Here on the outskirts of Herat, the Russian army once waged fierce battles against the Afghan mujahedin for control of the strategic border city. Parts of the old town were off-limits to the young and unexperienced Russian soldiers who justly feared for their lives when entering the labyrinth of narrow alleys and densely packed mud brick homes. Facing an effective and determined opponent, the Russians resorted to their dominance of the air and carpet bombed entire swathes of the city, killing an estimated 12'000 civilians. After the Russians were driven out of Afghanistan, the iron-fisted yet effective government of Ismail Khan spent the customs duties earned on trade with nearby Iran to rebuild their city, rather than sending the money to the weak, corrupt, and mistrusted central government in Kabul. As a result, Herat boasts tree-lined parks, clean and newly paved streets, and a sense of pride and purpose, quite unlike the chaotic melting-pot of Kabul.
Devastated by 27 years of war and faced with permanent military occupation by American and NATO armies, what will become of Afghanistan? Will today's children continue to fight for the freedom and independence which their parents never knew? Or will they embrace the strange new concepts of democracy, free markets, religious tolerance, and women's rights being imposed upon them by Western governments, Western aid organisations and Western development banks? If history is any guide, the new generation of Afghanis will maintain their fierce sense of independence, accepting foreign help to rebuild their nation while rejecting any outside interference in their traditions.
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