Word: pushtu
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Unlike Karmal, who is a member of the small, Dari-speaking elite, Najibullah has the advantage of belonging to the country's dominant Pushtu tribe. The new leader is therefore well placed to get fellow Pushtuns in Pakistan to cut guerrilla supply lines and unify the ranks of a regime so sharply divided that it is sometimes referred to as an example of "two-party Communism." If Najibullah can consolidate a solid and loyal Soviet-style government, Moscow may feel secure enough to withdraw its 120,000 troops from Afghanistan...
...World War II, alone and with $5 in her purse. As she describes her prospects, "My only commercial asset was that I knew French, but French was of no professional use to anyone in Canada then -- not even to French Canadians; one might as well have been fluent in Pushtu." Still, she perseveres, ultimately finds a job on a local newspaper and sets out to become a writer, much as the author herself did in the late 1940s. Such determination and pluck are rare among Gallant's outcast characters. When the girl's native country fails to meet her standards...