Taliban+Control

= = =**__Background Information__ **= The Taliban, a Muslim fundamentalist group, took control of Afghanistan's government in 1996 and ruled until the 2001 U.S.-led invasion drove it from power. Remnants of the Taliban have maintained influence in rural regions south and east of Kabul. The Taliban was initially a mixture of mujahedeen who fought against the Soviet invasion of the 1980s, and a group of Pashtun tribesmen who spent time in Pakistani religious schools, and had help from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI). The group's leaders practiced Wahhabism, an orthodox form of Sunni Islam similar to practices in Saudi Arabia. With the help of the weak government, the Taliban emerged as a force in Afghan politics in 1994 in the midst of a civil war between forces in northern and southern Afghanistan. They gained quick control, which gave them confidence,in the southern city of Kandahar, and over the next two years expanded their influence through a mixture of force, negotiation, and payoffs. In 1996, the Taliban captured Kabul, the Afghan capital, and took control of the national government. The Taliban controlled some 90 percent of Afghanistan and it was never officially recognized by the United Nations.  =**__Afghani Reactions (Beginning and Now) __** = = = Public reaction to the Taliban's rule was not all negative. The Taliban cracked down on the corruption that had run through the government for years. The new leaders also brought stability to Afghanistan, greatly reducing the infighting between warlords that had devastated the civilian population. They promised there would be now more war which made the people of Afganistan happy because they just wanted stability which the Taliban provided.  The Afghani people just want peace in Afganistan they are tired of innocent people dying and tired of war and fighting. Afghanis feel against the corruption they have so long lived under and the horrors of war they have experienced. The people of Afghanistan -- whether Tajik, Pashtun, Uzbek or Hazara -- have been ready for a revolution for a long time.

=**__Leadership of Taliban__** = = = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mohammad Omar led the Taliban group during their rise to power. Mohammad was a military leader who lost his right eye during fighting with the Soviets. He was refered to as"Commander of the Faithful" by the Taliban Regime. Mohammad is wanted by U.S. authorities and has been hiding out since 9/11 occurred. He was suspected harboring Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization. He was a Pashtun and a member of the Hotak tribe, born around the year 1959 in Kandahar. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Following the Soviet <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> withdrawal from Afghanistan <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">in 1989 and the collapse of the Communist <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">regime in Kabdul <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">in 1992, the country fell into chaos as various mujahideen factions fought for control. Omar came to head a group of warriors known as the Taliban, or Students. His recruits came from the Qur'anic <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">schools within Afghanistan and in the <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Afghan refugee <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">camps across the border in Pakistan. They fought against the rampant <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">corruption <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> that had emerged in thecivil war <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">period and were initially welcomed by Afghans weary of <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">warlord <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> rule. In 1994 Omar led 30 men armed with 16 rifiles to free 2 girls who had been kidnapped and raped by local commanders. He quickly started to pick up recruits from Islamic schools. By November 1994, the Taliban captured the province of Kandahar and captured Herat in September 1995. He was famous for enforcing strict Islamic law. In government-run organizations the only jobs open to women were in medicine.

Mohammad Omar

=__**Rise of the Taliban**__=

Various rebel groups started fighting each other in 1992. The Taliban seized control of Kabul in September 1996. The Taliban then implicated harsh laws. Law such as stoning for adultery and severing hands for theft. Women were prohibited from work and school and had to cover themselves from head to foot in public. On Aug. 20, 1998, U.S. cruise missiles struck a terrorist training complex in Afghanistan believed to have been financed by Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Islamic radical sheltered by the Taliban. The U.S. asked for the deportation of Bin Laden, whom it believed was involved in the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on Aug. 7, 1998. The UN also demanded the Taliban hand over Bin Laden for trial.

=__**Taliban Rules**__=

<span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Banned the watching of movies, television and videos, for everyone. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Banned celebrating the traditional new year (Nowroz) on March 21. The Taliban has proclaimed the holiday un-Islamic. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Disavowed Labor Day (May 1st), because it is deemed a "communist" holiday. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Ordered that all people with non-Islamic names change them to Islamic ones. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Forced haircuts upon Afghan youth. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Ordered that men wear Islamic clothes and a cap. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Ordered that men not shave or trim their beards, which should grow long enough to protrude from a fist clasped at the point of the chin. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Ordered that all people attend prayers in mosques five times daily. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Banned the keeping of pigeons and playing with the birds, describing it as un-Islamic. The violators will be imprisoned and the birds shall be killed. The kite flying has also been stopped. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Ordered all onlookers, while encouraging the sportsmen, to chant Allah-o-Akbar (God is great) and refrain from clapping. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Ban on certain games including kite flying which is "un-Islamic" according to Taliban. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Anyone who carries objectionable literature will be executed. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Anyone who converts from Islam to any other religion will be executed. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- All boy students must wear turbans. They say "No turban, no education". <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Non-Muslim minorities must distinct badge or stitch a yellow cloth onto their dress to be differentiated from the majority Muslim population. Just like what did Nazis with Jews. <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">- Banned the use of the internet by both ordinary Afghans and foreigners.
 * When the Taliban took over in the 1990's they imposed a lot of religously based laws such as**
 * <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">-    **<span style="color: rgb(5,5,5);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);">Banned listening to music, not only for women but men as well.


 * Women under the Taliban have suffered a lot of mistreatment. below is a brief list of such mistreatment.**

<span style="color: rgb(0,64,255);">1. Women may not wear tight, revealing, colorful or thin clothing of any sort 2. Women may not work outside of the home, including teachers, and day cares. (the only exception was in medicine, however the physical aspect of getting to work caused many women to quit or loose their job) 3. Women may not leave the house, enter a taxi, or .. be outside.. without a //Mahram// (close male relative such as a brother, uncle, husband or father.) 4. Women may not be serviced by men. (this includes being seen by a male doctor, tailor, or dealing with a male shopkeeper.) 5. Woman may not attend school, or teach. 6. If a man is not a woman's husband he should never see her outside of her //burqa// (a long veil-dress that covers the entire body). examples of this are paintings of the windows so that a man looking in the window from outside cannot see the woman inside, women are not allowed on outdoor balconies and women may not make noise as they walk: no high heels, bangles, anklets, ect. 7. Women are to be seen, not heard. (and only seen as a big lump of fabric). for example they must not talk to strange men and if it is necessary to talk, they must talk in a low voice and without laughter.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,153);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">1. The veil must cover the whole body. 2. Women's clothes must not be thin. 3. Women's clothes must not be decorated and colourful. 4. Women's clothes must not be narrow and tight to prevent the seditious limbs from being noticed. The veil must not be thin. 5. Women must not perfume themselves. If a perfumed woman passes by a crowd of men, she is considered to be an adulteress. 6. Women's clothes must not resemble men's clothes.
 * the rules for the Women's //burqa// are as follows:**