Acronyms, Identities of relevant people, place names, cultural keystones, etc.

AFF:
Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) accessed 2022/5/8: “While little is known about the AFF, it is believed that it comprises members of former Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) and cadres of various resistance groups opposed to the Pakistan-proxy Taliban.” – https://newsvibesofindia.com/new-outfit-afghanistan-freedom-front-vows-to-end-talibans-tyrant-rule/

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Afhanistan (history of names for the region) See:
https://qr.ae/pvDofq

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Ahmadi,Sibghatullah: spokesman for the National Resistance front

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Abdullah Abdullah: Foreign minister of interim government ca. 2002. Belonged to the mainly Tajik Jamiat-e-Islami.

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Khalid Amiry; Commander of Commandos

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Amir Saheb Ahmad Massoud (Also written “Amir Sahib Ahmad Massoud”.) “Amir Sahib,” is a Dari-language title meaning commander. So this is Ahmad Massoud, the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud. See:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Massoud

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ANA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_army

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AYMC Afghan Youth Movement of Canada

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Azari, Ehsan: author. See: https://www.counterpunch.org/2009/09/25/why-afghan-intellectuals-live-in-national-despair/

Balochistan It comprises the Pakistani province of Balochistan, the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, and the southern areas of Afghanistan, including Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar provinces. Balochistan borders the Pashtunistan region to the north, Sindh and Punjab to the east, and Persian regions to the west. South of its southern coastline, including the Makran Coast, are the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman.– Wikipedia.

Ahmed Behzad: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Behzad

BLF: The Balochistan Liberation Front (Urdu: بلوچستان لبریشن فرنٹ; BLF) is a militant group operating in the Balochistan region of southwestern Asia. The group was founded by Jumma Khan in 1964 in Damascus, and played an important role in the 1968–1973 insurgency in Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran and 1973–1977 insurgency in Balochistan province of Pakistan. However, the group's insurgency was defeated in both Pakistan and Iran and the status of the group became unknown until 2004. The group re-emerged in 2004 after Allah Nazar Baloch took command of the group in 2003. Since then the group has taken responsibility for attacks on civilians, journalists, government officials and military personnel. – Wikipedia

Boyd, John. USAF crack pilot, designer of the F-16 and F-18 fighter planes, military strategist strongly influenced by /Master Sun's Art of War/, See http://www.china-learn.info/Philosophy/z_PDFs/Applications_ZhZ.pdf, very near the top of the article.

Concourse:

<1> [Defense] Strategy
地者，{高下}﹑遠近﹑險易﹑廣狹﹑死生也。
“Geology and terrain” means factors of {highness and lowness}, distance and propinquity, hazardous travel and smooth going, wide concourses and narrow constrictions, and deadly and life-giving circumstances.

<8> The Nine Permutations
凡用兵之法，將受命於君，合軍聚眾，圮地無舍，衢地<交和>[合交]，絕地<勿>[無]留，圍地則謀，死地則戰。
According to the way of using warfare, the generals receive commands from their sovereigns, they assemble the armies and bring together the masses. They do not take their abode in harrowing and inhospitable lands, they maintain harmonious communications [with allies] across areas spanned by concourses, but refuse to remain in places where they can become isolated. If they are in areas that [start to] get surrounded, they will engage in evasive behavior and deceptions, but if they find themselves on deadly land they will fight.

<11> The Nine Terrains （Strategic Locations)
諸侯之地三屬，先至而得天下之眾者，為衢地。 (5) When lands of members of the nobility who are grouped into several factions are such that some lands can be taken by whomever gets there first, and then [possession of those lands will provide control over the] multitudes of all under heaven, these lands are called concourses.

是故散地則無戰，輕地則無止，爭地則無攻，交地則無絕，衢地則合交，
For those reasons, in unconsolidated lands one will not fight wars, in lightly held lands one will not tarry, in contested lands one will not make aggressive actions, in interconnected lands one will not permit oneself to be cut off, and in the concourse areas one will come together and interact with or form alliances with nearby feudal lords.

四達者，衢地也﹔ When there is easy access in all four directions, one is in a “concourse” land.

衢地，吾將固其結﹔ In a territory that is a concourse for the world, I must consolidate my alliances.

Note 05. Concourse. Such a battlefield stands in the middle of a substantial territory and can be freely reached from any direction. Probably it consists of farmland and people travel across it in many directions throughout the year. One can imagine cavalry armies, armies of chariots and bowmen, or any kind of fighters with great mobility taking advantage of their freedom to flank the enemy, call in allies from the enemy's rear, etc. In such a great land with no natural boundaries there may be many separate domains. Some domains among them may be friendly with each other and others may be enemies. Anything that one might want to do in such an area could only be accomplished with the cooperation with one power group or another, so diplomacy and the making of mutually productive treaties is a necessity for the prudent military leader.

Ethnicities, list of: Pashtuns, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimaq, Turkmen, Baloch, Nuristani, Sadat, Pashayi, Pamiri, Kurds, Kyrgyz, Arabs, Gujjar, Moghol, Ormur, Wakhi, Dards, Sindhi, Sikhs, Hindus, others.

Fahim, Mohammad: Defense minister of interim Afghan government ca. 2002. Belonged to the mainly Tajik Jamiat-e-Islami.

