THE PIPE LINE WARFARE IN AFGHANISTAN Musa Khan Jalalzai

THE PIPE LINE WARFARE IN AFGHANISTAN

About the Author

1.         Musa Khan Jalalzai is a free lance journalist. He is an eminent scholar and has contributed a lot on terrorism, sectarian violence, foreign policy, Afghanistan, Taliban, international relations and ethnic violence. The author can speak and write Central Asian, South Asian and Middle East languages. The author is a scribe to various English Newspapers for the last fifteen years.

About the Book

2.         The pipeline War in Afghanistan is written by Musa Khan Jalalzai. The book has 166 pages. It has been published by Mobile Institute of International Affairs, Lahore. It was printed by Maktaba Jadeed Press Railway Road, Lahore in the year 2005. The first edition comprises 500 copies and costs Rs 300.

3.         This is an interesting book which gives an overview of most of the issues related to Afghanistan both internally and externally. For a casual reader, this book can prove to be a ready reckoner giving him sufficient amount of knowledge concerning Afghanistan in particular and about the neighbouring countries in general.

4.         The book has fifteen chapters, dealing with different issues; however, the focal point remains the economy. The author has talked about the role of regional powers in Afghanistan. He has highlighted the fact of Afghanistan being the world’s largest opium producer and its effects on the international world. He has also discussed Afghanistan as centre of arms sale and a home of smuggled goods.

5.         The book gives an insight of the British quest to rule Afghanistan and the wars she fought in mid nineteenth century. It also gives a background of the civil war in Afghanistan and links it to various ethnic groups in addition to the international powers which are playing a concealed game to achieve their long term strategic interests.

6.         The author has also discussed the post Soviet withdrawal period quite in detail. He has written about the pre and post Taliban era. Moreover, he has discussed about the US stance regarding the Taliban regime that used to term it as a positive development. Subsequently, he also throws some light on the US delegation that visited Afghanistan in the context of constructing a gas and oil pipeline from Turkmenistan to the Pakistan sea port of Gawadar via Afghanistan.

7.         The author maintains his unbiased style and writes amply on the terrorism camps and the training conducted in these camps. After having read this book a reader is able to draw pertinent conclusions relate to the worsening law and order situation in Pakistan. He has also commented on the questionable and flawed Pakistan’s policy towards Afghanistan. He also does not spare the UN and the USA and holds them responsible for the poor state of Afghan people.

8.         He as also discussed about Osama bin Laden, his family back ground along with the business detail and their relationship with the Saudi royal family. In the end the author has given the detail about few important letters written to the US or UN explaining the dismal situation in Afghanistan and seeking their help to undertake the remedial measures.