Athenry News & Views Winter 2025

Winter 2025

US forces burned poppy fields, the only source of income for many. Today there is talk of China using the mines and building infrastructure. in Herat, on the road to Iran, we saw a museum and glorious panorama of the battles against Soviet forces where 24K died in a day. There were nice fabric shops and we met Taliban officials. Anxious to promote tourism, they seemed a bit shy. I wondered if time and reality would soften their ideology (as happened in Ireland). One of our guides, a young woman Tajika, had been made give up university. Now the tour company was ordered to fire her - however the company found a teaching job for her. In religious schools which girls can attend, teachers sometimes expand the curriculum a little beyond religion. The Aga Khan donates to Afghanistan but on condition that women share in the benefits. In Mazar I met a woman who had migrated to Tehran but returned to care for her ageing parents - she missed the freedom of Iran. About 1970, the Lonely Planet Guide predicted Afghanistan would be “the next Torremolinos”. But the Big Powers and extremism decided otherwise. Afghanistan could be Heaven but the world has made Hell of it. Its wonderful people have suffered too much - they deserve a better future

Intercontinental Hotel, Kabul

Afghans at a blacksmith shop

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