Rise of Islamic
Fundamentalism
Key Events
-The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 in order to
support the Communist Party’s push for power in the
Country.
-The opposing side was an Islamic Fundamentalist,
Osama Bin Laden being one of them, group that was
supported by the United States and Western Allies.
-In 1989, the Soviet finally withdrew from Afghanistan.
 The Soviet Union
sent troops to
Afghanistan to
help the
communist
government there
in a civil war.
•
Then the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to set up a pro-Moscow government.
•
For the next 9 years, a civil war broke out with different tribes of Afghanistan
against and with the Soviet forces.
•
The Soviets pulled out in 1989, but they left a pro-Moscow government who fell
with the Soviet Union in 1992.
•
Over 1 million Afghans were killed. 5 million Afghans fled to Pakistan and Iran.
•
Another 2 million Afghans were displaced within the country.
•
•
In the 1980s, one out of two refugees
in the world was an Afghan
Vital parts of the Afghan economy
were destroyed including Irrigations
systems to provide water for farming
 This led to a long war
between Soviet troops and
Afghan rebels
(Mujahedeen).
 The United States was
supporting the Afghan
rebels.
 In 1989, an alliance of
Afghan rebel groups took
power and the Soviet
troops left.
 The Taliban’s primary opposition was
called the Northern Alliance, and by 2001,
the Northern Alliance had been pushed
back to only 10% of Afghanistan to the
north.
 Then, as we all know, the events of
September 11th, 2001.
 The United States knew that Osama Bin
Laden was in Afghanistan, and that we
were going to go in there and get him.
•
In October of 2001, the United States invaded, and in a short time, by
December of 2001, swept through and took control of the major cities and
pushed the Taliban and Al Qaeda to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and we
helped to establish a new government that is in place today.
Compare and contrast the
Russian and United States
invasions.
Do in a T-Chart or a Venn
Diagram.
 In 1979, Afghanistan was invaded and eventually
controlled by the Soviet Union.
 In 1989, Afghanistan and the Soviet Union signed a
peace agreement.
 In 1995, the Taliban, promising traditional, Islamic
values came into power, imposing strict Islamic law,
including revoking many women’s rights.
 In 2001, American troops force the Taliban from
power.
 In 2004, Hamid Karzai became the first elected
Afghan president.
 Gained strength in 1995
 Formed by Sunni Muslim Pashtun students,
intellectuals and disaffected Mujaheddin (holy
warriors)
 Trained in Pakistan
 fundamentalists, committed to ‘Sharia Law’ (the
traditional Islamic law and moral code that prescribes
how Muslims should best conduct their lives).
 Under the Taliban’s rule, human rights
and civil liberties were slowly peeled
away.
• The Taliban instituted cruel and
inhumane treatment of those who
opposed them in order to solidify their
power over Afghanistan’s citizens.
 Turmoil in Afghanistan continued and in the mid-
1990’s a radical Muslim group called the Taliban
arose.
 The Taliban took over most of Afghanistan and
ruled strictly.
 The Taliban forced women to wear veils and stop
working outside the home.
 Taliban came to power
Map of Afghanistan in 1996 showing the
amount of Taliban territory captured at that
time (yellow). The Afghan Civil War
commenced between 1996-2001 before
incoalition forces headed by the United
States began air strikes against the
Taliban.
most Afghanistan by
1996.
 Osama bin Laden moved
his terrorist activities
there.
 Used mountain hideouts
as a base of operations
for his terrorist network
called al-Qaeda.
Prior to 2001, the Taliban, led by Mullah Mohammad Omar,
ruled Afghanistan under Islamic law.
During this time, women had virtually no rights and
received no education.
Watching television and listening to music were
forbidden, as were playing games and sports.
The United States entered Afghanistan in October 2001
and replaced the Taliban with an elected president.
While the Taliban lost some power and the people
regained some rights, the Taliban has not gone away.
Instead, it has worked to regain power by promising to
help Afghanistan’s poorest people and aligning itself with
warlords, al-Qaida, and other militant groups to gain
financial support and recruit new fighters.
Taliban Leader Mullah Mohammad
Omar
 Examples of abuses: three men accused of a crime
had been sentenced to death by being partially
buried in the ground and then having a wall
pushed over on them by a bulldozer, a bizarre and
labor-intensive form of execution dreamed up by
the supreme leader of the Taliban.
