Thursday, December 21, 2006
How often the white man...
The Pashtuns, the traditional rulers of Afghanistan, saw themselves as defeated, humiliated and sidelined. Like any tribal society, the Afghan people's trust and loyalty lies with their elders. They are the custodians of the clan's identity, property, sovereignty and above all honor and pride. If the elder's opinion is ignored the whole clan feels humiliated and rallies behind him. It is on this issue that the U.S-led West always fails in all its engagements in tribal societies. By imposing their prepackaged fit-for-all ideologies they disregard the traditional role of the elders and rely on men that enjoy little or no respect from the tribe. Baffled by the white man's sheer ignorance of the value of men, a Somali poet once said: " Allahayow faranjigii muxuu doqon fariideeyey, Muxuu faydalaawiyo nin rag ah fayl u wada joojay" (Oh my God! how often the white man adorns fools with wise qualities, how often he places inferior men in the same rank as men of sagacity). This ignorance of the value of men is indeed the reason for the failure of the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan and Iraq and before them in Somalia.
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