Latest news with #Farahi
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Taliban hang up Kalashnikovs to pen memoirs of Afghan war
Since trading the battlefield for Afghanistan's halls of power, some Taliban members have also swapped their weapons for pens to tell their version of the 20-year conflict with Western forces, who they accuse of distorting "reality". A flood of books has been written, mostly from a Western perspective, about the war between the US-led forces that invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks until the Taliban's return to power in 2021. But in the years since, a proliferation of writings by Taliban figures -- praising their exploits and the achievements of the "Islamic Emirate" -- is now the reigning narrative in Afghanistan. "No matter what foreigners have written... they have largely ignored the reality of what happened to us and why we were forced to fight," author Khalid Zadran told AFP. A member of the Haqqani network -- long viewed as one of the most dangerous militant factions in Afghanistan -- he now serves as the spokesman for the capital's police force. In his 600-page tome in Pashto published in April, he recounts US incursions in his home province of Khost, his childhood steeped in stories of soldiers' "atrocities", and his desire to join the Taliban in the name of his country's "freedom". "I witnessed horrific stories every day -- mangled bodies on the roadside," he writes in "15 Minutes", a title inspired by a US drone strike he narrowly escaped. Muhajer Farahi, now a deputy information and culture minister, penned his "Memories of Jihad: 20 Years in Occupation" to "state the facts", he said. "America, contrary to its claims, has committed cruel and barbaric acts, destroyed our country with bombs, destroyed infrastructure, and has sown discord and cynicism between nations and tribes," he told AFP from his office in central Kabul. Little attention is paid in either book to the thousands of civilians killed in Taliban attacks -- many of them suicide bombings that entrenched fear across the country for nearly two decades. Farahi insists the Taliban "were cautious in saving civilians and innocent" lives, while criticising fellow Afghans who collaborated with the pro-Western police as a "stain" on the country. Rights groups accuse the current Taliban authorities of widespread abuses -- particularly against women and girls, who the United Nations say are victims of what amounts to "gender apartheid". In his book published in 2023, Farahi claims the Taliban attempted to negotiate -- in vain, he insists -- with the United States over the fate of Osama bin Laden, whose capture or death Washington demanded after his plane hijackers killed around 3,000 people in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, who had been based in Afghanistan, was killed by US forces in Pakistan in 2011. - American 'bloodthirsty dragon' - "It was clear... that the Americans had already planned the occupation of Afghanistan," writes Farahi in the English version of his book, which has been translated into five languages. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, Afghans thought it would "have nothing to do with our country", he continues, but soon realised that Afghanistan would face "punishment". For 20 years, the war pitted Taliban militants against a US-led coalition of 38 countries supporting the Afghan Republic and its forces. Tens of thousands of Afghans died in the fighting and in Taliban attacks, as did nearly 6,000 foreign soldiers, including 2,400 Americans. For Farahi, the war reflects the West's desire to "impose its culture and ideology on other nations". His disjointed journal mixes battlefield memories with polemical chapters railing against the American "bloodthirsty dragon". The book "reveals the truths that were not told before because the media, especially the Western media, presented a different picture of the war", he said. According to him, the "mujahideen", or holy warriors, despite being far less equipped, were able to rely on their unity and God's aid to achieve victory. - New front - Only a few of the new wave of Taliban books have been autobiographies, which appeal to an audience seeking to understand the war "from the inside", according to Zadran. His book, initially 2,000 copies in Pashto, sold out quickly and another 1,000 are in the works -- along with a Dari-language version, he said. Many chapters mention Bowe Bergdahl, the US soldier held hostage for five years by the Haqqani network. He recounts treks through the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to move him between hideouts, efforts to convert him to Islam and conversations about his girlfriend back in the United States. Both accounts end in 2021, before the transformation of the fighters who moved from remote mountain hideouts to the carpeted offices of the capital. There, their battle has turned diplomatic: the Taliban are now fighting for international recognition of their government. "The war is over now," Farahi said, "and we want good relations with everyone" -- even with the "bloodthirsty dragon". cgo/sbh/sw/fox/sco
