Senator Boxer, Senator Casey and Members of the Foreign Relations Committee, Thank you for inviting me to testify before you today.Without a doubt, Afghanistan would not even be at this stage of security or development without the support and assistance of the International Community, and especially the United States.

a href="http://www.armans.info/2010/03/30/the-only-solution-promotion-of-democracy-and-human-rights.html">The Only Solution: Promotion of Democracy and Human RightsRead more...

What is the western freedom of speech model? As I have experienced just in my taste is awesome: They censure your opinions if unveil their Taboos as easy as drinking water! Yahoo website, for example, has censured lots of my criticisms so far as the eye can reach!

a href="http://www.armans.info/2010/03/18/western-style-of-freedom-of-expression.html">Western style of Freedom of ExpressionRead more...

It is spoken out in our media on the rule of Afghan Warlords and the Taliban in Afghanistan. This article will explore the process of emergence of the two movements or the two Afghan Political Phenomena over the last three decades in our country.

a href="http://www.armans.info/2010/02/22/the-state-of-warlords-and-the-government-of-taliban.html">The State of Warlords and the Government of TalibanRead more...

Birth and the fall of the CulturesAs we knew the most important factor that initially affects the course of a people’s history is the geographical setting, the terrain, the climate and especially the rivers. Such communities pass from a crude and barbaric beginning, marked by unruly courage and fierce clan solidarity, well described by Ebn e Khaldun (1332-1406) to a dynamic and well-ordered society, poised to wield power, explore natural and human resources, acquire wealth, enjoy leisure, and develop arts and crafts, giving birth in the process to a distinct culture.

a href="http://www.armans.info/2010/02/18/we-myth-and-reality.html">We, Myth and RealityRead more...

This is a revised and somehow developed form of a comment posted under the article" No more war Games" written by "Robert Fox"and published online in Guardian News Paper. Therefore, the title of this post comes from the title of that article and is relevant to the writer’s approach toward new doctorine of war. Fox suggests peace and, so, he may propagandize against what he calls it "War Games"! But I have a different opinion on the shift of Westerns’ international and regional policy from war to peace--- as Fox wishes for. I think it is possible to have "Peace Games" as well as "War Games".

a href="http://www.armans.info/2010/02/01/no-more-war-games-and-no-more-peace-games.html">No more War Games and no more Peace GamesRead more...

In my short life, I have been a witness to a generation of war in my country, Afghanistan. Every administration that took power had its own flag, national anthem, constitution and governmental system. It’s not like we have been taking turns building our nation’s walls brick by brick. We demolish each half built wall and revamp it in our own style. And so Afghanistan remains a largely desolate nation and sadly, this cruel saga continues today.

a href="http://www.armans.info/2009/11/27/afghanistan-a-land-without-hope.html">Afghanistan: A Land Without HopeRead more...

We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world – tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the west includes centuries of co-existence and co-operation, but also conflict and religious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a cold war in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalisation led many Muslims to view the west as hostile to the traditions of Islam.

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If you believe the headlines, Afghanistan is "the graveyard of empires," a "quagmire" and a "fiasco," the place where President Barack Obama will meet his "Vietnam." In the media's imagination, the Taliban are on the march, and Kabul is on the verge of falling to a resurgent insurgency that already controls much of the countryside. Increasing numbers of voices, on both the left and the right, counsel that the war is unwinnable and that we need to radically "downsize" our objectives in order to salvage something from a failing war effort lest we go the way of the Russians or British, previous conquerors who foundered in this merciless land of violence and fanaticism.

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The Great Game is no fun anymore. The term "Great Game" was used by nineteenth-century British imperialists to describe the British-Russian struggle for position on the chessboard of Afghanistan and Central Asia -- a contest with a few players, mostly limited to intelligence forays and short wars fought on horseback with rifles, and with those living on the chessboard largely bystanders or victims.

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Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner (2003) chronicles the story of Amir, the son of a wealthy merchant, living in Afghanistan, and his relationship to Hassan, his servant and friend. My favourite part of reading to Hassan was when we came across a big word that he didn’t know. I’d tease him, expose his ignorance. One time, I was reading him a Mullah Nasrudin story and he stopped me. “What does that word mean?” “Which one?” “‘Imbecile.’” “You don't know what it means?” I said grinning. […] “But it's such a common word! [...] everyone in my school knows what it means [...] Let's see. ‘Imbecile.’ It means smart, intelligent. I'll use it in a sentence for you.

 

a href="http://www.armans.info/2008/06/30/creative-abjection-and-sacrifice-in-khaled-hosseini-s-the-kite-runner.html">Creative Abjection and Sacrifice in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite RunnerRead more...