The Taliban’s rise began in southern Afghanistan, or the Pashtun belt, among a group of local Pashtun mullahs (see “Rise of the Taliban”). However, after the Taliban’s initial military successes, the Pakistani government quickly supported the movement militarily and logistically. The Taliban could not have taken the country without Pakistan’s aggressive aid. Officially, the...
Monthly Archives: August 2009
Venezuela Tests Obama’s Engagement Strategy
The current Obama-Chavez warm feelings are unlikely to last. A pattern is emerging that suggests that US interests and the Chavez agenda are fundamentally at odds with one another (see “Iran Tests Obama’s Engagement Strategy” and “The Honduran Coup”). The repeated collision of these opposing forces will likely cause an end to the recent...
Rise of the Taliban
The United States’ military involvement in Afghanistan and its drone airstrikes in Pakistan today are directly connected to the September 11th terrorist attacks. The US overthrew the Afghanistan government, known as the Taliban, in late 2001 because it refused to hand over Osama bin Ladin who was responsible for the September 11th terrorist...
