Back in the early 1980s when we saw our first Afghan war rugs, we thought they would be a short term phenomenon, as the Afghan/Soviet War drew to a close that the rugs would no longer be woven. How naive of us. The war did not end, it merely transformed itself. First was the Soviet/Afghan War (1979-89), the civil war (1993-96), the recent Taliban rule (1996-01)and the present war (2001-?). War rugs have been woven reflecting all of these permutations and, apparently, will contine to be woven.

A friend who was recently in Afghanistan tells us of rumors he heard of a new generation of war rugs that reflect events of the past several months. He believes they are being woven by Hazaras somewhere outside Kabul. Designs include poppy plants, American military equipment, and such inscriptions as "Where is Osama?" and "Who is Mullah Omar?" The significance of the latter legend owes to the fact that Omar was little known before rising to lead the Taliban movement. Even in his ascendency he was very seldom photographed and those images of him that do exist usually caught him turning away from the camera or pulling his robe over his face. Also, it is reported that the insignia of the U. S. Army's 10th Mountain Division is appearing on rugs. It is likely that the weavers have seen the design on U. S. soldiers shoulder patches or, perhaps, Mountain Division soldiers may be ordering the rugs as souvenirs. If the latter case is true it would be ironic since one of the first theories floating around about Afghan/Soviet war rugs twenty some years ago was that they were commissioned by Soviet soldiers and officers to be taken home as momentos of their service in the war. This later proved wrong as inquiries to several Russian Afghan/Soviet veterans organizations turned up no evidence to support the theory. Indeed, a war rug we sent as a gift to a Russian veteran of the war was the first he had seen or even heard of.

[Editor's Note 10/25/02] When we wrote the above in May of 2002 we expected we would soon see war rugs that reflected more recent events than the 1979-89 Soviet phase of the war in Afghanistan. In a recent shipment came a rather chilling document of what we have come to call "the events of 9-11." It is the first war rug we have seen that depicts US war equipment used in the overthrow of the Al Qaedda/Talaban forces in Afghanistan. There are also images that allude to the reason that we went to Afghanistan. Subsequently other post 9/11 war rugs have come to us. A selection is shown below.

On a map of Afghanistan is superimposed a globe and a representation of a Boeing 757, the aircraft used in the bombing of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a lonely pasture in Pennsylvania. On the map is also an image labled "B-52." In the upper left of the rug is an RPG-7, a rocket propelled grenade launcher, and to the right of the map is a US Blackhawk helicopter (on Soviet helicopters the boom comes off the top of the cockpit, on US helicopters it comes off the bottom. Another distinguishing feature is that US helicopters tend to have protruding noses, while Soviet noses tend to be blunt, the exception being the ferret-faced HIND M-21 & 24 assault helicopters). At the right, also, is a computer monitor bearing the legend "Pentagon, 11-9-2001."

4'x5'8", Vegetable Dye War Rug, "Long Live Afghanistan"

4'x5'8", vegetable dye, made of hand-carded, hand-spun wool on a cotton foundation. On the field is the flag of pre-Afghan/Soviet War Afghanistan. On the border are alternating butterflies and bird feathers.

To the left is the present flag of Afghanistan, above is the Taliban flag. The inscription reads, "There is no god but God and Mohamed is his prophet."

Afghan War Rug Hamid Karzai

3'1"x4'10", vegetable dyed, made of hand-carded, hand-spun wool. Pictured on the rug's field is Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's present leader. Karzai is a Pashtun who became a passionate enemy of the Pashtun Taliban. On the rug there is also the flag of the pre-war Afghanistan, not the current Afghan flag which is a tri-color (see above). The legend at the bottom of the rug reads, "Long live Hamid Karzai."

Until just a few years ago, Karzai, who speaks six languages - Pushtu, Dari, Urdu, English, French and Hindi - had not seen military action. During the resistance to the Soviet invasion of 1979-89, he served as a mujaheddin adviser and diplomat. In that capacity, Karzai was a frequent visitor of embassies in Islamabad. He also ran a small hotel in Peshawar.

