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Two Versions of the liberation of Kabul

Ethan Hawke

13:06 / 13.11.01

quote: Freshly shaven men rubbed their faces, celebrating their new freedom from Taliban rules. An old man danced in the street,holding a small tape recorder blaring music.

The Taliban -- who had banned music, ordered men to wear beards and ruled Afghanistan with a harsh brand of Islamic law -- were gone from Afghanistan's capital. "We are free!" shouted Noor Mohammed, as he danced with the tape player pressed to his ear.

Afghan Residents celebrate with Banned Music, Shaving (AP)

quote:Near an abandoned Taliban bunker, Northern Alliance soldiers dragged a wounded Taliban soldier out of a ditch today. As the terrified man begged for his life, the alliance soldiers pulled him to his feet.

Northern Alliance Celebrates with ExecutionsGraphic Photos.

Ethan Hawke

13:37 / 13.11.01

Here's another great "Human Interest Story" from the Times:

quote:But the ideology, it seems, never sank in. When Taliban soldiers arrived they smashed every television set they could find. As they approached his home,Muhammad Asif, a young shopkeeper, rushed his Sharp 17-inch television and VCR to the backyard, where he buried them.

Since then, Mr. Asif has dreamed of the day when he would be able to watch again. That moment arrived today when he unearthed his television and slipped a weathered copy of "Titanic"(!) into the VCR.

"Everywhere people are digging up their television sets," Mr. Asif. Like those
of so many other men in Taliqan, his head was bare in public for the first time in many months.

Truly, Leonardo DiCaprio is an avatar of Freedom for the Muslim World.

In the Fallen Taliban City, a busy, busy Barber

Wonderful fucking headline. I like the barber who shaves all but doesn't shave himself.

Ethan Hawke

13:51 / 13.11.01

Atrocities reported in Mazar-e Sharif. Up to 600 POWs (Taliban fighters, many of them young recruits) were reported executed by Northern Alliance forces.

quote: "Today in Mazar we have had several sources who have corroborated that over 100 Taliban troops -- who were young recruits who were hiding in school -- were killed by Northern Alliance forces on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.," said U.N. spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker, speaking at a news conference Tuesday in Islamabad, Pakistan

CNN report

Now, US special forces are known to be with the Northern alliance troops, (less than 100, more than 20, according to the administration). Can they be expected to prevent things like this from happening?

Naked Flame

15:57 / 13.11.01

Just got done watching the coverage on the Beeb. Heavy on the first (celebratory) angle, although they covered some of the info about executions and POW killings.

I guess this means that the military part of the campaign is working very successfully. Despite my anti-war noises over the last 2 months, I can't help feeling that something good was accomplished today. However- it remains to be seen whether anything improves long-term, or if the Powers that Be will leave the place in as fucked up a state as they found it. There are never any quick fixes. Furthermore, I have a feeling that however successfully the war in Afghanistan goes, we are nowhere near resolving the root causes of all this crap. And I'm worried that the pace of the war has dramatically outstripped the pace of the diplomatic process.

So I'm still going to the demo on Sunday...

that and I just bought a whole bundle of banner making stuff

good job I hadn't already done slogans eh?

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