Dear students,
Last friday, a strange anniversary reminds us since 2001, the Americans started to discharge Afghanistan from Talibans. That's why we would like you to have a look on BBC website:
Secret of the Taliban's success
By M Ilyas Khan BBC News, Islamabad
(You will find here an extract, learn more on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15132461 )
Ten years ago, Taliban fighters in their thousands abandoned power, fled their military posts and melted away into the countryside, allowing Western-led forces to capture Afghanistan without a fight.
Today, that rag-tag militia has evolved into a sophisticated guerrilla force which has recently hit several high-value targets and all but derailed American plans for a smooth and successful drawdown of troops.
Significantly, they have achieved this despite the absence of a charismatic leader, a unified chain of command and a politico-economic vision.
So how did they do it?
Until three years after their government was ousted by coalition forces in October 2001, there was little Taliban activity in Afghanistan.
"Taliban were initially welcomed by the Afghan people for bringing a four-year long civil war to an end, but when they started to implement their strict Islamic code, the people got fed up," says Brig (retired) Mehmood Shah, a former head of security for Pakistan's north-western tribal areas.
"People welcomed the Americans [because] they saw them as their liberators. There was no room for the Taliban to stage a comeback immediately."
By M Ilyas Khan BBC News, Islamabad
(You will find here an extract, learn more on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15132461 )
Ten years ago, Taliban fighters in their thousands abandoned power, fled their military posts and melted away into the countryside, allowing Western-led forces to capture Afghanistan without a fight.
Today, that rag-tag militia has evolved into a sophisticated guerrilla force which has recently hit several high-value targets and all but derailed American plans for a smooth and successful drawdown of troops.
Significantly, they have achieved this despite the absence of a charismatic leader, a unified chain of command and a politico-economic vision.
So how did they do it?
Until three years after their government was ousted by coalition forces in October 2001, there was little Taliban activity in Afghanistan.
"Taliban were initially welcomed by the Afghan people for bringing a four-year long civil war to an end, but when they started to implement their strict Islamic code, the people got fed up," says Brig (retired) Mehmood Shah, a former head of security for Pakistan's north-western tribal areas.
"People welcomed the Americans [because] they saw them as their liberators. There was no room for the Taliban to stage a comeback immediately."
Other article:
“Start Quote"
I think the Pakistani military... tolerated the Taliban and also helped them”
End Quote Hasan Askari Rizvi Defence analyst
By 2006, however, the Taliban had infiltrated large parts of the south - especially the provinces of Zabul, Kandahar and Helmand.
By 2008, they were spreading out north towards Kabul.
Brig Shah says the Americans made two mistakes which squandered their advantage.
"They focused on military objectives instead of stabilisation and development. And they soon went to fight a war of choice in Iraq, abandoning the war of necessity that had brought them to Afghanistan."
The lack of reconstruction, and rampant corruption among government officials at a time when millions of refugees were returning from Iran and Pakistan, led to widespread disenchantment and fuelled insurgency, he says.
War of billions: How has Afghanistan changed?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15115539
Afghanistan has undergone momentous change in the decade which followed the US-led operation to remove the Taliban from power in October 2001.
Billions of dollars in foreign assistance have poured into the country, most of it spent on military operations. While some aspects of life have improved for some people, the death toll from a decade of violence is high.
Bye...
A. Cuvelier, for http://www.saintremi.com/I think the Pakistani military... tolerated the Taliban and also helped them”
End Quote Hasan Askari Rizvi Defence analyst
By 2006, however, the Taliban had infiltrated large parts of the south - especially the provinces of Zabul, Kandahar and Helmand.
By 2008, they were spreading out north towards Kabul.
Brig Shah says the Americans made two mistakes which squandered their advantage.
"They focused on military objectives instead of stabilisation and development. And they soon went to fight a war of choice in Iraq, abandoning the war of necessity that had brought them to Afghanistan."
The lack of reconstruction, and rampant corruption among government officials at a time when millions of refugees were returning from Iran and Pakistan, led to widespread disenchantment and fuelled insurgency, he says.
War of billions: How has Afghanistan changed?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15115539
Afghanistan has undergone momentous change in the decade which followed the US-led operation to remove the Taliban from power in October 2001.
Billions of dollars in foreign assistance have poured into the country, most of it spent on military operations. While some aspects of life have improved for some people, the death toll from a decade of violence is high.
Bye...
PS: Don't forget Anna...
Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya ( Russian : А́нна Степа́новна Политко́вская; 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russian journalist, author, and human rights activist known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict. .On 7 October 2006 she was shot and killed in the lift of her block of flats, an unsolved assassination that continues to attract international attention.New charges in Russian journalist’s death
By Will Englund, Published: October 7
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/new-charges-in-russian-journalists-death/2011/10/07/gIQAco77SL_story.html
MOSCOW — On the fifth anniversary of the killing of Anna Politkovskaya, a crusading journalist who became famous for her coverage of the wars in Chechnya, a Chechen businessman was indicted here Friday for his role as an organizer of the crime.
The charges against Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, who is currently serving a prison term for attempted murder in another case, follow the arrests earlier this year of other men, including two retired police officers, in connection with the Politkovskaya killing. But investigators have not identified who gave the order to have her gunned down.
Politkovskaya, writing in the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, exposed abuses by Chechen forces fighting alongside the Russians against the rebels. Those forces eventually gained the upper hand, and today Chechnya is ruled by one of their leaders, Ramzan Kadyrov.
By Friday evening, mourners had left dozens of flowers on the sidewalk outside her apartment building — as well as a copy of the Russian constitution.
The killing took place on then-President Vladimir Putin’s 54th birthday. A few days afterward he dismissed her work as “insignificant.”
The charges against Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, who is currently serving a prison term for attempted murder in another case, follow the arrests earlier this year of other men, including two retired police officers, in connection with the Politkovskaya killing. But investigators have not identified who gave the order to have her gunned down.
Politkovskaya, writing in the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, exposed abuses by Chechen forces fighting alongside the Russians against the rebels. Those forces eventually gained the upper hand, and today Chechnya is ruled by one of their leaders, Ramzan Kadyrov.
By Friday evening, mourners had left dozens of flowers on the sidewalk outside her apartment building — as well as a copy of the Russian constitution.
The killing took place on then-President Vladimir Putin’s 54th birthday. A few days afterward he dismissed her work as “insignificant.”
