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I've always gotten the impression that Afghan rebels, unless they're explicitly Al Qaeda (in which case they're not usually from Afghanistan), are more national
by michaelchisari 16y ago
I've always gotten the impression that Afghan rebels, unless they're explicitly Al Qaeda (in which case they're not usually from Afghanistan), are more nationalists than Islamists.
- hugh3 16y agoYou've gotten the impression that the Taliban are nationalists rather than Islamists? Where have you gotten that impression from?
- michaelchisari 16y agoNo, the Taliban, as an organization, are Islamist. However, the ideology of the membership of any insurgent organization within an active conflict is always much more complicated than the professed beliefs of their parent organization.
- sspencer 16y agoThe now-defunct Northern Alliance were nationalists, led by Massoud. The Taliban (and I suspect most of the other insurgent groups) are Islamists.
- michaelchisari 16y agoTo be clear, Afghanistan has a long history of people changing alliances very quickly, depending on circumstance. Although groups may present themselves as Islamist, that doesn't necessarily mean that their membership have a strong ideological allegiance, and are simply involved as a matter of convenience. This happens in a lot of conflicts, where people often side up based much more on pragmatic concerns (protection, for instance) than ideology. Also evidenced that when conflicts end, many move towards other political ideals, since the advantages of operating under a particular umbrella no longer apply. This may be why individuals within Islamist groups get tattoos of Canadian flags: It's not really about establishing a Caliphate or enacting strict Islamic rule for them.
- MaysonL 16y agoI would guess that most Afghan fighters are more tribalist than either Islamist or nationalist.