Afghanistan’s Untold Story
By M. Ashraf Haidari
November 10, 2008
In “Not my grandfather’s country” (International
Herald Tribune, opinion, October 31), Fatima Ayub recycles the
repeatedly told story of Afghanistan’s downward spiral, but she says nothing
about how her grandfather’s least developed country has changed for the better
in more fundamental ways in just seven years which decades had not accomplished
before.
Afghanistan of 35 years ago never had as many health clinics across the
country as today; as many primary, secondary, and tertiary roads as today; as
many schools, vocational facilities, and universities as today; as many
five-star hotels and wedding halls as today; as many private TVs, radios, and
daily & weekly papers as today. Our isolated rural population under the best of
the country’s times is connected with the outside world for the first time
thanks to international assistance and our shared achievements over the past few
years. Suicide attacks have hit London , Madrid , and New York , and Kabul has
been no exception. On the whole, however, Kabul and other provincial cities of
Afghanistan in the west, north, northeast, and center of the country are far
safer than many major cities of the developed countries.
Today’s Afghanistan is in a unique situation with a unique set of challenges
and opportunities that fundamentally differ from 35 years ago. With
international support, it is the responsibility of Afghans in and outside the
country to define our future with a sense of optimism, vision, and firm
determination to do our part now.
M. Ashraf Haidari is the Political Counselor of the Embassy of Afghanistan in
Washington, DC. His e-mail is
haidari@embassyofafghanistan.org
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The above is in response to Fatima Ayub's opinion article titled
"Not in my
grandfather's country" in the October 31, 2008 issue of the International
Herald Tribune.
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