 After another accused criminal was hanged, his corpse was




driven around the city, swinging from a crane.
A young woman caught trying to flee Afghanistan with a
man who was not her relative was stoned to death.
On another occasion, it was announced over the airwaves
that 225 women had been rounded up and sentenced to a
lashing for violating the dress code.
When the Taliban castrated and then hanged the former
communist president and his brother in 1996, they left their
bloodied bodies dangling from lampposts in busy
downtown Kabul for three days.
Photographs of the corpses appeared in news magazines
and newspapers around the world.
 The Taliban imposed their harsh brand of Islamic law in
the 90 percent of Afghanistan under their control.
 The Taliban say their version of Islam is a pure one that
follows a literal interpretation of the Muslim holy book,
The Koran.
 Under Taliban laws, murderers were publicly executed
by the relatives of their victims.
 Adulterers are stoned to death and the limbs of thieves
were amputated.
 Lesser crimes were punished by public beatings.
19
 Taliban executing a rebel
on the spot
 Dead bodies left in the
street to rot by Taliban in
Heart. People forbidden
to bury the bodies.
20
 There were almost weekly executions or amputations of
criminals in the Kabul stadium before November 1999, when
a woman was killed for hacking to death her abusive
husband.
 The hiatus in public executions after that was attributed to a
decline in crime in the capital.
21
Rules for Everyone
 No television.
 No music.
 No movies
 No picnics
 No wedding parties
 No New Year celebrations
 No kind of mixed-sex gathering
 No children's toys, including dolls and kites
 No card and board games
 No cameras
 No photographs and paintings of people and animals
 No pet parakeets
 No cigarettes and alcohol
 No magazines and newspapers, and most books.
 They even forbade applause -- a moot point, since there was nothing left to applaud.
 The only books available must be approved by the Taliban.
 Enemies of the Taliban are put in jail.
 Protesting is not permitted.
 All windows must be painted black so that no-one is able to see inside.
 Photographs are illegal.
 Bamyan Buddha before (left)
 After the explosion (right)
24
To give one an idea of scale, note the
two individuals sitting here.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/archaeology/2001-0322-afghan-buddhas.htm
 In 2001, blew up ancient
Buddhist statues (1,500
years old) near city of
Bamiyan
Allowed al-Qaeda & Osama
bin Laden to operate within
the country
 February 27, 1998 --Thirty-thousand men and
boys poured into the sports stadium in Kabul,
capital of Afghanistan. Nuts, biscuits and tea were
sold to the waiting crowd.
 The scheduled entertainment? They were there to
see a young woman receive 100 lashes, and to
watch two thieves have their right hands
amputated. The woman had been arrested walking
with a man who was not a relative, a sufficient
crime for her to be found guilty of adultery. Since
she was single, it was punishable by flogging; had
she been married, she would have been publicly
stoned to death.
 As the young woman, completely covered in the
shroud-like burqa veil, was forced to kneel and then
whipped, Taliban "cheerleaders" had the stadium
ringing with the chants of onlookers.
 Among those present there were just three women: the
young Afghan, and two female relatives who had
accompanied her.
 The crowd fell silent only when the thieves were driven
into the arena and pushed to the ground.
 Physicians using surgical scalpels promptly carried out
the amputations. Holding the severed hands aloft by
the index fingers, a grinning Taliban fighter warned
the huge crowd, "These are the chopped-off hands of
thieves, the punishment for any of you caught
stealing.“
 Then, to restore the party atmosphere, the thieves
were driven in a jeep once around the stadium, a
flourish that brought the crowd to their feet, as was
intended.
 It would probably be
quicker to list what the
Taliban hadn't
banned. The regime
even outlawed paper
bags. Like many of
their laws, this would
be laughable if the
penalties weren't so
severe.
 Break the Taliban's law
and you risked
imprisonment,
flogging, or worse.
Freedom of Speech
Freedom to Vote
Freedom from Fear
Freedom from Torture
Freedom of Choice
Freedom from enslavement
Freedom of Religion
 May not work
outside the home.
 May not participate
in any activity
outside the home
unless accompanied by
her husband or male
relative (no shopping,
walking…)
 May not be treated by
male doctor.
