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| '''Afghanistan''' is a landlocked country in ]. It borders ], ], ], ], ] and ]. | |||
| Its capital is ]. Other towns and cities include: ], ], ], ]. | |||
| '''Partial recent history:''' | |||
| After a brief communist government, then ] support of the opposition, Afghanistan was invaded by the ] from ] - ] -- one of the hot spots of the ]. ], the United States, and other countries backed the ] against the USSR. After the USSR withdrew, the nation suffered from intense factional fighting. In ] the ], a group of "Islamic students" supported by ] fought for and took control of most of the country except the northeast. Relative peace and stability was restored, albeit through severe ] laws, restricting a wide range of freedoms in an effort to realize their idea of a true and pure Islamic state. | |||
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| Through the year of 2001, the Taliban were only ever recognized by three other countries as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. The non-Taliban mujahedin and other groups making up the ] coalition controlled only small areas, mainly in the northeast. | |||
| On October 7, 2001, after refusing offers by the Afghanistan de facto government to have ] tried in court in a Muslim third party state, the United States began ] claiming this was a response to the ], which the United States asserted was the responsibility of ] and the ] network, both in Afghanistan under Taliban protection. After the attack, those few countries which recognized the Taliban cut off diplomatic contact. | |||
| In November 2001, with US support including heavy air bombardment of the Taliban front lines, the Northern Alliance advanced rapidly to control most of the country. The Taliban soon controlled only small areas, overwhelmed later. | |||
| As of mid-2002, an interim government is in place, led by ], with many elements from the Northern Alliance, and a mix from other regional and ethnic groups formed from the transition government by the ]. Troops and ] from the United States and a number of other countries are there, some to keep the peace, some still looking for Taliban and al Qaeda personnel. A UN peacekeeping force operates only in the capital of Kabul. Much of the al Qaeda infrastructure in Afghanistan has been destroyed, and Osama bin Laden and most other al Qaeda and Taliban leaders remain at large. | |||
| ] organizations, including the ], are concerned that the Northern Alliance may be as oppressive as the Taliban. The fact that the Northern Alliance is made up of mostly ethnic minorities makes it less-than-palatable to the majority ] citizens of Afghanistan. | |||
| There are still two million refugees each in both Pakistan and ], and one million internally displaced in Afghanistan. | |||
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| <b>External links and references</b> | |||
| * Library of Congress country study (public domain) -- http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/aftoc.html | |||
| * http://www.HavenWorks.com/world/afghanistan | |||
| * Brzezinski interview re US involvement before USSR invasion: http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/BRZ110A.html | |||
| * | |||