France 24
4 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
Taliban hang up Kalashnikovs to pen memoirs of Afghan war
A flood of books has been written, mostly from a Western perspective, about the war between the US-led forces that invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks until the Taliban's return to power in 2021. But in the years since, a proliferation of writings by Taliban figures -- praising their exploits and the achievements of the "Islamic Emirate" -- is now the reigning narrative in Afghanistan. "No matter what foreigners have written... they have largely ignored the reality of what happened to us and why we were forced to fight," author Khalid Zadran told AFP. A member of the Haqqani network -- long viewed as one of the most dangerous militant factions in Afghanistan -- he now serves as the spokesman for the capital's police force. In his 600-page tome in Pashto published in April, he recounts US incursions in his home province of Khost, his childhood steeped in stories of soldiers' "atrocities", and his desire to join the Taliban in the name of his country's "freedom". "I witnessed horrific stories every day -- mangled bodies on the roadside," he writes in "15 Minutes", a title inspired by a US drone strike he narrowly escaped. Muhajer Farahi, now a deputy information and culture minister, penned his "Memories of Jihad: 20 Years in Occupation" to "state the facts", he said. "America, contrary to its claims, has committed cruel and barbaric acts, destroyed our country with bombs, destroyed infrastructure, and has sown discord and cynicism between nations and tribes," he told AFP from his office in central Kabul. Little attention is paid in either book to the thousands of civilians killed in Taliban attacks -- many of them suicide bombings that entrenched fear across the country for nearly two decades. Farahi insists the Taliban "were cautious in saving civilians and innocent" lives, while criticising fellow Afghans who collaborated with the pro-Western police as a "stain" on the country. Rights groups accuse the current Taliban authorities of widespread abuses -- particularly against women and girls, who the United Nations say are victims of what amounts to "gender apartheid". In his book published in 2023, Farahi claims the Taliban attempted to negotiate -- in vain, he insists -- with the United States over the fate of Osama bin Laden, whose capture or death Washington demanded after his plane hijackers killed around 3,000 people in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, who had been based in Afghanistan, was killed by US forces in Pakistan in 2011. American 'bloodthirsty dragon' "It was clear... that the Americans had already planned the occupation of Afghanistan," writes Farahi in the English version of his book, which has been translated into five languages. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, Afghans thought it would "have nothing to do with our country", he continues, but soon realised that Afghanistan would face "punishment". For 20 years, the war pitted Taliban militants against a US-led coalition of 38 countries supporting the Afghan Republic and its forces. Tens of thousands of Afghans died in the fighting and in Taliban attacks, as did nearly 6,000 foreign soldiers, including 2,400 Americans. For Farahi, the war reflects the West's desire to "impose its culture and ideology on other nations". His disjointed journal mixes battlefield memories with polemical chapters railing against the American "bloodthirsty dragon". The book "reveals the truths that were not told before because the media, especially the Western media, presented a different picture of the war", he said. According to him, the "mujahideen", or holy warriors, despite being far less equipped, were able to rely on their unity and God's aid to achieve victory. New front Only a few of the new wave of Taliban books have been autobiographies, which appeal to an audience seeking to understand the war "from the inside", according to Zadran. His book, initially 2,000 copies in Pashto, sold out quickly and another 1,000 are in the works -- along with a Dari-language version, he said. Many chapters mention Bowe Bergdahl, the US soldier held hostage for five years by the Haqqani network. He recounts treks through the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to move him between hideouts, efforts to convert him to Islam and conversations about his girlfriend back in the United States. Both accounts end in 2021, before the transformation of the fighters who moved from remote mountain hideouts to the carpeted offices of the capital. There, their battle has turned diplomatic: the Taliban are now fighting for international recognition of their government. "The war is over now," Farahi said, "and we want good relations with everyone" -- even with the "bloodthirsty dragon".