 May not study at any
institutions, including
schools and
universities.
• Must wear the long veil
(burqa/burka) which
covers them from head
to toe.
• If found guilty of adultery,
will be publically stoned
to death.
• May not laugh loudly –
no stranger should hear
a woman’s voice.
• May not wear high heels
– no man should hear a
woman’s footsteps.
Before
During
After
*Women carried out
businesses transactions
*Taliban took over in the
1990’s
*Taliban was overthrown in
2001
* Education for women and
their right to vote was
introduced to the constitution
in 1964
*Restricted and violated
women’s right on education,
work and freedom of
movement
*Over one million girls are
attending school
*Job positions held by
women:
- 70% teachers
- 50% civil servants
- 40% doctors
*Strict dress code
*Imposed harsh penalties on
women for breaking such
rules. E.g.: public lashings
*Restricted access to health
care services
*Access to health care
services
*Afghan government and
NGO has set up programs to
improve women’s status and
public participations.
 Women were
educated &
employed.
50% of students
70% of teachers
50% government
workers
40% of doctors
• Before the Taliban took over, women had the
right to education, were represented in
government and worked in offices.
Forty percent of the country's doctors were
women.
No Rights At All:
Discrimination Against Afghanistan Women
In Afganistan, the year 1996, the Tailbanian took over and
began their enforcement of laws, mostly against women.
Some laws include:
• Girls over 12 must wear a burqa
• Girls over 12 are forbidden to leave the home without a
male relative and cannot go to WORK or SCHOOL
• No white socks
• No video cassettes, music, cameras
• In every house where a women lives the windows must be
painted black
 Taliban rules: Women
 Must always be escorted in public


Above, a Taliban
religious policeman
beats a woman in
for being in public
without a male
relative. Left, Afghan
women are dressed
in the burqa
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


by male relative and wearing burqa.
Must not wear high heeled shoes
(sound of women’s footsteps excite
men).
Cannot speak in public
Women cannot be seen from
street—all ground and first floor
windows must be painted over.
No photography of women
Place names not to be women’s
May not appear on balconies
May not appear in the media
 Must wear a burqa outside their home.
 Must wear a burqa inside if a male is present.
In public, women
must be covered from
head to toe by a burqa,
an oppressive garment
that has only a tiny
mesh opening over the
eyes.
Through the
burga the woman
is unable to
breath or see
properly.
She is unable to
feel the sunshine
or receive
beneficial vitamin
C from the sun.
 View through a veil, or burka, which all Afghan women
are required to wear outside the home.
 Restricted vision has reportedly caused numerous
accidents involving vehicles and women pedestrians.
43
 Since enforced veiling, a growing
number of women have been hit by
vehicles because the burqa leaves
them unable to walk fast, or see
where they are going.
 Once a Taliban tank rolled right
over a veiled woman.
 Fortunately, she fell between the
tracks.
 Instead of being crushed to death,
she was not seriously hurt, but was
severely traumatized.
Laws under the Taliban
It's now illegal to wear makeup, nail polish,
jewelry, pluck your eyebrows, cut your hair
short, wear colorful or stylish clothes, sheer
stockings, white socks and shoes, high heel
shoes, walk loudly, talk loudly, laugh in
public or to participate in sports.
One woman had
the top of her
thumb amputated
for the crime of
wearing nail polish.
Female education, from
kindergarten through graduate
school, banned.
Must do all of the household
chores.
Must not travel on a bus without
a man or note authorizing
permission.
Employment for women,
banned
 In fact, the government
didn't believe women
should go out at all:
"Women, you should not
step outside your
residence" read one of the
Taliban dictates.
 Beating women (left)
 Executing a woman publicly (right)
51
 A young mother, Torpeka, was shot repeatedly by the
Taliban while rushing her seriously ill toddler to a doctor.
 Veiled as the law requires, she was spotted by a teenage
Taliban guard, who tried to stop her because she shouldn't
have left her home.
 Afraid her child might die if she were delayed, Torpeka kept
going.
 The guard aimed his machine-gun and fired several rounds
directly at her
 She was hit, but didn't die on the spot, as she could have.
 Instead, Afghans watching the incident in the marketplace
stepped in, and Torpeka and her child received prompt
medical attention.