He maintained a relatively low profile following the departure of Soviet forces. Like many Afghans, however, he lamented the inability of the mujaheddin warlords to set aside their differences and rebuild Afghanistan in the early 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet-supported regime of Najibullah.

"Like so many mujaheddin I believed in the Taliban when they first appeared on the scene in 1994 and they promised to end the warlordism, establish law and order and then call a Loya Jirga to decide upon who should rule Afghanistan, " Karzai said in an interview in late September.

Click here for an enlarged image of half this rug

"I gave the Taliban $50,000 US to help run their movement and then handed over to them a large cache of weapons I had hidden away. I met Mullah Omar several times and he offered to appoint me as their envoy to the UN," Karzai said wistfully.

"The tragedy was that very soon the Taliban were taken over by Pakistan's Interservices Intelligence (ISI) and they became a proxy for a foreign power. Then they allowed Arabs and other foreigners to set up terrorist training camps on Afghan soil and I began to organize against them," he said.

"By 1997 it was clear to most Afghans that the Taliban were unacceptable because Osama bin Laden was playing a leadership role in the movement. I warned the Americans many times, but who was listening - nobody," he added.

Click here for a direct scan on the face of the rug

From his home in Quetta, Karzai began to organize anti-Taliban opposition in 1998. He found support among some Pashtun tribal chiefs, who were angry with the Taliban for their close ties with Arab radicals. The Taliban reacted to Hamid Karzai's move swiftly. They murdered Karzai's father, Abdul Ahad Karzai, in 1999 - an act that appalled Karzai's Popalzai tribe. The elder Karzai had been chief of the Popalzai tribe, a former government minister and immensely respected for his wisdom amongst the southern Pashtun tribes.

Click here for a direct scan on the face of the rug

Hamid Karzai was appointed the new Popalzai chief, even though Hamid has several older brothers living in the United States. The death of his father prompted Karzai to assemble a 300-vehicle convoy of tribal chiefs and mourners. Defying both Pakistan and the Taliban, Karzai took his father's body from Quetta to be buried in his home city of Kandahar. The Taliban did not intervene, fearing that an all-out war would break out amongst the Pashtuns of Kandahar. That single act of defiance helped Karzai shed the image of a lightweight and paved the way for his emergence as the provisional coalition's leader.

Click here for a direct scan on the face of the rug

Within days of the September 11 attacks, Karzai began to assemble arms, money and communications gear. His intention was to prepare a tribal 'lashkar,' or militia, to enter Afghanistan and foment an anti-Taliban movement from within Afghanistan. He also approached the US, British and other European embassies for logistical support.

Click here for a direct scan on the back of the rug

Karzai travelled back and forth between Pakistan and Afghanistan and on one trip was very nearly killed by an American "friendly fire" air strike, in which many died. He was selected by the Loya Jirga to head the new Afghan government and has recently narrowly survived at least two assassination attempts.

Afghan War Rug, Tora Bora, Operation Anaconda

This rug was made in Northern Pakistan by Ersari Turkoman refugees from Northern Afghanistan. On the camel field is a map of Afghanistan on which is superimposed mountains and the legend "TORA BURA". It was at Tora Bora that the climactic battle, Operation Anaconda, of the US war in Afghanistan occurred. It was there that US and Afghan Northern Alliance forces had run Osama Bin Ladin and his inner circle to ground. They were sure they had him because they heard him issuing orders via his cell phone. Then he turned his phone over to a Moroccan lieutenant and they both took off in opposite directions, the Moroccan talking a blue streak on the phone. US forces captured the Moroccan and the phone and it is presumed that Bin Ladin escaped the area. Across the top of the rug is a RPG-7, rocket propelled grenade launcher. Pictured also is a US M-16 rifle, jet fighter/bombers, one marked "F-16", a US CH-47 Chinook helicopter (this one taking off from Bagram Air Base to search for Taliban), and two M-1 Abrams tanks.

