Taliban

The Taliban is a fundamentalist Islamist movement which originated in the southern Pashtun region of Afghanistan and ruled most of the country from 1996 until 2001, although only three countries recognised them as the legitimate government; the rest of the world cut off diplomatic relations with them.

The Taliban fell in late 2001, after the United States requested to deliver the suspected brain behind the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Taliban asked for proof, however the US refused to provide them any proof. The United States and Great Britain, with support from a large coalition of other governments, began the war on terrorism, a successful military campaign to remove the Taliban from power.

In the languages spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Taliban (also Taleban) means those who study the book (meaning the Qur'an). Sometimes it is mistranslated as God's Students. It is derived from the Arabic word for seeker or student, talib.

The Taliban belong to the Deobandi movement of Islam, which emphasizes piety and austerity and the family obligations of men. It belongs to the Sunni tradition of Islam and has similarities to the Wahhabi movement practiced in Saudi Arabia.

After the Mujahedeen had overthrown the Soviet occupation forces in 1989, Afghanistan was thrown into a chaos of war between competing warlords. Mullah Omar started the Taliban movement in 1994, intending to restore order and to elevate Islam to its proper place in everyday life. While described as not very charismatic, he was able to defeat several competing factions with his group of Pashtun fighters, and attracted followers. Most Taliban are members of the Pashtun ethnic group of southern Afghanistan, the largest ethnic group in the country.

The Taliban have lots of public support, especially in the Pakhtun majority areas. Pakistan, interested in a unified and strong Muslim neighbor, sent weapons and money. Many students and teachers, especially from North Western Pakistani religious schools joined the "holy war" of the Taliban.

After a civil war and with considerable support by the Pakistani intelligence agency I.S.I., the Taliban established a government in 1996 which at its height was recognised by Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and controlled all of Afghanistan apart from small regions in the northeast which were held by the Northern Alliance.

Once in power, the Taliban instituted the Islamic law, leading to loud complaints from the international community and human rights watch organizations. While the Taliban did lead a reform of government, the replacement government they created had no governmental experience, and most appointed local leaders had little Western education.

The Clinton administration of the United States was criticized for overlooking the human rights abuses by the Taliban because they were more willing to cooperate in talks, and take action against drugs, than previous Afghan regimes. This accusation was made in particular by Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican congressman from California, who said in 1999: "I believe the administration has maintained this covert goal and kept Congress in the dark about its policy of supporting the Taliban, the most anti-Western, anti-female, anti-human rights regime in the world. It doesn't take a genius to understand that this policy would outrage the American people, especially America's women." These charges were denied by the administration.

In 1996, the Saudi alledged terrorist Osama bin Laden moved to Afghanistan upon the invitation of the Northern Alliance leader Abdur Rabb ur Rasool Sayyaf. When the Taliban came into power, he was able to forge an alliance between the Taliban and his Al-Qaeda organization, western media has propogated that he exerted considerable influence on the Taliban leaders.

In (March 2001), the Taliban ordered the destruction of two Buddha statues at Bamiyan, one 38m tall and 1800 years old, the other 53m tall and 1500 years old. The act was condemned by UNESCO and many countries around the world.

Taliban forbid the cultivation of opium poppies in 2000, citing religious reasons. The production fell from 4000 tons in 2000 (about 70% of the world's supply) to 82 tons in 2001, most of which was harvested in parts of Afghanistan controlled by the Northern Alliance.

On (May 17, 2001) the Bush administration announced an increase of $43 million in drought relief to the Taliban in reward for this achievement. After the Taliban lost power in late 2002, the opium cultivation increased dramatically.

On (September 22, 2001), the United Arab Emirates and later Saudi Arabia withdrew their recognition of the Taliban as the legal government of Afghanistan, leaving neighboring Pakistan as the only remaining country which recognized them. Observers agree that they wished to distance themselves from the Taliban, but they differ over whether this was a purely principled action or due to pressure from the United States and its allies.

The U.S., aided somewhat by the United Kingdom and supported by a broad coalition of other world governments, initiated military action against the Taliban in (October 2001) (see 2001 U.S. Attack on Afghanistan). The stated intent was to remove the Taliban from power because of the Taliban's refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden and in retaliation for the Taliban's aid to him. There were also early unconfirmed reports that bin Laden was in fact acting as commander of Taliban forces during at least part of the attack. The ground war was fought by the Northern Alliance. The Taliban lost power in (December 2001).

See:

schools for girls and self relience projects for women under the Taliban
Life_under_Taliban_rule, Taliban treatment of women
Massacre of Taliban Prisoners, article at the World Socialist Web Site