 When her family later complained to the Taliban
authorities, they were informed that it was the injured
woman's fault.
 She had no right being out in public in the first place.
The Taliban took control of Kabul on
Sept. 26, 1996, and began a reign of
terror.
Because of the civil unrest many
Afghan women are widows -- there are
30,000 in Kabul alone - without close
male relatives, and they are the sole
supporters of their children.
15,000 women in the Kabul region of Afghanistan are widows,
but the law of the Taliban, the Islamic fundamentalist groups
that rule the region, forbids them from leaving their homes
without a male family member as an escort.
(John Moore/AP Photo)
Yet, by Taliban law they are unable to
work to support the children, or leave the
house without a male family member to buy
food.
If there isn’t a male family member, they
face the possibility of a beating every time
they leave their home.
There are a few supplemental houses
which provide free food to widows and
orphans, but many are forced to beg in the
streets for money.
Thousands of Afghan war-widows have no other option but to beg to save
their children from hunger. Any Taliban man can flog these ill-fated women
in the streets because most of them have to leave their houses without a
close male relative.
Afghan women
begging to survive.
Talibs, like these boys, are authorized to use
weapons and whips on women if they decide any
are breaking the Taliban's repressive laws.
Taliban “religious police” beating a woman in public.
Medical Issues for Women
Prohibited women and girls from being
examined by male physicians while at the
same time, prohibited most female
doctors and nurses from working.
There were only a few, selected female
doctors allowed to operate in segregated
wards.
At one of the rare hospitals for women, a
reporter found still, nearly lifeless bodies lying
motionless on top of beds, wrapped in their
burqua, unwilling to speak, eat, or do anything,
but slowly wasting away.
Others have gone mad and were seen crouched
in corners, perpetually rocking or crying, most of
them in fear.
 Conditions were so deplorable for women under the
Taliban that many became severely depressed.
 Without the resources to leave the country, an
increasing number were choosing suicide, once rare
there, as a means of escape.
 "Doctors are seeing a lot of esophageal burns. Women
are swallowing battery acid, or poisonous household
cleansers, because they are easy to find. But it's a very
painful way to die."
The Medical Results of a Taliban Rule
 Women have died of treatable ailments because
male doctors were not allowed to treat them.
 Many women, now forcibly housebound, have
attempted suicide by swallowing household
cleaner, rather than continuing to live under these
conditions.
 97% of Afghan women surveyed by Physicians for
Human Rights exhibit signs of major depression.
At a huge risk of women students continue their
education in an underground school.
The Consequences Breaking a Taliban Rule
 A woman who dared to defy Taliban orders by running
a home school for girls was shot and killed in front of
her husband, daughter, and students.
 A woman caught trying to flee Afghanistan with a man
not related to her was stoned to death for adultery.
 An elderly woman was brutally beaten with a metal
cable until her leg was broken because her ankle was
accidentally showing from underneath her burqa.
 Although the new constitution guarantees equal rights
an opportunities for both men and women…that is not
always the case.
 Health care
 Child birth
 highest maternal death rate
in the world
 Male doctors
 Men & boys take precedence
in the few emergency rooms
that exist (very few hospitals after Taliban rule)
 Unequal opportunities: jobs, divorce, custody
 Taliban Insurgencies – harsh policies for women
 Afghanistan’s Human Rights Commission





1,500 atrocities against women (2008)
1/3 domestic violence cases
200 forcibly married
98 set themselves on fire
100+ tried to commit suicide
by taking poison
 Increasing number of women
taking drugs
 Judgments against women (Jirgas)
 New “Rape Law” against Shiite women
 Imagine your were an older woman who lived under
the prior government and was used to all the freedoms.
 How would you feel now that you are under the control
of the Taliban?
 How is your life different?
 Explain.
 The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were traced to
Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network based in
Afghanistan.
 What do your remember of Sept 11, 2001?
 Where were you?
Al-Qaeda training camp
A very complex
organization that has
been in existence since
the late 1980’s
Commits acts of
violence aimed at
America and Western
Allies.
