Seems a few people do not realize that the Taliban were not the rightful Afghan rulers or their ligitimate Government!
Because some think being attacked on our home-turf was not justification enough, and we should not have went to war against them!
I dug up this old article rather than go on about it in a thread of another topic!


October 5, 1996
Web posted at: 10:45 p.m. EDT (0245 GMT)
From Correspondent Anita Pratap

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- From students to conquerors, the Taliban Islamic militia have come a long way, and fast.

In just two years, the Taliban have captured more than two-thirds of Afghanistan from the Mujahedeen warriors who had fought Soviet occupation. The Taliban's success has much to do with the unpopularity of the Mujahedeen in recent years.

The Taliban emerged as a reformist force -- honest, fierce and devoutly Islamic. Most had gone as refugees to Pakistan, where they studied in the religious schools. The Taliban are widely alleged to be the creation of Pakistan's military intelligence. Experts say that explains the Taliban's swift military successes.

They emerged as the new rulers of this war-ravaged nation when they captured the Afghan capital, Kabul, last month.

Kabul is important because of its strategic location. It is the gateway to the Indian subcontinent to the south and to central Asian republics to the north.

Through history, many groups have invaded Kabul, and the latest conquerors, the Taliban, are set to leave their stamp on the city by imposing a fundamentalist regime guided by their own interpretation of Islamic law.

They decree amputations and executions for criminals, and impose severe restrictions on women. They also have banned television, which they see as a symbol of Western decadence.

Not much is known about the 35-year-old founder of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Umar, a cleric who fought as a Mujahedeen. But his political aims are clear: He is determined to create his version of an Islamic Afghanistan.

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9610/05/taleban/

This is our enemy!!

Dang....This will seem like I am butting heads with you, when I am not!

You asked about the Taliban...I am a firm believer in "Know your Enemy" (Art of War:Sun T'su)

The Taliban basically support many social services in the area that they operate in. They pretty much fund the social support networks of several middle eastern territories. They are something like the Red cross meets the Social security program. This insures alot of loyalty among the indegionous population.

The down side is that they are fundamentalist Moslems which pretty much requires the death of the non islamic and "White" people...especially those who occupy Holy land Soil.

The Koran and the Bible ain't all that different.

I didnt ask about them. I was trying to help others understand who they are!

The Taliban's rise to power


The Taliban are one of the mujahideen ("holy warriors" or "freedom fighters") groups that formed during the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979-89). After the withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Soviet-backed government lost ground to the mujahideen. In 1992, Kabul was captured and an alliance of mujahideen set up a new government with Burhanuddin Rabbani as interim president. However, the various factions were unable to cooperate and fell to fighting each other. Afghanistan was reduced to a collection of territories held by competing warlords.

Groups of taliban ("religious students") were loosely organized on a regional basis during the occupation and civil war. Although they represented a potentially huge force, they didn't emerge as a united entity until the taliban of Kandahar made their move in 1994. In late 1994, a group of well-trained taliban were chosen by Pakistan to protect a convoy trying to open a trade route from Pakistan to Central Asia. They proved an able force, fighting off rival mujahideen and warlords. The taliban then went on to take the city of Kandahar, beginning a surprising advance that ended with their capture of Kabul in September 1996.

The Taliban against the world


The Taliban regime faced international scrutiny and condemnation for its policies. Only Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate government. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the U.S., Saudi Arabia and the UAE cut diplomatic ties with the Taliban.

The Taliban allowed terrorist organizations to run training camps in their territory and, from 1994 to at least 2001, provided refuge for Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization. The relationship between the Taliban and bin Laden is close, even familial—bin Laden fought with the mujahideen, has financed the Taliban, and has reportedly married one of his daughters to Mullah Muhammad Omar. The United Nations Security Council passed two resolutions, UNSCR 1267 (1999) and 1333 (2000), demanding that the Taliban cease their support for terrorism and hand over bin Laden for trial.

The Taliban recognized the need for international ties but wavered between cooperation—they claimed to have drastically cut opium production in July 2000—and defiance—they pointedly ignored international pleas not to destroy the 2000-year-old Buddhist statues of Bamian. However, they made no effort to curb terrorist activity within Afghanistan, a policy that ultimately led to their undoing.

