Khyber also spelled KHYBER, or KHAIBAR, most northerly and important of the passes between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The pass connects Kabul with Peshawar. The pass has historically been the gateway for invasions of the Indian subcontinent from the northwest. The name Khyber is also applied to the range of arid, broken hills through which the pass runs and which form the last spurs of the Spin Ghar (Safid Kuh) Range. On either side of the connecting ridge are the sources of two small streams, the beds of which form the Khyber gorge. This narrow gorge forms the Khyber Pass; it winds between cliffs of shale and limestone, 600-1,000 feet (180-300 m) high, and enters the Khyber Hills from the Shadi Bagiar opening, a few miles beyond Jamrud, Pak., and continues northwestward for about 33 miles (53 km). Just beyond the old Afghan fort of Haft Chah, it opens onto the barren Lowyah Dakkah plain, which stretches to the Kabul River.
After a steep ascent at its southern entrance, the pass rises gradually to Fort Ali Masjid (3,174 feet), where the Khyber River (Khyber Khwar) leaves the pass to the south. For 5 miles from Ali Masjid the pass becomes a defile not more than 600 feet wide, flanked by imposing and precipitous walls. From Zintara village on northward, the pass becomes a valley a mile or more wide, with forts, villages, and scattered cultivation plots. About 10 miles west of Ali Masjid lies Landi Kotal fort and cantonment (3,518 feet); this is the highest point in the pass and is also an important market centre with an alternate route back to Peshawar. There the summit widens out northward for 2 miles. The main pass, however, descends from Landi Kotal through Shinwari territory to Landi Khana, where it runs through another gorge and enters Afghanistan territory at Towr Kham (Torkham; 2,300 feet), winding another 10 miles down the valley to Lowyah Dakkah.
The Khyber Pass is threaded by a caravan track and by a good hard-surface road. The railway (opened 1925) through the pass connects Jamrud with Landi Khana, near the Afghan frontier; the line, with its 34 tunnels and 94 bridges and culverts, revolutionized transportation in the area. The pass may be skirted by a road fork that enters the hills about 9 miles north of Jamrud and emerges at Lowyah Dakkah.
Few passes have had such continuing strategic importance or so many historic associations as the Khyber Pass. Through it have passed Persians, Greeks, Mughals, Afghans, and the British, for whom it was the key point in control of the Afghan border. In the 5th century BC Darius I the Great of Persia conquered the country around Kabul and marched through the Khyber Pass to the Indus River. Two centuries later Hephaestion and Perdiccas, generals of Alexander the Great, probably used the pass. Buddhism flourished in and around the Khyber when it was part of Ashoka's kingdom (3rd century BC); Buddhist remains include Kafir Kot (Citadel of the Kafirs), Shopla stupa (also called the Khyber Top), and the stupa near Ali Masjid. The pass was used by Mahmud of Ghazna, Babur, Nader Shah, and Ahmad Shah Durrani and his grandson Shah Zaman in their invasions of India. Ranjit Singh, the Sikh ruler of the Punjab, extended his kingdom as far as Jamrud in the early 19th century.
The Pashtun Afridi people of the Khyber area always resisted foreign control, and numerous punitive expeditions were undertaken against them by the Mughals and the British. The first British advance northward into the Khyber took place in 1839, and during the First Anglo-Afghan War the pass was the scene of many skirmishes with the Afridis. The Treaty of Gandamak, which was signed during the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1879, left the Khyber clans under British control. In 1897 the Afridis seized the pass and held it for several months but were defeated in the Tirah expedition of 1897. The British became responsible for the safety of the pass, which is now controlled by the Pakistani Khyber Agency.
Pukhtoonistan produces 70 percent timber, 75 percent hydal power, 70 percent maize, 80 percent tobacco.
Khyber Pass
Foolishness Over the Olympics and Tibet
Foolishness Over the Olympics and Tibet
Tibet has been a part of China since ancient days. Historical records have shown that Tibet had been under the central government of China for more than 700 years since the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Less than 6 decades ago, China emerged from a century of colonialist oppression and humiliation at the hands of the very same colonialists that are currently behind the anti-China campaign of disinformation.
Up until the time of the Second World war, Tibet was considered as a part of China as they were trying to curb the encroachments of the British Empire on their territory. However, after the war, Washington decided to use Tibet’s religious enclave in its fight against Communism.
The international community is being barraged with a deliberate and sustained campaign of disinformation about what is going on with Tibet as once again, Washington is providing financial, political, diplomatic and propaganda support to a blatantly racist demonization effort, ostensibly due to “concerns” for “human rights." We’ve already seen the fake claims of genocide in Bosnia and Kosovo, the ridiculous and absurd lies about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and babies being thrown out of incubators, now we have the poor downtrodden, innocent and abused “freedom fighters" in Tibet.
