A Sin City Sprouts in Kabul

In the Afghan capital, Westerners buy caviar from the supermarket while Afghans struggle to buy bread. Foreign women suntan in Chanel swimming suits while their Afghan counterparts are afraid to take off their burkas. Alcohol is banned under the new constitution, yet beer and wine parties are in full swing.

But the good times enjoyed by thousands of aid workers, security contractors, consultants and even a few liberal-minded Afghans may be coming to an end. Mullahs and conservative politicians across Kabul are trying to turn rampant alcohol drinking into an election issue for President Hamid Karzai.

One presidential candidate, Latif Pedram, recently told a political rally that Karzai was turning a blind eye to partying and prostitution and called for his resignation.

Many believe that there are hundreds of prostitutes who have been brought from China to ply their trade at Chinese restaurants that they say double as brothels in the affluent neighborhoods of Wazir Akbar Khan and Shahr-i-Now.

At one popular venue, guests are escorted to the main dining area, but behind the bar, a curtain barely hides a few dozen Afghan men sitting with Chinese women wearing tight dresses slit to the thigh -- scandalous in a country where female citizens must wear loose garments.

It is offensive to the Muslim culture, especially in a nation that is not used to the freedom of Western societies, said Obaidullah Rahman, imam of the Pul-i-Kishti central mosque in Kabul.

“We have a constitution made up by representatives of Afghans from all sections of society,” he said. “People will rise and grab Karzai’s neck and say alcohol is against the constitution. The people will rise against him.”

At least a dozen bars, restaurants and clubs have sprung up to serve foreigners who earn anywhere from $4,000 to $20,000 a month and are happy to pay $25 for a pitcher of margaritas.

The heady mix of money and a bit of boredom has created a sort of sin city where Westerners and some rich Afghans have turned to expensive cigars, caviar, Ecstasy and champagne as a form of release.

“Kabul parties are like student union parties,” said Dominic Medley, co-author of a survival guide to Kabul. “A mix of nationalities, music tastes, and they are done purely to burn off steam because there is nothing else to do.

“But the Afghans are partying as well,” he added. “I’ve been to wedding parties for returning Afghans with alcohol. Maybe alcohol is more accessible than it used to be because of the foreign influence.”

Fazal Ahmad Manawi, the deputy chief justice of the Supreme Court, said he was concerned that the lifestyle of Westerners was affecting young Afghans.

“It has a negative impact on youth,” he said. “If you are in a place and everyone is drinking and you are in a country where everyone else is deprived, you will use alcohol to the extreme. It is causing fights, thefts, car accidents and destroying relations in families.

“This kind of freedom in developed countries is not something the people of our country can digest easily.”

Karzai, a devout Muslim, recently approved a resolution put forward by religious leaders emphasizing the ban on alcohol.

The message appears to be lost on the Westerners chauffeured to restaurants and bars in air-conditioned vehicles. A recent issue of an expatriate magazine ran an advertisement for a German restaurant where “after an exciting day in Kabul” one could relax in a “traditional German beer garden.”

A map showing the location was drawn for the reader and published the same week the British and American embassies sent a warning that terrorists were in the final stages of planning an attack on a place frequented by foreigners.

Not even fear of a bomb attack has slowed the party scene, said one regular.

“As long as there aren’t any unnecessary risks, why not go? I need to unwind,” said the woman, a public health worker who asked not to be named.