Taliban Research Paper

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The Taliban is a radically militant Islamic movement that controlled some 90 percent of Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. The Taliban emerged from their base in Kandahar in southwestern Afghanistan in reaction to the lawlessness caused by infighting between rival mujahideen forces in the wake of the Soviet withdrawal in 1989. The Taliban’s declared aims included the restoration of peace, rigid enforcement of Islamic law, disarming the population, and defending the Islamic character of Afghanistan.

In 1994 the Taliban, under the leadership of Mullah Mohammed Omar, began its territorial conquest with the seizure of the Afghan border post of Spin Boldak and subsequent takeover of the city of Kandahar. The fall of Kandahar provided the Taliban with a nucleus of fighters as thousands of Afghan refugees, mostly students at madrassas (Islamic religion schools) near the Afghan-Pakistani border, joined the movement. The Taliban’s swift military successes launched a surprising advance that culminated in the capture of the Afghan capital, Kabul, in 1996.

The Taliban set out to create the world’s most pure Islamic regime by introducing a disturbing and deeply revolutionary form of Muslim culture that came at a tremendous cost to human freedom. Men were ordered to keep their beards to a specific length, and subjected to punishment for defiance. Members of minority groups wore labels to distinguish them as non-Muslims, a measure the Taliban argued was to protect them from religious police enforcing Islamic law. Frivolities such as television, the Internet, music, and photography were outlawed. Punishments including amputation of the hands of thieves and the stoning to death of women convicted of adultery, considered severe by European standards, were common under the Taliban.

It was the Taliban’s anti-woman agenda, however, that caused mounting concern around the world. Under the Taliban women were forbidden to work outside the home, were compelled to wear a head-to-toe covering known as a burka, and could not leave the home without a male guardian. Such issues, along with restrictions on women’s access to health and education, caused resentments among ordinary Afghans and drew the ire of the international community. To the Taliban, however, the restrictions served to preserve the honor and dignity of women who had previously been preyed upon.

Despite their strict beliefs and anti-drug profile, the Taliban could not resist using opium to fund its activities, underlining the movement’s poor understanding and interpretation of Islamic law. Though the Taliban leaders led an austere life in contrast to the ostentatious lifestyle of the mujahideen warlords, their economic policy was left in the hands of chance and fate, culminating in Afghanistan’s slide into economic backwardness.

Only three countries, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, established diplomatic ties with the Taliban government. Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia distinguished themselves among foreign powers by the scale of their efforts and support for the regime. Although it is officially denied, there is widespread agreement that the Taliban gained crucial early support from the Pakistani army and intelligence services, especially in helping make the Taliban a highly effective military force. Pakistan, influenced by its geopolitical and economic interests, remained a strong diplomatic and economic lifeline for the regime.

In Saudi Arabia the Taliban’s push for a pristine Islamic society was in accord with the Saudi’s strict form of Wahhabi theology and law. Saudi Arabia bankrolled the madrassas in Pakistan that provided an ideological guide for the Taliban. A great deal of uncertainty remains about the extent of Saudi Arabia’s assistance to the Taliban but the consensus appears to be that their aid was largely financial.

The Taliban enjoyed a cozy relationship with Al-Qaeda and found in the group a useful ally, especially in the significant boost Al-Qaeda provided to the Taliban’s military campaigns against the Northern Alliance. Al-Qaeda enjoyed a comfortable refuge in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime.

The Taliban made giant strides in uniting the country but ultimately was unable to end the civil war. The strongest opposition to the Taliban came from the Northern Alliance, who controlled the northeast region of Afghanistan. This group backed the U.S.-led coalition that ousted the Taliban from power in 2001.

Bibliography:

  1. Marsden, Peter. 1998. The Taliban: War, Religion, and the New Order in Afghanistan. London: Zed Books.
  2. Rashid, Ahmed. 2002. Taliban: Islam, Oil, and the New Great Game in Central Asia. New ed. London: Tauris.
  3. Rubin, Michael. 2002. Who Is Responsible for the Taliban? Middle East Review of International Affairs 6 (1). http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2002/issue1/jv6n1a1.html.

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