War at the Top of the World

Abstract

Recently, South Asia has become the focus of world attention due to the American attack on Afghanistan and the subsequent increased tension in Asia. This book attempts to explain the various power dynamics behind the political tensions between nuclear powers India, China, Pakistan, and Russia. Eric Margolis, a Canadian journalist who has traveled extensively in Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Tibet, tells many great war stories of his visits to the front line. Friendships with local personalities and his background as a military officer provide a reasonably balanced analysis for those who are interested in the region's geopolitics. The book is comprised of four sections. Part One, "The Great Jihad," consists of five chapters on Afghanistan. In chapter I, "Soldiers Of Allah," the author describes the jihad against the Soviet Union with poignant details of the noble, self-sacrificing mujahideen who "would walk to battle barefoot, through deep snow, sometimes for two days and nights, carrying 90 pounds (40 kg) of mortar shells or rockets on their backs." Chapter 2, "The Bravest Men on Earth," details Afghanistan's tribal divisions, warrior code of honor, and history. Chapter 3, "Dodge City Meets the Arabian Nights," describes that Muslim faith and courage which the author considers utterly incomprehensible to Westerners: They feared no man, and certainly not death . Each man believed that Allah stood at his right shoulder; Allah who was all-merciful, in spite of the cruel world that He had inexpUcably created; Allah who would carry him to his final rest as a parent would wrap a sleepy child in his arms and take him off to bed. Chapter 4, "Fadil the Kurd," discusses the covert CIA-sponsored training and arming of guerilla fighters to destabilize Asia. Margolis explains that after these honorable and courageous soldiers defeated the mighty Soviet Union, they were no longer needed. America cut off aid, changing their status to "Islamic terrorists" overnight. Chapter 5, "The Secret War," discusses Zia ul-Haq, the former president of Pakistan, whose aid to Afghanistan was instrumental in defeating the Soviets. The United States State Department's ...