...Brian Smith 12/6/13 Professor Books Afghanistan Afghanistan is arguably the most eye-opening, controversial country we have covered this year in our class. According to Roozbeh Shirazi’s Schooling in Afghanistan, Afghanistan can be described as “an amalgam of ethnicities, languages, and cultures resulting from the rise and fall of various historic empires”. Tamim Ansary goes on to describe the country as a “laboratory”. “So many currents have flowed through this territory from so many places over so many centuries.” (Ansary 2) Ansary then goes on to say that Afghanistan is “rife with contradictions”. It is those three words that strike me the most when Afghanistan is described: “rife with contradictions”. How can a country that is compared to a laboratory be so contradictory with itself? Let us look no further than the modern history of Afghanistan to find the answers. When looking at the modern history of Afghanistan, one cannot help but to start in 1878 when the British forces left Abdur Rahman Khan in charge as the Emir of Kabul. Khan’s goal was to “break down the feudal and tribal system and substitute one grand community under one law and one rule”. (Norton 48) Resistance was shown by the local chieftains and clan leaders. There was some participation in a succession of national councils, called loya jirga, in order to legitimize royal claims for ceremonial leadership. Later on in 1953, Prince Mohammed Daoud Khan...
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...Afghanistan : The Reality Why US is failing in Afghanistan and what should be its response National Strategy. There are a numerous strategic errors committed by US in Afghanistan in the past and these errors are haunting them now. The strategic errors committed are difficult to undo. But , correcting them will be worse. It’s like leaving Saddam in power after the first Gulf war and then tried correcting it with Gulf War II...with worse results and losing all the goodwill and invincibility they had built after the first gulf war. The coalition forces were welcomed by Afghanis when Taliban was dismantled because they looked powerful, asserting and someone who could improve lives of normal Afghani. Today, things seem different. They look powerless, difficult and worse something which is making ordinary Afghani life more difficult than it was under Taliban. For coalition forces , If someone like Taliban can make them look like novice in war-fighting then they have to take a hard look at their national, operational and tactical strategy. I would like to start with what is AIM of coalition forces....is it making life of ordinary Afghani more prosperous and peaceful or ensuring security of US. These aims look different but actually they are co-terminus. One will lead to the other but start point has to be to develop Afghanistan and not the other way around which Secretary of State Hillary enunciated a few days back. If the strategy is making Afghanistan prosperous and peaceful...
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...January 27, 2010 War on Afghanistan We are all humans, and as other creatures we are imperfect and full of sin. We might have wrong thoughts, unique beliefs, or even dour doctrines. However, all these features shouldn’t drag us to be authoritarians under any circumstance. These words precisely illustrate the situation that was ongoing in Afghanistan under the rule of Taliban government. I tended to think that killing cannot be justified in defense of the innocent against unjust attack, whether the victim deserves it or not. But that right is not absolute; someone can forfeit that right if they willfully threaten or taken the lives of innocent people. Therefore, the American involvement in Afghanistan was fair and justified in order to bring the Afghan’s sorrow, tyranny, and violation of rights to an end. Historically, the country of Afghanistan was devastated by the successive wars. The people were exhausted from the consecutive occupations and tyranny. As a result, it summed in an enormous human and economic toll. After the Soviet withdrawal, the government steadily lost ground to the extremist forces. In early 1992, Kabul was captured, and Al-Qaeda militia men set up a new government consisting of a 50-member ruling council. The new brutal government started imposing their extremist, strict beliefs on people. They used radio broadcasts to coerce residents into adhering to their strict edicts. The extremists spread fear and despair among the Afghans by their brutal...
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...Afghanistan Introduction: Chances are most of you have heard of this place. If you turned on your T.V. to watch the nightly news or maybe you opened up your internet browser before class, you likely saw something about it. Usually, the headline reads “explosion kills 10” or “more troops on the way”. That’s right, I’m talking about Afghanistan. To most of us Afghanistan is just a name on the news, a destination for our soldiers, or a terrorist haven, but I have had the unique opportunity to go there. While serving in the US army I deployed to Afghanistan in support of operation enduring freedom. I spent 12 months there gaining first hand knowledge of the country. For the next few minutes I am going to help you think of Afghanistan as more than just a current event. You will learn that Afghanistan is a place with a rich history, diverse population and unique geography. Geography Physical location: Contrary to popular belief among Americans, Afghanistan is not a Middle Eastern nation. Don’t feel bad if you were one of them. I didn’t know either until I was preparing to go there myself. Afghanistan is located in Central Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran, and south of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Ok so that’s a lot of "stans" you have likely never heard of. One country that you have all heard of that borders a portion of Afghanistan on the east side is China. Hard to think of Afghanistan as Middle Eastern if it shares a border with...
