Afghanistan cannot be conquered actually means that Afghanistan cannot be governed and evidence can be glimpsed in this great book by a woman journalist over her time spent in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The author has done a very good job of explaining her life as a White foreigner living an Afghan high, to a chaotic and confusing Pakistan to a monotonous India. Her clear favourite is Afghanistan which didn't surprise me as it provided the maximum kick for a war any junkie, followed by Pakistan which can provide second rate proxy war experience and least interesting for her was India, which can only be the poor victim of the high handiness of its ugly unruly bloodthirsty neighbours. Nothing is out of the ordinary here as Afghanistan has always been a pretty tumultuous place with a in-between Pakistan undecided with a calm India on the other end. Pakistan is unsure, one neighbour has a democratic tradition and the other is a lackey of the superpowers.
The story seems a pretty candid view of the pretty interesting era in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and her being a White woman in Pakistan has privileged benefits, as politicians and important people tend to open their hearts out so easily. Kim is not the first young woman to have experienced this very privileged position when professionally operating in Pakistan, there have been others like Emma Duncan for instance. But I am not complaining as the secret revelations are very revelatory indeed, like her friendship sight the current Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif. And for this reason only this book makes a very compelling read indeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment