"Understanding the lessons of the past is critical for the Western intervention to have any long-lasting positive impact on Afghanistan. Yet experience has convinced me that whether out of political expedience, arrogance or just plain ignorance, too many Western policy makers continually fail to examine the history of this defiant country." Pg 9
"Most critical of all, the Soviet invasion eliminated Afghanistan as a traditional buffer between the USSR and what was once British India." Pg 63
"Pakistan's main foreign policy concern has always been India." Pg 63
"Nor were the SOviets likely to find a coherent people to control. Afghanistan is a linguistic, cultural,and geographic mosaic of highly diverse people - Pushtuns, Nuristanis, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmen, Hazaras, and others - who, traditionally, never like being told what to do by foreigners. Nor do they like being ruled by one another. Every Afghan regards himself as 'King amongst Kings,' with the same right to have his views heeded as any other Afghan, beggar or monarch." Pg 72
"The Soviets, much like Americans over twenty years later, engaged militarily in Afghanistan to impose an external form of government that ran inherently counter to AFghan traditions and beliefs." Pg. 72
"As one Afghan told me, one needs to understand 'a thousand' Afghanistans." Pg 77
"'This means we have to buy back the bullets that we previously captured.' said one commander." Pg 86
"It was an astonishing story. More men were killed in Kerala than the Lidice massacre in Czechoslovakia, where the Nazis slaughtered the entire male population during World War II or My Lai in March 1968 when American troops deliberately killed Vietnamese civilians. According to the Afghanistan Justice Project . . . the Kerala massacre emerged as one of the most vicious human rights violations of the Afghan war." Pg. 91
"Massoud was clearly the 'boss,' friendly, persuasive, and decisive. He commanded respect from all and had an exceptional ability to involve the conservative elders in his decision making. Massoud was both a modernist and a pious Muslim. He sometimes excused himself in the middle of a conversation to pray, peeling off his white-and-black scarf and laying it on the ground facing qiblah, the direction of Mecca. Whenever he worshipped, on a riverbank or a hidden mountain position, Massoud usually let someone else lead in prayer. The others - fighters, farmers, refugees, merchants - would fall in beside him. I watched fascinated as Massoud, caught up in his devotion, would solemnly pray - kneeling and bowing, murmuring 'Allah o Akbar' in unison with the others. Finally, passing his hand over his face, he would climb back on his feet, refreshed. 'Right,' he said, striding over. 'Where were we.?'" Pg 163
"But for me, these people are true human beings. They understand civilization, hospitality. . . An Afghan, even if he dislikes you, will always shake your hand. That is the differeence between them and you. Thisis why this is such an extraordinary country and why this extraordinary people will never be like you." In conversation with Osama bin Laden (unknowingly) Pg 262
"The extremism espoused by bin Laden and other foreign militants represented a form of Islam totally alien to AFghan tradition, culture, and religion. But even with the ousting of the Arabs, their long-term influence was not halted. A significant portion of the hundreds of millions of Arab dollars that jihadists, but also the Saudi government, had poured into the Afghan cause during the 1980's went toward the creation of Koranic schools, clinics, and orphanages in the refugee camps. A whole generation , or two, of Afghans were indoctrinated in the madrassa"
Book 53
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