, 314–15
Najibullah, Mohammed, 30–31, 52–53
Nangarhar province, 309
heroin laboratories, 213, 235–37
poppy farming in, 34, 43, 177
Nasim, Mullah, 34
National Fertilizer Company, 12, 38–39, 71–72, 274, 281–82, 284
National Interdiction Unit (NIU)
death of officers, 258–65, 269–72
described, 199–200
drug raid in Takhar province, 233–35, 238–39
drug raids in Karte Parwan, 216–18, 223–24, 311–12
murder of officers, 258–65, 269–72, 276
women in, 199–204, 207–8, 217
nationalism, 65
National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 195–96
NATO, 205, 243, 246, 254–55, 257, 280, 306–7, 308
Nawa, Fazul Haq (father)
administrative career in Afghanistan, 12, 38–39, 71–72, 274, 281–84
exile in the U.S., 72–73, 86, 315
forbidden vices and, 71–72
personality of, 70–72
returns to Afghanistan (2002), 73–77, 85–86
as translator, 189–90
writing career of, 69–70
Nawa, Sayed Begum (mother)
exile in U.S., 315
nicknames, 183, 187
visits Afghanistan, 183–90, 197–98
Nazaneen (NIU agent), 199–204
Neela (cousin), 76, 124–25
Nejat Center (addiction treatment), 191–92
New York University, 55–56, 58
Niazi, Adeena, 79
Nigerian drug trade, 136
nikah (Islamic marriage ceremony), 121–24, 311
Nikyar, Jalil, 80–83
Nimroz province, 261
Nixon, Richard, 37–38
Noor, Atta Mohammad, 67, 308
Noorzai, Haji Bashir, 136
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 205, 243, 246, 254–55, 257, 280, 306–7, 308
Northern Alliance, 79
Nurzai, 84
Nyamat, Nyamatullah, 228–29
Obaid (NIU officer), 258, 260, 261–65, 270, 276
Obama, Barack, 305, 308, 315
okra, 159
Omar, Mullah, 17–18, 252
Omidian, Patricia, 265–67
opium brides, 97–105, 128–29, 157–58, 302. see also Darya (opium bride)
Opium Festival, 181
opium palaces, 265
opium trade, 1–4. see also counternarcotics strategy; poppy farming
Argu opium bazaar, 168–73
in Badakhshan province, 168–73, 175–82, 191, 290, 309
chain of narcotics link, 134–37
couriers in, 100–101, 136–37, 206–7, 244–45
culture of drug trafficking, 240
cycle of poverty and unemployment in, 142–45
death penalty in Iran, 101
double agents, 141–42, 203, 218, 238, 261
as funding for al Qaeda and Taliban, 2, 32, 34, 100, 113, 134–35, 138, 205–6, 306
in Ghoryan district, Herat province, 50, 80–84, 89, 90–93, 106–15, 129–32
history and development of, 3–4, 17–18, 32–35, 42–43, 173–75, 190–91, 195–96
impact of, 2–4, 34–35, 81–84, 95–96
informants, 51, 112–13, 133, 210, 216, 217
international mafia in, 180
Iranian border war, 141–42
mujahideen rebels and, 42–43, 52, 157, 175–82
in Nangarhar province, 34, 43, 177, 213, 235–36, 309
new mafia, 129–32, 135–36
opium as currency, 176–77
opium brides. see Darya (opium bride); opium brides
opium smugglers, 16–17, 47–52, 61, 80–81, 89, 92–93, 100–105
price of opium, 171–72
punishment for trafficking, 25–26
in Sangin district, 291–93
smuggling to Iran, 49, 91, 101, 103, 106–9, 129–32, 141–45, 177, 195
Soviet Union and, 34–35, 189–90, 195
opium trade (cont.)
