Transcript Afghanistan

Afghanistan:
People, Places,
and Politics
Regional Map
•
Afghanistan is a landlocked
country, making the export of
goods difficult and expensive.
•
It has rugged mountains and
plains and is prone to natural
disasters such as earthquakes
and drought.
•
Temperatures are extreme, as
hot as 120° F in the summer
and as cold as -15° F in the
winter.
•
There are limited natural fresh
water sources, and most of the
land has been overgrazed and
deforested, causing
desertification and soil
degradation, making farming
difficult.
Map and Important Data
•
Capital: Kabul
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Area: 251,825 sq mi; slightly
smaller than Texas
Population: 31,056,997 (July
2006 estimate)
80% Sunni Muslim, 19% Shia
Muslim
•
•
Main ethnic groups: Pashtun,
Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek
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GDP per capita: purchasing
power parity - $800 (2004
estimate)
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Over 80% of labor force is
employed in agriculture
(farming, sheep, goats)
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Covered by an estimated 5-7
million landmines
•
Leading illicit opium producer in
2005 supplying 89% of the
opium produced in the world.
1/3 of the GDP comes from
opium trade
Ethnic Groups Map
Pashtun: largest ethnic
group, mostly farmers and
Sunni Muslims
Tajik: live mostly in the
northeast, second largest
ethnic group, mostly Sunni
Muslims
Hazara: live in the Hindu
Kush mountains, primarily
Shiite Muslims
Uzbek: live mostly along the
northern border, mostly Sunni
Muslims
Aimaqs: a farming and
herding tribe in the west,
mostly Sunni Muslims
Turkmen and Kirghiz:
nomadic herders and
craftsmen, mostly Sunni
Muslims
Baluch: nomadic tribe living
in the southern deserts,
Sunni Muslims
Religion
• Islam is the world’s second largest religion, with 21% of all people
practicing this faith.
• Islam teaches that one can only find peace in life by submitting to
Allah (Almighty God) in heart, soul, and deed.
• The Quran is the holy guide to Islam.
• Major aspects of the Islamic religion include testimony of faith,
prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimage.
• “Covering” is a religious duty. Women can only have their faces and
hands showing in public. Men must not expose anything from navel
to knee.
• Sunni and Shia are the two most common forms of Islam with
different beliefs in some of the specific premises of the religion.
Terrain and Physical Features
Photo by U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division-Light Infantry
Afghanistan is a landlocked country. It is very dry and has extremely warm
summers and very cold winters. The mountains are rugged, although there
are some plains used for farming.
The People
The Afghan people are some of the poorest in the world and are members of
many different ethnic groups. This woman is part of a herding tribe and is
drying dung to use as insulation in her home during the winter. Life is difficult
for most Afghans as they have faced drought, famine and war for many years.
The lives of the Afghan people differ from ours in
many ways. Above, a 16-year-old girl works at
sewing for about $1 a day as part of a special
training program. U.S. soldiers are a common
sight in Afghanistan and often interact with the
local people. The picture on the lower right shows an Afghan school, where
students sit in on the floor waiting for the day’s lessons to begin.
This woman works the land to
make it suitable for planting as
part of a work-for-food program
aimed at helping Afghanistan
increase its agricultural
production.
As part of their religious belief
system, Afghan women cover
themselves as a show of
modesty, showing only their
hands and faces. Men are also
expected to cover from navel to
knees.
Important Issues
Afghanistan employs 80 percent of its workforce in
farming or raising sheep and goats. Because it is a landlocked country with
mountainous terrain, exporting goods like the melons carried
by the boy is difficult and expensive. Poppies are grown illegally as a source
of opium, which is used to produce heroin. Drug lords make millions through
unregulated trade of this drug. The Afghan government is working to eliminate
illegal drug trade and encourage the growth of other agricultural crops for
export.
Political History
• 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.
Soviet-Afghan War
• In Apr 1978 the People’s Democratic Party
of Afghanistan overthrew the government
of Mahammed Daoud
– Armed resistance to the new Marxist
government broke out and the ruling
government split into factions
– The Soviets were concerned about this
instability on their southern border and in Dec
1979 they supported a coup
Soviet-Afghan War
• The Soviets anticipated a
quick collapse of any
resistance
– Afghanistan had just
15 million people
compared to the
USSR’s 265 million
– Afghan tribes had little
unity
– The Afghans had only
obsolete rifles and
equipment left over
from World War II
Soviet soldier in Afghanistan
Soviet-Afghan War
• During the first four years of
the war, the Soviets held the
major urban areas and
launched attacks against the
mujahideen, the Afghan
guerrillas, in remote and
often mountainous areas
• The resistance grew as more
than half of the 80,000
soldiers in the Afghan army
deserted or joined the
mujahideen
– Many brought their
weapons with them
Soviet-Afghan War
• The mujahideen began receiving weapons
from the West including mines, recoilless
rifles, and small antiaircraft guns
• Using their small unit tactics and cross
border sanctuaries they attacked with little
strategic or tactical purpose other than to
kill Soviet soldiers
• The Soviet responded with rocket attacks
into Kabul and other important cities and
“scorched earth” tactics designed to starve
and terrorize the guerrillas into submission
• The Soviets also used chemicals
• Still the mujahideen resisted
Soviet-Afghan War
• The new tactics
created a massive
amount of refugees
• 30-50% of the
population was
estimated to have
fled Afghanistan by
1986
• Still the Soviets
had little control
outside the urban
centers
Sharbat Gula, photographed in Nasir Bagh
refugee camp in Pakistan, appeared on the
cover of National Geographic in 1985 and
was found 17 years later by the National
Geographic photographic team
Soviet-Afghan War
Sharbat Gula, the “Afghan Girl,” when she
was about 12 and when she was about 30
Soviet-Afghan War
• Legacy of the war
– The Najibullah government remained faithful to the
Soviets and the Afghanis fought a civil war among
themselves until Apr 1992 when Najibullah gave up
power
– Rival factions clamored for power leaving Afghanistan
politically fractured
– For the Soviets, the Afghan experience became a
defeat akin to the American experience in Vietnam
– The mujahideen, supported by the US during the war,
would later become the enemies of the US
Politics: The Taliban
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, alQaida, and other militant groups to gain
financial support and recruit new fighters.
Taliban Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar
The militant Islamic terrorist network known as al-Qaida and led by Osama
bin Laden, was based in Afghanistan for many years prior to U.S. attacks on
the organization in October 2001 following the Sept.11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The organization continues to grow, and bin Laden remains at large.
Politics: President Karzai
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.