4 ms·

I don't think the parent comment is describing the humanitarian crisis going this far back, but the US is at least partially responsible for the pre-9/11 Taliba

I don't think the parent comment is describing the humanitarian crisis going this far back, but the US is at least partially responsible for the pre-9/11 Taliban going back to the support of the Afghan mujahideen in the Cold War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_mujahideen#Relationship_with_the_Taliban https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_mujahideen#Relationship... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Taliban#Foreign_influence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Taliban#Foreign_inf...

sterlind 5y ago
I tried to untangle all this stuff, but it looked really complicated. Apparently the US encouraged radical Islam as a way of opposing Soviet occupation - resisting state-sponsored atheism and culture and all. But there were a bunch of mujahideen groups, spanning multiple ethnic groups and ideologies. After the occupation ended, a bunch of the groups signed onto the Peshawar Accord to create a government, but a few of the groups (notably Gulbuddin, who later razed Kabul) didn't, and sparked a civil war. Pakistani intelligence (ISI) backed Gulbuddin, and amidst the bloodshed the Taliban emerged as a force countering all the warlords tearing the place apart. Sensing the winds change, ISI backed the Taliban, who cleaned up the civil war and seized control. I'm not sure what radicalized the Taliban, other than seeing the bloodshed as products of moral failing and not heeding the Qur'an. From Wikipedia, the early Taliban actually participated in peaceful interfaith debates with Christians and Hindus while it was in Pakistan. I'd like to know how it got so extreme.
- distances 5y ago
  As usual, /r/AskHistorians has a nice topical article: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/p40j0r/how_did_afghanistan_go_from_being_relatively/ https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/p40j0r/how_d... Not exactly about the radicalisation but I found this a good background to the current state of the country.
- silurian 5y ago
  > Apparently the US encouraged radical Islam as a way of opposing Soviet occupation....were a bunch of mujahideen groups, Jihadists. Radicals and mujahideen are the terms the US media and government use when they're attacking non-Muslims/infidels for reasons the US is onboard with. They didn't just encourage them. They armed and trained them and kept them supplied with everything they needed to create destruction.
- plexman 5y ago
  I wonder how long it will take for the Taliban to do something about the Uyghurs...
- atatatat 5y ago
  > Apparently the US encouraged radical Islam as a way of opposing Soviet occupation Whoops.

sterlind 5y ago

I tried to untangle all this stuff, but it looked really complicated. Apparently the US encouraged radical Islam as a way of opposing Soviet occupation - resisting state-sponsored atheism and culture and all. But there were a bunch of mujahideen groups, spanning multiple ethnic groups and ideologies. After the occupation ended, a bunch of the groups signed onto the Peshawar Accord to create a government, but a few of the groups (notably Gulbuddin, who later razed Kabul) didn't, and sparked a civil war. Pakistani intelligence (ISI) backed Gulbuddin, and amidst the bloodshed the Taliban emerged as a force countering all the warlords tearing the place apart. Sensing the winds change, ISI backed the Taliban, who cleaned up the civil war and seized control. I'm not sure what radicalized the Taliban, other than seeing the bloodshed as products of moral failing and not heeding the Qur'an. From Wikipedia, the early Taliban actually participated in peaceful interfaith debates with Christians and Hindus while it was in Pakistan. I'd like to know how it got so extreme.

distances 5y ago
As usual, /r/AskHistorians has a nice topical article: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/p40j0r/how_did_afghanistan_go_from_being_relatively/ https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/p40j0r/how_d... Not exactly about the radicalisation but I found this a good background to the current state of the country.
silurian 5y ago
> Apparently the US encouraged radical Islam as a way of opposing Soviet occupation....were a bunch of mujahideen groups, Jihadists. Radicals and mujahideen are the terms the US media and government use when they're attacking non-Muslims/infidels for reasons the US is onboard with. They didn't just encourage them. They armed and trained them and kept them supplied with everything they needed to create destruction.
plexman 5y ago
I wonder how long it will take for the Taliban to do something about the Uyghurs...
atatatat 5y ago
> Apparently the US encouraged radical Islam as a way of opposing Soviet occupation Whoops.