The United States didn’t think there was anything imperative about Afghanistan as a country, but their location was perfect and had great surrounding areas. Afghanistan was a significant setting simply because of the ports and sea lines that were along the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf but other than that there wasn’t much importance. The United States still ended up playing a role in the Afghan-Soviet war. They ended up being an aid for the rebels of Afghanistan. This specific group of people, also known as the Mujahideen, were mountain tribesmen that were led by their Islamic leaders. At the current time, the United States’ initial strategy was “to prevent excessive Soviet influence” (Galster). The United States was worried that Soviet
Canada has been involved in many contributions, globally. There are many military, humanitarian, and evironmental contributions Canada has made wheather they were effective, somewhat effective, or not effective at all. The mission to Afghanistan, supporting Steven Lewis Foundation, and adding alternative energy to the country of Canada (wind turbines) are
Under Taliban rule, women were treated worse than animals. They were forced to stay in their own homes and never leave. Afghan women were not important to the Taliban unless they were busy bearing children or working in the home. Women had to take care of the children, do laundry, cook for the family, and do various other chores.
The Taliban has some of the most frightening rules for Afghan people: A kite seller will be imprisoned for three days, the owner of a house will be punished if women are heard singing during a wedding, no images or photographs are to be posted in public places, there is to be no equipment that produces the joy of music, and even Christmas cards are to be banned. The list goes on and on with the harsh rules and punishment that face the people of Afghanistan. The Taliban claims that they are following the strict codes of Islam, but now it seems that the group is just dictating the country to whatever they seem suitable. The Taliban customs personal would gouge out the images of women's eyes on shampoo bottles, and merchants would have to sell the product with black tape over the women image or face a beating and time in jail. The group of men that run the Taliban regime amaze me on how everything is played out in Afghanistan. The men want a bid into the U.N. but can't even have a country where people aren't afraid to walk down the streets in fear of being stoned or shot to death.
For over 2 centuries, Afghanistan has known virtually no time without war. Beginning around 326 B.C. with the conquests of Alexander the Great, to the Persians, British, Russians and most recently, America and our NATO allies, Afghanistan has been cultivated into the country that it is today through a trial by fire. Regardless of this relentless onslaught of foreign military power, the Afghan people have tirelessly defended their homeland with no outside power ever being able to subdue them completely. Following the withdrawal of the Soviet Union in 1989, the country fell into civil war, torn even further apart by fiercely dedicated tribal warlords. This power vacuum led to the rise of a group called the Taliban. Led by a one eyed man
As odd as the restrictions women had, the punishments for violations were even more unbelievable. To humiliate the women, most of the punishments were available to be seen by the public. The penalties for broken laws were often held public in sports stadiums, town squares, or other densely populated areas for everyone to see. For a minor infraction, oftentimes the one who committed the transgression was often beaten until unconscious. A woman once had her thumb removed because her thumb nail was exposed, and when the Taliban guard saw this, she was taken into the town square to have her exposed thumb taken off. The things that the Taliban do to innocent citizens are cruel, and they should be the ones being reprimanded, not the other way around. In general, many of the punishments that the Taliban give out to women are, in most cases, much too excessive for such insignificant “crimes”. (Delcan Walsh)
Problems that the Taliban have caused, in real life, have impacted the way that many innocent people in various Arab countries used to live--long ago, life was delectable to many. People lived in a state of tranquility, and could live accompanied by one word: freedom. However, later on, and not long ago, the Taliban created a set of strict, over-the top rules that have not only completely
One of the most radical religious groups in the world today are known as the Taliban. The Taliban is a “fundamentalist Muslim group that controlled much of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001” (Maley NP). The Taliban took power after the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. When the Soviet Union left Afghanistan,
The War in Afghanistan has been an all consuming conflict for the US government since we started to launch air strikes on October 7, 2001. This is a conflict that’s been brewing since before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. This war has the continuation of past conflicts in it, conflicts that can be connected a good deal to the interference of other large powers, such as the USSR. From keeping an eye on the oil reserves, pressuring Iran, and keeping Pakistan stable, our interests and motives for occupying Afghanistan are undeniably laced with many ulterior motives, providing us with the issue of unfavorable opinion and our interests being the source of terrorist attacks. Afghanistan is a country that has been plagued with
The situation in Afghanistan actually began in 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded their country. The United States funded money to the "mujahedin," or holy warriors, in the name of stopping communism. From this support, Afghanistan was able to defeat the Soviet Union in 1989. Yet the country became very unstable after the war. Political power was fluctuating often and leaders came in and out of power rapidly. Farmers resorted to growing many drugs such as poppies and marijuana and sold them around the globe. Cities were annihilated. Over five million Afghanis fled to other countries in search of a better life. When the Afghanis turned to the United States for help in rebuilding our country, we refused. This caused great anger amongst the Afghani people directed toward the United States. This also lead to Mullah Mohammod Omar, the current leader of Afghanistan, to form a ground of men to "rebuild" his country. They are now known as the Taliban. Omar's personal description is, "A simple band of dedicated youths determined to establish the laws of God on
“We lost the war in southern Afghanistan and it broke my heart.” This statement used by Graeme Smith in the introduction to his book, The Dogs are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan, sets the tone for the rest of the book. Although foreign forces had, arguably, the
Invasion of Afghanistan Even before the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11th 2001, Afghanistan was probably the most isolated country in the world. Only three other states recognised its rulers, who in the mid-1990s had swept across the country to impose a very strict and distinctive form of Islamic law upon the Afghan people, ending nearly 20 years of civil war in the 90% or so of the country
The majority of the Taliban are uneducated countryside locals that know little of politics. Their values include protecting the honor of women, dressing modestly, and other conservative Muslim customs (Dorronsoro). To enforce their rules they would use methods such as public executions, beatings, and immediate murder. The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra is a book about the city of Kabul under the rule of the Taliban. In the book one of the female characters are arrested and a Taliban leader is talking to the jailer about her. He says, “She’s going to stay here a bit longer than the others.” The jailer asks why and he responds, “Because of the big rally in the stadium next Friday. Some very high ranking guests will be in attendance. To provide this event with some atmosphere, the authorities have decided to carry out ten or twelve public executions. Your inmate is to be included in the lot. In the beginning the qazi wanted to have her shot right away. Then, since there was no woman on the program for Friday, they gave her a reprieve until then.” The Taliban had a strict set of rules and too much power, so they carried out executions like this to keep the public in order and drive them away from Western ideas. They viewed foreigners as a threat to what they stand for and wanted to keep them out of their
Afghanistan: America's Attempt to Abolish the Taliban In an age when mankind has the ability to completely annihilate itself through nuclear combat, war can be a more terrifying and powerful thought than ever before. Unfortunately, because of the extent of the actions that the Taliban has committed against both America and its own followers, the United States’ war against terrorism seems to be a necessity. I do feel, however, as if there are many things that can be done by the American government in the near future to peacefully approach a more civil and politically involved Afghanistan. Although my feelings on a war against terrorism are mixed, I do feel that significant actions must be taken in order to restrict the spread of
The War in Afghanistan In response to the September 11 attacks, the United States should declare war on the responsible group. As a nation, we should do only the actions that bring about the best consequences, and the best consequences would occur by bringing the responsible group to justice.