War on a Shoestring

Is’haq Gailani hardly resembles a man with a price on his head. Gazing serenely at the sidewalks of New York, he appears comfortably at ease and at home. Gailani, however, is a stranger to New York and the United States. His home is in the Himalayas; his occupation is commanding a force of 100,000 freedom fighters in the Ghazni region of Afghanistan. Because Gailani is expert at what he does, Soviet authorities have promised $40,000 to the man who kills him.

Less than five years ago, Syed Is’haq Gailani was studying politics and law at Teheran University in Iran. Upon completion of his studies, he intended to take his wife and daughter back to Kabul, where he would begin practicing law. But events there caused him to change his plans drastically. In 1978, the Soviets engineered a coup that resulted in the death of Afghanistan’s President Mohammad Daud and the installation of Mohammad Taraki, whose most important qualification was his undoubted servility to the Kremlin. Shortly after the coup, Gailani returned home without his family, to join the resistance against the Soviet troops who were bolstering the Taraki regime. He was there, in December 1979, when the Soviets launched their full-scale invasion, pouring eighty thousand troops into the country.

KL

About the Author

Kevin Lynch

Featured Tags

Is’haq Gailani hardly resembles a man with a price on his head. Gazing serenely at the sidewalks of New York, he appears comfortably at ease and at home. Gailani, however, is a stranger to New York and the United States. His home is in the Himalayas; his occupation is commanding a force of 100,000 freedom fighters in the Ghazni region of Afghanistan. Because Gailani is expert at what he does, Soviet authorities have promised $40,000 to the man who kills him.

Less than five years ago, Syed Is’haq Gailani was studying politics and law at Teheran University in Iran. Upon completion of his studies, he intended to take his wife and daughter back to Kabul, where he would begin practicing law. But events there caused him to change his plans drastically. In 1978, the Soviets engineered a coup that resulted in the death of Afghanistan’s President Mohammad Daud and the installation of Mohammad Taraki, whose most important qualification was his undoubted servility to the Kremlin. Shortly after the coup, Gailani returned home without his family, to join the resistance against the Soviet troops who were bolstering the Taraki regime. He was there, in December 1979, when the Soviets launched their full-scale invasion, pouring eighty thousand troops into the country.