From Afghanistan, gone with the medals

Raju Korti
You don't have to be an officer in the army to know how touchy he is about the medals on his uniform. Beyond decoration, they are badges of honours that they flaunt on their swollen chests. There is a message loud and clear that these medals convey: Give me enough medals and I will win you any war.
But look at the picture accompanying this blog. It is of Field Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum of the Afghan National Army who rose from a politician to become Commander in the Communist government during Soviet-Afghan war. You will wonder whether Dostum is wearing those medals or the medals are wearing Dostum.  

The key indigenous ally to the American special forces and the CIA during the campaign to topple the Taliban government, he was one of the most powerful and notorious warlords since the beginning of the Afghan wars. This opportunistic turncoat who conveniently chose to side with winners after every war in Afghanistan has now fled to Uzbekistan -- with all his medals. With Taliban catching up, Dostum knows that any further act masquerading as a brave marshal would end up with a Taliban bullet drilling a hole somewhere between those very medals he has been flaunting all these years.

A warrior should be defined by his scars, not his medals. I have seen pictures of a North Korean General with medals almost hanging down to his boots. When you get more medals than Captain America and Rambo put together without having even one active ground war, you look like a towering absurdity. Field Marshal Dostum deserves a honorable mention in that elite gallery. To be fair to Dostum, he has had a fair reputation, defeating Mujahideen commanders in northern Afghanistan and even persuading some to defect to the Communist cause. Although these were a slightly enhanced version of gangster fights, they earned him quick promotions. As someone who followed the tumult in Afghanistan regularly, I remember then President Mohammad Najibullah calling him a 'Hero of Afghanistan.' Najibullah didn't survive long and was found dead hanging to a wooden pole in the thick of the smoke that was rapidly engulfing the ravaged country.

From playing a pivotal role in the overthrow of the very man who called him a hero to joining hands with the new Burhanuddin Rabbani government, from partnering the Northern Alliance to shaking hands with Hamid Karzai he rapidly changed colours. When the going got tough, this 'tough' army chief chose to take a quick powder and flee Afghanistan when the Taliban over-ran Mazaar-I-Sharif. So Dostum is not a new hand at bolting from the country. This should be his second and probably the final exit as he knows the Taliban will not be charitably disposed any more.

For all of his six feet beefy structure, the bushy mustache and the number of medals decorating his camouflage Soviet-style military uniform, Dostum's CV though exciting and interesting, is diluted by his rank opportunism and his penchant to vanish when things got hot for him. That casts aspersions on all those medals glittering on his coat. There are no scars behind those medals. As journalist friend Prashant Hamine points out: "Looks like he got those medals from Mumbai's Chor Bazaar. They look like a collection of soft drink bottle caps."

Well, the fizz has gone. Only the 'dhakkans' remain.