[Austin-ghetto-list] on the Taliban

[Jon Ford]

>Karen Willis wrote:
> >
> > Well, Jon, you can be cynical of anything you read on the internet.
> > I've known those who say the same thing about television.  Where
> > should we get our information? > As far as "crude and backward" goes, 
>they defeated the USSR.  Similar
> > things were said about the Viet Cong.  They defeated the US.
> >
> > I get a lot of my news about the Middle East from BBC news online. As 
>for your assertion that the Taliban defeated the USSR, this is not true. A 
>coalition of groups known as  mujahedin defeated the USSR.  This group 
>included men like Bin Laden as well as intellectuals and college professors 
>such as my friend Sedique.  The Viet Cong leadership was a similarly 
>diverse and  talented group-- Ho Chi Minh was a sophisticated world 
>traveller who represented Vietnam at one of the first international 
>communist party conferences in  Paris.
The following article from  the BBC News ..
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_144000/144382.stm> 
gives some interesting information on the Taliban, a group which--with great 
brutality--  imposed order on the chaos of post-USSR war Afghanistan in the 
middle 90s. The group began began as bodyguards for mountain convoys, 
although some were war veterans:


"The world first became aware of the Taleban in 1994 when they were 
appointed by Islamabad to protect a convoy trying to open up a trade route 
between Pakistan and Central Asia.
Years of conflict have made gun culture the norm in Kabul
The group - comprised of Afghans trained in religious schools in Pakistan 
along with former Islamic fighters or mujahedin - proved effective 
bodyguards, driving off other mujahedin groups who attacked and looted the 
convoy.
They went on to take the nearby city of Kandahar, beginning a remarkable 
advance which led to their capture of the capital, Kabul, in September 1996.
Anti-corruption
The Taleban's popularity with many Afghans initially surprised the country's 
warring mujahedin factions.
In spite of military victories the Taleban have yet to achieve the 
international recognition they crave
As ethnic Pashtuns, a large part of their support came from Afghanistan's 
Pashtun community, disillusioned with existing ethnic Tajik and Uzbek 
leaders.
But it was not purely a question of ethnicity. Ordinary Afghans, weary of 
the prevailing lawlessness in many parts of the country, were often 
delighted by Taleban successes in stamping out corruption, restoring peace 
and allowing commerce to flourish again.
Their refusal to deal with the existing warlords whose rivalries had caused 
so much killing and destruction also earned them respect.
Islamic state
The Taleban said their aim was to set up the world's most pure Islamic 
state, banning frivolities like television, music and cinema.
The Taleban took control of Kabul in 1996
Their attempts to eradicate crime have been reinforced by the introduction 
of Islamic law including public executions and amputations.
A flurry of regulations forbidding girls from going to school and women from 
working quickly brought them into conflict with the international community.
Such issues, along with restrictions on women's access to health care, have 
also caused some resentment among ordinary Afghans.
Extending control
The Taleban now control all but the far north of the country, which is the 
last stronghold of the ethnic Tajik commander Ahmed Shah Masood. "

Jon

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