Overview

Located in central Asia, Afghanistan borders on China, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Iran. After the Sawr Revolution in 1978, the country was devastated by a brutal 10-year war with the Soviet Union, followed by civil war and repressive rule by the Taliban regime.

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks America, Afghanistan became ground zero in America’s war on terror. The U.S. launched a bombing campaign to support an alliance of tribal militias to force Taliban from power and to track down Usama bin Laden and his Al-Queda terrorist group. Since 1978, the death toll in Afghanistan is estimated at more than 1,000,000 people, with up to 6,000,000 refugees.

On 5 October 2006, NATO-ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) took over command of the international military forces in eastern Afghanistan from the US-led Coalition.  More than 32,000 NATO-led forces are providing support to the Afghan authorities throughout the country, with the aim of boosting efforts to provide reconstruction and development. NATO is leading some 32,000 troops from 37 countries and 24 Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs).  This is NATO’s first and largest ground operation outside Europe.

Like the US coalition, NATO faces enormous challenges to maintain security, while resurrecting one of the world's weakest economies. Security is threatened by a resurgent Taliban insurgency that appears to be adopting tactics from Iraqi insurgents. Afghanistan is traditionally a nation of tribal affiliations run by warlords, many of whom are engaged in, support or profit from Afghanistan's illicit drug trade, which represents an estimated 60% of the country's GDP. Afghanistan is the world's leading producer of opium, used to produce heroin.

As Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned, "Either Afghanistan destroys opium or opium will destroy Afghanistan."

Maria Costa, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, reports that, "This year's (2006) harvest will be around 6,100 tonnes of opium, a staggering 92 per cent of total world supply; It exceeds global consumption by 30 per cent."

"Afghanistan is a source country for women and children trafficked internally and to Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia for forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Children are trafficked internally for forced labor as beggars or into debt bondage in the brick kiln and carpet-making industries. Afghan women and girls are kidnapped, lured by fraudulent marriage or job proposals, or sold into marriage or commercial sexual exploitation within the country and in Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. Women are also exchanged to settle debts or resolve conflicts. The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission reported 150 cases of child trafficking this year, though many suspect the actual level of trafficking is higher."   - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2006

Taliban's rose to power as the country plunged into anarchy, while the world ignored a troubled land and people. NATO commander, Gen. David Richards warned that in October 2006 that a majority of Afghans could switch their allegiance to resurgent Taliban militants if their lives show no visible improvements in the next six months.The next few months and years will tell whether the international community learned from that experience, or whether it's bound to repeat mistakes of the past.

Background

Afghanistan is an agricultural land, divided by rugged mountains – a land of complex and fluid social relationships, developed over centuries. The people of Afghanistan generally maintain a tribal culture, where loyalties are somewhat temporary and determined more by the personality of leaders than by political ideology. It is not a fertile land for western political concepts and institutions, nor a people willing to submit to authority.   

Afghanistan had been under the control of the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan, before falling under British influence after the British-Afghan Wars of 1838-42 and 1878-1880. Under Amir Abdul Rahman Khan, the country evolved from a tribal confederation to central state control. With British assistance Khan built an army and used it ruthlessly to quash dissent. Afghanistan gained independence from Britain in 1919 and Amanullah Khan was proclaimed king in 1926. Khan and his successors ruled until overthrown by a military coup in 1973.

The 1970’s brought a degree of economic advancement. The pro-communist, People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) emerged and gained power within the military. In the 1978 Sawr Revolution, the PDPA overthrew the government and assumed power, and an anti-communist, counter-revolution quickly developed. The Soviets provided aid to the PDPA, while the US provided support to resistance groups. Fearing American influence on its borders, the USSR sent Soviet troops into Afghanistan, hoping to restore order and develop support for communism. This invasion, subsequent occupation and civil war became known as Russia’s Viet Nam.

Afghanistan became a pawn in the Cold War, with the PDPA a client of the Soviets. The mujahedin, (Afghani rebels) resistance was recognized and supported by Pakistan, acting as an agent for the US.

The Soviets used their air superiority, bombing rural villages in pursuit of the mujahedin, inflicting heavy civilian death tolls. Communist forces won control of the cities and roadways, while hardened guerilla forces held control of rural and rugged mountain areas. In 1986, after seven years of frustration without victory, the Soviets announced plans for withdrawal by 1989. Skeptical of Soviet intentions, the US continued supplying massive quantities of arms to the rebels. The head of the Afghan secret police, Najibullah was appointed president prior to Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

With the Soviets out, American interest dissipated, leaving Afghanistan one of the most heavily armed nations on earth. Najibullah’s government was expected to fall, however the rebels were left in disarray and unable to consolidate power. With the jihad (holy war) against the foreign Soviet infidels complete, Najibullah, ironically, turned these same motivations against the Pakistani/Saudi supported mujahedin. As a result the pro-communist government was able to retain power until Kabul eventually fell to the rebels in 1992. But which rebels?

