Analysis Work of Taliban Terrorist Group - Assignment Example

TALIBAN TERRORIST GROUP Term Paper Student’s Name Instructor’s Name Course Title Date History The name Taliban is derived from “talib”, an Arabic word meaning student. The group got this name since it arose from students of religious seminary (Afsar, Samples, & Wood, 2008). The movement can be traced to the mujahideen who were trained in the northern parts of Pakistan. The mujahideen had been trained to help in the fight against communism in Afghanistan. In the year 1989 after a ten year support of the Communists regime back then, the Soviets exited Afghanistan and left most of their weapons with the ruling class. They continued to provide support to their allies in Afghanistan. Before long, cracks within the mujahideen, who were communists, emerged which led to the radical ideas held by the Pashstun Muslim to take hold. War broke out in Afghanistan and the middle of the 90’s saw the rise of the Taliban. This was attributable to lack of working government institutions at the time as a result of the fighting. The formation of the Taliban group took place in the refugee camps that had been set up during the fighting as a result of the Wahhabist Islamic ideologies being taught in some madrassa, making the students to embrace a more conservative approach to politics and other social affairs. The students now called the Tlibans, presented themselves to the society as the representatives of peace and righteous religious followers (Afsar, Samples, & Wood, 2008). The group gained religious legitimacy when the leader declared himself to be “Leader of the Faithful”, a declaration that is regarded as a milestone for the Taliban movement. This resonated well with the people and by 1994 with the support of the people the Taliban had seized the southern region of Afghanistan. The group made rapid military progress to control 95% of Afghanistan by the year 1997. The Taliban enjoyed a wealth of resources to enable them to carry out their operations. These resources came from their religious allies. The major religious ally was the al-Qaeda terrorist group. This group provided support in terms of personnel including fighters, advanced technology and more tactical training for the fighters. The human population of the Pashtuns also gives the group support by providing recruits, monetary funds, weapons, and intelligence services which allow the Taliban to flee when they have been outnumbered or to lay ambushes on their enemies. The Taliban also engages in illegal drug trade to raise revenue to finance their operations. The rise of the Taliban can be attributed to several factors. The major reason was the approach of social and religious issues by the ruling class. The mujahideen had adopted a communist approach to issues as they allowed education for women, land ownership for women and the participation of women in roles that were traditionally meant for men. This was not the norm in the traditions of the Afghan people. The Pashtuns who are the majority of the Taliban organization, have been known to fiercely defend their territory against any foreign invaders. This led to the need to fight the newly introduced ideologies. Given their military ideologies, the approach to the matter took the form of a military movement that degenerated into engaging in acts of terrorism to champion their course (Afsar, Samples, & Wood, 2008). Ideologies The Taliban ideologies comprised a combination of the sharia, the traditional codes of the Pashtun tribe and radical interpretations of the Deobandi. The ideology was meant to adopt the radical Islamic practices in Afghanistan to replace the ideologies of the mujahideen. The group adopted sharia with many restrictions. This was new since most of the things that now the Taliban banned were previously lawful in the country. The group enjoyed wide ethnic support from the Pashtun since it presented itself like the answer to their search for the lost dominance in Afghan affairs. The Taliban like the many other Deobandis view the Shia as non-Muslims. According to Johnson (2007), the ideologies held by the Taliban were indicated that to promote manhood, women had to be dominated by the men in the society. The group is a strong supporter of jihad and embraced the lifestyle of ‘the Prophet’ who did not get paid for his work. For this reason the soldiers and other officials were only provided with basic needs such as water, food and clothing. The Taliban did not agree to power sharing or even allow debate over interpretations of their Islamic belief. Goals The main objective of the Taliban was to deliver Afghanistan from the control of the different factions of the mujahideen which took control after the Soviet withdrawal from the country. The group wanted to ensure that Afghanistan was under an authoritarian rule that legitimately accepted as Islamic. The group wanted to maintain the traditional way of life that was restrictive, prohibited basic rights to women and encouraged restriction to the freedom of movement and speech. Current Status A coalition force of anti-Taliban movement led by the United States forces managed to overthrow the Taliban in 2002. But the Taliban group has not gone away yet. Johnson (2007), asserts that while NATO and other U.S troops still remain in Afghanistan, the Taliban group has continued to grow under the watch of these forces together with the Afghan National Army and the current government. The re-emergence of the Taliban is attributable to three major factors. The main factor is the inability of the Afghan government to stem authority in the country and to make its presence is felt. The failure to establish any significant development in the lives of the people especially the Pashtuns since the defeat of the Taliban has also contributed to the re-emergence of the Taliban. Thirdly the failure to establish security in the rural areas has contributed to the re-emergence of the group. The Taliban group adopted the shabnamah which is the use of letters and leaflets to pass information. These letters are dropped during the night and bear the message of intimidation and a warning to the villagers against cooperating with the “Christian invaders” (Johnson, 2007). This is a cost effective method that is borrowed from the traditional form of communication used by people from the region. These letters and leaflets have enabled the group to hold the people hostage in a state of fear of the repercussions that would ensue if they even dared to cooperate with the government and its allies. This has led to the slowing down of development projects mainly in the southern region of Afghanistan where parents have even failed to take children to school for fear of being seen as to embrace the “Christian Invaders’. The night letters contain religious poems which have proven to be good at evoking the feelings of the local people. Types of Terrorism The acts of terrorism fostered by the Taliban can be classified under several types of terrorism. The group engages in nationalistic terrorism. This is a situation where a terror group fights for the liberation of the group that they represent. This is caused by the shared notion that the group has been ignored. This type of terrorism is difficult to stem as the group is largely seen as freedom fighters. The early days of the Taliban were pretty characterized by this form of terrorism where the group was seeking to liberate Afghanistan from the jaws of the mujahideen who formed the ruling class (Afsar, Samples, & Wood, 2008). The group gained much support as they were seen as to be fighting for the liberation of the people from the Soviet inclined leadership. The Taliban acts have also shown some traits of acts of terrorism that has a bearing on religious terrorism. This is a form of terrorism where the terror group seeks to pursue their vision of what is divinely acceptable. The terrorism acts here are characterized by the use of violence to pursue what the group views as their divinely commanded mission. This makes this type of terrorism to be more lethal when compared to other forms of terrorism. The religion here plays the role of legitimizing the acts of terrorism hence the violence is seen as sacramental and a divine duty. Throughout the history of the Taliban, the group has sought to ensure that the sharia laws are followed in Afghanistan (Afsar, Samples, & Wood, 2008). The ideologies of the Taliban also reflect an inclination towards religious terrorism since many of the ideologies embraced Islamism. Conclusion In the recent past, terrorism was viewed as simple and desperate ways of achieving political gains. This has however changed with time; terror groups such as the Taliban have been at the center stage in redefining terrorism. The group has managed to appeal to the people by purporting to fight for their social rights. Even in the full glare of major military operations, the Taliban still manages to instill fear in the people and rally them against the development projects in place. The groups have learnt how to effectively ride on the emotive religious issues to ensure that they have a good support base. Religious zeal also has played a big part in ensuring that the group achieves its objectives. Growing poverty levels and social inequalities have also played a big role in the advancement of terrorism and thus the Taliban group has also used this as a way of gaining the approval of the people especially those from the rural communities in Afghanistan who consist mainly of poor people. References Afsar, S., Samples, C., & Wood, T. (2008). The Taliban: an organizational analysis. Military Review, p. 58-73. Johnson, T. (2007). The Taliban Insurgency and an Analysis of Shabnamah. Small Wars and Insurgencies, p. 317-344. Read More