Mirahmad在阿富汗法拉省的Pushtrod地區擔任水源管理的重要職務，必須確保在他的控管下，村民能在當地取得足夠的水源。
因此當國家贊助的「國民團結自助工程」(NSP)提撥20萬阿富汗尼(4萬美元)給Pushtrod，作為清理Nawbahar灌溉運河之用時，他相當高興。
「但神學士政權卻要求40%的資金」Mirahmad表示，「否則他們不會讓我們進行清理的工作，因此我們就替他們購買了一台四輪驅動的汽車」在法拉省的村落中神學士握有主導權，但與其說是他們追求剩餘的政權，不如說是透過要求衛生建設援助，進而從政權掌握中獲取利益。
NSP的援助計劃就是他們下手的第一個目標，此計劃為全國性的重建方案，2003年在國際社會的資助下，由當地鄉村重建發展部所推動。
NSP在發起時就已分發出上百萬美元的資金，而其主要任務之一，就是透過協助當地社區認同及實踐有利於他們的建設計劃。
但在法拉省大量的資金被神學士所奪取，他們以類似收取保護費的方式要求分享資金，然後利用這些敲詐來的資金去購買槍支和軍火。
鄉村重建發展部副部長Shah Mahmoud指出：「我們已接到許多關於神學士拿取NSP資金的投訴，所以我們已經中止提供資金給某些重建計劃，在這個問題被認真看待並獲得解決前，我們將不會再提供任何一毛錢。」
但神學士對於此項爭議的態度相當強硬，並為他們取得資金的權利提出辯護。神學士派駐在Khak Safed和Pushtrod地區的高級代表Mullah Shah Mohammad表示：「這些錢是戰爭後的戰利品，由異教徒提供給戰區的人民，因此我們有絕對的權利拿取這些錢，並繼續我們的聖戰，這裡的人民也相當配合。」
但對法拉省的民眾來說，神學士的做法比起聖戰更近於搶劫，更希望他們能停止這種行為。法拉省一位高級城市計劃官員則認為，神學士的做法可能引發反效果。
他指出：「首先，神學士想要獲得金錢來強大自己的力量，第二，他們想要展現自己的力量，證明除了神學士之外沒有其他人能管理這些地區，但這些做法將會加大他們與民眾的隔閡，最終導致當地人民群起反抗。
Mirahmad has a very important job to do: he is the mirab, or water regulator, in his native Pushtrod district of Farah province. It is Mirahmad who ensures that the villages under his control receive adequate water for their fields.
When the state-sponsored National Solidarity Programme, NSP, gave Pushtrod 200,000 afghani (US$40,000) to clean out the Nawbahar canal irrigation canal, he was overjoyed.
"But then the Taliban asked for 40 percent of the money," he said. "Otherwise they were not going to let us do the work. So we had to buy them a four-by-four."
In district after district of remote and volatile Farah province, the Taliban are taking control. But rather than chasing out the remnants of government authority, they are seeking to profit from them, by demanding a healthy portion of donor-funded assistance projects.
First and foremost among these are projects under the auspices of the NSP, a nationwide reconstruction initiative, launched in 2003 by the ministry of rural rehabilitation and development with funding from the international community.
One of the central missions of the NSP - which has dispensed millions of dollars since it was launched - is to foster good local governance by helping communities identify and implement projects that are in their interests.
But in Farah, at least, a substantial cut of the funding is being seized by the Taliban, who are demanding a share of the funds for protecting the projects - from themselves. They then use the money they have extorted from the government to buy guns and ammunition.
"We have received numerous complaints regarding [the Taliban taking NSP money]," said Shah Mahmoud, the deputy chief of the rural rehabilitation and development department in Farah. "So we have stopped sending money to some projects. We will not send a penny until serious steps are taken to solve the problem."
The Taliban are taking quite a hard line on the issue, and are defending their right to the money.
"This money is the spoils of war," said Mullah Shah Mohammad, a senior Taliban representative in the Khak Safed and Pushtrod districts. "It was given to these people by the infidels. It is our absolute right to take this money and continue our jihad, and the people are cooperating with us on this."
But for the residents of Farah, the Taliban's actions are closer to robbery than to jihad, and they want it stopped. Juma Khan Qayed, a senior planning official in Farah city, says that the tactic would likely backfire against the Taliban.
"The Taliban have two goals here," he said. "First, they want money to make themselves stronger. Second, they want to show their power, to prove that no one can govern the districts except the Taliban. But this will widen the gap between them and the people, and in the end the locals will rise up against the Taliban."
作者
In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