 Al-Qaeda starts in the aftermath of Soviet invasion 1987
 By 1989 begins to target America
 Recruits from across the globe including America
 No solid base (Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq)
 1991-1996 primarily based in Sudan
 Much soldier training and a system of Hierarchy stabilized (Bin
Laden, Deputy, 5 committees)
 Offers to raise a mujahidin army to defend Saudi Arabia
from a potential invasion from Iraq in 1990
 Saudi Arabia declines his offer opting instead to accept
the assistance of the U.S. and allow American troops
(including women soldiers) in Saudi Arabia
 Moves to Sudan by invitation of the Sudanese
government in 1991
 Supports several small to medium attacks against
Western interests
 Moves to Afghanistan in 1996 by invitation of the Taliban
 Cruise missiles fired at al-Qaeda training camp in
Afghanistan to kill bin Laden in 1998
 Soldiers operate in fast moving light forces. Work in complete




secrecy to complete complex strategic strikes.
Avoids engagement in conventional fighting (forces are not strong
enough)
Spreads rumors, fear and discouragement among enemy forces
Relies on a force of over 20,000 professionally trained soldiers
throughout the world.
The organization’s strengths are its’ secrecy extensive influence
and planning.
 A. Attacks:
 1. World Trade Center –







1993
2. Tanzanian and Kenyan
US Embassies – 1998
3. USS Cole – 2000
4. World Trade Center 2001
5. Kenyan Hotel -2002
6. Bali nightclub – 2002
7. Many attacks in Saudi
Arabia – 2001-2004
8. Istanbul synagogue and
HSBC bank – 2004
 B. Goals:
 1. to unite Muslims to fight




against the U.S. as a way of
defeating Israel
2. overthrowing non-Islamic
regimes
3. expelling westerners and
non-Muslims from Muslim
countries
4. merged with Egyptian
Islamic Jihad in 2001
5. merged with al-Zarqawi’s
group -2004
 C. Individuals:
 1. Usama bin Laden
 2. Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi
 3. Ayman al-Zawahiri
 D. Financing;
 1. personal wealth -
Usama
 2. fund raising –false
Muslim and humanitarian
charities
 3. wealthy Arab sheiks
(Saudi Arabia)
 4. individuals and
businesses
 5. the heroin trade
“The ruling to kill the Americans and their
allies─civilians and military─is an
individual duty for every Muslim who can
do it in any country in which it is possible
to do it. ”
Fatwa issued by Osama bin Laden
& Ayman al-Zawahiri on 23 February 1998
 Al-Qaeda cells operate in
African countries as well.
 1998 bombings occurred
at the U.S. embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania
leaving 200 dead and
more than 5,000 people
injured.
 The U.S. responded with
missile strikes against
terrorist facilities in
Afghanistan and Sudan.
Bin Laden was based in
Sudan from 1991-1996.
Predator drones used to attack
terrorist bases in Sudan and
Afghanistan.
 "I am not afraid of death. I came here to die. Some
of my supporters followed me here just to die for
the cause of Islam. They are ready to defend me and
to kill anyone who thinks of attacking our positions
or sites." Osama Bin Laden
81
 The U.S. government charges that Osama bin Laden heads
an international terrorist network called "Al Qaeda," an
Arabic word meaning 'the base.'
83
 Afghans did not carry out the
terrorist attacks on the U.S.
Al-Qaeda, a terrorist network
operating within Afghanistan and
other places, did.
 Many Afghans expressed their
solidarity with the people of the U.S.
after Sept. 11.
 After September 11, the U.S. invaded
Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban
for sheltering Osama bin Laden.
 U.S. and NATO forces remain in
Afghanistan today.
http://www.indiadaily.org/images/9_11_attack.jpg
 Claims
responsibility for
attack on USA
 Taliban lets AlQaeda hide out in
their county because
they are allies.
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.
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 Destruction:
 Fuel—The flights were near their start, therefore the
tanks were full. Explosions and fires weakened the
skyscrapers, and both towers fell within two hours.
 Pentagon damage confined to only one section of the
building.
 Human Death Toll: about 3,000
 All passengers
 WTC workers/visitors
 340 NYC firefighters
 60 NYC police officers
The hijackers
 Scheduled route:
Boston to LA
 Aircraft: Boeing 767
 Building Hit: North
Tower (WTC 1) at 8:46
AM.
 92 on board
The hijackers
 Scheduled route:
Boston to LA
 Aircraft: Boeing 767
 Building Hit: South
Tower (WTC 2) at 9:03
AM.
