Afghanistan Picks Up the Sword (July 14,1919)
When a tiny Afghanistan goes to war against a mammoth England, monarch of
the seas, there must somewhere be an important reason for this. But the teletypes
from the British side are not reliable. Turkey is about to be cut up and devoured
by some ferocious beasts. India, risking its own life to help Britain, has earned itself
a clown wearing a flaming red turban as representative to the Peace Conference.24
The demands of the Indian people have not been granted. They want to suppress the
political movement of the Indian people with military might. Afghanistan is a Moslem
country. When the fox dies the hare grieves,25 so how could she fail to pick up the
sword?
nology was, of course, that they were so extreme as to be beyond the pale of civilization or of political
debate.
23 The reference is, of course, to the Communist government led by Bela Kun, which held power
from March to August 1919.
stratum of landlords linked to officialdom sometimes translated as “gentry,” but he clearly has in mind
the Hungarian landowning aristocracy.
great princes of India, famous for his Camel Corps.