Among the Afghans (review)

276 SAIS REVIEW Among the Afghans. By Arthur Bonner. Durham, N.C: Duke University Press, 1987. 336 pp. $27.95/hardcover. Reviewed by Ian Todreas, M. A. candidate, SAIS. Among the Afghans is perhaps the most unique and valuable contribution to the study of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to date. The work, based on lengthy research and Bonner's two recent trips into Afghanistan as a New York Times correspondent, continually taps his personal observations recorded on location. He monitors local mujaheddin activity and is still able to stop, step back, and unveil the weaknesses and strengths of an importunately Islamic national spirit fighting on a surprisingly divided and satrapistic land. In addition , the book melds significant political and military events with reflections on life among the Afghans. The result is a remarkably stimulating and allencompassing resource on the Afghans and their unique struggle and way of life. As a textbook, Among the Afghans is rich in accurate historical description and original, up-to-date geopolitical analysis. Bonner investigates Soviet military strategy to achieve long- and short-term objectives, compares past and present American options and responses, and integrates the roles of more peripheral players, such as Pakistan and Iran. Five readable maps, a chronology of important events in Afghan history from 998 AD to February 1987, and a list of Afghan political parties and their religious orientation provide a solid referential foundation — all before page one. Yet, Among the Afghans is much more than a scholarly analysis of the Soviet invasion and its impact on Afghanistan. Concomitant with geostrategic clarifications, each chapter is peppered with insights into the daily lives of the Afghan fighters, the mujaheddin — insights that add spice and distinguish this book on Afghanistan from nearly every other. For example, Bonner consistently furnishes dollar equivalent prices for objects of significance and interest, such as Kalashnikovs, ammunition, horses, guides, and disinfectants. Nothing goes unnoticed. While divulging where his lice are most likely to hide, Bonner might also casually mention curious items he found for sale at the bazaar in Shulgara in northern Afghanistan: Japanese radios, Russian cooking oil, Borden's powdered milk from Iceland, cans of orange drink from Holland, woolen socks from North Korea, and pink toilet paper from China via Pakistan. Bonner does not only catalog the mundane and sensational. His experiences and interactions with foreign doctors and humanitarians help create vivid images of the gruesome and inadequate health care available to the mujaheddin and their families. Interviews with rebel leaders and Soviet prisoners portray with equal force the extent to which religious conviction dictates the mujaheddins ' behavior. Bonner also includes black and white photographs to verify his daring conclusions and illustrate his engrossing voyage. The photos depict such diverse images as opium poppies in bloom, ten thousand foot mountain passes, Chinese plastic anti-vehicle mines, and refugee camps. Its scholastic and anthropoligcal merits aside, Among the Afghans also embodies a new breed of scholarship. One seldom finds intellectual analysis combined eloquently with first-hand experience. Even rarer are books that add BOOK REVIEWS 277 an element of self-exploration and self-expression. Bonner began this trip when he was in his mid-sixties and already a renowned and experienced reporter with several accolades and a family with which to be contented. However, his achievements seem to have given birth to a renewed sense of freedom to break conventions and confront challenges that most younger journalists would not dare. For Bonner, surviving the experience and completing the book represent nothing less than a personal victory. "There are many handicaps in reporting about Afghanistan, of which the dangers, the distances, the difficulties of travel, and the differences in food and language are only the most obvious," Bonner comments midway through his journey. As a journalist, Bonner has steadfastly explored the current political and military quagmire in Afghanistan. As a writer/artist, he has dutifully exposed the plight of humanity (himself included) facing staggering adversaries. Covering everything from drugs to defectors to diarrhea, Aurther Bonner has surmounted every reporting difficulty and produced an outstanding overview of the current political situation and living conditions of the Afghan rebels. Terrorism, U.S. Strategy, and Reagan Policies. By Marc A...