Afghanistan War Research Paper

Every day someone’s child, spouse, sibling or parent makes the courageous decision to join the United States Army. This is something less than one percent of Americans ever do, this takes a special person to become a defender of the Constitution. Of those defenders, how many of them have deployed to a combat zone, most specifically Afghanistan? The United States military has spent over 10 years in Afghanistan. Soldiers and families are beaten and tired after this decade of combat and losses no one can even understand. These losses and brokenness is why it is time to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and bring them home in a steady and slow pattern or increments. Closing out a combat and war zone takes a lot of planning, preparation, training and cooperation from all Allied forces and host nations; Afghanistan is no different. A decade of war needs to come to an end and Afghanis need to take charge of their country and people and stand on their own two feet.

2) Afghanistan and Japan differ greatly in terms of the Human Development Indicator (HDI) which include the GDP and GNI per capita, infant mortality rate, literacy rate and life expectancy. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) or GNI (Gross National Income) per capita, which are both indicators of a nation’s level of wealth, are determined by dividing the GDP or GNI by the total population of the country. Japan has a GPD per capita of $34,870 whereas Afghanistan has a GDP per capita of only $2,000. Here, Japan, having a much higher GDP per capita is considered a rich developed country and Afghanistan, with a much lower GDP per capita, is considered a poor developing country. Another HDI that determines the wealth level of the country is the infant mortality rate.

Soldiers are often considered robots, meaning they have no real concern about the battle they are fighting. This is not true, especially in the case of the war on terrorism. If one were to ask a soldier what he thought of the war in Afghanistan, he would immediately tell you that it is a necessary war to keep the United States safe from the terrorists. Unfortunately, Americans do not think the same way soldiers or the families of soldiers do. Most Americans believe the war is a waste of time, money, and American resources. This thought process is not only wrong, but completely unfair to the troops serving. The Afghan war cannot be won by fighting or blood loss, but the war can and will be won by American occupation in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is a poor, landlocked country located in Central Asia. The country is quite small, with barely any water close by. With barely a 5th of the US’ GDP, Afghanistan is a underdeveloped country with little to no sanitation. Having about 6 million people with no access or poor welfare, the country has a low population along with low life expectancy. This underdeveloped, desolate, war torn country has a long continuing history.

“Long before the Roussi army marched into Afghanistan, long before villages were burned and schools destroyed, long before mines were planted like seeds of death and children buried in rock-piled graves,” Afghanistan was in its Golden Age (Hosseini 136). A time before it was an “ungovernable collection of tribes” and mini-states, a time where warlords and fundamentalists were not overpowering the government, Afghanistan stood as a country of ethnic harmony and the city of Kabul was known as “the Paris of Central Asia” (Bumiller). Women were going to school and tourists were able to adventure Afghanistan’s snow-capped mountains without worry. Sadly, in December 1979, Afghanistan awoke with sounds of gunfire and an invasion had begun by the Soviet Union. The families who had the money to flee the danger zone, quickly packed their belongings and left their homes behind, hoping to return someday. After the Soviet-Afghan war was at an end, the year 1996 brought about an Islamic student militia called the Taliban. During this time period of war and destruction, children were lost in a whole new world and stolen of their purity. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, he tells a powerful and cruel story through the eyes of Amir’s life (the main character) starting from when children’s lives consisted of flying kites and exploring the city’s streets freely, to an era where children were in run down orphanages or begging for money on the streets to help support their

igration is when someone moving to another place for many reasons. These reasons include war, the opportunity to find work, economy, natural disasters, or family. One of the most places that's has many immigrants from other places of the world is the United States. The Unites States is one of the most places to have the most immigrants because it is believed that there are more opportunities there. Immigrants risk and not to mention losing their lives trying to immigrate here. Not only this, but also leave their families behind to try and give them a better life than the one they have. The United States has about 41.3 million immigrants, who live and work here. There are about 18.6 million naturalized U.S citizens and as well as 22.1 million non citizens. Out of the 41.3 million immigrants, 11.3 million were unauthorized

Issue: According to SIGAR the production of opium in 2013 was 209,000 hectares and with the deteriorating security in many parts of rural Afghanistan, it is expected to increase by 7% in 2014. According to Tahir Qadiry of BBC News, Kabul 1 million men, woman, and children in Afghanistan are addicted to Opium. The opium trade undermines the Afghanistan state, financial sectors, breeds corruption, sustains criminal networks and provides significant financial support to the Taliban. The Taliban uses these funds to finance their terrorist activities including the purchase of weapons. The DOD and other US agency have tried to build reliable Afghan counter-narcotic partnership, but these efforts have failed, due to lack of local government support, despite the $7.6 billion the

The U.S. War in Afghanistan is the longest war in U.S. history. After the September 11 attacks in New York, the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan followed, supported by a collation of all NATO members and other countries, the war’s fundamental goals were clear, with the primary objective of dismantling the Taliban government, bring Osama bin Laden to justice, and attempt to curb the growth of terrorism (CITE). Now, 16 years later, the war calls for hot debates. Many argue about the status of the war, is it too long? Is it worth the cost of lives? In short, the US did achieve the fundamental goals of the war. But if the unpredicted length of the war and the astronomical cost of the war, both in money and lives were added into the deciding factor,

Afghanistan’s government is in a state of chaos and it is America’s fault. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, America quickly reacted and fought the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden; taking then out of power. The problem with that, is the Taliban were the ones keeping Afghanistan stable. America has tried to stabilize the Afghan government but has failed due to: the constant violence and acts of terrorism, the many ethnic groups and their conflicts, and the rough, mountainous geography of the country.

