Imagine waking up to the sound of screams and gunfire. On August 8, 1998, the Taliban brutally attacked the city of Mazar-i Sharif. The Taliban had been fighting a war with an ethnic group called the Hazaras, a group of predominantly Shiite people in northern/central Afghanistan, because they were not Muslim. This attack took place to avenge the Taliban by capturing, raping, and killing all of the Hazaras. The Mazar-i Sharif massacre was a result of religious discrimination in the Middle East. The Taliban took control of entire city and killed everything in their sight. They raided the city in search of the Hazaras, but were willing to kill anything and anyone that got in their way, “The massacre began when the Taliban troops entered the northern city on August 8th, shooting anything that moved. They conducted house searches, arresting and executing Hazara men and boys” (Amnesty International). Taliban members captured and killed most of the …show more content…
The witnesses were mostly workers such as shopkeepers, or innocent bystanders that saw the horrific killings take place, “A witness whose testimony described as ‘extremely reliable’ by aid officials said most of the victims had been shot in the head, the chest, and the testicles, others had been slaughtered in what he called ‘the hallway’ by having their throats cut” (“Massacre”). Taliban members were ruthless and willing to kill anyone and everyone to avenge themselves and their religion. Another witness stated, “The killings of Hazara men and boys appear to have been carried out largely in reprisal for the killings of several thousand Taliban soldiers”(Matinuddin). The Taliban sought revenge for their fallen soldiers by killing innocent people based on religious discriminations. The Hazaras were not the only ones that turned against the Taliban, and not every Hazara was involved in the civil war that killed the 2,000 Taliban
Chapter 4 starts off by describing how Kabul looks after being attacked by the Taliban’s. The author, khandra
Operation Rock Avalanche was supposed to establish peace with the local village people so that the Afghan government could safely build a road. The Taliban used the Valley
Desert Storm was a part of the Gulf War, Desert Storm was a codenamed Operation to get Iraq soldiers out of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. This was the first foreign crisis that the U.S. got involved in since the Cold war. It was because of saddam Hussein. Saddam ordered his Iraqi army to cross the border to Kuwait. This wasn’t some random attack by Iraq. but instead Iraq had been preparing for this for years, they knew what they were doing and were heavily equipped with weapons.
During the Taliban, many officials were able to manipulate the system and abuse their power. Malala recalls Maulana Fazlullah as “a 28-year-old who used to operate the pulley chair to cross the Swat River and whose right leg dragged because of childhood polio (Yousafzai 112).” Fazlullah reminds me of the famous German exploiter, Adolf Hitler, who belonged to the Nazi’s. The Nazis had a strong hatred towards Jews, just as the Taliban did towards non-Muslims. The Nazis wanted to kill the people who they thought weren't as superior as them. The Nazi’s seized the rights and dignity of many Jews in Germany. Just like Hitler, Fazlullah was able to adopt a very prudent strategy which aided him in getting followers throughout the land of Swat. At first, Fazlullah introduced himself as an Islamic reformer and interpreter of the Quran (Yousafzai 112). His station was able to provide wise statements by which enabled him to persuade the listeners into following his beliefs. After spreading the wise words to the people of the valley, he began to exploit ignorance throughout the
The battle happened on October 3, 2009 at Keating, an American combat outpost, near the Kamdesh town in Nuristan province. Nuristan province of Afghanistan is located in the eastern part of the country and is largely inhabited by the Nuristan communities. They exist in four major groups, but are largely subdivided on the basis of religion, clans, and personal beliefs. It is a population of hostile people who vigorously resist foreign aggression and so would not tolerate America’s presence in their land. Their involvement in the attack of the Keating command post was inevitable and must have provided a lot of support, logistics, planning, fire power and command (Kelly, 2011).
By 1996, popular support for the Taliban among Afghanistan’s Southern Pashtun Ethnic group tremendously helped the Taliban come to power. (Encyclopedia Britannica) The Pashtuns represent an Eastern Iranian Ethno-linguistic group with its headquarters mainly in Eastern and Southern Afghanistan. This chain also practices the Islamic code of conduct in their culture (which explains why they had such support for the Taliban.) The Pashtuns gained attention from the world from their support to the Taliban,the group is similar to the Taliban in many ways, they also exclude women from joining, even without women the Ethnic group has a huge following with a total population of over forty million, as stated in New World Encyclopedia. Consequently, the Support from the Southern Pashtun Ethnic Group and other influences the Taliban was able to seize the Capital of Afghanistan and gain control of all of the country from 1996 to
On the month of April in 2004, in the city of Habbaniyah, Iraq, a brutal and terrible act took place which ignited one of the bloodiest battles in the history of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Four Black Water security members were killed and publicly maimed. The resulting battle left a high casualty rate as well as hundreds of American service members being wounded. This is the story of the events that took place after the events in the city of Habbaniyah.
