An Outsider's Journey Into Untamed Afghanistan

Sept. 10, 2004 — -- Most people would consider it insane to make a weeklong road journey into southern Afghanistan, but when camera woman Sophie Barry and I heard about the opportunity, we jumped at it.

Traveling to places like southern Paktika, nestled along Afghanistan's southeastern border with Pakistan, is like traveling back in time. There are no paved roads — only lumbar-crushing desert tracks. There's no electricity or running water, and the buildings are mere mud huts. We didn't see women once over the course of the entire journey.

These people had no TV, no telephones, no way to contact — or really know about — the outside world. The only modern conveniences, it seemed, were their weapons: The AK-47 was the accessory of choice for every turbaned man, and the Toyota Hilux the standard vehicle.

It would be dangerous, dusty and certainly uncomfortable for two women to venture to this part of the world. But this was an experiment with democracy we wanted to see firsthand. How would people so cut off from the modern world respond when invited to join the electoral process?

Before this mission, there had been virtually no effort to reach out to Taliban-held areas of southern Paktika. Many villagers here had never seen coalition forces at all.

"That has translated into a situation where slowly but surely local Talibans who had always been there have become increasingly bold over the months," said Sebastien Trives, a Frenchman who runs the U.N. mission, "to the point now where they're roaming freely in groups, usually groups of 10 to 15 Talibans on motorcycles, fully armed, well-equipped — well-equipped with financial resources, as well. So that is the situation that we're trying to end. And it's very much an uphill struggle."

Afghanistan is set to hold presidential elections Oct. 9, and as the country lurches — sometimes violently — toward that date, it is essential that the United Nations and the government engage as many people as they can in the process.

But is it always worth the risk? And the expense?

This project represented one side of the argument: You take a big, well-armed group of soldiers to protect a small group of government officials and diplomats, and you travel, with olive branch in hand, into the enemy's lair.