Afghanistan has been in the spotlight since the 9/11 attacks, which was followed by the war in Afghanistan until 2014. The aftermaths of the war continue to be felt here as this nation is still developing and the Taliban groups continue to hold loads of power over this country such as practicing violent attacks in aims to push all foreigners out of Afghanistan. Additionally, Afghanistan is extremely vulnerable to natural disasters as there was an earthquake just three day ago with a magnitude of 4.4 in Ashkasham, and a flood during April of this year that killed 50 people. Moreover, these natural disasters have an enormous impact on this country as they already lack employment opportunities thus their economy is deteriorating. Hence voluntary

I know that this conflict between America and Afghanistan has been going on since 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the U.S. Pentagon and the New York Twin Towers. It was shortly after this that then President George W. Bush requested the Taliban to turn in Osama bin Laden for his role in orchestrating the attack. As expected the Taliban would not cooperate and hand him over the United States officials. President George W Bush then called in air strikes around October of 2001. The United States eventually won the war by overthrowing the Taliban and al-Qaeda. They were also successful in setting up military bases in or close proximity to the cities of Afghanistan. This war has led to a lot of freedom for those that lived in Afghanistan as well as a lot of deaths of innocent individuals that live in the country. However the United States were unsuccessful in capturing Osama bin Laden until 2011. By that time our country was under the leadership of President Barack Obama. In 2011 the U.S. Navy SEALS set up a raid in Pakistan in attempt to locate and capture Osama bin Laden. I have not saw it or read exactly how they knew he was hiding out in Abbottabad, Pakistan but the leader of the SEALS Team Six ordered the attack. The United States honored the tradition of Islamic culture by giving his body the proper burial at sea. The war was supported by many but criticized by others. People wanted to know that it was really bin Laden that was killed. Al-Qaeda responded

The country of Afghanistan is entirely landlocked, “Shaped like an irregular leaf with the Wakhan Corridor as its stem, the country is about 647,500 sq km (250,000 sq mi), or about the size of Texas. Extending approximately 1,240 km (770 mi) from west to east, and 1,000 km (630 mi) from north to south”, much of the country is scarcely populated. The largest mountain system is the Hindu Kush. This mountain range runs through the middle of the country dominating about half of the country.

Executive Summary: In 2001, the Bonn agreement laid out the framework for a democracy in Afghanistan, however, the transition to democracy has been met with many challenges. The establishment of a bicameral legislature, popularly elected president, and the restoration of civil liberties showed hope for democratization, but the institutions established in the country fail to provide the stability needed for Afghanistan to successfully transition to a democratic regime (Zain 84; Reynolds 104,105). New electoral systems are essential to providing stability and legitimacy to democracy in Afghanistan and balancing ethnic interests in a nation marked by strong ethnic cleavages.

The assassination of President Taraki and the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1979 catapulted Afghanistan into a civil war between the Soviet Union and their Communist supporters and the Mujahideen rebels. Following Taraki’s assassination, Hafizullah Amin emerged as the leader of Afghanistan. Amin began secretly meeting with US diplomats to discuss the invasion and Soviet communist tactics thus leading to his murder. Babrak Kamal is then established as the new leader of Afghanistan. On December 24th, 1979 the Soviet Defence Ministry ordered Soviet troops to occupy Afghanistan from ground to air to combat against the growing Mujahideen insurgency that not only consisted of Afghans but now citizens from Pakistan, China, and Iran.

In a small, crumbling, mud building, deep inside Afghanistan, a few mullahs sat, drank tea and discussed the future of their country. They watched their homeland plunge into disarray after the withdrawal of the Soviet army and downfall of the Soviet-backed government. Additionally, they witnessed corruption, bloodshed and fellow countrymen living a life other than the prophetic way prescribed in the Hadith. It was with these realizations, and determination to cleanse their homeland, a movement would be in motion that would forever change a nation, while also having a worldly impact. These few men came to be the founders of what the modern world now knows as the Taliban, initially a group who saw themselves as purifiers of an Islamic life gone astray. Through the use of personal experiences, first-hand interviews, published reports and guides, including books written by subject-matter experts, Ahmed Rashid presents factual evidence for accuracy in order to establish significant historical relevance in the book, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia to depict the uprising of the Taliban in a post-Soviet Afghanistan. Throughout the writing of this book, Ahmed Rashid conducted numerous interviews with former Taliban commanders and mujahideen to give the average person an inside view of not just who the Taliban is, but simply what it is. His book goes into great detail about the history of the Taliban movement ranging from topics of its origins, to how