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Prince Tuyishime
4/1/14
4th Hour
War In Afghanistan
Afghanistan is a topic that is highly discussed every time people turn on the news. Everyday,
there is another new story about the horrors in the small country of Afghanistan and the progress of the
war. Even though it is reiterated plenty of time throughout the day, it is not common knowledge about
the history of the war, its affects and its solutions.
Afghanistan is a tiny country in the Middle East. It has high Mountain ranges in the North East
and dry deserts in the South. These natural boundaries provide an impasse that protect them from
invaders. It also gave them an immense advantage in their war against the communist Soviet Union
which they won. So when the United States threatened to declare war on their small nation, the civilians
and official were not frightened since they have been in the face of adversity and prevailed.
During the post WWII era, the soviet was on a conquering spree. It stumbled across the little
country of Afghanistan. They saw potential in its strategic location so In december 1979, the Soviet Red
Army invaded with about 50,000 soldier who controlled cities and highways.(Fiscus 13)
The Afghans of the nation didnt give up as quickly though. Fiscus stated in his book, The
Soviet Invasion united the great majority of Afghans in an overriding cause-drive the Soviets out. To
fight the invaders, Afghan soldiers called Mujahideen or Soldiers of God adapted hit and run guerrilla
warfare. They received a lot of support from neighboring countries such as Pakistan who took in
refugees fleeing the war and supplied them with weapons and soldiers. Other countries sent in money,
even the United States sent C.I.A. people to train their soldiers.

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Afghanistan had beat the massive Soviet Union but it was soon to face its own conflicts in its
own country. Islam conservatives began to rise to power creating fractions in the already unstable
country. A civil war broke out with every religion trying to take down each other. The civil war
devastated the country unlike the Soviet War. They destroyed cities and land unlike before. In the end,
Islam emerged victorious among all the other religions. They created a tyrannical group which would
come to be known as the Taliban. They became ruthless and began passing laws to protect themselves
from western influence believing that it would cause discontent in the conservative country. The Taliban
would blend tribal law and conservative Islam, turning Afghanistan into the most conservative and
oppressive Islamic state on the earth. Some of these laws was prohibiting travel and harsh laws against
women of the nation.It was actions like this that led to its long enmity towards the united states.One
person who had the most hatred for the United States and what it stands for was Osama Bin Laden, but
he hadnt always been that way. He was born into a wealthy family that was also strict. Osama was
exposed very early on his age to this experience but he lost his father when he was 13. He married at
the age of 17 to a Syrian girl who was a relative. He grew up as religiously committed boy and the early
marriage was another factor of protecting him from corruption. Despite all the protection his parents
tried to provide, it would all be in vain. (A Biography)
During the Soviet invasion in, Osama Bin Laden help the forces tremendously in supplying them
with money from his wealth. He inherited his family's company and was able to supply more money and
began spending more time inside Afghanistan. While he was there, he built a guesthouse in 1984. This
guest house was to establish his presence in Afghanistan and troops would frequently stop by the
guesthouse before moving to the front lines. At the time, he didnt have any troops but that would soon
change.After The Soviet War, He traveled to Saudi Arabia. While he was there, he decided to fund a

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group which would help afghan veterans. This group got larger and soon turned into the organization
known as The Base also known as Al Qaeda. This group was full of Afghan veterans and Mujahideen
warriors. Bin Laden was outraged when the government allowed U.S. troops to be stationed in Saudi
Arabia, the birthplace of Islam. In 1991 he was expelled from Saudi Arabia for anti-government
activities. After being expelled, he moved his operations out of the country and his group took a radical
turn against western civilization with Osama Bin Laden as its leader. They planned bombings in the
continent of Africa, destroying hundred U.S. embassies. In every passing bombing, they grew in number
and in power. During all those years of waiting patiently, Osama Bin Laden was ready to put in motion
an attack ten years in the making against the United states. (A Biography of)
His devastating attack came the morning of September 11 at 8:45. Islamic terrorist had
hijacked an aircraft and were steering it into the world trade center. Two more attacks preceded after
that with on hitting the second world trade center building and another hitting the Pentagon. These
attacks are what prompt America to fight against terrorism. One month after these attacks, the found the
whereabouts of one of the ringleader of the attacks. His name was Osama Bin Laden. The United
States threatened to declare war on Afghanistan unless they handed him over. Afghanistan refused
adamantly stating that their guest had no involvement in the attacks.
Ever since then america has been at war with Afghanistan. It has been a brutal 13 years since
the start of the war, and there are still no agreement on how to end the war. Many people, like Rory
Stewart believe the war should have ended a long time ago. He, like many other americans, ask the
government What are we doing? Why are we still stuck in Afghanistan?. These questions have been
the basis of whether we should really be in Afghanistan after all these years. Recently though, our own
president, Barack Obama has ordered pentagon for a full withdrawal by the end of 2014. It still not

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clear if some troops are to stay behind and make sure the Taliban and Al-Qaeda influence are to not
rise again but the full withdrawal is seeming more of a reality as the relationship between Our president
and Afghanistan president, Hamid Karzai, turns more sour.
Even though relationships are turning bitter, there is a silver lining in the midst of all this storm.
Almost all the men and women who have served for this country are coming back, but with them is a
price they are burdened with form they liberation from war. They come back carrying scars and wounds
of all the stuff the have seen and what happened to them. Almost 700,000 veterans currently have
some degree of officially recognized disability as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These
things might be hard to cope with, especially for families of people in the armed forces. Thats why most
people who go to war have elevated abuse of alcohol, drugs, child abuse and even suicide. These
symptoms has spurred some good samaritans to fund organizations to help ease the transitions for our
scarred soldiers. Wounded Warrior Project is one of the numerous organization dedicated to this cause.
''This year, Wounded Warrior Project committed $30 million to help 250 of our most severely injured
warriors who need a lifetime of support.'' With their generous help, they have been a big step in help
these fighters.
With the war drawing to a close, this topic will cease to be discussed as often. People will
gradually move on with their lives, another war shall come along, butv long after the last bullet is shot,
the affect of it shall linger on in our memories.