Afghan President Appoints Dostum Chief Of Staff

[DulceDecorum]

Prague, 1 March 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai today appointed a regional commander, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, as his personal military adviser.
Presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin said Dostum has been named chief of staff to the commander in chief -- a post held by Karzai.
Dostum's forces in northern Afghanistan helped the U.S. military oust the Taliban in late 2001.
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/03/b58da464-a79a-4ecd-b810-f0705216b892.html

For those who have forgotten certain aspects of this man's resume:

Leadership ambitions
While much of the rest of Afghanistan was in ruins, his stronghold of Mazar-e-Sharif - a city of around two million people - was thriving.
General Dostum grew rich, but his rule was harsh. He is reported to have frequently ordered public executions of criminals, who were usually crushed to death under tanks.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1563344.stm

January 9, 2003
The United Nations is investigating claims that General Abdul Rashid Dostum, an Afghan warlord and a key US ally during the war against the Taliban, tortured witnesses to prevent them from testifying against him in a war crimes inquiry.
The inquiry relates to charges that several hundred Taliban fighters who were taken prisoner by General Dostum in November 2001 died from suffocation after being transported in airless metal containers. The allegations were raised after the discovery of a mass grave near Dasht-i-Leili in January, which appeared to contain close to a thousand bodies, according to a UN estimate based on eyewitness accounts.
http://www.crimesofwar.org/onnews/news-afghanistan.html

And now
General Abdul Rashid Dostum
has just been appointed
personal military adviser
by
Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Can you say "signed my own death warrant?"

[ewagner]

1. Says it all

Can you say "signed my own death warrant?"

Dostum wil kill Karzai in a heartbeat.....if it serves his purpose.

[rkc3]

2. He might be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch.

I think I heard that somewhere.

[pie]

3. Is there a more evil and dangerous man in all the territory?

[DulceDecorum]

4. In the absence of Rumsfeld,

no.

[piece sine]

5. bin Laden comes to mind

remember him?

[pie]

7. bin Laden is only as dangerous as Bush tells him to be

He gave a star performance just before the fixed election,
adding a little zip to the myth of 911.
Bush had to make sure the voters didn't forget:
911 is ALL that matters and all that will
matter forever more.
I think Bush/Cheney had a direct hand in planning,
and covering up, 911.
For direct, hands on diregard for human life, Dostum is right
up there with Bush.

[ewagner]

6. Evil is right

This sob was getting paid off by Iran and Pakistan AT THE SAME TIME.

His legend goes far. It is rumored that his laugh is so evil that his enemies have died in fear just from hearing it. (this, from the book Taliban .....

[pie]

8. Even Bush cannot top that one

Some people DO have a very evil laugh

[hue]

9. WARLORDS WILL BE WARLORDS

Dostum is prob the most powerful warlord in northern Afghanistan. This may be one of the most effective ways of uniting with the north.
Punishments of death through various means of torture are not new/common acceptable ways of law enforcement for those people. Examples are given in the Qur'an to cut off the hands of theives and to stone women to death for adultery.
Yet power sharing is a rather new concept in Afghanistan. Hope Dostum is content for awhile. (I'd like to see a few more young ladies get educated for awhile.)