RE: RAWA's appeal to the UN and World community aga inst Northern Alliance

["Brownson, Jamil" <JBrownson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

CB, sorry if my post was not clear. I did not mean to suggest that rawa's
call for a truly representative coalition government was either overly
simplistic or nor valid, as I most certainly agree with such a principle. My
point was that ANY generalization about Afghanistan other than reference to
its complexity, may be dangerously understated or misleading. Therefore, the
more specific the comment, the better, albeit more specificity being a
generally good rule of thumb in most matters.

But my intent was also to point out that whatever occured in the past under
a Northern Alliance label, may not be a valid basis for judging them today.
First, circumstances differ, and second, so does the composition of that
quite fluid ensemble of individuals and groups called "Northern Alliance,
which is as I suggested no more than a temporary "alliance" among quite a
variety of factions from northern parts of Afghanistan, which represent as
much of a hodge podge of motivations and personalities as of weapons.



-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Brown [mailto:CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, November 16, 2001 6:56 AM
To: pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [PEN-L:19659] RAWA's appeal to the UN and World community
against Northern Alliance


 RAWA's appeal to the UN and World community against Northern Alliance

by Brownson, Jamil

16 November 2001 01:47

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In conclusion, beware of overly simplistic generalizations.

(((((((

CB: This is true, but I am not sure that RAWA ( who I am only aware of from
cyberspace) is unaware of this principle ( which is itself a rather simple
generalization :>)   ) or the complexities of the situation in Afghanistan.

Rather than an overly simplistic generalization, RAWA seems to give very
specific warnings based on its , no doubt , bitter real experience and
investigations of the elements of the Northern Alliance.

Their call for a truly coalition government with UN involvement seems
reasonable.