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...Afghanistan is at a dismal state at this current time. There are many problems rooted in different factions of the country and the U.S. can not make it all go away. Different problems include the high concentration and presence of Taliban forces in certain areas of the country, the misuse of U.S. and N.A.T.O. aid money, and the large amount of political corruption. One dramatic issue that the U.S. first addressed in Afghanistan was the Taliban run government. In 2001 we invaded with the intent to topple the Taliban regime and we did so successfully. Twelve years later the government is in better hands but the Taliban is still very much a presence as a powerful insurgency. Such activity is easy to continue especially with Pakistan providing safe haven for all Taliban insurgents. The Taliban has a great amount of support from other terrorist networks such as the Haqqani network which has a lot of influence on the Durand line which separates Afghanistan and Pakistan. They now have some 3,000 followers who stay loyal to themselves as well as the Taliban.7 Public support for the Taliban insurgency has diminished over the past four years much due to the fact that a large portion of the population feels that it is only a “proxy for Pakistan”.7 Taliban infiltration of Afghani police and military forces has also been a large problem and cause of Afghani deaths. In these “green on green” attacks Taliban members pose as Afghan police or army members and then turn their weapons...
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...Carlos Valladares Jan. 12, 2010 Period 7 Afghanistan Essay – Afghan Women The lives of hundreds of thousands of Afghan women and children have been shattered in the human rights catastrophe that has devastated Afghanistan over the past few years. Afghan women were required to wear burkas, which are full-body outer garments that covered their whole entire bodies. Their view of the world is distorted by the veil they must wear to cover their eyes. The wearing of the burka used to be optional before the Taliban came into power. The Taliban forces strict rules on the population and restricts women’s and girls’ access to health care, employment, and education. The Taliban prohibit girls from attending school. There are a few home based schools and some schools in rural areas which quietly operate to educate girls. The Taliban requires that windows in houses that have female occupants be painted over. The burka was worn in Kabul before the Taliban took control, but it was not an enforced dress code and many women wore only scarves that cover the head. The Taliban's restriction on women’s movement and dress is stopping women from fleeing the country or getting aid of any type. Women are not allowed to travel outside the home without a close male relative. So widows and women who head households face a serious humanitarian crisis. Both Taliban forces and forces now grouped in the United Front have sexually assaulted, abducted, and forcibly married women during the...
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...The Story of Afghanistan Abstract The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, in the third world is one of the poorest countries of about only 29,928,987 in population. It consists of Sunni Muslim 80%, Shiite Muslim 19%, and some select others 1%. There are also many different tribes and ethnicity’s in Afghanistan in which the major ethnicities are Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, the Nuristani 2%, and other minor ethnic groups (Chahar Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch). Dari and Pashtun are the official languages of Afghanistan and after the US troops began occupation, English is the next major language in Afghanistan. The capital of Afghanistan is Kabul and the president is Hamid Karzai. (US Department of State, 2010) In this part of the term paper the topic is going to focus on the Economic development, history, the people of Afghanistan, the urbanization of the country, geography, agriculture, and even a little about the impact of war on Afghanistan. The topic will start from the introduction of Afghanistan and discussing the impact of different factors faced by Afghanistan, the main issue related to Afghanistan, the poverty alleviation and the opium is also one of the major issues of the country. (Department of the Army, 2010) The current basic economy of Afghanistan is currently on US and allied country aids, the opium production, some gas and petroleum, gemstones and other resources. The people of Afghanistan are experts in carpets, crafting...
