Jun 2002

TIME: 'We Were Better Off Under the Russians'

By MICHAEL WARE / KANDAHAR

The Afghan commander laughed at the way the Americans were going about their work. U.S. troops, he said, were obsessed with finding caches of Taliban documents to help track down their fugitive enemies. The commander's friend explained the mirth by pulling out his own identification card: a small passport-like book made by the Taliban and authorized with a Taliban stamp. It was issued April 16, long after the fall of that regime. It's a legitimate document, and the man isn't an enemy -- the local government doesn't have money for stationery, so decrees and papers are still being printed on leftover Taliban stock.

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TIME: Making Friends in Afghanistan

By MICHAEL WARE / KANDAHAR

The Afghan commander laughed. The way the Americans were going about doing their work, he thought, was hilarious. U.S. troops, he said, were finding caches of documents with Taliban markings and stamps and using those papers to identify and pinpoint enemy operatives. A man seated near the commander explained the fighter's mirth by pulling out his own identification card: a small passport-like book made by the Taliban and authorized with a Taliban stamp. It had been issued April 16, long after the Taliban fell. But the card is legitimate, and the man isn't an enemy. The local government just doesn't have money for stationery and so decrees and documents are still being printed on existing Taliban stock. If you must have an I.D., you'll have to be Taliban for now. But watch out for those Americans.

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