Even after their ouster, the Taliban's brand of Islamist radicalism threatens to destabilize other countries in the region including Iran, China, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan. The Taliban's relationship with Pakistan is especially problematic. A high percentage of the Taliban are ethnic Pashtuns; Pashtuns are a sizable minority in Pakistan and dominate the Pakistani military. Public support for the Taliban runs very high in the Pashtun North-West Frontier province where pro-Taliban groups have held uprisings and sought to emulate Taliban practices by performing public executions and oppressing women.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/taliban.html

This is an extremely educational site about them. I think krupa that you will find many of your perceptions extremely inaccurate!

My ex-husband and some of his in-laws

Afghanistan under the Taliban

The Taliban's popularity with the Afghan people surprised the country's other warring factions. Many Afghans, weary of conflict and anarchy, were relieved to see corrupt and often brutal warlords replaced by the devout Taliban, who had some success in eliminating corruption, restoring peace, and allowing commerce to resume.

The Taliban, under the direction of Mullah Muhammad Omar, brought about this order through the institution of a very strict interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. Public executions and punishments (such as floggings) became regular events at Afghan soccer stadiums. Frivolous activities, like kite-flying, were outlawed. In order to root out "non-Islamic" influence, television, music, and the Internet were banned. Men were required to wear beards, and subjected to beatings if they didn't.

Most shocking to the West was the Taliban's treatment of women. When the Taliban took Kabul, they immediately forbade girls to go to school. Moreover, women were barred from working outside the home, precipitating a crisis in healthcare and education. Women were also prohibited from leaving their home without a male relative—those that did so risked being beaten, even shot, by officers of the "ministry for the protection of virtue and prevention of vice." A woman caught wearing fingernail polish may have had her fingertips chopped off. All this, according to the Taliban, was to safeguard women and their honor.

In contrast to their strict beliefs, the Taliban profited from smuggling operations (primarily electronics) and opium cultivation. Eventually they bowed to international pressure and cracked down on cultivation and by July 2000 were able to claim that they had cut world opium production by two-thirds. Unfortunately, the crackdown on opium also abruptly deprived thousands of Afghans of their only source of income.

Although the Taliban managed to re-unite most of Afghanistan, they were unable to end the civil war. Nor did they improve the conditions in cities, where access to food, clean water, and employment actually declined during their rule. A continuing drought and a very harsh winter (2000–2001) brought famine and increased the flow of refugees to Pakistan.

Although the Taliban managed to re-unite most of Afghanistan, they were unable to end the civil war. Nor did they improve the conditions in cities, where access to food, clean water, and employment actually declined during their rule. A continuing drought and a very harsh winter (2000–2001) brought famine and increased the flow of refugees to Pakistan.

Cool!

So on the subject....I find it bitterly Ironic that the Taliban and thier Religious police seek to suppress western influence with the exceptions of the Mobile Phone and the internet....

I guess it was because Mohammed didn't gripe about them. So, there by they can freely use those sources for communication and destructional information....yet beat women with sticks if they show too much skin or if someone listens to other music...

Accept our life or go to hell....like I said...not all that different from the roots of Christianity.

I am quite confident that a majority of our troops would considier themselves to be Christian..So I am not just whistling out of my *ss...They use the term "Jihad"...Western Christians simply refuse to acknowledge it.

While the Taliban present themselves as a reform movement, they have been criticized by Islamic scholars as being poorly educated in Islamic law and history—even in Islamic radicalism, which has a long history of scholarly writing and debate. Their implementation of Islamic law seems to be a combination of Wahhabi orthodoxy (i.e., banning of musical instruments) and tribal custom (i.e., the all-covering birka made mandatory for all Afghan women).

Yes they contradict their own teachings a lot.
I guess that happens when you mix two or three followings of the Koran and teach it to an illiterate group of religious leaders. Then give them guns and put them in a fractured country trying to rebuild itself without any help from other countries and no unity!

What is truly ironic....Iraq was the most Westernly progressed nation in the Middle East ...until the invasion and the Fundamentalists moved in...

Women could wear what they wanted...get an education and have a Job......

Not so, now that the taliban have moved in to deal with the infidels....(US)

Their biggest mistake was attacking Americans in America.
It was probably a good thing for the Afghan people though, as now they have hope for a future. They are trying too. Afghani soldiers are battling right beside our troops in every region of Afghanistan. They are showing bravery and loyalty to Karsai, their rightfully elected President.

I agree, and Karsai is not afraid of speaking against Pakistan on his own. Despite Bush allying with them. He is not a US puppet like Malaki!

in my opinion, the taliban are people that take one of the world's best selling fiction novels too seriously.

bump