Bridget Vaughey

Barnett
APWH Final Project
4/17/17

Explain the continuities and changes over time between

United States, Middle East relations from the Cold War to the
War on Terrorism

Document 1: Ways of the World, 1035

How the US ended up in the situation of the threat of Islamic Terrorism.

Document 2: The Kite Runner, 36

Amir, an Afghan boy of high status recalls his life when the Soviets entered his
home.
The generation of Afghan children whose ears would know
nothing but the sounds of bombs and gunfire was not yet born the
beginning of the end. The end, the official end, would come first in
April 1978 with the communist coup dtat, and then in December
1979, when the Russian tanks would roll into the same streets where
Hassan and I played, bringing death of the Afghanistan I knew and
marking the start of a still ongoing era of bloodletting.

Document 3: The Kite Runner, 112

Amir recalls life in Afghanistan, and how the Russians influenced the population
to turn on each other.
Complain about the curfew to the butcher and next thing you knew,
you were behind bars staring at the muzzle end of a Kalashnikov. Even
at the dinner table, in the privacy of their own home, people had to
speak in a calculated manner the rafiqs were in the classrooms too;
theyd taught children to spy on their parents, what to listen for, whom
to tell.
This had to be a dream. Had to be. Tomorrow morning, Id
wake up, peek out the window: No grim-faced Russian soldiers
patrolling the sidewalks, no tanks rolling up and down the streets of my
city, their turrets swiveling like accusing fingers, no rubble, no curfews,
no Russian Army Personnel Carriers weaving through the bazaars.

Document 4: 9/11 and Jihad Tradition, 154

Declaration of defensive Jihad on the west by Osama Bin Laden.

Document 5: 9/11 and Jihad Tradition, 155

Al-Qaidas motives behind the 9/11 attacks.
 United Stated, Middle East Relations
Cold War War on Terrorism

On December 25, 1979, Communist Russian forces entered

Afghanistan. Their communist influences were unwelcomed, and after

a meeting of the United Nations there was a vote of 104-18 to expel

Soviet troops from Afghanistan. After the Soviets refused to leave, the

United States supplied massive amounts of aid to Afghan insurgents,

the Mujahideen. The United States Central Intelligence Agency

influenced Afghanistan by funding military operations. They were

successful in that the Mujahideen were able to drive the Russians out

of their country. An unintended consequence was that this aid, or

weapons, was supplied to future terrorist groups. The United States

had no idea that they were funding and training the future Taliban, al-

Qaida, and Isis.

Russias intervention in Afghanistan provoked the United States

into supplying weapons to the Mujahideen because the United States

did not want Afghanistan, or any of the other Middle Eastern countries

to become communist regimes. The United States has had a vested

interest in the oil supplied by these countries, and felt that an

intervention was worth the investment. Throughout the subsequent

years resentment for western powers and extreme jihadists led to the

formation of terrorist groups such as the Taliban, al-Qaida and Isis.

Their actions upon innocent civilians have sparked the rise of

Islamophobia in the United States, which in turn bred more distrust

between the Middle East and the United States.

During and After the Cold War, the United States feared the

expansion of communism through Russian influence. They aided third

world countries that were targets of communism. These third world

countries often had corrupt governments to begin with. This was the

case in Afghanistan where the Peoples Democratic Party of

Afghanistan assumed power and installed Nur Mohammad Taraki as

president. Taraki imposed a series of unpopular political reforms. Those

who challenged said reforms were put to death. By September 1979

more than 2700 people had been put to death, and there was little

resistance to a soviet coup.

Document 2 is from The Kite Runner, a historical fiction story of a

boy growing up in Kabul Afghanistan. This passage states that

Afghanistan was nearing its end. Before the Russians entered

Afghanistan, it was a bountiful country full of fruit trees and flowers,

wide-open fields and children playing in the streets. Soon however, the

Russians came and blood was spilt. The way this passage was written

shows the authors negative feelings toward the Russians, and the

death of the Afghanistan he knew. This passage supports the idea

that Afghanistan was entering a long and bloody war.

 Document 3 displays the impact communism had on the people

of Afghanistan, a bad dream as the author says. The Russians were

controlling, and able to frighten people to the point that friend would

turn on friend, neighbor on neighbor, and even child on parent. The

Russians seemed to be brainwashing Afghans into spying on each

other for the sole purpose of keeping themselves safe. Again this

exhibits how communism was unwanted, and it shows how terribly the

Russians treated the Afghans. Afghanistans government may not have

been perfect before the Soviet Invasion, but it was certainly better

than what came out of it.

