Militarization and Islamicization of Afghanistan

In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. American policy at the time dictated the containment of the Soviet Union as well as attempts to stop the spread of Communism or the growth of the USSR, a policy known as détente.

However, this event occurred only a few years after the end of the Vietnam War and President Jimmy Carter had begun a large-scale demilitarization program in the United States. The US was left with a much smaller military force, and in 1979, it was close to its smallest size during the demilitarization. Coupled with the fact that the United States was experiencing an economic recession, the US government lacked both the capital and military strength to intervene militarily against the Soviets.

Instead of direct military action, President Carter authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to execute a covert campaign to fight off the Soviet military. Before beginning the operation however, the CIA realized that they would have to find a way to mobilize a rebellion made up of so many ethnic groups. What did they have in common? The one common denominator between so many ethnic groups was religion: Islam. But the CIA did not see their type of Islam to be sufficiently radical. They decided to have the most conservative, most easily radicalized form of Islam imported from Saudi Arabia, the Salaf form.

The United States entered a secret alliance with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Saudi Arabia would provide the Salaf Islam, the funding, and personnel to fight against the Soviets; the United States would provide the weapons and training; and Pakistan would provide invaluable intelligence on the ground and a conduit for the American material. Because the CIA would not be able to bring weaponry straight into Afghanistan, they would have to bring the weapons into the country by land through Pakistan.

Citizens from other nations such as Syria, Yemen, Jordan and others came to join the fighting in Afghanistan. They called themselves the Mujahadeen; “someone who struggles.” American President Ronald Reagan referred to them as freedom fighters, and others called them holy warriors. The CIA trained the Mujahadeen well, but there was one problem. The terrain of Afghanistan is mainly mountainous, with few flatland areas. The Soviet military was forced to rely on Mi-24 attack helicopters rather than ground force. The Mi-24 was heavily armed and highly destructive; and both elements contributed to the fact that the Mujahadeen warriors were being utterly decimated.

After lengthy political and military debate, the United States provided Stinger surface-to-air (SAM) missile systems to the Mujahadeen. The Mujahadeen were able to rapidly turn the tables against the Soviets, using Stinger missiles to shoot down the MI-24 helicopters. Finally in 1989, 10 years after invading Afghanistan, the Soviets withdrew from the country in defeat in what could be called the USSR’s own Vietnam.

With the Soviet threat gone, the CIA immediately left the country, in effect abandoning the Mujahadeen. These jihadists were a rugged people, used to operating alone. This planted the seed of anger towards the United States, but there were problems beyond simple abandonment. When soldiers came into Afghanistan, they surrendered their passports to the CIA in exchange for false Afghan documents to prevent arrest for Soviet forces. However, after the Soviets withdrew, the host nations requested that the United States not return the passports to radicalized, militant soldiers. While the soldiers asked for their passports to be given back, the government decided to comply with the wishes of the host nations and denied the return of the passports. This was what truly began the militarization of Afghanistan.

In the 1990s, lawlessness and ethno-national conflict prevailed in Afghanistan. The Mujahadeen were not accustomed to a strong central authority. Guerrilla warfare is waged not by armies but by multiple small cells, meaning that there really is no strong leadership above the cell level. In 1994, the Taliban (“Students”) was formed for the purpose of returning law and order to the nation. In the beginning, the Taliban was well loved by the Afghan people. The Taliban is made up of mainly Pashtun people and practice extreme Salafist Islam. They eventually came to control 90% of Afghanistan, and began making radical changes such as banning soccer, turning soccer fields into arenas for public execution and not allowing women to work (which creates a problem because so many Afghan women are widowed).

In 1988, Osama Bin-Laden formed al Qaeda (“the Base”), made up of the foreign jihadists who came to Afghanistan to fight the USSR. In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, creating fear in the international community that Iraq would continue on into Saudi Arabia, the holiest city of Islam. Osama Bin-Laden asked the Saudi government to allow his al Qaeda to protect Saudi Arabia, but at the same time President George Bush also petitioned to bring in the Marine Corps to defend Saudi Arabia. Due to the fact that the Marine Corps is a highly advanced force, as well as the fact that the United States gives so much money to Saudi Arabia, the Marine Corps was ultimately allowed to create a Shield to repel Iraq’s military were they to continue into Saudi Arabia.

This was the final catalyst for Osama Bin-Laden and his Taliban. Christian soldiers from the West were allowed into the holiest site of the Islam religion; while good Muslim soldiers were not. Osama Bin-Laden saw this as a choice of the Americans over the Muslim soldiers. Although Osama Bin-Laden had been considering the possibility of attacking the US as soon as 1983, this event made up his mind. There was going to be an attack on the US.