Taliban

8/26/2007

The Taliban is an infamous organization, having ruled Afghanistan under strict Islamic Sharia Law for five years, between 1996 and 2001. While the Taliban has been ousted from its control of Kabul, it has re-surfaced working with Islamic warlords throughout the rest of Afghanistan.

The Taliban first emerged as a significant force in 1994. The group principally comprised Afghanistan's Pashtun tribesmen who had found refuge in Pakistan. These Muslim refugees studied in Pakistan's madrassas, which are Islamic religious schools. They received assistance from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) - the equivalent of America's CIA. The Taliban's membership grew to include mujahideen (holy Islamic warriors) who had fought the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

In 1994, at the request of the Pakistani government, the Taliban served as a security force for a Pakistani mission aimed at opening up trade between Pakistan and Central Asia. This exercise would prove to be the first step towards the Taliban's overthrow of the Afghan government.

The Taliban's initial conquest was the city of Kandahar, which it wrested away from a rival jihadist group. The Taliban continued to expand its territory, sometimes through armed conflict but also through negotiations and bribes to regional warlords. In 1996, the Taliban took control of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city, thus becoming the de facto government. By late 2001, the Taliban would control 95 percent of the country.

As an interesting side note, the Bush Administration, in consort with Unocal, invited a Taliban delegation to Washington, D.C. to meet with political and corporate leaders in the Spring of 2001. More interested in rewarding the oil industry than in prosecuting terrorism, they brokered a deal to build a pipeline across Afghanistan with Taliban support. In on the deal was Hamid Karzai, which is how he became Afghanistan's President. And not surprisingly, he has signed documents approving the pipeline. A comprehensive review of this tragic tale can be found in the "Pipeline to 9/11" appendix to the Islamic Terrorism Timeline. There you will learn a great deal more about the Taliban, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, as well as their dealings with America's corporate and political leaders.

Having replaced a Marxist Muslim government, the Taliban, being Islamic fundamentalists, immediately imposed Islamic Sharia Law throughout Afghanistan. While Americans are wont to ignore it, Hamid Karzai's government has re-imposed Sharia Law. After all Hamid Karzai was an Islamic Jihadist and Mujahideen, serving as the Taliban's Foreign Minister before he joined Unocal.

As we have come to expect from all fundamentalist Islamic groups, the Taliban's goal is to establish the most pure Islamic state in Afghanistan. As a direct result, once empowered they imposed restrictions on women. They could neither work nor go to school. The Taliban also enforced amputations and public executions for violating Islamic Sharia law. The Taliban, in its campaign to impose salafi Islam, curtailed the flow of information by banning the Internet, television, and radio. The group forced Hindus and other religious minorities to wear symbols that identified them as non-Muslims and forced Hindus to wear veils as all Muslim women were required. In that regard they were akin to Hitler's Nazis.

As we have witnessed with all Islamic regimes, the Taliban arrested foreign aid workers who were assisting the poor Afghani population. On the positive side, the Taliban did enact certain reforms that garnered support among the people. They greatly reduced the rampant corruption that had taken hold within the former Marxist Muslim government. Second, the Taliban diminished violence in Afghanistan by reducing the internal fighting between warlords and diminishing the warlords' control of Afghan's civilian population. During their rule, terrorism was virtually non-existent, especially compared to the level it has risen to today.

The Taliban is infamous for providing safe haven to the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Not only was bin Laden allowed to roam freely within the country, he also established training camps for legions of future mujahideen militants, most of whom were being equipped to terrorize Kashmir on behalf of the Pakistani government.

The decision to host bin Laden destroyed the Taliban's chance of attaining international credibility - at least outside the Islamic world. Only three countries, Pakistan who created the Taliban, Saudi Arabia who financed the Taliban, and the United Arab Emirates who laundered their money, recognized the Taliban government.

Despite the pressure on the Taliban, they continued to rule the country under strict Islamic law and to allow bin Laden safe haven from 1996 to 2001. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the Taliban's support of bin Laden was alleged to be the reason the Islamic regime was deposed in December 2001, with the Afghan Interim Authority of another Mujahideen, Hamid Karzai, replacing the Taliban government - at least in Kabul. The truth, however, is considerably less noble. You will find the somber reality in the Pipeline to 9/11 and discover why neither al-Qaeda nor the Taliban were captured in the invasion.

As a result of an amnesty deal brokered by Karzai, the Taliban temporarily faded into the Islamic community. But they quickly re-emerged and now control most of Afghanistan apart from Kabul.

Mullah Muhammad Omar, also known as "Amirul Momineen," (Commander of the Faithful) remains head of the Taliban. He was born near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 1959. His path to power began with the fight against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, during which he gathered a group of Pashtun warriors to fight both the Soviets and other Mujahideen who were raping and looting villages near his hometown. In this regard Mullah Muhammad is a carbon copy of Hamid Karzai. But while Karzai would go on to cozy up to the Bush family and Unocal, Omar built his group of jihadists into the Taliban. With Pakistani support, they took control of most of Afghanistan by 1998.

Omar is committed to a strict literal interpretation of Islam. His Taliban has become notorious for his application of Sharia Law while he ruled Afghanistan. Mullah Muhammad Omar accepted the title "Commanded of the Faithful" in 1996, the first Muslim since a nephew of the prophet Muhammad to do so.

During his fight against the Soviets, Omar met Osama bin Laden. After Omar's Taliban took control of Afghanistan, he provided safe haven to his jihadist friend and allowed him to establish training camps within the country after he was booted out of the Sudan.

During his reign, Omar never once traveled to Kabul to establish a functioning government. Now that the Taliban has been ousted from power, Omar remains the Taliban's leader and is protected by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and millions of loyal Muslims.

The Taliban flag sports the Shahada ("Testimony" or "Approval"), a common label with Islamic groups and one that is displayed prominently in EVERY mosque in the world. The words on the flag are transliterated "Ashhadu Alla Ilaha Illa Allah (Wa) Ashhadu Anna Muhammad Rasulu Allah," which means "I bear witness that there is no deity other than Allah and that Muhammad is his servant and Messenger." This is worth mentioning, since the Saudi Arabian flag has the shortened version of this same slogan, "La allah illa Allah wa-Muhammed rasulu Allah," which means "No deity but Allah and Muhammad is Allah's messenger." Islamic countries and terrorist organizations share identical beliefs. The Taliban, Saudis, al-Qaeda, are all Salafi, and they are all purveyors of terrorism. Sovereign Islamic nations only differ from "radical terrorist organizations" on the basis of branding and resources. Keep this in mind the next time you see members of the Bush family embracing and holding hands (literally) with Saudi leaders.