Afghan Commentary Post

Published on Huffington Post by Wahab Raofi Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it ... and, sadly, the same might be said about state-sponsored terrorism. Far from making light of problem, I am looking for solutions that might actually trigger positive change, which is especially urgent for me because I currently work in Afghanistan. Just hours before I wrote these words, three terrorist slaughters occurred in different locations here in Afghanistan, and the Taliban took credit for two of them. All are likely cases of state-sponsored terror, as Pakistan is known to be supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. In the first six months of this year, 1,095 Islamic attacks in 48 countries have been documented by the non-partisan Religion of Peace organization, in which 10,235 persons were killed and 12,168 injured. That’s an average of about six terrorist attacks and 57 deaths per day. I should point out that I am a Muslim. And I have a suggestion ...

Published on Huffington Post by Wahab Raofi Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it ... and, sadly, the same might be said about state-sponsored terrorism. Far from making light of problem, I am looking for solutions that might actually trigger positive change, which is especially urgent for me because I currently work in Afghanistan. Just hours before I wrote these words, three terrorist slaughters occurred in different locations here in Afghanistan, and the Taliban took credit for two of them. All are likely cases of state-sponsored terror, as Pakistan is known to be supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. In the first six months of this year, 1,095 Islamic attacks in 48 countries have been documented by the non-partisan Religion of Peace organization, in which 10,235 persons were killed and 12,168 injured. That’s an average of about six terrorist attacks and 57 deaths per day. I should point out that I am a Muslim. And I have a suggestion ...

An Open Letter To the Honorable John F. Kerry Secretary of State U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street Washington, D.C. 20520     Dear Mr. Secretary, As   a naturalized U.S. citizen and a native of Afghanistan, I have a proposal that I believe will enable you to save what you have accomplished in this region. The end result would be a safe and stable Afghanistan. I propose that the U.S. change its policy in this arena to a broader and more inclusive one. You could do this by bringing together all the involved regional parties for an agreement not to interfere in the affairs of Afghan governance. The players in this deal would include, at a minimum, the Taliban, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Iran, Russia and the U.S. They would be motivated to sign this treaty because Afghanistan would agree to transform itself into a non-aligned, military-free zone that prohibits the harboring of terrorists, freely enters into extradition agreements, pose...

World Without Borders   ‘Imagine There’s No Countries:’ It’s Coming Published on Huffington Post       By Wahab Raofi The late great John Lennon sang, “Imagine there’s no countries. It isn’t hard to do … imagine all the people sharing all the world.” And it has come to pass ... or, at the very least, it is in process of coming to pass. Allow me to explain how this realization hit me today. I called home this morning to see how my daughter Shana is doing. She hurt her arm in an athletic contest, and not only did I speak with her, but I saw the swelling on her arm. She is on the other side of the planet. And I ruminated on the concept of “home.” Is my home Afghanistan, where I was born and now work, or is it California, where my house and family are? The third revelation came as I read the fascinating book Connectograpy: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization, by Parag Khanna, in which the author sees an irrepressible new world orde...