Reasons Of War In Afghanistan
The main reason for the initiation of war in Afghanistan was the September 11 attacks in the year 2001, when the United States was governed by President George W. Bush. The US demanded that Afghanistan should turn in the Taliban supported Al Qaeda head Osama Bin Laden, who was the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks. |
The US called it the war against terrorism. In a meeting conducted on 20th September, President Bush took an oath that he will see that every kind of intelligence, and all the powers of law and financial influence and weapons of war to destroy this network of terror that was wreaking havoc around the world.
Following the US request, the Talibani leaders were tardy in providing information on where Bin Laden and his cohorts were hiding. On October 7th, 2001, the US launched an attack on Taliban targets through air strikes. The United Nations Council endorsed their decision. The US started air strikes on military camps, airfields and terrorist camps. After two months ground force was sent to search for Osama Bin Laden. However, for Osama, Afghanistan was a known territory and he managed to hide well.
The roots of the war traces back to a time when the US funded an instrument called Mujahedeen which means strugglers or survivors in Arabic. The Mujahedeen was supported by several countries, such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the US itself. They became rich and powerful during the course of time and the Afghan –soviet war. The people of Mujahedeen were fearless and ad extreme notions when it came to war against the soviet. The Arab Muslims were interested and wanted to experiment with Jihad. Even the wealthy Arabs were interested which included Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri. This was the starting point that led to the formation of the terror network.
Mujahedeen threw out the Soviets in 1989 and also threw the government in Kabul by 1992. There was a severe struggle within Afghanistan because of fighting factions. Several civilians perished due to social unrest. The infrastructure was demolished and the country faced severe loses. Pakistan took advantage of the political unrest and encouraged the Taliban. The Taliban originated in Kandahar and were extremists when it came to the interpretation of the Koran. They had no value for human rights and women were treated subserviently. Taliban gained power and 9/11 followed. There were a series of attacks by the US on Afghanistan, while even diplomatic negotiations were conducted to request the Taliban to handover Osama Bin Laden. This request was denied, and so, the US took the onus upon itself to overthrow the fundamentalist and radical government and get to Bin Laden.
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The war in Afghanistan has its roots in the invasion of the country and subsequent occupation by the Soviet Union. This occurred in the 1970s. In order to fight the occupying Soviet forces and stop the spread of communism, the United States armed militia groups, which ultimately gave rise to the Al Qaeda and Taliban. Finally, with the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan, but it let the country in disarray, leading to a civil war. 