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Liberation Angel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-20-09 10:37 PM
Original message
And Now for Something Completely Different...
Edited on Tue Oct-20-09 10:39 PM by Liberation Angel
Sam Libby used to be a reporter for the NYTimes (stringer)

now he is on the road...

His Blog is often very different...and very often worthwhile

I liked this, though, and wanted to share it as he is an old friend

and this is quite different (I'm nt endorsing it but it is food for thought)

travel narrative by sam libby
Sunday, October 18, 2009 - post date
Bring Back the King

Once upon a time (from 1933 - 1978), in the Hindu Kush Mountains,
Afghanistan was a relatively peaceful, stable, amazingly beautiful
country.

Until 1973 it was ruled by King Mohammad Zahir Shah, a beloved,
pro-cannabis monarch.

That year, while the king was visiting Italy (for eye surgery and to
treat his lumbago), he was overthrown by a jealous, resentful, evil
cousin, Mohammed Daoud Khan (the Villain Daoud), who was backed by the
C.I.A., Richard Nixon, and The War on Plants.

According to reports from US spy agencies and Afghan sources in
Holland, the King offered armed protection and horticultural advice to
marijuana growers, encouraging them to increase their yield with
modern fertilization and green-revolution innovations. The King's top
aides were allegedly involved in overt hashish smuggling. DEA
officials even allege that the King's private jet was used to smuggle
tons of hashish to Italy and other European countries.

The king was a kind and wise ruler. He introduced free elections, a
national parliament, civil rights, liberation and education for women,
universal suffrage. He didn't want to oppress his proud, warrior
people with taxes to support the government, the monarchy. He didn't
need to. He funded the government, the monarchy, his private jet with
the proceeds from the sale of quality Afghani Home-Grown Hashish, some
of the most primo Hashish in the whole world.

When President Richard Nixon read the reports from U.S. spy agencies,
about the King, he said, "We can't have this."

Nixon, the C.I.A. and the War on Plants overthrew the legitimate, the
successful government, the beloved monarch that peacefully governed
Afghanistan.

There were many who wanted to fight and perhaps die to bring back the
King. But the King didn't want his people to suffer the horrors of
civil war. He abdicated.

From the overthrow of the legitimate governance of Afghanistan backed
by Nixon, the C.I.A., the War on Plants came the disruption, the
unravelling, of the country. It brought chaos and weakness which
brought the cultivation of poppies (which before the overthrow of the
King was discouraged and was not extensive). It encouraged the Soviet
Union to occupy the country.

The Soviet Occupation created the jihad against Soviet Occupation,
which was backed by the Pakistani Secret Service (I.S.I.) and the
C.I.A., in which people like Osama bin Laden were created.

From this came 9/11.

From 9/11 comes the extraordinary power that Gee Dub and Shotgun Dick
usurped, because they could.

And from this comes the total screwing of the pooch, this horrible
lurch into the Dark Side, in which we are arrived at in this
so-foreboding moment.

Meanwhile, in Italy, the King lived in a modest four-bedroom villa. He
played golf. He played chess. He smoked Primo Home-Grown Afghani Hash
- some of the most exquisite Hashish in the world. In 1991 he survived
an attempted assassination (by a knife-welding man who posed as a
Portuguese Journalist).

In April 2002, while Afghanistan was under NATO occupation The King
returned to Afghanistan. He opened the Loya Jirga, the grand assembly
of all the representatives of the Afghan People.

There were many who wanted The King to rule. There were many who
wanted to bring back the Constitutional Monarchy. But Gee Dub, Shotgun
Dick, the C.I.A., the War on Plants - did not want this. They wanted
the heroine-dealer Hamid Karzai, who has alway been the bee-otch of
the oil industry.

The beloved King died in his homeland on July 23, 2007. He was 93.

And yet, this story still can have a near-fairy tale, happy ending.

The King had six sons and two daughters. Four of the sons live. In
2008, a grandson was preparing to run in the 2009 election. But Gee
Dub, Shotgun Dick, the C.I.A., the War on Plants told him to step
aside for the corrupt, heroine-dealer Karzai, who has always been the
bee-otch of the oil industry.

And yet Afghanistan can still become a relatively peaceful, stable,
very beautiful place - again.

Bring back the Constitutional Monarchy.

Legalize the sale of quality Afghani Home-Grown Hashish, some of the
most primo, exquisite Hashish in the whole, damn world.



http://chariotnarrative.blogspot.com/

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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-20-09 10:40 PM
Response to Original message
1. Gotta save us from that killer reefer
Oxycotin that's a different story.
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Liberation Angel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-20-09 10:45 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. Heh - At first i thought you meant Oxytocin
heh heh
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Liberation Angel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-20-09 11:48 PM
Response to Original message
3. A Hashish King or an Oil King? What's our preference?
Really?

Its a no brainer

just wish i knew more about this

first I had heard of it...

You?
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Liberation Angel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-21-09 01:05 PM
Response to Original message
4. Just a kick for to see if anyone will respond
I thought it was at least interesting

no one else?

Maybe I posted it too late
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ieoeja Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-21-09 01:46 PM
Response to Original message
5. I always thought we should have restored the monarchy.

Didn't know we were involved in its initial overthrow. Thought the Soviet allies did that.

Not sure it would work. The Taliban want a Theocracy. The Monarchy was pretty secular. But I'm sure the Monarch would have more support in fighting the Taliban.


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Liberation Angel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-21-09 02:06 PM
Response to Reply #5
6. This is an important subject, but those who forget history are condemned...
to repeat it.

I was unaware of any of this BUT I think it MIGHT be worthwhile info to inform the current debates on what to do.

Karzai is a corrupt BFEE puppet and the situation is so complex now that at least getting a perspective like this MIGHT help (which is why I posted it).

Can't say a Hashish economy will fly but hell with the new medical marijuana policies etc, why the hell NOT???

We might make some good medicine there!

Works for me...

(even though I am past my hippy stoner days...)
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Soylent Brice Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-21-09 02:32 PM
Response to Original message
7. not many people know what Afghanistan was like before all this shit went down.
many would be surprsied indeed.

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buczak Donating Member (170 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-21-09 02:32 PM
Response to Original message
8. Winning the 'War' in Afganistan
When we first went at war with the Taliban, I always thought that the only way we'll know the war is over is when we started to see 'Grown in Afghanistan' on agricultural goods. Afghanistan was once known for the fruit that was grown there.

Perhaps if they legalize Cannabis, we will know if we've won the war when we are smoking afghani pot.
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Liberation Angel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-21-09 05:19 PM
Response to Reply #8
9. Cannabis IS legal if you your doctor prescibes it. Why NOT embrace Afghani Hashish???
Grandma needs to eat to get better and a little puff of hashish will make her ravenous.

Makes perfect sense to me.

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Festivito Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-21-09 07:52 PM
Response to Original message
10. Thanks. /nt
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Liberation Angel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-22-09 03:27 PM
Response to Reply #10
11. You are welcome - I hope a few more people read this fascinating story
nt
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Festivito Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-22-09 11:16 PM
Response to Reply #11
12. I told it to someone today... as we looked at a world map.
It nicely contextualizes our politics with pleasant informative imagery the story of Afghanistan's rulers.

I think it could use a different title. Hmm.

A friend's short pleasant 50-year history of Afghanistan's rulers.

But, what do I know. My posts seem mostly dropped like hot rocks.

Thanks again. It was fun. And now for something completely different. No, wait! Noooo. It's the giant foot, again! NOOoo...
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