This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 005071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA/FO AMBASSADOR QUINN, SA/A, S/CT 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN, KAMEND 
CENTCOM FOR POLAD, CG CFA-A, CG CJTF-76 
USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR KDEM AF
SUBJECT: PRT/GHOR - PICNIC POLITICS 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: PolOffs and Chaghcharan AIDOff spent the 
afternoon of December 8 with Ghor Governor Afzali, former 
Ghor Governor and current MP Dr. Mohammad Ibrahim Malekzada, 
and several of Afzali's wealthy family members chatting 
about local politics in classic Afghan style - over a lavish 
meal hosted in a garden setting.  While discussions focused 
mainly on development projects and the future of Ghor, the 
style of the meeting and personalities of the main players 
revealed much about the way politics is done in Afghanistan. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
ATMOSPHERICS TO END ALL ATMOSPHERICS 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) On the afternoon of December 8, a brisk but clear 
winter day in Kabul, PolOffs and USAID PRTOff met with two 
key power players from Ghor Province in what turned out to 
be a classic scene in modern Afghan politics.  The hosts, 
Ghor Governor Afzali and former Governor Dr. Ibrahim 
Malekzada, along with several of Afzali's male family 
members and employees, were overwhelmingly gracious from the 
start.  As with most worthwhile political gatherings in 
Afghanistan, the setting for the meeting was a private plot 
of land rather than a sterile office - in this case, a 
garden owned by Afzali's wealthy son-in-law.  It was 
dominated at one end by a nearly complete domed and columned 
four-story mansion.  So as not to disturb ongoing 
construction, lunch was served in the greenhouse outside, a 
30-foot long structure filled with pots of rose bush 
clippings from across Afghanistan. 
 
¶3. (U) In a typical show of Afghan hospitality, lunch was 
served by the tycoon son-in-law himself, who carted platter 
after platter of steaming dishes from the trunk of his new 
silver Mercedes-Benz to serve his American guests.  Courses 
included enough roast pheasant, grilled fish, and baby lamb 
to serve a small army, as well as an overflowing mountain of 
fresh fruit and bowls of glowing pomegranate seeds for 
dessert.  Expensive wine was poured for the foreign guests 
throughout the meal, a non-Muslim tradition which has become 
de rigueur among wealthy elites at events such as these. 
The meal was accompanied by the soft chirping of a pet 
parakeet, responding to the myriad kites dotting the sky 
outside. 
 
THE FINE LINE BETWEEN WARLORD AND POLITICIAN 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) It is sometimes difficult to reconcile appearance 
with reputation.  The iron-fisted warlord Ibrahim is a small 
and reserved man between 36 and 37 years of age with jet 
black hair and a neatly trimmed beard.  After hearing so 
many stories of his power and martial strength, meeting him 
in person was almost a letdown.  Small in stature and quiet 
- almost shy - throughout the meal, Dr. Ibrahim came across 
as more of an academic than a leader of men.  Still, his 
reputation and accomplishments speak for themselves.  He 
fought hard against both the Soviets and the Taliban, and 
with a sometimes uneasy truce with other Ghor warlords, Dr. 
Ibrahim brought relative security to Ghor.  Earlier this 
year, he recommended that Afzali serve as Governor. 
Ibrahim's election to the Wolesi Jirga comes as no surprise 
given his popularity among the people of Ghor province, who 
look up to him as a protector and benefactor, despite the 
dark pages in his history.  Although he had a Jamiat party 
background, he, like many MPs, now says that he is 
independent of any party affiliation. 
 
THE GROWTH OF GHOR 
------------------ 
 
¶5. (U) USAID PRTOff spent much of the meal sharing updates 
and answering questions about various USG-sponsored projects 
in and around Ghor's capital city of Chaghcharan, including 
a recently-completed wall surrounding the girls' school, a 
boys' dormitory, the beginning of a new cobblestone road 
through downtown Chaghcharan, and plans for a new bridge to 
replace the existing structure spanning the river.  Both 
Afzali and Ibrahim, as well as the various male family 
members and employees present at the meal, seemed pleased 
(and even slightly entertained) by the briefing, and were 
more than happy to discuss project details and the future 
development of the province. 
CONNECTIONS 
----------- 
¶6. (U) One of the main lessons of doing politics in 
Afghanistan is that everything and everyone is connected... 
somehow.  Governor Afzali holds an Austrian passport and has 
sons-in-law who do business in Dubai and Pakistan, so he 
knows the people who do business there.  Ibrahim, as a well- 
known strongman in Ghor province with a proud, if sometimes 
harsh past, had enough support in Kabul to be named Governor 
of Ghor province.  Then, when it was once again time to 
change Governors, he was asked by Kabul to personally 
recommend a successor. 
 
¶7. (U) In the end, the pattern revealed by such meetings 
gives the impression that there are only a few thousand 
people (almost all of them men) who are really involved in 
running affairs of the country, and that those men have 
known each other - and each others' families - since the 
dawn of time.