beet trae Araneae nail World and thoughtful. Though there is shock > sorrow and outrage discernable in initial statements, there is none of the hysteria, blind rage and moral abandon that distin- guished the American reaction to the shooting down of KAL 007 almost five years ago. FROM MOSCOW The Soviets, for instance, are not charg- ing Washington with “deliberately” des- troying a civilian airliner, or bandying about such words as “‘barbarism”’ to des- cribe what is obviously a horrifying act. out — as they did in 1983, by the way — that these tragedies are the logical consequence of the militarization of our planet, its division into hostile blocs and a prevailing mentality that believes compli- cated human problems can be settled through the application of military force. With direct reference to the Persian Gulf, I can dig out of my files at least a dozen warnings by Soviet spokespeople Yet they are quite forcefully pointing De-militarization key to Gulf peace Soviet comment on the American downing of an Iranian A300 airbus last week has been commendably restrained over the past year or so that a policy of military buildup in that regional powder- keg can only lead to “miscalculation and catastrophe”. Exactly right. So isn’t it time to bend our ears to Gorbachev and others who are arguing that the only way to deal with such pro- tracted and complex regional situations as that in the gulf is to withdraw all foreign forces, ban outside interference, and use the positive, co-operative pressure of the international community to bring about reconciliation and reconstruction? The innocent passengers aboard Iran Air flight 655 are certainly not the first, and possibly not the last, victims of old thinking. In truth, we all fall under the shadow of those who are planning to use advances in military technology to help them remake the world in their own image. It is now frighteningly apparent that there is something more dangerous even than a young man with his hormones pumping and his finger on the trigger of a powerful modern weapons-system, and that is an ultra-modern doomsday device with a computer in charge of it. This, ina nutshell, is Star Wars. The most hopeful and productive out- come of the Iran Air tragedy would be if it persuades people — particularly those in Washington — to lay aside their danger- ’ ously obsolete notions of the world, belay their defensive cold war rhetoric, and get down to making this world a genuinely secure place for people to live in. Correspondent Weir will be gathering together the speeches, resolutions and other materials produced by the recently-concl- uded 19th CPSU Conference for an analysis to appear in next week’s Tribune. In addi- tion to covering this historic event last week, Weir’s many readers and friends will be pleased to learn that a first child, Tatiana Fredovna Shaumian-Weir, was born on July 3. U.S. WARSHIP VINCENNES, (inset) commanding officer, Will Rodg ers. In reporting the happy news, Weir writes in part: “T want her to live in a world that permits her to love two countries as freely and naturally as she loves two parents. At this extraordinary moment, it really does seem that such a world, of peace, co- operation and tolerance, may be more than an idle dream... .” The Tribune staff extends our warmest greetings to Masha, Fred and Tatiana. Afghan army can secure country’s future Some Afghan contra leaders, aided by the U.S. news media, are making claims that they will soon walk into Kabul, the country’s capital, that the Afghan govern- ment will collapse and the Afghan armed forces will dissolve. But recent events reveal the falsity of these self-serving claims. The Afghan government has stated that the Afghan armed forces alone are fully capable of defending all of Afghanistan’s territory, provided there is no outside inter- vention. In recent battles, the extremist Hezbi Islami (Islamic Party) forces of Gul- buddin Hekmatyar were crushed in their assaults on Qalat and Spin Boldak in southwestern Afghanistan. These battles were important because the Pakistani Army was giving Hekmatyar’s forces all the help it could — even artillery support — in total violation of the Geneva Accords. Nevertheless, the Afghan armed forces won the battles. It is significant that they had the support of the local popula- tion, the Achekzai tribe and other Afghans. The battles took place only a few miles inside Afghanistan. Neither Hekmatyar nor the other contra leaders have yet been able to show that they can seize and hold any area inside the country. The Afghan armed forces today are very different from what they were prior to the revolution in 1978. Before the revolution, they consisted of 80,000 men, of whom 40,000 were not soldiers in any sense, but rather construction workers wearing uni- forms. Their duties were primarily to mend roads and they did not carry guns because they would have been killed for their wea- pons. There remain a few similarities between the pre-1978 Afghan armed forces and those of today. Before 1978, the armed for- ces were entirely Soviet-equipped and 6 e Pacific Tribune, July 13, 1988 Soviet-trained and that is still true. But after nine years of war, today’s Afghan armed forces are battle-hardened and schooled in actual combat under the toughest possible conditions. This situation never existed pre- viously, and it may have considerable mean- ing in terms of the survival capacity of the Afghan government. As the situation continues to develop, there are some facts readers should keep in mind — facts that are not likely to pro- vided by the mainstream media. The first is that, rather than speaking of a border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, it would be more accurate to speak of a “border zone.” The Pashtun (Pathan) and Baluchi peo- ples who live on both sides of this supposed border are exactly alike. They often have close relatives on the other side who belong to the same clan and tribe. These people tend to reject the idea of a “border.” In 1893 Sir Mortimer Durand, represe ing British-ruled India, agreed with the Afghans on establishing a boundary which has since come to be called the Durand Line. But it is important to realize that this was in no sense intended as a political border. It was an administrative divis- ion — the British would control people on one side, the Afghans on the other. This is today’s “border.” The fact is that no government — British, Pakistani or Afghan — has ever controlled this tribal border zone area. It is difficult country for modern warfare, as it is so criss-crossed with valleys and mountains that tanks and aircraft cannot be used properly. Even use of artillery is some- times difficult. The British resigned themselves to this fact. After taking unacceptable losses for years as they tried to establish military con- trol over the tribal area, they wrote it off. They decided that west of the Indus River (in present-day Pakistan) there would be only periodic attempts to “‘show the flag.” Most of the time the tribes would be left to their own devices. Tribal leaders would be given regular “gifts” for maintaining peace and order in their tribal areas. With the partition of Brit- ish India in 1947, the tribes — which wanted to stay with India, not Pakis- For all your travel needs, big or small. Let Globe Tours find the best way for you. GLOBE TOURS 2720 E. Hastings St. Vancouver, B.C. Phone 253-1221 tan — were promised that these British arrangements would be maintained if they agreed to join Pakistan. They agreed, but Pakistan promptly vio- lated the pledge and tried to impose military rule on the tribal areas. Sporadic warfare between the tribes and Pakistan has been the rule ever since. Whatever happens in the future, it is clear that no one will control this area without the full agreement of the.tribes on both sides. Visit the USSR. Ct 2