 65 on board
United Airlines Flight
175 crashes into the
south tower
Map showing
the attacks on
the World Trade
Center (the
planes are not
drawn to scale).
Diagram
of how
parts of
the
airplanes
fell to the
ground.
The hijackers
 Route: Washington, D.C.
(Dulles) to L.A.
 Aircraft: Boeing 757
 Building Hit: Pentagon,
Arlington, VA
 58 on board
The hijackers
 Scheduled Route: Newark, NJ to





San Francisco
Aircraft: Boeing 575
Terrorists Target: Speculated to
be Washington, D.C.
Crash Site: Somerset County, PA
44 on board
The passengers revolted against
the hijackers, and the aircraft
crashed before reaching its
intended target.
 If you had been on that plane,
 How would you have felt knowing your fate?
 What would you have done?
 Explain.
 The full-scale war brought by America was expected
 Al-Qaeda groups become almost separate working
loosely with mother Al-Qaeda (Southeast Asia, North
America, Europe, Iraq, North Africa and East Africa)
 Aside from war in Iraq since 2002 groups have made
attacks on the US and seven of our allies. (18 major
attacks in 11 countries)
 Each Al-Qaeda group is strengthened by perceived
injustices to that country (i.e. radical Egyptians in North
Africa)
 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is believed to have formed
Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in Afghanistan during the
1980s
 May have received some funds from al-Qaeda but operated
independently
 Original objective was to overthrow the Jordanian government
and establish an Islamic state
 Expanded urban guerilla warfare in Iraq to include
terrorist tactics also targeting Iraqis
 Officially merged with al-Qaeda 21 October 2004 (finally
providing an al-Qaeda connection to Iraq)
 5 deaths (including 2 postal workers)
 17 infections
 Suspected perpetrator: Bruce Edward Irvins (died July
A letter sent to Senate
Majority Leader Tom
Daschle containing
anthrax powder killed
two postal workers
Targets:
ABC News
CBS News
NBC News
New York Post
National Enquirer
Senators
Tom Daschle
Patrick Leahy
29, 2008 of suicide after he was informed he would be
prosecuted for murder), a microbiologist and
vaccinologist who was supposed to develop vaccines
against anthrax.
 However, many people doubt the government’s
conclusions about Irvins. Some coworkers said they
would have noticed him develop the anthrax that was
used.
 One historian believes the anthrax Irvins developed
was stolen by an al-Qaida sympathizer at George
Mason University because of lax security.
 We will probably never know.
 The cost of the cleanup to decontaminate buildings
where anthrax was found was about $1 billion.
 FAA orders airlines to install bars on cockpit doors
 Plain clothed sky marshals assigned to fly on planes
 National Guard patrolled airports
 Aviation and Transportation Act (2001)—airport
security became the responsibility of the federal
government. ALL baggage (even checked baggage) is
screened.
 Why can’t we find Osama bin Laden or at least win and
end the current war in Afghanistan?
 The rugged terrain makes it difficult to organize,
fight, and rule people.
 Osama bin Laden evaded capture for almost 10 years.
 In the mean time the United States had engaged in
wars in Iraq (looking for weapons of mass destruction)
and in Afghanistan (against the Taliban who
supported terrorism).
 bin Laden was suspected of hiding out in the
mountainous regions of Afghanistan.
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110
 Early on the CIA sought to
identify al-Qaeda couriers
(messengers who pass
information) who might have
contact with bin Laden.
 Detainees in the CIA’s secret
prison system revealed the name
of an al-Qaeda courier with the
pseudonym Abu Ahmed alKuwaiti.
 When No. 3 al-Qaeda leader
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
was captured by the CIA he
admitted knowing al-Kuwaiti,
but said he was not operating in
al-Qaeda. The CIA believed he
was protecting the courier.
Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed
 In 2004, a top operative for al-Qaeda was captured in
Iraq named Hassan Ghul.
 Ghul revealed to the CIA that al-Kuwaiti was indeed a
key courier in the al-Qaida organization close to
operational commander Faraj al-Libi.
 In May 2005 Faraj al-Libi was captured by the CIA, but
he adamantly denied that al-Kuwaiti was the secret
courier.
 This convinced the CIA that he, as well as Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed was protecting the identity of the
courier.
