We have started Southwest Asia with a look at "Kite Runner". Now, I want you to do a little research on the historical issues and events associated with the region.
First, travel to BBC news to view the timeline of the events surrounding the Soviet War in Afghanistan, as it is called.
Question: How is the Soviet War related to the Cold War? How did the US support Afghanistan and how has the idea of who to support there changed over time?
Next, travel to the country profile of Afghanistan.
Question: How has Afghanistan changed over the last 10 years? In the view of the US is this change a positive one? How do (and have) various ideas collided in this country.
And, check out this video (posted a year ago) about the Taliban's rising power.
Reflect upon what is happening there. Is there a solution? Should the US (and other countries) intercede with the issues there or should they stay out of it? Defend your answer.
Finally, think about these two questions on the movie:
1) What do we learn from the Afghanistan culture?
2) What questions do you have about life in Afghanistan (or in Southwest Asia) as you watch this film?
Post a response.
Don't forget - political map test on Friday and physical map test on Tuesday!!!
9 comments:
The Soviet War was, like pretty much every other war that occurred around the world during the Cold War, related and often directed by the Soviet Union and the US. Both superpowers were directly involved in the politics of the war. The US supported Afghanistan by supplying weapons and money, and also by boycotting the Moscow Olympics. Although the US used to back the Islamic conservatives to fight against the Soviets, that has now changed and, as we all know, there is a "war on terrorism" mainly directed against the Taliban.
Afghanistan has lost stability and unity for a long time. When the Taliban came to power after the withdrawal of the Soviets, there was some form of stability briefly, but their extremists practices and rules brought criticism, and when they became involved with Osama Bin Laden, the US attacked them and toppled the Taliban. Now, they remain as an insurgency group in the region. The US probably sees these changes as negative since it brings them to conflict.
The current situation in Afghanistan is really a complicated and jammed one. I personally think that coalition forces should stay there until there is a guaranteed degree of security for the people there. People say that the US should back out of Iraq and Afghanistan right now but I disagree with that. If they do withdraw while things are still unsettled, the Taliban will simply take over again as the local police and armies probably are not yet able to function to its full potential, and so many local people who helped the coalition would be slaughtered. I don't think they should stay there indefinitely, but i just think that they should take their time to solve things properly and not rush to get out as soon as possible. Obama seems to be doing the right thing right now by surging forces in Afghanistan and steadily and cautiously pulling out of Iraq.
However, the newly formed Afghan government isn't doing much to help the people or rebuild the country, and it seems that they are in the same position as they were years ago. I don't know what kind of solution there can be. But corruption is a major cause of the slow progress in Afghanistan. I don't like politicians.
We learn a lot about Afghan culture through "The Kite Runner." firstly, we learn about the sport of kite fighting, and its popularity amongst Afghanistan people of all ages. We also learn about different customs such as marriage, respect, etc. I can't think of any questions.
The Soviet War is related to the Cold War because it of pitted the U.S. against the Russians, just as in the Cold War. Even though the United States did not really actually fight in either of the wars, it helped out the mujahideen, the side fighting the Russians, by providing money and weapons to them during the Soviet War, such as the Stinger missiles, and threatened to hit Russia with missiles many times during the Cold War, even though it never did. Also, the two wars are related because they have a cause-effect relationship. Because the tension between the United States and Russia was so high after the end of the Soviet War, it kept on growing higher and higher, and it eventually climaxed, resulting in the Cold War.
After the Taliban, who were former Islamic scholars, took control of Afghanistan, they transformed it into an extremist Islam country, and anyone who didn't follow the many strict rules there would be persecuted by the government or even shot to death. The U.S first acknowledged this issue of the Taliban after they were attacked by Al-Quaeda members in 9/11, and they immediately launched a full-scale war against the Taliban. Even though they killed many of the Taliban in their attacks, some still remain in Afghanistan with extreme hate toward the United States. So, the relationship between the United States and the Afghani people changed from one of trust and aid to one of hate and deceit. Now, the United States supports the Afghanistan government in eliminating all of the Taliban, who are now labeled with the name "insurgents".
Afghanistan has become a country that is constantly torn by war and drugs, mainly heroin. Suicide bomb attacks and firefights between the insurgents and the U.S. and Iraqi soldiers have made Afghanistan a very violent and unpredictable country. Tourism has almost completely stopped there, and the only people who come in are soldiers from the U.S., France, the U.K., and even more countries to help maintain peace in Afghanistan. I think the U.S. sees this change as a very negative one, but still, they feel a responsibility to help out there to ensure Afghanistan doesn't become ruled by the Taliban once again. Various ideas collide in this country when one side wants one thing and another does not. For example, the U.S. wants to protect Afghanistan, but the remaining members of the Taliban want to get the U.S. military outside of Afghanistan.
