Afganistan

A detailed Summary of Afganistan

Afghanistan is a third world country that has been ravaged for the past two decades by wars, massive poverty, and horrendous crimes against humanity. This country has known little normalcy due to unstable and corrupt governments, the Russian/Afghanistan War, countless religious zealots leaders, and even an ongoing civil war between rival tribes. A reporter described Afghanistan in 1996 as, "it's a country that has not be able to advance since the Middle Ages... with no possibility to ever become anything more."(http://europe.cnn.com) This was stated, during the rule of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which lasted from 1994-2001. The Taliban enacted strict laws and policies that hindered the developmental growth of Afghanistan on a social, economical, and political level. The Taliban's repressive regime is a prime reason that Afghanistan remained a third world country, as much of the rest of the world advanced economically, socially, and politically. However, the newly formed Afghan Interim government that took control of Afghanistan on December 22, 2001 lead by Hamid Karzai, now has the opportunity to abandon its label of third world and evolve to a second world status with military, humanitarian and economic assistance from th

Another burden that the Taliban regime placed upon the Afghan people was the poor economic status of the country. Afghanistan wasn't a profitable country before the Taliban took control, however after the Taliban gained power they put the country in more "debt and poverty than it had previously ever known." (www.refdesk.com) One of the main sources of income for Afghanistan was foreign aid from countries such as: United States, Pakistan, and England, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. However, since the Taliban had such a horrible humanitarian record, "sanctions were placed upon them, which cut their foreign aid by 47%." (http://news.bbc.uk) Not only did they lose foreign aid, since they outlawed western influences, such as TV and radio, the business that were brought to Afghanistan for those purposes were ousted and vast amounts of money and jobs were lost. Another focal aspect on the hindering economy, was the ban on women working, since women were not allowed to work under the Taliban regime, approximately 5-9% of the country's income was lost. Also the government was corrupt. It took the majority of the wealth and distributed it amongst the wealthy. Under the Taliban the rich became richer, while the poor became poorer. These issues eventually led to the downfall of the economy. During the "rein of the Taliban there was a loss of 25-30% for Afghanistan's Gross National Product," (www.afgan-info.com/taliban) and the value of the currency was devalued to a point that it was almost worthless. This devastation of the country's economy by the Taliban lowered the already poor standards of living that the Afghan people had endured for years. Thus forcing Afghanistan deeper onto the third world status.

After Kabul fell, the Taliban controlled 90% of Afghanistan. The Taliban regime had no effective opposition to prevent them from enforcing their views of right and wrong upon the citizens of Afghanistan. This brought about or continued the hardship and destitution in the country. The Taliban's strict religious laws significantly impacted society and relegated women to a status of little or no importance. The women of Afghanistan were forced to live "hellish lives under the rule of the Taliban. They treat women worse than they treat animals. In fact, even as Taliban declare the keeping of caged birds and animals is illegal, they imprison Afghan women within the four walls of their own houses."(www.geocities.com/Wellesley) Women had no importance in Taliban society, unless they were occupied producing children, satisfying male sexual needs or attending to the drudgery of housework. Some of the numerous laws that the Taliban enforce upon women were: they could not leave the house unless accompanied by a male relative, they could not work, they must wear burqa (which covers them head to toe), they could not talk to males outside their families, and they could not attend school. Women had no rights under the rule of the Taliban, and when they broke a law they were severely beaten, or publicly executed. An Afghan woman interviewed by a reporter after the rule of the Taliban was overthrown said she was, "Beaten on the street because she was taking her child to a doctor by herself... The child had broken his both his arms." (www.rawa.org) Through such beatings the Taliban cowed the civilian population into submission. Not only does the Taliban outlaw women's rights, they also outlaw several activities that "lead to a evil state of being" (www.geocities.com) this includes: Flying kites, laughing out loud, playing cards, playing most sports, wa

Some common words found in the essay are:
Afghanistan Taliban, National Product, America England, Zahir Shah, Pakistan England, Afghan Government, Interim Afghan, United Nations, Pakistanis Uzbekistanis, Karzai Afghanistan, world status, interim government, taliban regime, third world, rule taliban, afghan people, interim afghan government, afghan government, loya jigra, northern alliance, interim afghan, advance world status, assistance united coalition, native afghan refugees, third world status,

Approximate Word count = 2403
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History