 After years, detainees revealed the real name of the courier al-
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Kuwaiti as Sheikh Abu Ahmed, a Pakistani born in Kuwait.
One detainee gave false information that Abu Ahmed was
wounded fleeing U.S. forces and died in his arms.
But in the middle of 2010 Abu Ahmed used the telephone and his
conversation was monitored by U.S. officials.
In August 2010 Abu Ahmed was tracked to the mysterious
compound in Abbottabad.
It had unusually high walls.
No one came or went.
There was no telephone or internet. U.S. authorities became
convinced that a high level terrorist was living there.
CIA aerial view of the bin Laden
compound
President Hamid Karzai was the first elected
president in the history of Afghanistan.
He came to power after the Taliban was
overthrown in late 2001.
He was formally elected to a five-year term in
2004.
Karzai has survived numerous assassination
attempts and has been assigned the task of
rebuilding Afghanistan.
Some of the major problems he must address
include providing the country with an
infrastructure so that citizens have the basic
necessities of life, keeping the Taliban out of
power and controlling the warlords who
perpetuate the illegal drug trade.
 Prime Minister Hamid Karzai (left)
 Deputy Premier Dr. Sima Samar (right) – one of two
women in the government
116
 If you were President Karzai, what would be the top
three changes or programs you would implement
immediately in Afghanistan?
 Explain.
• Islamic Republic
• 3 branch system: executive, judicial, legislative
• President: Hamid Karzai elected 2004
•Target of assassination attempt in September 2002
•Karzai’s one mission is to “bring peace to Afghanistan”
 War lords control
large parts of
Afghanistan.
When the Taliban
were removed,
cooperation
among war lords
decreased
119
 Corruption very high:
• 1,5 & 176/180 CPI
• Drug related (Opium) issues
•
•
•
•
are dominant
History of unqualified appointees
Poor judiciary & legal enforcement systems
Karzai & other government officials accused of using
connections for profit, including his brother
“Foreigners have defamed Afghanistan so badly in terms
of corruption. But it's not as serious as they think”
 “corruption and inefficiency in Afghanistan were
as much to blame as the Taliban insurgency for the
country's instability”
 ½ said corruption had increased among officials
and the police in Afghanistan
 anti-corruption department,
and a more open government
 How do you combat government corruption like this?
 Explain.
 Recovering from
decades of conflict
 Has improved since the
fall of the Taliban in
2001
 Highly dependent on
foreign aid
 Instability inhibits
economic growth
- Budget sustainability
- Job creation
- Corruption
- Rebuilding war-torn infrastructure
-GDP
35 billion (2007)
-GDP Real Growth Rate 7.5%
-GDP per capita $1,000 (2007)
-Ranks 157th in the World
-Inf lation Rate 13%
-Unemployment Rate 40% (2005)
-Labor Force, approximately 15 million
-Agriculture 80%, Industry 10%, Services 10%
 Imports
 Capital goods, food, textiles, petroleum products
 Exports
 Opium, fruits, nuts, hand-woven carpets, wool, cotton,
precious gems
 Lifeblood of Afghan economy
 38% of GDP, non-opium
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agriculture
12% of land is arable and only
half that is cultivated
Accounts for 80% of workforce
Not self-sufficient in
agriculture and must rely on
food aid to meet domestic
needs
Increasing agricultural
production has been a focus of
development efforts in
Afghanistan
 Greatest illicit opium producer
in the world
 In 2007, 93% of the opiates on
the world market originated in
Afghanistan (export value of 4
billion)
 High rate of return on
investment from opium poppy
cultivation has driven an
agricultural shift in Afghanistan
from growing traditional crops
to growing opium poppy.
 Shortage of food and other crop
production (wheat, fruit, nuts,
etc)
 Opium
May be a key to long-term
economic development!