Taliban ban on poppy cultivation (2000), 18, 67–68, 74–75, 156, 172, 175, 181–82
as underground Afghan economy, 3–4, 42–43, 167
United Nations estimates for, 34, 141–42, 177, 308
younger generation of dealers, 137–40
Osman, Mullah, 307
outhouses, 94, 98, 110, 292
overdoses, 196
Ozra (gypsy musician), 61
Pain, Adam, 160, 181
Pajhwok (Afghan news agency), 184–85, 219–23, 227–29
Pakistan
in Afghan opium trade, 33–34
Afghans seeking political asylum in, 44–45
al Qaeda in, 306
author’s family escapes through, 43–45
author travels to, 27–29
drug smuggling to, 177, 195, 229
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), 236
formation of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), 37
ISI (intelligence agency), 12, 42, 262
mujahideen in, 44–45
origins of Taliban, 17–18
provides U.S. arms to mujahideen, 12
raid on Osama bin Laden, 306
Pakistani mafia (Quetta Alliance), 135–36, 260–61, 272, 309
pan-Islamist vision, 54
Panjshiris, 79, 174–75, 219
Parcham faction, 38
Parizad (opium addict), 193, 194, 196
Parween (poppy farmer), 149–56, 160–62, 163
Pashto, 28, 36, 123, 264, 270, 273, 280, 282, 287, 291, 294, 297
Pashtuns, 17, 31, 35–38, 68, 84, 91, 92–93, 99, 200, 231, 234, 236, 274–75, 276, 277, 282
pedophilia, 17, 279
People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan, 37
Physicians for Human Rights, 67
pirahan tomban (tunic and pants), 28, 44, 85, 284
police intelligence units, 139–40, 207–11
Polo, Marco, 173–74, 232
Polytechnic University (Kabul), 37, 77–79
poppy farming
Afghan eradication program, 18, 150, 154–56, 158, 181–82, 205, 209, 307–10
alternatives to, 151–53, 158–62, 165–66, 181–82
in Badakhshan province, 34, 149–67, 175, 232
cycle for poppy cultivation, 165
downsizing in Pakistan, 236
forced versus voluntary eradication, 307–10
in Helmand province, 34, 43, 100, 157–58, 165, 177, 275, 276–77, 298, 307–8
introduction by Mongols, 32
in Kandahar, 43, 100, 151, 158, 165–66
in Nangarhar province, 34, 43, 177
in Takhar province, 232–36
Taliban ban on (2000), 18, 67–68, 74–75, 156, 172, 175, 181–8
2
volume produced in Afghanistan, 43, 100, 103, 150–51, 157–58, 167, 236, 306, 308
Portugal, legalization of narcotics, 310
potatoes, 152
proxy wars, 31–33, 179–80
Pul-e-Charkhi prison, 41, 211–15, 282
Pul-e-Khumri, Baghlan, 214–15
Quetta Alliance (Pakistani mafia), 135–36, 260–61, 272, 309
Qul, Piram (warlord), 231, 243, 246–54
Qul, Subhan, 249
Rabbani, Burhanuddin, 174–75
Rahman, Haji Abdul, 242–43
Ramia, Said Maroof, 10
Rapid Reaction Force, 207–11
Reagan, Ronald, 32, 42–43
Rendon Group, 227
Riaz (recovering addict), 192, 196
rice, 25, 232, 259
Rostam (uncle), 45–47, 106–9
Rumi, Jalaluddin, 19
Rustaq district, 231–35, 238–41, 246–51
Saber (guide in Ghoryan), 94–97, 102, 105, 106–10, 115–19, 128–32, 138–40, 145–47, 295–96, 316
Saboora (sister of Darya), 98, 99–100, 104, 124, 278, 317
Sadid, Lailuma, 219–20, 223, 227–29
saffron, 158–59, 160
Said, Edward, 57
salaam (peace) system, 158, 309–10
salt, 232
Samay (taxi driver), 287–303
Samti, 242–46, 254–57
Sangin district, Helmand province, 289–302, 318
saracha (guesthouse), 24–25
saraf (money changer), 101–2
Sardar, Haji (drug lord), 113, 129–31, 134, 164
Sarwary, Assadullah, 39–40
satellite phones, 129, 244, 295–96
satellite television, 22, 23, 269
Sattar Agha, Sayed, 76–77, 85–87
Schütz, Heike, 80–85
Schweich, Thomas, 307
Scott, Peter Dale, 32
self-immolation, 89, 91, 114, 122, 164
Sepida (daughter of Sardar), 130–31
September 11, 2001, 4, 12, 55–58, 75, 179
sewing, 151, 153, 187, 190
Shahram (travel companion in Iran), 142–43
Sharia, 65, 270
Sharif, Mohammed (poppy farmer), 165–67
Sheba, queen of (Gowhar Shad), 11
Sherzai, Gul Agha, 309
Shiites, 200, 282, 288
Shinwaris, 136, 236
shopping, 26
Silk Road, 7, 32, 173
slaked lime, 237
Sobhan, Mohammad, 139–40
Soltanzi, Gandomi (widow of opium smuggler), 111–16, 129, 132
Soltanzi, Noman, 113, 115
Soltanzis, 84
Soviet Union, former
invasion of Afghanistan (1979), 12, 25, 33–34, 41–43, 48–49, 51, 109, 179, 189–90, 211, 283
opium trade and, 34–35, 189–90, 195
proxy conflicts with U.S., 31–33, 179–80
release of political prisoners, 42