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...University Rockville Campus Sociology of Undeveloped Country SOC 300 First Movie Evaluation OSAMA Submitted to: Dr. M. Nazer Saba Kewani 05/01/2013 The Women of Afghanistan: Culture and Educational Suppression In many parts of the world, the laws of a country are dictated by traditional customary practices and religious influence. Religion can heavily influence cultural practices, laws and in particular the extent of rights bestowed upon its citizenry. In Afghanistan religious beliefs dictate the way and the type of laws enforced upon men and women differently. Men are afforded a number of rights denied to women who include voting, driving, style of dress and education to name a few. The movie, Osama, describes how women are treated and what they go through to provide food, shelter and cloth for their family. The movie shows how the women of Afghanistan protests and try to fight for their right to work and be able to survive. Osama is a girl whose father died in war and was forced to change her identity in order to provide for her family. The movie Osama shows the obstacle a nine years old girl goes through and when she’s caught, the punishment is to either kill her or wed her to one of the oldest guy who already has three wives. In regards to education, Afghanistan legal stance has shifted over the last one hundred years. Subsequent to Afghanistan’s independence from Great Britain, King Amanullah in 1919 adopted reforms to enhance...
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...Intercultural communication - Afghanistan Section 1: group’s identity, history and cultural traditions (500 words) Culture For thousands of years in Afghanistan the country has been invaded, civil wars and terrorist activities. The country has been overturned destroying much of the countries culture and tradition. The culture and way of life in Afghanistan has changed over the years leaving it with no other way to define it. There are many more differences than there are similarities throughout the country. Nearly all of the people are Muslim and this is probably the greatest similarity amongst them. Loyalty within the local tribes is a major issue, but even this is not true among all of the people. Today less than a quarter of the Afghanis are urbanized and over three quarters make a living in agriculture. The way of life is still reliant on the land and on community. For many of these farmers life revolves around the sunlight, weather, seasons, and also religion, which holds an important place in the lives of most people. The weekly and daily schedule is often dictated by the above mentioned items and there is little discretionary income to take time off of work, to travel, or to spend money on items they want. Although farmers grow a huge number of crops, one of the easiest to grow in the country is opium, which is easy to sell and makes good money on relative terms. This has led to some outside groups to fight this industry, but for many people this is a traditional crop...
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...Migration in Afghanistan 1. Introduction Afghanistan is home to the largest refugee crises experienced since the inception of the UNHCR. Decades of war have led millions to flee their homes and seek refuge in the neighboring countries of Pakistan and Iran, and for those who were able, further abroad. The number of refugees spiked in 1990 at 6.2 million. They began to decrease in 1992 with the fall of the government, but began to increase again in 1996 with the rise of the Taliban. In 2002, with the fall of the Taliban and the US-led invasion, record numbers of Afghan refugees returned to Afghanistan. An international reconstruction and development initiative began to aid Afghans in rebuilding their country from decades of war. Reports indicate that change is occurring in Afghanistan, but the progress is slow. The Taliban have regained strength in the second half of this decade and insurgency and instability are rising. Afghanistan continues to be challenged by underdevelopment, lack of infrastructure, few employment opportunities, and widespread poverty. The slow pace of change has led Afghans to continue migrating in order to meet the needs of their families. Today refugee movements no longer characterize the primary source of Afghan migration. Migration in search of livelihoods is the primary reasons for migration and occurs through rural-urban migration in Afghanistan or circular migration patterns as Afghans cross into Pakistan and/or Iran. Afghans utilize their...
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...Women of Afghanistan ANT 101 May 3, 2010 Women of Afghanistan Afghanistan is a very rugged country with various ethnic, religious, and tribal groups (http://www.iiav.nl). It is also a country that is rich in culture and tradition. But very little is known about the women that live in Afghanistan. No one really knows or understands how a women’s day to day life is. In Afghanistan most women are kept hidden away in their home and they are not allowed outside. Today the only thing that people hear or know about Afghanistan is that the United States is at war with a country that has known very little peace over that last one hundred years. Afghanistan is a place where time stands still and very little changes. One of the things that has not changed or has changed very little over the last one thousand years is the everyday life of women. The Afghan people are very simple and in some remote villages they have very little comforts. In some places midwifes assist mothers in the birth of their new born babes. They also bring water inside their house in pales, and they maintain their houses clean for their husbands. Most Afghans live their lives in a very traditional and private way; they have several customs and traditions that have been passed on from one generation to the other for hundreds of years. These people do not require or ask anything from the western world or from their government. They rarely let outsiders into their culture and this has led to many...