Produces: natural gas, copper,
iron
Has deposits of: marble, salt,
gold, and silver
 Unexploited mining territory
 Geological surveys are
incomplete, additional
energy and mineral deposits
likely to be found
 As economic conditions
improve, Afghanistan will be
in a better position to attract
investment
 World Bank estimates value
of mineral production could
be $253 million, compared to
$60 million currently
 Important and growing
component in economy
 Trade deficit
 Increased in recent years as
more development aid and
equipment have entered
country
 Inflow of foreign aid is large
enough to wipe out current
deficit, help to keep
monetary conditions stable
Population: 33,609,937 people
Age Breakdown:
0-14 years: 44.5% (male 7,664,670/female 7,300,446)
15-64 years: 53% (male 9,147,846/female 8,679,800)
65 years and over: 2.4% (male 394,572/female 422,603)
Life Expectancy:
total population: 44.64 years
male: 44.47 years
female: 44.81 years
Median Age: 17.6 years.
Pop. Growth Rate: 2.629%
Birth Rate: 45.82 births/1,000 population
Death Rate: 19.56 deaths/1,000 population
Sex Ratio: total population: 1.05 male(s)/female
WHO – “Afghanistan's health status is one of the worst in the world”
HIV/AIDS Percentage: 0.01%
This number is expected to rise as the number of drug users goes up. (ie
heroin, opium)
Major Diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and
typhoid fever, malaria, rabies
Health Sector is dismal at best. Lacks…
infrastructure, competent workers, supplies, open channels of
communication, terrible information systems.
Health related expenses amount to .5% of GDP
1 doctor/6000 patients
1 nurse/2500 patients
 Update/improve
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information systems
Restore/update facilities
Extend care to rural areas
Drug availability
Hire more trained workers
Boost efficiency of
response time to natural
disasters.
 39 % of children under age five are
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underweight
48 % of children under age five are
under height
61 % of the population is without
sustainable access to an improved
water source
Access to safe water: 23%
Access to adequate sanitation: 12 %
In 2001 8% of pop’n had access to basic
healthcare.
Most used alternative healthcare ie.
Midwives
 7 y/o
 Eats breakfast 7AM every
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morning.
1 loaf of bread lasts her, her two
brothers and her parents 3 days.
10 AM, gets 12 small biscuits from
school. Eats 6, brings home the
rest to family.
Lunchtime, goes home and has
bread with some oil.
9PM, eats bread with a little
yogurt for dinner.
 More than 10 million
children have suffered
under 10 years of
drought and civil war.
 Afghanistan ranks
number 1 in worldwide
maternal mortality
 One in three Afghan
children is an orphan
 Almost half of Afghan
children suffer from
chronic malnutrition
136
Kids
wait in
line for
food aid
(right)
 Looking in garbage (above
left)
 Picking wheat grains from
ground (below)
137
 50% of pop is under 18.
 UNICEF says 30% of primary school aged children are
working.
 21% of child laborers work in shops
 13% work as street vendors
 Poverty is the driving force.
 Parents can’t pay for schooling
 Opportunity cost of schooling is high.
 Two Types
 Religious Schooling
 Secular Schooling (introduced in 1964)
Post-Taliban, resurgence in education
Schools are in a disarray though.
funding is limited and unstable
Security of Schools is a problem.
Taliban destroy secular schools.
 Illiteracy: 56% men, 87 % women
 Hinderance in workforce
 Rights of women enshrined in the new Constitution
 Women can participate in every walk of life
 91 of 361 members of Parliament are women
 It is becoming ok to talk about forced marriages, rapes,
honor killings, etc.
 Human rights groups are starting to document and publicize
atrocities
 Groups & campaigns fighting
for Muslim women’s rights
 Polygamy, inheritance, custody,
consent to marry
 International attention
 “Rape Law” to be amended
 Rights groups around the world
 As of today, Afghanistan is still a LDC
 Security against Taliban is shakey
 US troop deployment
 Taliban are numerous & attack the few gov’t services
available
 Their goal is to demoralize the country & international
community.
 2100 Afghani’s dead from insurgent attacks.
 As of 2006, Afghani’s are feeling hopeless
 Surveyed 1000 citizens from 13 provinces and balanced
the different ethnic groups.
 Surveyed on Pillars of Reconstruction
 Security
 Governance
 Justice
 Economic Opportunity
 Social Well-Being
Kal's Cartoons
http://www.kaltoons.com/wordpress/2009/12/kal-economist-afghanistan-cartoons/
Kal's Cartoons
http://www.kaltoons.com/wordpress/2009/12/kal-economist-afghanistan-cartoons/
After watching the DVD and
this lecture, what do you think
is the best way for Afghanistan
to get back on its feet?
Explain.