Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
Tue Jul 3, 2012, 10:38 AM Jul 2012

After America Will civil war hit Afghanistan when the U.S. leaves ?

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/07/09/120709fa_fact_filkins


A street outside an Internet café in western Kabul. During Afghanistan’s civil war, in the nineteen-nineties, western Kabul’s Karta Seh neighborhood was a no man’s land, fought over by three militias. Photographs by Zalmaï.

IIn the eleven years since the American invasion of Afghanistan, Abdul Nasir has become a modern and prosperous professional. A worldly man in his late thirties, he smokes Marlboros, drives a Toyota, and follows Spanish soccer, rooting for Barcelona. He works in Kabul as a producer for Khurshid TV, one of the many private channels that have sprung up since 2004. He makes news and entertainment shows and sometimes recruiting commercials for the Afghan National Army, one of the country’s biggest advertisers. On weekends, he leaves the dust of the city and tends an apple orchard that he bought in his family’s village. We met for tea recently in a restaurant called Afghan International Pizza Express. Nasir wore jeans and a black T-shirt and blazer. His beard is closely trimmed, in the contemporary style.

Nasir recalled that when Afghanistan’s civil war broke out, in April, 1992, he was an agricultural student at Kabul University. He was from the sort of secular family that had flourished under the regime of Mohammad Najibullah, the country’s last Communist President. The Soviet Army had left in 1989, after ten years of fighting the American- and Saudi-backed guerrillas known as the mujahideen. Najibullah was a charismatic and ruthless leader, but, as the last of the Soviet troops departed, no one gave him much of a chance to remain in power. The Soviet Minister of Defense figured that Najibullah would last only a few months.

The regime, sustained by a flow of food and ammunition from the Soviet Union, held firm. The Afghan Army fought well, routing the mujahideen in a decisive battle for the city of Jalalabad. But in late 1991 the Soviet Union fell apart, leaving Najibullah and his fellow-Communists to fend for themselves. With their supplies running out, soldiers began to desert the Afghan Army. On April 17, 1992, Najibullah sought refuge in the United Nations compound in Kabul. The mujahideen poured into the capital, wild and hollow-eyed after years in the countryside.

“At first, the city was calm, there was hardly any fighting,” Nasir recalled. “It took me some time to realize that the city was calm because the militias were busy looting the government buildings. It took them a few days to get everything. When they finished, they came after everyone else.”


Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/07/09/120709fa_fact_filkins#ixzz1zZQZfLd3
2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
After America Will civil war hit Afghanistan when the U.S. leaves ? (Original Post) xchrom Jul 2012 OP
Too late. It's here cbrer Jul 2012 #1
very obama4ever11 Jul 2012 #2
 

cbrer

(1,831 posts)
1. Too late. It's here
Tue Jul 3, 2012, 01:38 PM
Jul 2012

And it is engaging a good percentage of the Afghani population. People who have tasted Taliban rule, and good old capitalism.

It's the major difference between this, and the Iraqi war. Besides American involvement in both of these illegal invasions, there is actually little else the same. The people are much different. They have different views, different lifestyles & cultures, and were ruled quite differently from the outset.
It's a bit of an odd juxtaposition (sp?). The 2 nations share the same religion, and it's a major part of their lives (ostensibly). But the way that plays out is quite a contrast. The Afghanis seem much more practical, at least in terms of their activities.

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»After America Will civil ...