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...Women’s Rights in Afghanistan Afghanistan is one of the worst countries to be a woman. Girls’ schools are frequently attacked, high-profile women’s rights advocates have been targeted and killed, and violence against girls and women continues to be a major problem (“Women in Afghanistan”). More females die during pregnancies and childbirth than almost anywhere else in the world. Life is hard for women fighting for their rights in Afghanistan. The Taliban, an extremist militia, seized control first of Herat and then Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on September 27, 1996 and violently plunged Afghanistan into a brutal state of totalitarian dictatorship and gender apartheid in which women and girls were stripped of their basic human rights. Upon seizing power, the Taliban regime instituted a system of gender apartheid effectively thrusting the women into a state of virtual house arrest. Under Taliban rule, women were stripped of all human rights – their work, visibility, opportunity for education, voice, healthcare, and mobility. When they took control in 1996, the Taliban initially imposed strict commands that banished women from work force. They closed schools to girls and women and expelled women from universities. The Taliban prohibited women from leaving their homes unless accompanied by a close male relative. They also went as far as to ordering the publicly visible windows of women’s houses painted black and forced women to wear the burqa (or chadari) – which completely...
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...Chapter 3 ------------------------------------------------- The Buzkashi Tooi The book “Buzkashi” Game in Power in Afghanistan is written by G. Whitney Azoy is introducing the Buzkashi game in Afghanistan in details, but in the third chapter of this book which is about the the Buzkashi Tooi, he describes that how this game is held in the local places. First he explains the word Tooi, rite of passage, and marriage. Then he argues that the buzkashi tooi is a Khan’s activities. According to him, Khans are those who have some kind of influence on the people of the village. He writes that the Buzkashi game has three major sections, preparation, festivities, and after math. As he writes Preparation to the Buzkashi Tooi is one of the problematic parts of the Buzkashi Tooi. It concern with material resources, such as the procurement of goods necessary, the cooking of foods, and readying the guest houses. Tooi-wala, who is the festival responsible, involves some consideration, such as himself, his closest associates, his relatives, and the hosts. These responsible people are mostly the Khans. Because the Khans are related to more people, so they need to spend more money to have a successful Tooi. They need to invite more people from far distance places. These festivals mostly occur in the Khan’s son’s marriage, because the Khan is the leader a village so hundreds of people are invited. In such festivals, Buzkashi happens, which raise the name of the Tooi-Wala. While festivities begin...
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...Women of Afghanistan Afghanistan is a very rugged country with various ethnic, religious, and tribal groups (http://www.iiav.nl). It is also a country that is rich in culture and tradition. But very little is known about the women that live in Afghanistan. No one really knows or understands how a women’s day to day life is. In Afghanistan most women are kept hidden away in their home and they are not allowed outside. Today the only thing that people hear or know about Afghanistan is that the United States is at war with a country that has known very little peace over that last one hundred years. Afghanistan is a place where time stands still and very little changes. One of the things that has not changed or has changed very little over the last one thousand years is the everyday life of women. The Afghan people are very simple and in some remote villages they have very little comforts. In some places midwifes assist mothers in the birth of their new born babes. They also bring water inside their house in pales, and they maintain their houses clean for their husbands. Most Afghans live their lives in a very traditional and private way; they have several customs and traditions that have been passed on from one generation to the other for hundreds of years. These people do not require or ask anything from the western world or from their government. They rarely let outsiders into their culture and this has led to many misconceptions of how women are treated and how...
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...Afghanistan Afghanistan is located between the southern and the central part of Asia. The country holds about 32 million people. The capital in Afghanistan is Kabul. There are a lot of different languages spoken in Afghanistan. This is due to the diversity of ethnicities in Afghanistan. Dari is the official language in Afghanistan although more people speak Pashtun. The country is currently facing a war which started in 1978 during the cold war. The war originated when the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan took action against the communism in Afghanistan. This revolution is referred to as the Saur Revolution. The war in Afghanistan blossomed because of different ideologies in the Countries and large groups were dissatisfied by how the country was ruled. Afghanistan was an independent country before the war but the Soviets saw an opportunity to invade the country. They invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and assigned a new leader in the Country. This lasted about 10 years before the Soviet decided to leave the country. Afghanistan is a Democratic country now but there are a lot of rebels in the country that belong to the Taliban groups. Their goal is to diminish the democracy in Afghanistan. Life in Afghanistan has been known to be hard, especially as a woman. Afghanistan have made progress with women’s rights but the conditions are still bad. Close to 60% of all women get married within the age of 16. The amount of women dying because of childbirth is pretty common in Afghanistan...
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