Click here for an enlarged image of half this rug

Click here for a direct scan on the face of the rug

Click here for a direct scan on the face of the rug

Click here for a direct scan on the face of the rug

Click here for a direct scan on the back of the rug

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Mosque Rug with US F-117 Stealth Fighter/bomber

2'7" by 4'8". On the field are two mosques, one inverted, with the main mosque building and towering minarets from which the meuzzin proclaims the daily prayers. Rising behind the mosques are bright crescent moons and stars. Between the two mosques is a US F-117 fighter/bomber. This rug has a minor slit repair (see the last two scans.

One of our suppliers called and said he had a World Trade Center rug and it was very peaceful - no airplanes, no fires, no death. We like this rug very much. The weaver pictures the buildings, surrounded by trees, as if they were built in the middle of Central Park rather than in lower Manhattan. We see a nearby mosque. There are several emergency vehicles with red lights flashing, a very normal thing to see in NYC. So here it is - one of the most peaceful war rugs we have seen. (SOLD)

World Trade Center "America Strikes Back"

This rug, 2'x2'8", relates to the one above like night to day, relative tranquility to total horror. What we have here are two vignettes superimposed on each other. The obvious theme, of course is 9/11 and the euphemistic phrase, "the events associated with" that date. In compressed time the 757s are about to strike the towers which, illogically are already aflame, two people tumble from the top floors, and the airlines names and flight nos. are given, on the left of the field American Flight 11, to the right United Flight 175. As we recall, Tower II was hit first. At its base is an abstract image of the Statue of Liberty.

The second set of images reflects what the weavers call "America Strikes Back." At the bottom of the field is an aircraft carrier launching fighter/bombers, while to it's right a Tomahawk missle is launched. Across the middle of the rug's field are the Stars and Stripes and the pre-Afghan Soviet war Afghan flag, the banner of the monarchy of King Zahir, who was deposed in 1973. On them a white dove is in flight.

The US in Afghanistan, Op Anaconda, 2'x2'8" (Price on Request)

This is an Afghan war rug made in Northern Afghanistan by Ersari Turkomans in Sheberghan, located on the northern ring road between Andkhoi and Aq Shah, 2'x2'8", finely woven, c. 200 knots per square inch (see direct scan of the back of the rug below). This is one design in a series the weavers call "America Strikes Back." This particular rug celebrates "Operation Anaconda," the assault on the Tora Bora Mountains. It was here that US and Northern Alliance (Afghan) forces had Osama Bin Ladin cornered. He began chattering on his cell phone which the US was monitoring, then he passed the phone off to a Moroccan Al Qaedda soldier who took off with it in the opposite direction than that taken by Bin Ladin. The Moroccan was captured with the cell phone and now resides at Quantanamo Bay. He is considered a hero by the other prisoners. Pictured are aircraft mis-named "B-52". They are F-16s. Superimposed on a map of Afghanistan are exploding vehicles. Inscriptions include, "Root out terrorism with the help of America and Britain," "2002", "Made in Afghanistan, Sheberghan." At the top of the rug is a US and a pre-war Afghan flag.

Click here for an enlarged image of half this rug

Click here for a direct scan on the face of the rug

Click here for a direct scan on the face of the rug

Click here for a direct scan on the face of the rug

Click here for a direct scan on the back of the rug

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Go To Part I of this Article

Go To Part II of this Article to view Ten More Afghan War Rugs

Go To Part III of this Article to view ten more Afghan war rugs

Go To Part IV of this Article

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Ron O'Callaghan
Asian Trade
74 Sinclair Hill Rd.
New Hampton, NH 03256
(603) 744-9191
ronocal@lr.net
http://www.rugreview.com

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