In
September 1996, there was an uprising in Afghanistan and a group of former Mujahedeen called the Taliban
seized the capital, Kabul. Once they had done this , they formed the
Government of the Islamic State of Afghanistan and moved the capital to
Kandahar in the south of the country, a city that had been the traditional
Pashtun seat of power for more than 200 years.
Once in
power, the Taliban proceeded to turn their Islamic State into something from
the middle ages, with a very strict, and some would say distorted, view of Sharia Law. banning things such as
music, television and insisting that all men must have a beard.
However,
their oppression of women was the issue that seemed to attract the most media
attention. Women were banned from receiving an education and were not permitted
to leave their homes unless accompanied by a male relative. When they did leave
their homes, they were required to be completely covered by a burqa.
Failure to comply with these edicts could result in the woman concerned being
publicly beaten. More serious crimes, for both sexes, could result in public
executions, which often took place in football stadiums, as football, along
with just about every other form of entertainment, had been banned by
the Taliban.
Whilst
the regime's actions drew a lot of condemnation from just about every Government,
other than those of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, as well as from just about every NGO,
very little was actually done about it. However, that was to change very
dramatically in late-2001.
When the
Taliban seized power, Osama bin Laden, who had fought as a Mujahid during the
Soviet occupation, moved from Sudan to Afghanistan, with many of his al-Qaeda fighters forming part of the new
Taliban army. The Taliban gave refuge to bin Laden, who was wanted in the
United States in connection with attacks on US Embassies in Africa.
However,
the final straw was the fact that bin Laden was sheltered by the Taliban
following the September 2011 attacks in the United States. Having refused
to agree to the demands that bin Laden be handed over to US authorities,
the Taliban found themselves under attack, initially from the air but, very
shortly after, also from ground troops.
The first
British troops were involved almost from day one, and since that time, 438
British Servicemen and Servicewomen have died in that country, the latest, a Royal Engineer having been killed yesterday in yet
another green on blue attack.
As the
international involvement in Afghanistan draws to a close, the plan being that
foreign troops will have left by the end of next year, what will happen?
What I
think will happen is that the fiercely tribal Afghans, who seem apathetic when
it comes to helping themselves, will carry on as they always have, giving the
motivated, if extremist, Taliban the opportunity to move back in and impose
their regime once again. In fact, I predict that within two years of the last
NATO soldier, sailor or airman leaving Afghanistan, the women will be back in
their houses with their blacked out windows so that people cannot see them from
outside, men will have their beards and head coverings and public
executions will be the only form of entertainment for to the population.
In fact,
I expect that the regime will be far more extreme than previous, knowing full
well that the West will not want to get embroiled in another costly conflict.
So, just
over 11 years after the Taliban was overthrown, what have we achieved?
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