[R-G] The Afghanistan Americans Seldom Notice

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175047/pratap_chatterjee_unknown_afghanistan

One Country, Three Futures
The Afghanistan Americans Seldom Notice
By Pratap Chatterjee

Want a billion dollars in development aid? If you happen to live in  
Afghanistan, the two quickest ways to attract attention and so aid  
from the U.S. authorities are: Taliban attacks or a flourishing opium  
trade. For those with neither, the future could be bleak.

In November 2008, during the U.S. presidential elections, I traveled  
around Afghanistan asking people what they wanted from the United  
States. From Mazar in the north to Bamiyan in central Afghanistan to  
the capital city of Kabul, I came away with three very different  
pictures of the country.