As we send additional troops into Afghanistan (55,000 total), what will they do? When the US first went into this country, it was for the purpose of finding Osama bin Laden (responsible for 9/11) and for eliminating the extremist Taliban. The population is over 70% illiterate, over 60% of its children are born malnourished, and they provide about 90% of the world's opium. The country is a poor country with a mix of clans where rival militias vie for influence.
In Sept of 1994, Pakistan appointed the Taliban (Sunnis) to protect trade convoys. Two years later, the Taliban is strong enough to take over the city of Kabul & order a strict interpretation of Islamic rule. They also offer shelter to Osama bin Laden. After 9/11, the Taliban are scattered, but not eliminated. Many reside along the Afghan-Pakistan border and, once the US is distracted by the illegal Iraqi invasion, began to expand its influence again.
Many in the Taliban are trained in religious schools in Pakistan. A large part of their support comes from the Pashtun community (where most hail from) and because of early successes stamping out corruption in the country. Their biggest goal, however, was to set up the world's purest Islamic state. This meant banning television & music, forbidding girls from going to school or working, eliminating women's access to healthcare (in a country where a large percentage of healthcare workers were women) and reinstating public executions & amputations for crime control.
Despite this, both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia continued to support the Taliban. After 9/11, they halted their official support. Additionally, Iran is suspected of helping the Taliban, though experts disagree on the amount of involvement.
You can check out a couple short videos about the situation in Afghanistan at YouTube. Frontline also did a series in 2006 (credit them with the photo on this post).
You can view Part 2 here:
Sources:
1. http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/t/taliban/index.html
2. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/taliban-time.html
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/144382.stm
4. http://www.cfr.org/publication/10551/
5. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/17/obama.troops/
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