Farhâdi, Abdul Ghafoor Ravan: b. 1929. Ph.D. 1955, Sorbonne. He has had a long career in government and education. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravan_A._G._Farhâdi#Political_views

GDI Taliban's intelligence (internal intelligence) agency

Golden Rule:
Ali ibn Abi Talib (4th Caliph in Sunni Islam, and first Imam in Shia Islam) says:
“O’ my child, make yourself the measure (for dealings) between you and others. Thus, you should desire for others what you desire for yourself and hate for others what you hate for yourself. Do not oppress as you do not like to be oppressed. Do good to others as you would like good to be done to you. Regard bad for yourself whatever you regard bad for others. Accept that (treatment) from others which you would like others to accept from you… Do not say to others what you do not like to be said to you.” —Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 31
https://findingthegood.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/the-golden-rule-in-islam/

Gucuk, Humeyra. “Humeyra Gucuk / Princess Naciye Doğan's Family Archive ) King Amanullah is the sovereign who led Afghanistan to total independence in 1919, the year he came to power. After proclaiming Afghanistan's independence, he initiated a series of reforms including a new constitution, the equality of men and women under the civil law, and …” https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/watching-home-from-afar-an-afghan-princess-in-turkey-49576/amp. (Not available when I tried this link.)

Habibullah Khan:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habibullah_Khan

Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin: “head of the Islamic extremist organisation Hezb-e-Islami, which rose to prominence in the 1980s when the CIA and Pakistani intelligence strongly favoured it over other Mujaheddin groups fighting the Soviet-backed administration in Kabul.” He was “known to the CIA for his ‘fascist’ and ‘vicious’ tendencies.”

IEA. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (also known as the Taliban)

ISKP. Islamic State Khorasan Province

Karzai, Hamid Headed interim Afghan government, Backed by US government. A UN conference in Bonn last December 2001 installed Karzai.

Mohaqeq, Mohammad: leader of the People's Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan.

Muhammad,Azimullah: Young man who saved Karzai from an assassination attempt. – https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/08/world/threats-responses-afghanistan-karzai-under-heavy-us-guard-travels-honor.html

Massoud, Ahmad Shah: Hero of the Afghan Nation. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud

Massoud, Ahmad: Son of Ahman Shan Massoud. Xee: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Massoud. There are many websites and other sources about this person. The legitimate accounts, according to Massoud Foundation USA are:
Twitter
- Ahmad Massoud: https://twitter.com/ahmadmassoud01

- Ali Nazary https://twitter.com/alinazary

- Ambassador Ahmad Wali Massoud: https://twitter.com/awmasoud

- (The Massoud Foundation USA is not currently Twitter)

Facebook
- Massoud Foundation USA: https://www.facebook.com/MassoudFoundationUSA
- Ahmad Massoud: https://www.facebook.com/ahmadmassoud1
- Massoud Foundation of Australia: https://www.facebook.com/mfoundationaus
- Ambassador Ahmad Wali Massoud: https://www.facebook.com/WaliMassoud/

Instagram
- Ambassador Ahmad Wali Massoud: https://www.instagram.com/officialahmadwalimassoud/
- Maryam Massoud: https://www.instagram.com/maryammassoud/
- Masssoud Foundation of Australia: https://www.instagram.com/mfoundationaus/
- Massoud Foundation USA: https://www.instagram.com/massoudfoundationusa/

Other sources
“Our inspirational friend and Ahmad’s sister, Maryam Massoud, has also posted links to legitimate accounts:” https://linktr.ee/Maryammassoud

For more information, see: https://www.massoudfoundation.us/social-media

Massoud, Ahmad Zia: the younger brother of legendary mujahedin commander Ahmad Shah Masoud. He is widely respected by the Tajiks, the country's second-largest ethnic group, and is also the son-in-law of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, another Tajik who was once considered a potential rival to Karzai.

Najibullah, Mohammad: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habibullah_Khan\

National Congress Party: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Congress_Party_of_Afghanistan---- Nuristan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuristan_Province

Nazary, Ali Maisam is the head of foreign relations for the NRF.

People's Islamic Unity Party: A political party in Afghanistan. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Islamic_Unity_Party_of_Afghanistan

Qanooni, Yunis. Interior Minister of interim Afghan government. Member of the Northern Alliance.

Rabbani,Burhanuddin: a Northern Alliance leader. He was an Afghan politician and teacher who served as President of Afghanistan from 1992 to 2001. Born in the Badakhshan Province, Rabbani studied at Kabul University and worked there as a professor of Islamic theology.– Wikipedia

RAWN:Rescue Afghan Women Now (RAWN), a secretive, small but determined volunteer group of American business executives. https://www.rescueafghanwomennow.com

Raz,Adela: Deputy Foreign Minister, Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United States

Sabawoon, Wahidullah: At one time an ally of Hekmatyar ca. 2001.

Sayyaf, Abdul Rasul: a Pashtun Islamic leader

Shah, Zahir: former king of Afghanistan

SNCC Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_Nonviolent_Coordinating_Committee

Tandar, Humayoun, No information found yet.

Tarzi, Mahmud: 1865-1933. Known for working for modernization and secularization, and strongly opposing religious extremism and obscurantism. –

Tarzi, Nanguyala. –

Tarzi, Omer –https://mtcf.net/committees/

World Socialist Web Site, used for some early information on this page. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2002/04/afgh-a06.html

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