home

Several students in my classes wanted to learn more about Afghanistan -- the recent elections there and the U.S. war going on there. President Obama, the Commander in Chief of the U.S. military, is [|shifting troops from Iraq to Afghanistan], so it seems like a place worth following.

image source: []

Here's a transcript from a 45-minute NPR program I heard on September 3, 2009, called [|Afghanistan: War of Choice or Necessity?]

It was a panel discussion with Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan [|Zalmay Khalilzad], NPR News Analyst [|Ted Koppel] and [|Richard Haass], president of the Council on Foreign Relations. Neil Conan is the host of Talk of the Nation on NPR.

Ted Koppel made the point that the real threat in the area is Pakistan and its nuclear capabilities. But because the US does not have much influence in Pakistan, having troops and bases in Afghanistan might be the next-best thing.

Here's a discussion from the Washington Post looking at [|whether the war in Afghanistan is worth fighting].

And here's a column in this Sunday's (9/13/09) New York Times by Tom Friedman asking America to [|define its Afghan Policy] before we commit more troops.

I was walking through a Barnes & Noble bookstore yesterday, and I saw a book titled "In the Graveyard of Empires".

Here's part of an excerpt from the book:

//To better appreciate Afghanistan's complex history, which has seen the ruthless destruction of foreign armies, our story begins with Alexander the Great's audacious sojourn into Afghanistan — one of the most notable failed attempts to conquer the region. What becomes eerily apparent, however, is how quickly the United States ran into challenges similar to those faced by past empires. "Ambushes, assassinations, attacks on supply convoys, bridges, pipelines, and airfields, with the avoidance of set piece battles; these are history's proven techniques for the guerrilla," wrote Mohammad Yousaf, who ran Pakistan's ISI operations in Afghanistan during the Soviet War. Indeed, Afghanistan's rich history serves as a springboard for understanding the American experience in a country that since antiquity has been called a graveyard of empires.//

And here's the [|whole excerpt] (it's really long and is from the July 14 issue of the New York Times).

Here's an [|inside account of the war from a U.S. soldier's perspective] -- it's written by Captain Benjamin Tupper of the Army National Guard.

Also, here are a few **articles my students have found** relating to the **ELECTIONS** in Afghanistan:

One is a [|blog account of the Afghan elections] in August

Another is this NYTimes article a few days after the election that discusses the low turnout of women voters -- it's titled [|Intimidation and Fraud Observed in Afghan Election.]

This is an article I found today (Tuesday, Sept 15) about how a [|recount is being ordered] in the elections.
 * Questions?** (add them here to the wiki)


 * What is the population of Afghanistan?** 32,738,376 (July 2008 est.) []


 * What are the major religions?** Ninety-nine percent of Afgans are Muslim. []

What happened when the Soviets invaded in 1979?

How many tribes/ethnic groups are there?


 * What is the Taliban?** It's very difficult to explain but this article sums it up pretty well. It's basically a group of muslims that were students and they "conquered" a large portion of Afganistan and reside in Pakistan and Afganistan. here is the link to the article- []


 * What does it mean to be an ethnic Pashtun?** The Pashtun people are the largest ethnic group in Afganistan and the largest minority in Pakistan. They consist of many tribes. Pashtun people are very strict muslims. Actually, they require women to wear veils and women are restricted to staying at home! Also they resisit others from going againt the goverment. []

__Questions about Al Qaeda by Anna Mukamal, B Block:__
 * 1) **What exactly is al-Qaeda and how does it function?** Al-Qaeda is Arabic for "The Base." It's an international terrorist network based in Afghanistan. Scary fact- it operates using autonomous underground cells in over 100 countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Albania, Uganda, and elsewhere.
 * 2) **What is their goal?** They seek to rid Muslim countries of the "profane" influences of the West (including the USA) and replace their government with Islam fundamentalist leaders.
 * 3) **Who is/are the leader(s)?** Osama Bin Laden formed Al-Qaeda in 1988. Here is a site that has a profile of the other main leaders of Al-Qaeda.
 * 4) **How many members are in al-Qaeda?** The exact number isn't known because the organization is so spread out. Experts estimate that several hundred to several thousand members make up al-Qaeda.

[|Q&A website run by the Council on Foreign Relations] map: []