The War in Afghanistan
Analyze the Causes and Effects
Afghanistan
What is this land like?
Basics
• Population = 32 million
• Size = Texas
• Language = Afghan Persian
– 70 different languages
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Ethnicity = Mixed
Pastun 50%
Associate with Tribes
Literacy Rate = 36%
Land = Mountain and Desert
Landlocked
Afghan History
• Diverse Nation
• Conquered in past by:
–Persians, Romans,
Ottomans, British
• Won Independence from
Great Britain in 1919
• 1978 Civil War
Afghan History
• 1979 Soviet Invasion  Beat USSR in 89’
w/ USA aid
• 1989 – 1996 – Civil War  Taliban wins
• Taliban “seekers of knowledge” govt. in
power
– Harsh & repressive government
– Radical Muslims
– Drug Trade (Heroin)  Famine
• Extreme Poverty
USSR vs. Afghanistan 1979 - 1989
Soviets in Afghanistan 1988
Thanks USA
Soviets leaving Afghanistan 1989
Taliban Takes Charge of Country
Opium – poppy plants
Poppy seed
Heroin
September 11, 2001
How does
this relate to
Afghanistan?
The War in Afghanistan
Operation Enduring Freedom –
Afghanistan
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September 11, 2001
The Attackers and their Motivation
Planning of the Attacks
The Hijackers
Osama bin Laden & Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
US-led Coalition Response
Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan
Effects of the War in Afghanistan
Questions
Page
• Which attack
alarmed you
the most?
• Why?
Al-Qaeda
• Claims
responsibility for
attack on USA
• Taliban lets AlQaeda hide out in
their county
because they are
allies.
Al-Qaeda Alliance with Taliban
• 1996 Osama
bin Laden
moves from
Sudan to
Afghanistan
• Leader of
Al-Qaeda
9/11
• Men who
Hijacked
planes
Why did these people want to
attack America?
According to Bin Laden, he is concerned with
• American foreign policy towards, and American
actions in, the Muslim world
• US support for Israel in its ongoing theft of Arab
land
• US support for corrupt and repressive regimes in
the Muslim world (Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and
the Gulf states).
• Post 9/11, the US has added to an already long list
of Muslim grievances by occupying Afghanistan
and Iraq.
Why did these people want to
attack America?
According to Bin Laden, he has never said that the
attacks were, are, or will be because of American
freedoms, the rights of our citizens, or even
because of our religious differences.
He has said that the reasons for the attacks of the
past as well as those of the future will be because
of the way the US and its allies treat the Muslim
World.
• The 9/11 Commission Report determined that
the animosity towards the United States felt by
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the "principal
architect" of the 9/11 attacks, stemmed "not from
his experiences there as a student, but rather
from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign
policy favoring Israel".[
Osama bin Laden
Where’s Osama?
• Rumor has it …
Pakistan
• Why so tough to
find?
How did the United States
respond?
• Tells Taliban to:
– deliver Al-Qaeda leaders to USA
– release all US citizens in jails
– protect foreigners in Afghanistan
– Close terrorist facilities
• Does the Taliban accept?
• Do you feel an
attack on a
country that
harbors terrorists
is justifiable?
Operation Enduring Freedom
• Invade Afghanistan (Oct. 7, 2001)
• Mission:
–1) Capture Osama bin Laden
–2) Destroy Al-Qaeda network
–3) Remove Taliban Regime
NATO
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• “committed to preserving peace through
international cooperation and collective
(joint) security.”
• Have given forces to War in Afghanistan
(49 countries – now 37)
Americans in Helmand Province 2007
Afghan Man
• Friend or Foe?
Taliban
• “Thanks Iran!”
Questions
• Do you feel the USA and
Congress made the right
decision to attack the Taliban
in 2001?
• Question:
• Why do you think the US,
with the most powerful
military in the world, and
its allies, have not been
able to totally subdue the
Taliban?
Are both wars another
Vietnam?
• Long dragged out conflicts with no end in
sight.
• Can’t tell whose an friend or foe.
• Not popular at home.
• Not popular with other governments or their
people.
• Not winning the hearts and minds of the
people.
• Fighting primitive people with nothing to lose
What are the problems?
• Friend or Foe?
• Suicide Bombers
• IED- Improvised
Explosive Devices
• Taliban Aid from Iran
• Taliban Aid from Russia
• Drug Trade Flourishes
(92% of World’s Heroin)
• Famine
• Never known democracy
• Extreme Islamic Groups
• Mountains and
Terrain
• Border crossing
• Inadequate amount of
US troops
• Untrained Afghani
Troops
• Legitimate Government?
• Civilian Casualties
+3,000 Deaths
Successful or Unsuccessful?
• New Government in Afghanistan
– Unstable however
• Taliban no longer in control
– Yet have re-emerged (quadrupled in size) in SE
Afghanistan & now parts of Pakistan
– NATO losing control in region
• Osama bin Laden can’t be found
– Sanctuary in Pakistan?
• 8 year war – Obama thinking deploying more troops
to the region.
• Declared a Failed State by U.N.