William Shawcross

Should We Intervene?

It’s not always predictable just what will bring monstrosities to widespread attention. In Afghanistan, unnoticed horror has been piled upon horror for years, most recently under the government of the Taleban, a gang of despotic and brutal men calling themselves Islamic.
Consider this: in the middle of 1998, the Taleban massacred about 8,000 people in the town of Mazar-iSharif. They were killed because they were Hazara men, ethnic enemies of the Taleban. Many were shot in the streets or in their homes or in hospital beds; others were roasted alive and asphyxiated by being crammed into metal containers in the relentless August sun. Bodies were left in the streets as a warning, to be eaten by dogs.

Sign Up to our newsletter

Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.

Follow Literary Review on Twitter

  • Last Tweets

    • A piece of Literary Review history from way back in 1983: John Haffenden talks to the great Iris Murdoch. ,
    • Britain’s only travelling lit fest, the Garden Museum Literary Festival is heading to Houghton Hall, Norfolk, for a… ,
    • 'The 19th-century German sage is not my idea of a pleasant travel companion' goes hiking with Friedr… ,
    • If you want ideas about what to read next, sign up to our free email newsletter, and get book reviews, archive mate… ,
    • 'The heroic male nude could not, I think, be used today to signify civic pride and glory', as Michelangelo’s 'David… ,
    • 'Munch’s later works show us a man liberated from the torments that gave rise to some of the best-known early works… ,
    • 'We read from left to right and from start to finish. Or do we?' Stuart Hannabus considers the merits of reading i… ,
    Follow Us