Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, left, walks through his palatial compound at night, surrounded by marble and razor wire. Dostum along with 14 other warlords represent a relic of last 30 plus years of war that cannot be easily dismissed. (Mary F. Calvert / The Washington Times)

Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum wears his chapan and sits at home in Kabul fingering his prayer beads. (Mary F. Calvert / The Washington Times)

His chapan flowing with every step, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum , strides into a room in his palatial home in Kabul to show picture of his early days to visitors. Dostum rose to power after Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviets in 1979, forming a militia, which later became a full regiment under the Soviet occupation. (Mary F. Calvert / The Washington Times)

Armed men stand guard at the home of Gen. Dostum in Kabul. Warlords are an integral part of the future of Afghanistan, which many Afghan and intelligence experts believe could easily collapse into civil war. (Mary F. Calvert / The Washington Times)

Before he was a warlord Gen. Dostum (second from left, on bicycle) was a student of military studies in the Soviet Union and then a foreman at the Soviet controlled oil fields in his home province of Jowjzan. (Mary F. Calvert / The Washington Times)

Haji Sher, a trusted friend of Dostum, looks at rugs for sale in a shop located in an area of Kabul where the merchants are loyal to the general. (Mary F. Calvert / The Washington Times)

"To understand Afghanistan you have to go to the places the majority of the poor go to," said Haji Sher. "The bazaar is Afghanistan." In one of the shops, only miles from the ISAF headquarters of Gen. David McKiernan, a middle-aged man was selling hundreds of AK-47s. "You can buy almost anything on the street," Haji Sher said laughing. (Mary F. Calvert / The Washington Times)