AFGHANISTAN

Amanda Roraback's

World in a Nutshell


Articles Pakistan and the Taliban Documents Middle East Terms Mid-East Geography	AFGHANISTAN Elections 2009 This page was last updated on 01/30/2009	Afghanistan in a Nutshell (2008) $7.95
	WHO'S WHO Hamid Karzai - President of Afghanistan installed by the US after the Taliban was toppled in 2001. He was elected in a national vote in 2004 for a 5-year term officially ending May 22, 2009 Osama bin Laden - Saudi millionaire, head of Al-Qaeda and confessed mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. He remains at large in or around Afghanistan despite former-president George W. Bush's pledge to capture him. Taliban - A group of radical Islamic students who took power in Afghanistan in 1996. They were overthrown by a coalition of Western troops led by the U.S. in 2001 but have since reemerged to rule over parts of Afghanistan outside of Karzai's control. NEWS IN A NUTSHELL Afghan officials set August 20, 2009 as the date for the country's presidential election. AFGHANISTAN IN A NUTSHELL Osama bin Laden, the man believed to be responsible for the terrorist attack on the U.S. on September 11, 2001, operated from Afghanistan with the backing of the Taliban, an ultra-conservative group of militants that ruled Afghanistan according to a strict interpretation of Islamic law. The Taliban were overthrown by a U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Opium Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. Many Afghan farmers rely on income earned from the cultivation of opium to survive. While in power, the Taliban banned opium production in the country calling the drug "un-Islamic." Since the Taliban was defeated in 2001, Afghanistan's opium trade has revived and now accounts for 90% of the opium on the world market. Ironically, one of the biggest benefactors of the renewed trade has been the Taliban which has since regrouped and has been targeting coalition forces with weapons bought with profits earned from opium sales. Karzai's administration Criticisms against Hamid Karzai Lack of authority Afghanistan's President Karzai has derisively been called the "mayor of Kabul," since his influence doesn't reach much farther than Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul. Critics claim that his authority within Afghanistan's tribal culture comes almost exclusively from America's backing. Corruption Karzai's administration has been plagued by corruption fueled by the opium drug trade. Officials believe even Karzai's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, is involved in narcotics trafficking. Terrorism The U.S. has accused Karzai of not doing enough to combat terrorism or curb the resurgence of the Taliban. President Obama has further criticized Karzai for failing to create an effective judiciary and police force in the country. OBAMA AND AFGHANISTAN Throughout his presidential campaign, U.S. President Barack Obama made clear his intention to make Afghanistan a key focus of his foreign policy. In his opinion, the Bush administration had made a critical strategic mistake after 9/11 by failing to finish the job it had started in Afghanistan in order to direct attention towards Iraq. As a result, he posited, the threat from the Taliban and Al-Qaeda grew while the most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden, continued to run free. More than 30,000 more troops will be deployed in Afghanistan in the next few months doubling the number of troops currently stationed in the country. CIVILIAN CASUALTIES Afghanistan's president has faced growing public anger over the rising civilian death toll from attacks by U.S.-led coalition forces. He wants to increase Afghan supervision over U.S. and NATO military operations to help put an end to raids on civilian homes and air strikes in which civilians have been killed - tactics that he says are effectively strengthening the terrorists by cultivating new enemies of the West .

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