Afghanistan is a country that has been permeated with war and unstable governments for over 50 years. The different tribes and factions in Afghanistan have fought against one another in support of different types of government rule. Outsiders, such as the Russians, have even infiltrated and destroyed the nation by use of their military might and political influence. From the outside looking in Afghanistan is a country in such turmoil that some may even wonder what is wrong with the people of this country. Before making a decision about the Afghan people it is important to understand the climate to which they have been accustomed in the last half a century. This climate gave rise to more than one tyrannical style of government and resulted in a population that lived in fear of religious and political persecution and the dangers of war on a daily basis.
Prior to the communist coup and the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1980, it was a stable and prosperous country that was deeply rooted in its traditions. In the beginning of The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini describes an Afghanistan that is much different than today. While this book is fiction, the descriptions of Afghanistan are based on what Hosseini experienced as a child, when his father was a diplomat for Afghan Foreign Ministry. During the communist coup and the subsequent Russian invasion in 1980, Hosseini’s family was in Paris and sought asylum in the United States (Biography). Since the Russian invasion Afghanistan has been in a constant state of war and turmoil as a result of ever changing political power. When the mujahedin finally rid the country of the Russian invaders, with the help and money of a wealthy Saudi Arabian by the name if Osama Bin Laden that had the backing of the United States Government, after twelve years of communist rule and war under the Russian installed Najibullah, the people of Afghanistan were ready for their country to return to its once peaceful state (Maley, p. 29). Instead, they were greeted with more bloodshed and civil war among various mujahedin factions under the Rabbani government and its ruler President Burhanuddin Rabbani (Maley, p. 29).
In 1992, the Rabbani government was forced out of Kabul and north into Afghanistan by the Taliban (Maley, p. 29). The Taliban was one of the mujahedin groups that were formed during the war between Afghanistan and Russia. They were known around the world for their strict interpretation of Islamic law and their support of terrorist groups. The Taliban controlled 90% of Afghanistan under their leader Mullah Muhammad Omar from 1996 through 2001. Omar claimed that he had a “call to action in a visionary dream” (Maley, p. 19). The Taliban outlawed any activity that was deemed to be an influence outside of the Islamic beliefs such as television, internet, music, and even the kite fighting that is talked about in The Kite Runner. Men were required to wear beards under the rule of the Taliban and were even imprisoned if their beard was not long enough or they did not have one at all. However, women were treated worse than men under Taliban rule. Girls were forbidden to attend school and women were not allowed to work outside of the home. If a woman was caught outside of the home without a male relative she would be beaten and even shot by the "ministry for the protection of virtue and prevention of vice“ (Hayes, Brunner, and Rowen). The Taliban were able to rise to power and unite most of Afghanistan because they were a Sunni movement and most of Afghanistan’s population is Sunni. However, throughout the Taliban’s rule Afghanistan was still permeated with civil war as a result of Taliban opposition from the Northern Alliance. The Northern Alliance occupied the northeastern part of the country and was comprised of many factions and tribes of non-Sunni Afghani’s, such as the Hazara that Hassan and Ali in The Kite Runner are a part of, and was led by the exiled leader of the Rabbani government. Most of the Afghanis that conformed to Taliban rule did so out of fear and in September 1997, the Taliban’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, admitted that “it is a fact our rules are obeyed y fear” and justified this by stating “people are addicted to sin” (Maley, p. 22).
In 2001, after the al-Qaeda led attacks on the United States on September 11, the Taliban were removed from power by a U.S. led offensive in Afghanistan. Once again Afghanistan was invaded by an outside power and experienced bloodshed and war. However, through U.S. government funding girls have been permitted to return to school and women can now leave their homes without a male relative and not fear being beaten or shot for their actions. Women that once were teachers and nurses were allowed to return to work and help revitalize the country. In 2007, the Taliban started to regain control of parts of Afghanistan, and the future of the country is still unknown. The U.S. military still operates within Afghanistan and is working to eliminate the growing Taliban influences and allow the people of Afghanistan to return to a peaceful state. Presently, Afghanistan is still suffering bloodshed as a result of Afghan and U.S. Forces fighting to stop the Taliban from regaining control of the country.
From the outside looking in Afghanistan can seem like it is a country full of lawless savages. However, at closer examination we see a country that has been fighting for freedom of oppression for over a half a century. They have fought against outside invaders and home grown terrorists to obtain a state of peace that they once knew and enjoyed. While the future of Afghanistan is unknown, I would hope it is one of prosperity and peace for the men, women, and children who have never known anything but bloodshed and war.
WORKS CITED
"Biography." Khaled Hosseini. Web. 28 Nov 2009.
Crews, Robert, and Amin Tarzi. The Taliban and the Crisis of Afghanistan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008. Print.
Hayes, Laura, Borgna Brunner, and Beth Rowen. "Who Are the Taliban?." Information Please Database. 2007. Pearson Education, Web. 28 Nov 2009. <http://www.infoplease.com/spot/taliban.html >.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2004. Print.
Maley, William. Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban. New York, NY: New York University Press, 1998. Print.
By: Jason R. Palmer