In the fluid, transitory system of Afghan alliances, four rebel factions emerged, representing different Islamic groups, (Sunni, Shia, Salafi Sunnis), each with external support. A coalition government was organized in 1993, and R. Rabbani was named president, but a fundamentalist Islamic faction fought on in its quest for power. Fighting continued through 1993, when, in a conciliatory gesture, Islamic rebel leader Hekmatyar was offered the position of Prime Minister. Again fighting resumed, prompting the UN to sponsor negotiations of a new coalition government plan, the Islamabad Accords, which were never implemented.

Before any meaningful progress could be made, a new force, the Taliban, appeared, captured Kandahar and marched toward Kabul, forcing existing rebel groups to realign themselves in opposition. It’s widely believed that Taliban’s military support was channeled through Pakistan by the US and Saudi Arabia. The Taliban captured Herat, then Jalamabad and ultimately Kabul. In 1995, the Taliban declared Afghanistan an Islamic state, under Islamic Law. While exerting control over much of the country, other rebel groups remained active, in an ever-changing kaleidoscope of conflict.

Mullah, Mohammed Omar, a former muhajedin, was proclaimed the amir ul-momineen, or “leader of the faithful”, sanctioning him as both a religious and political leader. The Taliban ruthlessly, enforced a strict moral code, but lacked both the will and ability to form and administer a government. Taliban continued to receive substantial support from Pakistan including arms, ammunition and troops.

Given its years of guerrilla warfare, Afghanistan became a training ground for rebels and terrorists from many other regions. Millionaire Saudi Arabian terrorist, Usama bin Laden moved his Al-Queda organization’s base of operations to Afghanistan and sponsored training of an international terrorist network. In 1998, bin Laden issued a fatwa against the United States, calling on faithful Muslims to attack Americans and their property.

The Taliban became a destabilizing influence throughout the region that could provoke regional conflict if they were able to export their fundamentalist Islamic movement and attract popular support in neighboring states. Afghan based drug trafficking, mainly heroin, also threatened security in a very insecure region. It was anticipated that new covert efforts would be undertaken to destabilize the Taliban regime, which could lead to renewal of the civil war.

Surprisingly, prior to the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks on America, the US did not officially list any terrorist groups in Afghanistan, nor designate the country as a state-sponsor of terrorism, presumably because there was no state. Just days before the infamous terrorist attacks, the Taliban killed Ahmad Shah Massoud, a leader of the Afghan resistance and a voice of reason.

Within weeks after the destruction of New York’s World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 the U.S. launched an unrelenting series of air strikes against the Taliban and drove them from power as US-backed forces from the Northern Alliance seized the capitol, Kabul, in mid-November 2001. By year’s end, a new power-sharing government was installed with the guidance and oversight of the international community and headed by Hamid Karzai as Chairman of the Afghan Interim Authority (AIA). The question remained whether this war-stricken, tribal society could convene a functioning government, representing the interests of diverse ethnic and tribal groups, or whether the country will again revert to internal warfare. 

The AIA convened a meeting of a “Loya Jirga” (Grand Council), representing the country’s various ethnic factions, which drafted a new constitution that was ratified in January 2004. Afghanistan held its first elections in October 2004; over 8 million votes were cast, including 41% women voters. Hamid Karzai was elected president. In September 2005, elections were held for a National Assembly.

Meanwhile, Usama bin Laden remained at large and the Taliban also began reorganizing and exerting its influence in outlying provinces, leading critics to argue that the US-backed Afghan government only ruled in and around Kabul. To placate Afghanistan’s powerful war-drug lords, the US did little to deter the country’s rebounding opium production and the country resumed its position as the world’s largest opium-heroin producer, producing huge revenues for drug lords and enhancing their ability to finance insurgents and terrorists.

The US secured agreement for NATO forces to take charge of Afghanistan’s security. The NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) undertook a gradual deployment, assuming full control from the US in October 2006. ISAF plans to expand security into lawless regions of the country’s south, but faces growing problems from a resurgent Taliban. In 2006, suicide attacks increased from about 20 to 100, killing over 200 people, while gun battles, kidnappings and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) claimed an estimated 3000 lives in 2006.

To the west, Iran with a fundamentalist Islamic government and an appetite for nuclear weapons could seek to expand its influence into Afghanistan to enhance its regional power. Neighboring Pakistan is considered a stronghold of Taliban, al-Qaeda and extremist Islamist activity. The collapse of the USSR in 1989 caused the international community (namely the U.S.) to turn its back on Afghanistan; today, the prospect of an oil pipeline connecting Caspian Sea oilfields to the Far East may attract sufficient interest to ensure a viable future for this impoverished, war-torn country. Whether peace and order can be restored and the drug trade restricted during a long-term nation building process remain challenging problems.    

Related Resources:

Afghanistan Online
http://www.afghan-web.com/politics/

Women’s Alliance for Peace and Human Rights in Afghanistan
www.wapha.org

Afghanistan Peace Organization
http://www.afghanistan.org/

Revolutionary Assoc. Women of Afghanistan
http://www.rawa.org/

UNODC
2006 Afghanistan Opium Survey
http://www.unodc.org/pdf/execsummaryafg.pdf