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Darya’s fate
Today is International Women’s Day and I dedicate today to Darya, the heroine opium bride in Opium Nation. I found Darya after nine years of searching. She was 12 when I met her. She asked me to help save her … Continue reading
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Tagged Afghan women, child brides, drug trade, drugs, opium brides, women
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Highlights from a year on book tour
-Learning to speak to Italians via Google Translate. I got dozens of emails in Italian from readers who were touched by the book. In Italy, the book was published hardcover with a cover of a woman in niqab and titled … Continue reading
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Reflections of a year on book tour
From New York to Los Angeles, Seattle to Phoenix, to the nation’s capital, I stood before Americans for the last year and told the story of Afghanistan’s drug trade, the story of its women, its drug lords, its heroes and … Continue reading
Why I voted for Obama
Obama’s foreign policy decisions do not impress me. But Obama’s foreign policy record is another blog. I didn’t vote for him because he’s bringing peace or resolution to the world. I voted for Obama because inside the US, he’s doing … Continue reading
Response to critiques of ‘How Iran controls Afghanistan’
Afghans who read my article “How Iran controls Afghanistan” for Foxnews.com in January critiqued the piece, and the Hazaras took particular offense. I promised a response — it took awhile due to health issues I’ve been struggling with, but here … Continue reading
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The dangers of traveling through Afghanistan’s drug trail
For five years, I traveled on the bumpy roads of Afghanistan discovering the underworld of the illicit narcotics trade. I had many close calls with death, mostly having to do with bad drivers and bombed out highways, but I survived … Continue reading
Poop, projectile and poppies
I’m learning to manage a 3-year-old, an infant and a career — a juggling act that women in the workplace have been practicing in the U.S. for the last 60 years. With my first book on the Afghan poppy trade … Continue reading
Mr. President, please think before you speak
President Hamid Karzai has spoken up on Pakistan TV this week and I wish he hadn’t. It seems every time our torn Afghan president speaks, he contradicts a previous speech. “If fighting starts between Pakistan and the U.S., we are … Continue reading
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Tagged afghanistan, anger, attack, interview, join, Karzai, Muslm brother, pakistan, Pakistan TV, response, war
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Why I prefer daughters to sons
In three weeks, I’m expecting my second daughter and I couldn’t be happier that it’s a girl again – a healthy baby I hope. When I did the ultrasound for my firstborn, I was in Kabul and the doctor who … Continue reading
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The UN attack in Mazar: who’s responsible?
The attack that has so far claimed the lives of 12 UN aid workers and guards, Afghan and foreign, in the northern city of Mazar begs the question of who can be held accountable for the killings beside the criminals … Continue reading
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