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Kite Runner #1
Afghanistan Overview (Main Idea Practice)
From the New York Times
OVERVIEW | Updated May 19, 2009
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country north and west
of Pakistan and east of Iran. Its location has long granted it an important role in the region, while
its hostile terrain and aggressive inhabitants have blocked would-be conquerors for centuries.
(Alexander the Great conquered what is now Afghanistan in 327 B.C., but it took him three
years.) The country's population is 34 million, and its capital is the ancient city of Kabul.
THE SOVIET INVASION
Three decades ago, Afghanistan was a stable, relatively prosperous and relatively secular country.
The turmoil and extremism that have dominated its history since then can be traced to the 1979
invasion by the Soviet Union and the reaction both by Afghanis and by their allies in the United
States and Pakistan.
The first Soviet troops parachuted into Kabul on Dec. 27, 1979, to assist Babrak Karmal, who had
become president in a coup within the Afghan Communist leadership. The Soviet invasion
descended into a prolonged and bloody occupation. Soviet troops stayed for more than nine years,
fighting a conflict that cost them roughly 15,000 lives and undisclosed billions of rubles, while
undermining the cherished image of an invincible Soviet Army.
Eventually, after peace talks moderated by the United Nations, the last Soviet troops left
Afghanistan in February 1989, in what was in effect a unilateral withdrawal. They left behind a
country that was not only devastated by the war but that had become a beacon to Islamic
extremists from across the globe who had come to assist in the fighting, including Osama bin
Laden and the group he helped found, Al Qaeda.
THE TALIBAN TAKEOVER
After Soviet forces left, Afghanistan descended into vicious internal fighting, and by the summer of
1994 power was divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms. But one group would
eventually gain control. The Taliban grew out of a student movement dedicated to purifying the
country and returning power to one ethnic group, the Pashtun. In a story that is now part of
Afghan folklore, the group's first action occurred when Mullah Omar, a Pashtun who had lost an
eye fighting the Soviets, gathered a small band of men and attacked a group of warlords who had
raped and shaved the head of a girl.
By the end of 1994, Mullah Omar had nearly 12,000 followers. With his promise of restoring Islam
to daily life, he created a genuinely popular movement in a country tired of corruption and
brutality. Yet even with popular support, the Taliban might have disappeared if not for the
assistance of Pakistan, the neighbor to the east. As early as 1994, Pakistani intelligence officers
began funneling arms, money and supplies to Mullah Omar's men, as well as military advisers to
help guide them in battle.
Helped by Pakistani aid, the Taliban by 1996 had taken control of Afghanistan, imposing strict
enforcement of fundamentalist Islamic law, banning movies and music and forcing women out of
schools and into all-enveloping burqa clothing. The Taliban also provided a haven for Mr. bin
Laden, who arrived by chartered jet at Jalalabad Airport in May 1996, and for Al Qaeda. Western
diplomats say Al Qaeda helped persuade Mullah Omar to order the destruction of the 800-yearold Buddha statues at Bamiyan, an act condemned around the world.
POST 9/11 INVASION
After the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush gave the
Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Mr. bin Laden. When it refused, the United States joined forces
with rebel groups that had never accepted Taliban rule, notably the Northern Alliance, which
represented minority tribes. An air and ground campaign began that drove the Taliban out of the
major Afghan cities by the end of the year.