Curious timing, as preparations are being made for the upcoming Olympics in Beijing. The corporate elitist media and some in-the-pocket politicians now suggest that boycotts be organized against the Beijing Olympics or the opening ceremonies at the very least.
As early as last August, Chinese scholars were warning about the Dalai Lama and what he was up to: "The Dalai Lama is once again provoking activists," said Di Zhankun, a Qinghai-based Tibetologist, claiming that the 71-year-old Dalai Lama is preparing to usher in "an era of violence."
The initial uprising in Lhasa on March 14 had been pre-planned and well orchestrated. We have none other than the Dalai Lama directing the actions of internal terrorists. As part of the so-called Tibet government in exile, the Dalai Lama has managed to grasp media attention worldwide to his “crusade” for an independent Tibet.
The events that unfolded at the lighting of the Olympic flame March 24 in Greece were most revealing. A protest briefly disrupted the ceremonies. Three protesters were arrested, but then summarily released. None were Tibetan. They were three French men, it turns out, all from a notorious right-wing organization funded by the governments of France and the United States as well as some of the richest capitalist elitists in the world. They all are employees of the group called Reporters Without Borders.
What most do not know about Tibet is the sinister historical links to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Tibet’s current “independence” fanatics and rabble rousers maintain close ties with the CIA’s National Endowment for Democracy (NED). It goes beyond any concept of non-violent protest as these individuals have engaged in acts of vandalism and looting, behaving like hooligans and criminals with rampant property destruction, hardly the actions of non-violent protest.
The American Society for a Free Asia, a CIA front, gave unlimited publicity to the cause of Tibetan criminals. The CIA has provided the Tibetan exile movement with $1.7 million a year for its operations against China which includes an annual subsidy of $180,000 for the Dalai Lama.
In the book, “Buddha's Warriors” by Mikel Dunham, is the story of CIA-backed Tibetan Freedom Fighters. In 434 pages, it explains how the CIA took hundreds of Tibetans to the US for combat training and provided them with modern arms.
Protests occurred in the UK and France that truly demonstrated to the world that the spirit of the Olympics has once again been abandoned for questionable motives. However, Gordon Brown ignored calls to rebuff China because of the protests in Tibet, and welcomed the Olympic flame behind Downing Street’s gates. Meanwhile, demonstrators and police clashed just yards away outside of Parliament. The Prime Minister did not hold the torch, but posed for a picture with it after.
In Paris, protesters scaling the Eiffel Tower, grabbed for the flame and forced security officials to repeatedly snuff out the torch and transport it by bus past demonstrators who were shrieking "Free Tibet!"
At another destination in San Francisco, three protesters wearing harnesses and helmets climbed up the Golden Gate Bridge and tied the Tibetan flag and two banners to its cables. The banners read "One World One Dream” and "Free Tibet."
A media charade occurred when some of these “peaceful” monks in Tibet managed to get themselves arrested for the benefit of a visiting media team. China allowed a group of about two dozen reporters into Lhasa for a three-day escorted visit. The monks in a carefully choreographed action pushed in front of journalists on cue and recited a list of carefully prepared “grievances” and thereby sidetracked and disrupted the event. One of the monks also declared their intended purpose: “We know we will probably be arrested but we have to keep fighting,” Naturally the group of monks ended up by being surrounded by security guards and other officials who tried to quiet the disturbance. Lights, camera, action!
Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said India will ensure the smooth run of the relay of the Olympic torch in the country, the Press Trust of India reported. "As far as the Government of India is concerned, we are committed to providing complete security to the Olympic torch," Sharma was quoted as saying.
The European Union has rejected any boycott, saying it would be counterproductive to efforts to improve “human rights” in China. "Boycotting the XXIX Olympiad is not the right answer to the current political problems," said a statement from Slovenia, which holds the EU's rotating presidency.
Unfortunately, it has become politically expedient to hate China in the empire today. After all, China sends them cheap junk . Never mind that corporate elitist businesses order that cheap junk and China makes it according to the specifications given them by these companies, all to maximize profits at the expense of quality. Blaming China gets the companies off the hook for what they ordered, inspected and accepted and willingly sold to the public for huge profits. China is being used as a scapegoat, albeit a very prosperous and wealthy scapegoat.
Meanwhile the Dali Lama rolled into Seattle at his home base USA to attend a 5 day conference entitled “Seeds of Compassion.” Conference tickets were reported to be sold out. He told the media that China, “Cannot suppress protests against human rights in Tibet.” Rich words coming from a paid CIA shill.
There can be little doubt that the main beneficiaries to the death and destruction sweeping Tibet are in Washington. How disgusting it is to see so many well meaning people deceived into serving the interests of Washington and the corporate elitists in sabotaging the Beijing Olympics. The spirit and nature of the event are being spoiled all to the delight, enrichment and interests of corporate elitists. The Chinese people have a long memory and a keen sense of honor and this will not soon be forgotten or forgiven.
