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How terrorism has made Afghanistan a falling state

Introduction

Afghanistan is a nation that is made up of many nationalities because it links the Middle East,

Central Asia and the Indian sub-continent. Afghanistan was also a country of mixed religions

until the eighth and ninth century when Islam was introduced

. Before the invasion of U.S and

Russia, Afghanistan was a medieval island that survived on its own. More so, Afghanistan was

not colonized, but was ruled by kings, and the country underwent tremendous leadership changes

between 1973 and 1980. Poor leadership trends in Afghanistan led to the introduction of Islamic

movements that later fostered terrorism because the US interest in Afghanistan made it empower

these Islamic groups. Since US involvement in Afghanistan, the country has been a battlefield to

date, which has made Afghanistan a fallen state because no economic, political or social progress

can take place. This paper will analyze terrorism as the main catalyst of Afghanistan’s fall, how

terrorism emerged and its consequences.

Terrorism

Ritscher, A. 2012. A Brief History of Afghanistan. Afghanistan Government.

http://www.afghangovernment.com/briefhistory.htm

Terrorism is an act that inflicts terror to individuals or a nation because it causes death

and massive destruction of property and resources. The first terrorism attack was reported in the

US in 1993, and the trend has been subsequent over the years. History depicts that terrorism was

developed in the 1980s by Islamic movements believed to have been empowered by the United

States when it ventured into Afghanistan with an aim of fighting Russia. The reason why Russia

became a threat to the US is because Russia shares a boundary with Afghanistan and the constant

leadership struggles that included coups in Afghanistan pushed Russia to extend its humanitarian

aid in order to help the citizens caught up in the war

. As time went by, leadership situation in

Afghanistan deteriorated and Russia completely got involved in Afghanistan’s political affairs by

imposing their preferred leader and sending thousands of its troops to the country. This move did

not please the US, who had planned to venture into Afghanistan because it was an attractive

pipeline channel. Therefore, in order to draw out Russia, US decided to fund the upcoming

opposition groups in Afghanistan, and Afghanistan became a battlefield that bred terrorism.

How terrorism was organized

The people who carried out terrorism were Islamic movements that have a link to the US trained

Mujahedeen, Taliban, and Al Qaeda. The first group to be formed by Islamic movements was

Mujahedeen. The group was supported by vast volunteers from Muslim radicals in forty-three

Islamic countries in North and East Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Far East.

Historians argue that the Mujahedeen was the group that bred Osama Bin Laden because it was

through this group that he attained influential movement leadership. After acquiring adequate

Ritscher, A. 2012. A Brief History of Afghanistan. Afghanistan Government.

http://www.afghangovernment.com/briefhistory.htm

skills, Osama later formed his own group called Al Qaeda in 1988

. Thus, when the Islamic

movements overpowered Russian troops in the 1990s and Russia pulled out of Afghanistan, the

Osama led movement dispersed to vast countries because it comprised of individuals from

diverse Islamic countries. When the members of the formed Islamic groups diverged into their

respective countries, they continued their activities under one unifying agenda of opposing

leadership that did not satisfy them.

Prior to Al Qaeda, the war bred children in Afghanistan grew up with a war mentality,

and they formed their own group called the Taliban in 1994. The aim of Taliban formation was

to fight warlords in the society. The Taliban movement also aimed at imposing Islamic Sharia

law which advocated for self-imposed governance so that they could rule the society and control

pipelines and oil reserves. However, the objective of this movement was disrupted by the USA,

who had an interest in pipeline roots and oil sources. This led to the hatred that pushed the

Taliban movement to attack US allies by bombing and terrorizing them irrespective of the fact

that Taliban had been taught and sponsored by the US

. Thus, Taliban acquired backup from

other like-minded Islamic movements like Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab; hence, intensifying

terrorism groups. The US also became an enemy and despite that it had earlier trained and

sponsored Warlords in Afghanistan so as to overpower Russia, the US began fighting the newly

formed terrorist groups. The war took a different dimension when terrorist attacked the World

NATO- Harvard Project. 2013. The Afghanistan Case Study. NATO International.

http://www.jallc.nato.int/newsmedia/docs/afghanistan_case_study.pdf

Ritscher, A. 2012. A Brief History of Afghanistan. Afghanistan Government.

http://www.afghangovernment.com/briefhistory.htm

Trade Center in the USA on September 2001

. The Al-Qaeda and Taliban groups were blamed

for the attack, and this fostered a different perspective on the fight against terrorism. The US

sought foreign aid and the UK and Australia armed forces entered Afghanistan to help US troops

fight against terrorism. The effort bore fruits because on November 2001, Taliban forces fled

Kabul and the last city that was controlled by Taliban fell, and its members were disbanded and

others dispersed

. Later on in 2004, the first government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

(GIRoA) was officially elected and from then on, terrorism activities in Afghanistan diminished

and the country began to rise again.

Terrorism impact on the fall of Afghanistan

Afghanistan did not only fall politically and socially, but rather it also fell economically. More

so, the outcome of the war left millions of Afghans citizens in refugee camps and at the same

time bred and equipped numerous Islamic movements that later intensified terrorism activities.

Since war broke out in the 1980s, the economy deteriorated all through the years until in 2001

when Taliban regime fell

. This means that the economy began picking its momentum in 2001

with great help from international well wishers. However, the economy does not promise huge

success because Afghanistan is landlocked and it largely depends on foreign aid. More so, the

experienced war pushed its citizens into humanitarian crisis because many afghans currently lack

United States. 2014. The CIA World Factbook 2015. New York: Skyhorse Publishing.

http://public.eblib.com/choice/PublicFullRecord.aspx?p=1792440.

NATO- Harvard Project. 2013. The Afghanistan Case Study. NATO International.

http://www.jallc.nato.int/newsmedia/docs/afghanistan_case_study.pdf

United States. 2014. The CIA World Factbook 2015. New York: Skyhorse Publishing.

http://public.eblib.com/choice/PublicFullRecord.aspx?p=1792440.

housing, medical care, electricity, clean water and employment. The prolonged war also led to

the destruction of infrastructure which means that Afghanistan has poor infrastructure. The living

standards in Afghanistan are rated among the lowest in the world with a GDP growth rate of

3.1% in 2013.

Conclusion

Political analysts argue that irrespective of the heightened debate on the actual source of

terrorist and terrorism activities around the globe, it is evident that the cold war between Russia

and U.S played a major role in breeding terrorists (Ritscher, 2012: 1). This is the case because

historic documentaries depict that the US applied all strategies to influence Afghanistan due the

quest for oil in the neighboring countries and as a means of getting back to the Soviet Union.

Therefore, the fall of Afghanistan was highly contributed by the US and Russia involvement and

its rise was also fostered by the US, who chipped in to destroy Taliban and other Islamic groups

it had earlier helped to create.

Bibliography

NATO- Harvard Project. 2013. The Afghanistan Case Study. NATO International.

http://www.jallc.nato.int/newsmedia/docs/afghanistan_case_study.pdf

Ritscher, A. 2012. A Brief History of Afghanistan. Afghanistan Government.

http://www.afghangovernment.com/briefhistory.htm

United States. 2014. The CIA World Factbook 2015. New York: Skyhorse Publishing.

http://public.eblib.com/choice/PublicFullRecord.aspx?p=1792440.

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