War at the Top of the World The Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Tibet by Eric Margolis (New York: Routledge, 2000. 250 pages.)

Abstract

Recently, South Asia has become the focus of world attention due to the
American attack on Afghanistan and the subsequent increased tension in
Asia. This book attempts to explain the various power dynamics behind the
political tensions between nuclear powers India, China, Pakistan, and
Russia. Eric Margolis, a Canadian journalist who has traveled extensively
in Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Tibet, tells many great war stories of his visits
to the front line. Friendships with local personalities and his background
as a military officer provide a reasonably balanced analysis for those who
are interested in the region's geopolitics.
The book is comprised of four sections. Part One, "The Great Jihad,"
consists of five chapters on Afghanistan. In chapter I, "Soldiers Of Allah,"
the author describes the jihad against the Soviet Union with poignant
details of the noble, self-sacrificing mujahideen who "would walk to battle
barefoot, through deep snow, sometimes for two days and nights, carrying
90 pounds (40 kg) of mortar shells or rockets on their backs." Chapter 2,
"The Bravest Men on Earth," details Afghanistan's tribal divisions, warrior
code of honor, and history. Chapter 3, "Dodge City Meets the Arabian
Nights," describes that Muslim faith and courage which the author considers
utterly incomprehensible to Westerners:
They feared no man, and certainly not death . Each man believed that
Allah stood at his right shoulder; Allah who was all-merciful, in spite of
the cruel world that He had inexpUcably created; Allah who would carry
him to his final rest as a parent would wrap a sleepy child in his arms and
take him off to bed.
Chapter 4, "Fadil the Kurd," discusses the covert CIA-sponsored training
and arming of guerilla fighters to destabilize Asia. Margolis explains that
after these honorable and courageous soldiers defeated the mighty Soviet
Union, they were no longer needed. America cut off aid, changing their status
to "Islamic terrorists" overnight. Chapter 5, "The Secret War," discusses
Zia ul-Haq, the former president of Pakistan, whose aid to Afghanistan was
instrumental in defeating the Soviets. The United States State Department's ...