STORY
The Sunday Times, London
The Northern Alliance's Cruel History: Mujaheddin write their name in blood.
November 11, 2001
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/11/11/stiusausa02009.html



COMMENT

 
Just as a coda to the post of October 3, q.v., here's some more info on the 
Northern Alliance:

> In a macabre ritual known as "dead men dancing", victims' heads were
> chopped off. Petrol was then pumped into their necks and set alight as the
> blood spurted out and the bodies jerked about in their death throes.
>
> In Afghanistan, rape, mutilation and torture have been rife over the past
> decade. The skinning alive of victims has been a particular favourite of
> warring groups, along with the roasting of prisoners in containers left in the
> desert sun.
>
> The Afghan warlord whose perverted mind dreamt up the "dead man dancing"
> routine was Abdul Ali Mazari, a leader of the Hazaras, Afghanistan's
> Persian-speaking ethnic minority. Mazari headed a group called
> Hizb-i-Wahdat, which is now a key part of the Northern Alliance, the loose
> confederation of militias that is the spearhead in Afghanistan of America's and
> Britain's war on terrorism.

Well, what the heck. The Israelis are still torturing people, according
to a report just released by three human rights organizations, one of
them Israeli. This is after the Israeli Supreme Court ordered them not
to. Also, they've refused to stop using death squads. So if the Israelis
are doing that kind of thing, it can't be all bad. True, they don't set
beheaded corpses on fire -- they're too civilized and democratic for
that.

And then, there's the drug problem. Remember, we are giving helicopters,
rifles, and training to the Colombian armed forces to wipe out cocaine
production in that country. But  ...

> The Americans should also be aware that the warlords who make up the
> Alliance are among the key players in the heroin trade. A UN survey showed
> that 83% of the opium produced over the past year in Afghanistan came from
> Badakhshan province, which is controlled by the Northern Alliance.