Nation-Building on the Cheap

Tactics like suicide bombings?

Yes. Suicide attacks are alien to the Afghans, and the more sophisticated roadside bomb technology are al-Qaeda efforts adapted by the Taliban and other terrorists. Most likely they came from there, from Iraq.

Pakistan often talks of helping the United States find Osama bin Laden and [his second in command] Ayman Zawahiri, but do you think the Afghan government gets much help from Pakistan in catching Taliban leaders?

The Taliban have training camps, staging areas, recruiting centers and safe havens in Pakistan. As long as the Taliban continue to use Pakistani territory for attacks on Afghanistan, the suspicion that Pakistan is playing a double game will persist.

The Afghan Supreme Court recently condemned a man to death for having converted to Christianity. He was released, but how do you understand what happened?

He was never at risk, and only the media publicity made it a very difficult case. . . . One thing that has created resentment among Afghans is the perception that some aid organizations try to lure people from their religion. They argue that the person was a needy person, and converting to Christianity was the price he had to pay to get help.

Do you think there are aid groups now doing the same kind of things?

Yes, I've heard that some aid groups are at the same time evangelical groups that try to proselytize Christianity among needy Afghans.

Powerful people in Afghanistan tend to attract enemies. Did that happen to you?

There were two or three known attempts on my life, and four or five reported attempts.