The+Role+of+the+United+States+in+the+Rise+of+Taliban

=media type="custom" key="5519899" align="center" The Rise of the Taliban and the Role of the US In It=

In the 1980's the Soviet Union was stationed in Afghanistan, and of course this was during the Cold War, and due to this fact the United States decided to get involved with getting the SU out of Afghanistan. During the eighties the top priority for the US was to make Communisim fall, and that meant getting the Soviet Union's claws out of Afghanistan no matter what. So, the US wound up spending over three billion dollars on weapons, and training the Afghani people to fight the Communists in order to get them out of Afghanistan. In 1989 when the Soviet Union was driven out of Afghanistan, the US lost interest in the country and pulled out, leaving the Middle Eastern country in tatters.

Years after the US lost interest in Afganistan, the country erupted in Civil Wars, and was extremely unstable. The Warlords we'd trained years prior to drive out the Soviet Union, some of them whom were religious extremest formed into what we know as the Taliban. In 1996, during this time the US had plans to build a two billion dollor oil pipeline in Afghanistan. When the Taliban rolled up sporting messages of peace, and stopping drug trade, people actually supported them. Even the US urged Afghanistan's neighbors to back the Taliban up because we thought that with them making things peaceful that we could build the oil pipeline.

During this time, the Taliban had much support due to the fact that many thought that with them in control, then things would finally be peaceful. It would only be years later that people saw how wrong that assumption was. The Taliban actually made things worse in a word, with thier extreme views and with how women are treated. Many people believe that if the US had taken action in 96 when the Talban was introduced, or stuck around after the SU retreated from the Middle East then the formation of the Taliban might have been avoided. Because those who founded the group were trained by the US originally, many people put the blame for the Taliban on OUR shoulders. Due to our lack of interest, and action, the Taliban was formed. . . or so many believe.

In a word, a question the US had to face at the time was what was more important to us? Some displaced Muslims? Or the fall of the Soviet Union? Answer; the fall of the Soviet Union.


 * Connections to //The Kite Runner//**

The Rise of the Taliban heavily influences events in The Kite Runner due to the fact that Amir only has to return to Afghanistan to rescue Sohrab bacause Hassan was killed due to laws and views held by the Taliban. If the Taliban had never formed, then Hassan would not have been murdered, and Sohrab would not have wound up in an orphanage where he was bought by Assef. Whom was also a part of the Taliban. Without the Taliban, Assef would not have had any power in the end of the book, he was only able to buy Sohrab due to the place he had in the Taliban.

Sources:

Video/Pictures [] []

Information [] []