A Taliban leader said that if girls did not stop going to school within a month, there would be repercussions. Instead of capitulating, this proclamation only made Yousafzai more passionate and courageous. She continued to attend school, despite the numerous threats and causes for fear. As an education activist, she was in more danger than most of her classmates, so it was not safe for her to walk anywhere, instead she had to take a car or bus. One day, while aboard a school bus with her classmates and friends, two men entered asking which girl was named Malala. The other girls looked at Yousafzai which unintentionally gave away her location. The men shot 15 year old Yousafzai in a defining moment in history. This not only had consequences for her and her family, but it also had consequences for the citizens of Pakistan and people living around the world. This was a turning point because people began to realize that the Taliban would target anyone with opposing views, even teenage girls.
The 1980 summer Olympics, or more formally known as Games of the XXII Olympiad, was held in Moscow in the Soviet Union. Moscow proved to serve as a sufficient location for the Summer Games, proving itself with its size and budget, it was also an opportunity to elicit new jobs into the community and to increase in tourism rates. However, in Christmas 1979, Soviet Union paratroopers landed in Kabal, capital to Afghanistan. The country was already at the grip of war and its monarchy was decreasing in power. The Prime Minister of Afghanistan, Hazifullah Amin, wanted to add a more Western culture into the country and relieve the country of its Muslim tradition. A majority of the country was angered by this because Muslim belief was common. Soon enough, Afghan residents would react by joining the Mujahdeen, a guerrilla force composed of Muslims. The Mujahdeen declared a jihad, a holy war, on the Amin government of which included Russia. The Soviet Union took action on December 27th, 1979 by murdering Amin and appointed Kamal Barbak to lead Afghanistan. Many countries were disapproving of Russia's actions and in their perspective, felt that it was both inappropriate and unnecessary in Russia's involvement.
Certain revolutions in Afghanistan occurred between 1978 and 2001 which caused the US War with Afghanistan. The United States helped Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel by giving them military weapons and, as a result, the Soviet Union viewed this as if the United States was trying to have power over the Middle East. After the collapse of the Soviet regime in Afghanistan, Afghan socialists fought over power, which led to the creation of Taliban by Mullah Omar, a religious preacher who taught in Pakistan. During Mullah Omar’s time, Osama Bin-Laden came to Afghanistan and he ...
The Taliban would kill people over a wrong glance which makes it super risky and there was no guarantee that Amir would make it home alive. Amir also showed bravery (288) when he fought Assef. He could have been a coward and left, allowing for Sohrab to take the beating like Hassan had done for Amir in the past, but instead he fought. This was brave because Assef was extremely violent with no moral which makes him a vicious fighter. There was a good chance Assef was going to kill Amir during the fight, but Amir did it anyways because he wanted to save Sohrab. The final example of Amir being brave was when he stood up for Sohrab to the General: “And one more thing, General Sahib,” I said. “ You will never again refer to him as ‘Hazara boy’ in my presence. He has a name and it’s Sohrab.”’ (pg. 361). The General and Amir had always had a shaky relationship and Amir had always been a bit timid towards the General. However, Amir didn’t stand for Sohrab being called a ‘Hazara boy’, a racist term that was offensive. Instead he stood up for Sohrab and made sure that Sohrab was not going to be called names like that which was brave of Amir. Amir's bravery shows that he has put in the effort to be worthy of forgiveness.
It can be traced back that Thomas Hobbes first formulated the idea of deterrence. Advocates of deterrence theory “believe that people choose to obey or violate the law after calculating the gains and consequences of their actions” (Onwudiwe, Odo, Onyeozili). Essentially, as stated above, individuals will engage in crime when the benefit of the crime outweighs the cost of committing the crime (punishment). Personally, I believe that individuals that are part of the Operation Ceasefire end their “street days” because they are mostly scared of the harsh consequences that will follow if they continue to engage in a life of crime. Operation Ceasefire may align well with theories such as deterrence theory, but maybe not so much with others. When
Iraq’s history is one of both prosperity and violence, and dates back to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia. While dominated by a variety of civilizations, the region enjoyed a relatively stable society. Since the birth of Islam, the religion has been the dominant cultural belief of the region, and has made its way into the laws and ruling of the region. (InDepth Info, 2010)
Operation Vigilant Resolve is considered to be one of the largest blunders of the United States military during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Politics, negative press coverage, lack of operational planning, and the sheer number of the enemy in an urban environment contributed immensely to the failure of this operation. There were numerous casualties among the United States and allied forces, more than most previous battles in the Iraq Theater.
The war began on December 27, 1979 when Soviet paratroopers invaded Kabul, Afghanistan. The Soviet troops made assaults on key positions like military and communication centers. The main objective was to kill Hafizullah Amin, who was the leader of Afghanistan after ordering the assassination of Nur Muhammad Taraki, who was the leader of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan. The Soviets succeeded in killing Amin after assaulting his presidential palace and set up a “puppet government”. The “puppet government” would be led by Banner party leader Babrak Karmal. Karmal had no significant power in Afghanistan, only the Soviet army to keep him in power and control Afghanistan. Within weeks after the invasion, the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan would be ousted from the region and replaced by Soviet forces. Soviet forces would next encounter an enemy that hid in the mountains and fought with guerilla tactics. This Muslim rebellion group would be known as the Mujahideen.