Forbes
24-03-2025
- Science
- Forbes
Telling Stories With Our Eyes: MIT Media Lab's Critical Matter Group
UNDATED PHOTO: A human eye is seen closeup, showing the iris and pupil in this undated photo. ... More (Photo by) This year, as the MIT Media Lab celebrates an important 40th anniversary, there are a lot of things going on inside its walls. One is based on the development of a new program called the Critical Matter group that's working on some exciting projects, including a very evocative live event, and livestream that just wrapped up in the middle of this month. The Critical Matter group is led by Behnaz Farahi, who has a lot of experience in design and fashion, and is looking to connect technology advances to these disciplines in a new way. Essentially, as explained on the group's web page, Critical Matter involves looking at materials with a critical eye, using resources from humanities and the social sciences. Approaching design in a 'critical way' means integrating what matters to people, not just what the market demands. It means bringing more humanity and introspection to innovation. And it's a group effort, expressed this way on the site: 'Our hope is to really explore the future of design and technology in a critical way to support imaginations, enhance perceptions, augment social interactions, and hopefully give voice to voices that have not been heard.' In a recent TED talk, Farahi explained the recent Gaze to the Stars event put on by the Critical Matter group that mixes storytelling with AI technology as a moderator. 'We always look at the sky, gazing at the stars, and dreaming about our future,' Farahi said. 'Sometimes we are struggling with something, and we are looking at the sky and thinking about ways to get out of our struggles. So this project is about ways that we can share the voices that usually haven't been heard, in the MIT community and beyond.' The project captured the eyes of human participants with sensors, and projected those visuals on the MIT dome. Stories that were shared verbally were transcribed and summarized, and the text was included in the eye itself. Although the stories themselves were livestreamed from March 12-14, you can still get more information on this project, and see some of the summaries along with eye images on a YouTube video. attached to the group's website. '(We want) to share the stories of humanity, all of hopes and success and dreams, which we all want to hear, but also stories of the struggles and failures and things that we overcome,' Farahi explained in the TED Talk, citing exploration of the boundaries between humans and machines. 'How can we use new technologies and design to address larger, critical issues of our time: social, cultural, environmental issues? Obviously, we are very interested in questions of emotions, embodiment, identity, feminism. But we are also exploring other ideas that is really important in our time.' As she described the project, Farahi explained that it is intended to change the usual approach where design 'fetishizes' technological advances, but may not ask about the context. 'A lot of design (has) been very much fetishizing the new advances of technology by demoing that, 'oh yes, you can use this technology to do this shiny, beautiful object,'' she said, 'But a lot of times, they're failing to answer 'for what and for whom' and 'why are we doing this?' … (we hope we are) creating work that really engages with critical issues to address important issues of our time.' After her TED talk, I conducted a filmed interview with Farahi, where we talked about her experience and how it applies to MIT Media Lab operations. Anyone who's interested can see some of her past projects on her own web site, for example, a set of niqabs meant to alter the dynamics of gaze, all with considerable technological ballast. In terms of the MIT community, Farahi is a newcomer: she's only been in Boston for six months, after working in the film school at USC and attaining a PhD in Los Angeles. Curiosity, she said, was the key in making the moves that led her to the Media Lab. 'I started learning a lot of other skills from other fields,' she said. 'And then soon after, I realized that some people started to think that I'm a fashion designer. I wasn't a fashion designer. Some people were calling me a kinetic artist. I wasn't a kinetic artist, I wasn't an architect. I was somewhere in between all of those fields…. I was very curious to see how to combine (these pieces) and really use them to create novel ideas.' 'I am very happy to be at the Media Lab,' she continued, 'because it's a perfect place for this type of interdisciplinary way of being. So you can really combine science and technology and art together.' The last question I asked had an interesting answer. I asked Farahi if she is a dystopian, a techno-optimist, or both. 'I think the world has a lot of good and bad, and zero and ones,' she explained. 'I think I really appreciate understanding the nuances in between this, sometimes not knowing exactly how things are, and (that) things are messy and complex. And sometimes there are good and bad, and there are things that (people say, like) 'oh, AI is amazing,' or 'AI is horrible.' And I think there is so much nuance in this, that you have to really understand - the questions we should ask is: in what context, and how and why, and then we answer all those questions, and we can really understand that, are they really good in this context, or are they bad?' Touche. I was very impressed with this program, and how it approaches everything we're seeing with AI this year. And I'm excited about the rest of this anniversary year, where we're going to put emphatic focus on the MIT Media Lab, and its history, which I reported on earlier in the month. Come along with us, as we continue to explore the roles of humans and machines in a quickly changing world.
