Who are the Taliban?

Before we go any more into the situation in Afghanistan, it is important to know who the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are fighting.


The Taliban emerged in 1994 in the midst of the turmoil and fighting after the USSR withdrew in 1988. They are supported mainly by the ethnic group, the Pashtuns. They ruled Afghanistan until 2001, when they were toppled by a US-led invasion following the September 11th attacks. The terrorists responsible for the attack were being harbored by the Taliban regime, and refused to turn over Osama bin Laden and his leadership.

The Taliban rose to power by promising to bring stability and security to a war-weary people. By 1994 the Afghans were tired of fighting and would do almost anything to achieve this. By the fall of 1994, the Taliban had control of about 90% of the country, including the capital Kabul.

There are many ties between the Taliban and neighboring Pakistan. For instance, in the early years of the fighting, the Taliban rescued a Pakistani convoy under attack from rival mujaheddin forces. Also, most of the Taliban supporters are Pashtun, the majority ethic group in Afghanistan and the now infamous tribal regions of Pakistan.

With the Taliban's roots of supporting Islamist extremism, they also were open to harboring Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist network. This is what eventually led them to a war with the US and ISAF forces. After other bombing in Kenya and Tanzania, the US demanded that the Taliban extradite Osama bin Laden. They refused and the US bombed Osama's camp. They also failed to hand him over after 9-11, which caused the US and its allies to invade on October 7, 2001. Since then, the Taliban was routed from Kabul and most of the country, and forced back, along with al Qaeda, into the Pashtun tribal regions on the Afghan-Pakistan border. They have recently gained in strength and are becoming more bold in their attacks. For now the Taliban are still out there and still fighting against the US and its allies.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1549285.stm

Closing of the Kyrgyzstan airbase

Troubling news has come from Kyrgyzstan stating that America's only central Asian partner is going to close its airbase to US troops. This will considerably set back efforts by the US to ship an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. By closing the airbase to US troops, America will have trouble moving in their reinforcements to the region.

However, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has stated that losing the Kyrgyzstan airbase wont be an Achilles Heel of the war effort. "Mr Gates said the Manas base was not irreplaceable. The Pentagon would consider 'a somewhat larger payment but we're not going to be ridiculous about it', he added."

There are other bases in the immediate area that could be used Gates stated, but its more convenient for Americans to use the Kyrgyzstan base. With the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the recent events in Pakistan, the US needs all available manpower and allies at its disposal. When all is said and done, this could not have come at a worse time.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7900367.stm

Introduction to the war in Afghanistan

As the Obama White House takes the reins from the Bush administration, the situation in Afghanistan has gone from bad to worse. Formerly the stronghold of the Taliban regime, and a staging ground for the al Qaeda terrorist network, Afghanistan has seen a resurgence of violence recently.

During his presidential campaign, President Barrack Obama repeatedly stated that he would shift the focus of the loosely defined "War on Terror" from Bush's Iraq, to the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, if necessary. Current strategies being discussed include the shifting of tens of thousands of troops from Iraq to Afghanistan. To gauge the situation, Obama has appointed a new envoy to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, who took a brief tour of Pakistan and the semi autonomous tribal regions on the Afghan-Pakistan border before settling in Kabul.

After his brief tour of the region, Richard Holbrooke urged that Afghanistan will be much tougher than Iraq. The Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, including Osama bin Laden, have fled to the mountains in the tribal borderland between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where there is little government control and ample places to hide out, resupply, and retrain. After spending many years regrouping, these fighters have become more bold and frequent in their attacks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7886664.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7877505.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7854797.stm