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January 19, 2005
[Have an opinion about the issues discussed in this article?
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By Kevin Dougherty,
Stars and Stripes, Mideast edition
 |
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| (Kevin Dougherty / S&S) An Afghan girl dressed in a
ceremonial costume was among a group of young girls performing
for the crowd prior to former warlord Ismail Khan's return to
Herat. Khan, who heads the Ministry of Water and Electricity,
came to celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid with his family,
many of whom greeted him upon his plane landing at Herat Airport
in western Afghanistan. |
|
 |
|
| (Kevin Dougherty / S&S) Former warlord Ismail Khan
received a thunderous reception at Herat Airport in western
Afghanistan. |
|
 |
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| (Kevin Dougherty / S&S) Afghan girls dressed in ceremonial
costumes sing in support of local hero Ismail Khan at Herat
Airport in western Afghanistan. |
|
HERAT, Afghanistan
— The heart of Herat came home to a hero’s welcome Tuesday,
with upward of 2,000 people and a small detachment of U.S. soldiers
on hand to greet him.
“When he left for Kabul two months ago,”
Col. Randy Smith said of the send-off for Ismail Khan, “the
crowd treated him like he was a rock star.”
Smith, head of the Regional Command Area
Group-West, had planned to drive south to Shindand with Maj. Gen.
Abdul Wahahab Walizada, who commands the Afghan National Army’s
207th Corps. The two wanted to check the progress of some new Afghan
recruits and their U.S. trainers.
But when word spread Monday night that Khan
was returning to Herat to celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid,
Walizada had to back out. While Khan has some detractors in western
Afghanistan, he remains the most popular figure on this side of
the country.
“You can see the crowd outside the airport,”
Afghan army Brig. Gen. Fazil Ahmad Sayar, the corps’ chief
of staff said through an interpreter. “They are ready for I.K.”
That’s how people in the region refer
to Khan, a former warlord who, after some reluctance, agreed to
support the transitional government. Khan now runs the Ministry
of Water and Electricity in Kabul.
Smith and his men didn’t come to provide
security; the ANA was taking care of that. They came to support
Walizada, and possibly meet Khan.
A company of 120 Afghan soldiers managed
to keep well-wishers at bay, allowing them to crowd around the perimeter
of the tarmac.
Several of them clutched portraits and bumper
stickers of their magnetic leader, a man who helped to drive the
former Soviet Union out of Afghanistan.
“Long life for I.K.,” one young
follower repeatedly shouted as he led a group chant.
Off to the side stood a dozen young girls
dressed in ceremonial outfits. They sang traditional Afghan songs,
while elder women clad in burkas stood by like nervous stage mothers.
When Khan’s airplane landed and taxied
up to the terminal, the men swarmed it. Confetti flew and the men
jostled to get a better view. Before long, Khan was riding in a
motorcade heading to his house for a weekend of celebration.
“I am hopeful for Afghanistan,”
Sayar said. “We are looking for a new generation to take the
lead.”
On this day, however, the youth were no match
for a star named Khan.
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