I think the situation in Afghanistan is terrible, and there is a car bomb or suicide bomb report almost every day from there, but I don't see any way in which I can change the situation or any way in which the world can help. The U.S. and all the other countries in the ISAF stays in Afghanistan, and the situation stays like the way that it is now. The U.S. and the other countries in the ISAF pull out of Afghanistan, and the killing will get worse because there is not as much resistance as when the ISAF was there. I think that the U.S. and the ISAF should stay in Afghanistan, because if they do, the Taliban will kill less people due to their fear of the U.S. and ISAF killing them. Even though the Taliban have killed many people in Afghanistan, they are seeing that the ISAF is becoming more effective at fighting them, and because of this, they probably will decide to pull back from trying their regular car bombs and suicide bombs.
In the Kite Runner, we learn about the Afghan's view towards people that are of a low social class, how important the sport of kite flying is to the country, the hospitality of the country, how strangers will help each other out in difficult situations, and about the marriage ceremony. I have this question: Is kite flying still a vital part of Afghanistan's culture? Or has it been forgotten amidst all the death in Afghanistan?
The Soviet war was related to the Cold War because is was one of the many battlegrounds that the US and the Soviet Union have deuled. Other places include Cuba, Angola, Korea, and Vietnam. In the Afghan-Soviet War, it was the Soviets agianst the US backed Taliban. The Afghan-Soviet war was like Russia's version of America's Vietnam war for a many reasons, but here are the main ones.
1. The Taliban used geurilla warfare agianst the Soviets because of their superior knowledge of the terrain and the SOviets were unfamiliar with the terrain. The Vietkong did the same tot the Americans in Vietnam.
2. America and the Soviet Union both "lost" the wars, they did not officially surrendur, they just pulled out of the country.
THe main reason Afghanistan has changed in the last ten years is mainly becuase of Taliban Warlords controlling the country, even today it has a president, but he does not really have complete control of the country, it is controlled by warlords who have their own parts of the country they rule.
In Afghanistan people are recovering from the fall of the Taliban, and the new government trying to rebuild the country with the assistance of coalition forces. I think that the coalition forces should be in Afghanistan, but like in Iraq, i think that there should be a time in the near future where Afghanistan can handle its own problems.
I agree with YOUNG NAK because every war or major war has involved the us of a and russia and some known super powers, and now the USA supplied Afghanistan with arms and now they are fighting against people who have their own guns sort of like what happened in Cuba. Over the last 10 years Afghanistan has been influenced by terrorism and conflict resluting in a very negative image form the western world and this has since caused the USA and many countries to go all out against Afghanistan and its partners political stability has fallen and there is no support of government this country has gone down very fast. People say that The USA should Pull out and leave but give the taliban 5 more years and theres another osama binladen theres another 9/11. The USA should just go a full sweep on afghanistan not iraq. they need some stability and control and the obviously cannot sustain it themselves so they need a little push. Curruption is a big cause of the turmoil and they have really bad politicians. we learnt of their main sport or pass time kite running, and marriage and respect to elders and how the city life is like.Whats the gap between poor and rich because the man in the movie seemed very rich and everyone else seemed poor, his car was an example of his wealth.
The wars during the Cold War were basically all very similar. Where the United States and the Soviet Union were often involved since they were both the most effectives powers. There is a lot of terrorism going on in Afghanistan today, which is the result of the years long support of the US, who were supplying weapons in order to fight against the Soviets. This fight is over but all the weapons are still used.
Afghanistan has a lot of extremists and criticism. When Osama Bin Laden had the power nothing worked anymore. It has never been a stabile country but he made the whole situation even worse. However the united states used this opportunity to barge in like they always do it. Their pretending to have the purpose to help the country was nothing else then to face and heedless. Instead of helping the country the US brought the situation to escalate.
I think the US should just get out there, they've done enough bad for the country now. And if I would be living there my whole live and went through all this troubles I wouldn’t want that a people from the other part of the world come there out of nothing and think they have the right to rule. I mean everyone knows that the only reason why the came to 'help' was to get the oil and the country’s natural resources. So I really don't get with what mind they keep staying there. Aren't they embarrassed The only good reason is I guess that if they withdraw while things are still unsettled, the Taliban will take over as the local police. This would result in big problems and many local people who helped the coalition would be slaughtered. Since this is a huge problem it might be a good solution if the US stays until things are solved. But not to rule, but to help. Because I understand that the country feels attacked when some random people come and want to rule their land. So they should just stay on the side and try to figure out a smart and effective way that finally saves the Afghanistan.
A completely new Afghan government would for my opinion not to help a lot. It seems as if this situations is kind of hopeless. I mean the country has been in this state for years now and it hasn’t gotten any better.
We learned a lot about how popular and important Kite fighting is for people in Afghanistan, which was to me completely new. The movie we watched in class gave us also a lot of information about marriage, religion, and cultural behaviours. Beside all this trouble, I think it is a really interesting country.
Both the soviet war and the cold war involved the US and Russia. The Soviet war took part during the cold war. The US did not really fight in either of the wars, but was a big controlling force in both. The US supported Afghanistan by providing the troops with weapons and money to help them out. The US idea of who to support has changed extremely. Before they were fighting "the war on Communism" but now they fight "the war on Terrorism" and because they suspect middle eastern people of being terrorist, they would not support them now.
