Ethical Issues In Afghanistan War

After the September 11 attacks, it was widely believed that the terrorists responsible were hiding throughout the hills and caves of Afghanistan. The United States chose to invade Afghanistan because it was searching for the terrorists. President Bush believed that the Taliban was hiding Osama Bin Laden and his people. The United States and our allies were successful at removing the threat during World War II, but while our military was able to overthrow the Taliban and capture some of Bin Laden’s associates, we are still involved in a war in the Middle East.

When the soviet union invaded afghanistan the war lasted for 9 years 1979-1989. Between 1 million to 1.5 million people were killed in that war and millions of people when to a diffrent countries such as pakistan or iran as refugees. The United States supported Afghanistan by supplying arms to the Mujahadeen. Ronald Reagan sent billions of dollars to the Mujahadeen so he can help Jihad against the Soviet Union. “Reagan believed this defense shield could make nuclear war impossible. Reagan deployed CIA special activities division paramilitary officers to train, equip and lend the Mujahideen battalion against the Soviet army”. Reagan’s objective was winning the Cold War and the rollback of communism. The United States also offered financial and

The war in Afghanistan started in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks because of a terrorist group called Al- Qaeda, and its leader, Osama bin Laden, the one who planned the attacks. It was a very long and hard conflict that lasted approximately thirteen years. Canadian troops got involved for more than a decade fighting to make Afghanistan a better place for their citizens. The Canadian forces completed several key military operations, including “Medusa operation”, and more with the help of their allies before ending the conflict successfully on their own terms.

There was an extreme group called Afghanistan’s government, Also known as The Taliban. They were protecting

The day was Tuesday, September 11th, 2001. During the morning hours on this specific day, one of the deadliest attacks on human soil had occurred. On this day, over 3,000 innocent people had lost their lives when four planes had crashed; two into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon, and one in Pennsylvania that was believed to be en route to the White House. After this attack, the citizens of the United States of America had lusted for revenge against those who were responsible for bringing so much destruction and tragedy among their nation. The 9/11 attacks were, essentially, the catalysts that propelled the United States of America into the Afghanistan War to fight the Taliban and other terrorist

The Taliban began to take down the local warlords and feudal system and began to make a name for themselves in the region. This brought the support of neighboring Pakistan, with the ulterior motive of attempting to establish a friendly, stable government in Kabul. The fighting caused a sudden influx of refugees to Pakistan’s border regions, which interfered with Pakistan’s trade. The Taliban eventually gained control of Kandahar, where they acquired their new weapons, and Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Despite the Taliban’s successes, they had opposition from warlords in the north such as Massoud. Massoud originally had control of Kabul but lost this when the Taliban invaded, pushing him north. Once he was forced to flee, he began to receive outside support from countries such as Russia and Iran. They both feared the growth of the Taliban, and Russia had reason to believe the Taliban was

This is the reality of war. War is not clean cut or binary. It is dirty and and slaughter. It is cyclical and multifaceted. The carnage is a cost of war. Ethics should not be lost or sacrificed as war continues. This is in regards to the countless lives lost due to war. How many lives will be lost in order to achieve

The invasion of Afghanistan (October 2001 - December 2014) The invasion was triggered by the September 11 attacks. It was intended to target terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida organization, which was based in the country, as well as the extreme fundamentalist Taliban government that had ruled most of the country. Taliban is the ultraconservative political and religious faction that ruled Afghanistan.

One prominent Taliban leader has said that they consider the Afghan government puppets of the Americans. He said they (the Taliban) will continue to be hostile and will not consider negotiating a peace deal until the US is out of the picture (Kill). The US cites the progress they are making in the fact that over 1000 Taliban foot soldiers have defected and “re-integrated”, joining the government’s fight against the Taliban. However, many of these re-integrated soldiers still do not respect the US soldiers, citing their violence and offense to the Afghan culture. One re-integrated soldier named Abdul Aziz was caught on a microphone saying to a local “...the Taliban are still my brothers. Look, we [Aziz and his group of soldiers] don’t like the Americans. We’ve had bad experiences with them. They’re infidels. They’re the enemies of our religion, our nation, and our honor. If God makes the Taliban successful, then we will be Taliban again.” (Kill). Much more recently, it was reported in February 2015 that, only months after the US terminated major military operations in Afghanistan, the Taliban are ready to significantly challenge the new government (Peter). This demonstrates how the Taliban have persisted and resisted through the violence of the Kill/Capture program, and their anger at the Americans looks poised to be spewed onto

In April 1978 Afghanistan’s centrist government, led by President Muhammad Daud Khan, was overthrown by Soviet left-wing military officers, led by a man named Nur Muhammad Taraki. The Soviet Union was in support of the communists in Afghanistan and against the anti communist, “Muslim guerrillas”. The Soviet Union wanted to replace Afghanistan’s existing government to spread communism. The war ended up straining the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union nearly to the breaking point. The United States was not in favor of the Soviet Union trying to invade Afghanistan. This ineffective war lasted eight years, cost many lives and a lot of money, and was often compared to the Vietnam War. The Muslim rebels eventually succeeded

By early 1998 the Taliban controlled about two-thirds of Afghanistan. Taliban forces offended many places and nearly started a war with Iran after a number of Shiite villages were robbed and Iranian representatives were killed. Although there were many attempts to make a treaty between the Taliban and opposing forces, fighting ensued throughout 1999 and 2000. Fighting between the Taliban and Northern Alliance forces was at an all-time high in early 2001. After the attacks on the United States on September 11th, United

I think it is reasonable for Pakistanis to hold such view of the clandestine operation by the American SEALs. What was unethical was that America acted alone and secretly raided Pakistan without informing the local political army, and this is why Pakistanis are distrustful of the Americans. Osama bin Laden was found and shot in Pakistan, and Pakistan suffered the heavy losses in the war; therefore, the Pakistani military had the right to know and take part in the event. The reason why Americans did not trust the Pakistani people is that they thought Pakistanis were incompetent, and some of them might tip off bin Laden. According to this event, US-Pakistan relationship would curdle as they distrusted each other. I never believe that peace can

Since the September 11th attacks in 2001, the United States has been at war with Afghanistan. Their goals were to remove the Taliban, track down those in charge of the attacks, and destroy Al-Qaeda.

The Taliban emerged through promising of peace for the people following the decade long war with the Soviet Union (McNamara). This group gradually spread throughout Afghanistan, as militias readily surrendered the areas they were controlling (Rashid). As an Islamic Fundamentalist group, the Taliban formed the Islamic Empire of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 (“Taliban”). While in power, the Taliban imposed strict Sharia law (Islamic Law) on its people, which included: public executions, the violation of fundamental human rights, forbidding girls from attending school and forbidding women from working outside the home (“The Taliban’s War Against Women”). Further, the Taliban refused to extradite Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, who was accused of organizing terrorist attacks against Western interests (“Taliban”). As a result, following the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon in September 2001, the Taliban was driven from power due to an American led invasion of Afghanistan (“Taliban”).

On May 25th, 1997, Pakistan recognized the Taliban as the Government of Afghanistan, the following day, Saudi Arabia also made this recognition. In August of 1998, the United States had become suspicious of the Taliban forces, and the U.S. fired five missals at Afghanistan because of suspicions that the Taliban was behind the bombings of the U.S. embassies in East Africa.