Once the USSR withdrew from Afghanistan the situation changed.

Russia had expended so much capital on its invasion of Afghanistan

that it is believed to have contributed to the fall of the USSR. The

United States failed to have a post-conflict reconstruction strategy for

Afghanistan, and left it to fend for itself. The Taliban then capitalized on

the lack of power and leadership, and accompanied by US weapons

they seemed invincible.

Having roots in Afghanistan and Pakistan, al-Qaida was able to

obtain American weapons. Al-Qaida was a group of extremists led by

Osama Bin Laden and Muhammad Atef. They declared war against the

United States for three reasons. The first being Americas occupation of

the most sacred Islamic lands, the Arabian Peninsula, which provoked

the Muslim people to fight back. The second being the sporadic
military attacks and continuous blockade on Iraq. Al-Qaida was careful

to emphasize the harm imposed upon Iraqi people by the US, and

leave out the irreligious tyranny that was Saddam Hussein and his

military support to gain Muslim supporters. The third and final reason

for a wager of war against the United States was the USs support of

Israel and its occupation of Jerusalem. Many people believe that this

was not a prominent motive for Al-Qaida, but it acted as a ploy to gain

more Muslim support. On September 11, 2001, Osama Bin Laden

orchestrated the largest attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor. He

arranged for 19 hijackers to take over four airplanes, two of which

brought down the Twin Towers in New York City.

Document 5s purpose is to explain that the hijackers believed

they were using the 9/11 attacks to rid the US influence from Muslim

governments, so they in turn could take over without US interference.

9/11 was seen as one of a series of attacks in this crusade on western

influence. The hijackers were not simply driven by hate or envy, and

they did not expect to overturn western society.

Document 1 explains that after the 9/11 attacks the US response

was to attack the Taliban for harboring al-Qaida in Afghanistan, and to

take down Saddam Hussein who was in control of weapons of mass

destruction. Since the Soviet Union had collapsed there was no

opposition. The United Stated could act with sole authority, without

fear of conflict with another global power. Once they had done this the
US found it unexpectedly difficult to establish stable governments in

these countries, which made it even harder to control the up rise in

Islamic terrorism. In addition to this Islamophobia was on the rise in the

US, which lessened American interest in helping struggling nations in

the Middle East to get back on their feet.

Document 4 explains that, in al-Qaidas opinion, this war they

waged on the west was purely defensive jihad. It states that the US

and its allies, including so-called Muslim allies, already declared war on

Islam through the previously stated crimes committed by Americans.

The document goes into detail on how Muslim supporters of this

defensive jihad are able to help, even if they cannot contribute

physically. It states that it is a Muslims obligation to rush to the

defense of other Muslim victims and warriors. This shows the motives

behind these extreme Jihadist attacks. Similar to this was the crusades

during the Middle Ages. The crusades were holy wars imposed by

Christians to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims. It was during this

time period that Jihads greater and lesser forms became prominent.

The purpose of Greater Jihad, or ones inner struggle is the battle with

sin and temptation. Lesser Jihad, which arose in this time period of

1095-1291, defines the struggle or fight against the enemies of Islam.

Pope Urban II ordered Christians to wage war on the Muslims

occupying the Holy Land to regain what the church believed to be

theirs. Christians, like the extremists today, felt that it was their
obligation to fight for their religion and regain the Holy Land. In both

cases the impetus for aggression was religion, men used God/Allah to

justify war, despite the fact that both religions stress peace. Many lives

and capital were lost in both conflicts.

Once Russia was no longer a global superpower the US was able

to act unilaterally in the Middle East. The subsequent conflicts created

situations where terrorists have been able to expand their ranks and

justify their actions. The Kite Runner documents supported the idea

that Russian communist influence was unwanted, and that Afghanistan

was in need of help. After the US supplied aid, their weapons landed in

the wrong hands and opened the way for terrorist uprisings. These

uprisings, such as 9/11 were orchestrated in such a way to carefully fall

under the category of defensive Jihad. Finally, like recent terrorist

attacks; the Christian crusaders also used religion to justify war and

the deaths of thousands. Unfortunately it appears that history has

repeated itself.