Afghanistan is a lot less stable than it was before. As the Taliban came into power, the brought their extremist views with them, causing conflict amongst the people of Afghanistan.
I am surprised by the rate of which suicide bombing has increased. In 2002 there was 1 suicide bombing and in 2006 the were 150. That is a big change! This is a very complicated situation so it is hard to decide if the US should intercede. Personally i don't think it makes much of a difference if the US intercedes or not. The suicide bombers hold very strong views which are almost impossible to change and the US can't just come and capture all of them because it is hard to spot one. So this is a very complicated situation.
I find the movie, Kite runner very interesting. First of all i didn't know that flying kites and capturing others kite was a commonly practiced activity in Afghanistan, so that was completely new to me. Also through the movie we can understand how important it is to them to keep their honor and how respect is also a value.
Jorge Che Toledo
The Soviet War and the Cold War are very much related. In both of the wars, niether of the two superpowers clashed against each other directly (US Army against supa Communist one). However, the Soviet Union contributed to it by commititng a huge amount f troops and the US by providing mlitary aid to the DRA against the Soviet Union.
Afghanistan has been suffering invasions and internal conflicts for over 50 years. When the Soviet Union retreated from there, there was an Afghan Civil War. When it ended the Taliban took control of the country and gav some stabiliy. However, when the US invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban, sympathisers started form ing militias and brought internal conflict and instability. I think George Bush and family are the only ones that can cosnider invading Irak or Afghanistan as successful. It surely does bring democracy, but at a cost (violence, drug trade).
In my opinion, the US is acting like a blind wild cat who thinks what he is doing is right but sdoesn't reflect upon it. For me, the problem in Afghanistan is not the Taliban,its the US. They are not the soution but the casue. After all, people aren't graceful for the USA's invasion. The new government is apparently doing fine. But I think it's using being supported by the US in order to ignore the taliban's demands.
We can get a very good glimpse about the Afghan cuture (sports, attitudes) although I think the movie is as amaericanly biased as it can be.
The soviet war is like the cold war in the way that during both wars the US ‘Scaled down its presence’ aka retreated from the line of fire. The US supported Afghanistan by sending the Mujahideen military arms. At first when the US had withdrawn from Afghanistan they had in a way ‘washed their hands of it’ since their leaders seemed too devoted to the Soviet Union. But as soon as the Mujahideen came into the picture they started to rigorously support them. I think this was just because they were opposing the Soviet Union since at that time the US and the Soviet Union weren’t really the best of friends.
During the last 10 years it seems as if there has been more political instability and that the economy and infrastructure have been dwindling. Many people are refugees. The taleban sought to salvage the situation by taking control over the politics. They were however only recognized as a legitimate government by 3 countries. Tension between them and the international community grew when they sheltered the terrorists Osama Bin Laden. they were the also accused of having bombed American embassies in Africa. the idea of the drug trade has been a pretty stressful issue. This industry makes up 60% of its economy. This trade however is linked to the talebans that receive a cast amount of money from this trade. This has lead the UN calling on Afghanistan to try and get rid of corrupt officials.
No the US should not intercede to a certain extent, I think that the army should stay there until things are settled and it is safe for civilians. Then, unless instructed otherwise by the majority of people, they should pull out. They shouldn’t meddle in their politics, sine Americans have a tendency to think that they know best about governments since they created such a good one themselves.
I learned that in Afghanistan family is very valued. Respect and charitability are also 2 very important virtues for one to have. I say that they respect family because before the couple in the movie get married they first the guy first asked the families permission for the daughter’s hand. In our society it is the other way round. The guy asks the girl and then afterwards they decide to alert the family about what happened. They also seem to have high trust for each other since they guy and the girl got married and they barely knew each other,
So far I only have one main question about the movie. What is the deal between the different ethnicities in Afghanistan? Where did the animosity come from? (between Hassan and the ‘big boy leader’)
Afghanistan is a really problematic country for the world, there is loads to be done and sending the military over has cooled the situation but not saved the country. The taliban are once again the cause of hundreds of deaths each month. Recently the taliban managed to threaten a country so much 9cant remeber which) that they passed a law, suggested by the taliban, that women must have intercourse with their husband atleast once every 4 days, also it banned females from going to school and such and that the man has to power put his wife under house arrest. The taliban is one of those groups that will not easily be rid of, like nazi's (neonazi's) only more powerful because they actually think they are doing something right for their religion. Its, not quite fair to the people of Afghanistan, one possible way, which is very unlikely to be achieved, is to keep international forces in the nation, institute a parliament of Afghan representatives and perhaps even internation representatives to firstly stabalize the security, It should be a partially foreign ruled country for a short time (with the poeples consent ofcourse to attempt corruption barriers and political advisories. Just on the top of my mind lol ( probably regret sayin this later).
-DJ
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