Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a Central Asian country bordering on Iran to the west and Pakistan to the south and east. The capital city is Kabul.

Background

• In 1989, the nine-year occupation by the Soviet Union ended.
• In 1992, Muslim rebels overthrew the communist government.
• In 2001, the Taliban gained global notoriety when it destroyed the famous Bamian Valley Buddhas.
• In 2001 after the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, D.C, the U.S. and U.K. invaded Afghanistan.

Afghanistan "has been hit by some of the heaviest fighting since the US-led invasion in 2001 to oust" the Taliban, the BBC reported May 18, 2006. "So far this year there have been at least 20 suicide attacks compared with 17 for the whole of 2005 and five in 2004."

Afghanistan, "after more than two decades of constant warfare," CNN reported September 10, 2002, was "a nation in ruins." Towns and cities had become "reduced to rubble" and its social and political structure had become "torn apart by years of bitter conflict. ... It was this failed state, [said] Western leaders, that allowed Afghanistan to become a home to terrorists -- in turn paving the way for the events of September 11, 2001."

Resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Afghanistan detainee abuse scandal
• Afghanistan Relief Committee
• Al Qaeda
• civil war in Iraq
• Committee for a Free Afghanistan
• Exit Strategy from Iraq
• Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the prime training ground for foreign terrorists
• rogue state
• Operation Enduring Freedom
• Opium economy in Afghanistan
• Osama bin Laden
• Reagan doctrine
• The Other War: Afghanistan
• U.S. congressional actions relating to Afghanistan
• violence in the Middle East
• war on terrorism

References

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Tobacco document information

• Afghanistan was included on an undated Tobacco Institute List of Middle Eastern Countries that do not require health warning labels on tobacco products.[1]
• According to a Tobacco Institute newsletter, the advertising of tobacco has been banned in Afghanistan on the radio, the printed press, billboards, in the cinema and other media, since 1979.[2]

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Profiles

• Country Profile: Afghanistan, CIA The World Factbook. Last updated December 16, 2006.
• Profile: Afghanistan, Asia Society/AsiaSource.
• Nuclear Issues in India and Pakistan: Selected Internet Resources, University of California Berkeley.

Websites

• Islamic Republic of Afghanistan website.
• Afghanistan Online website.
• Rebuilding Afghanistan, U.S. Department of State.

History

• See the History of Afghanistan in the Wikipedia.

Maps

• Maps of Afghanistan, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas Libraries.
• Maps of Afghanistan, ReliefWeb.int.

Articles & Commentary

• "Afghanistan: Rebuilding a 'failed' state", CNN, September 10, 2002.
• "UN: Afghanistan Could Become 'Failed State' If Opium Production Rises", katv.com, October 29, 2003.
• John Heffernan and Jennifer Leaning, "Warlords' Crimes: Secrets of an Afghan Grave", International Herald Tribune, February 9, 2004.
• Seymour M. Hersh, "The Other War", The New Yorker, April 5, 2004: "Why Bush's Afghanistan problem won't go away."
• ""Poland to consider boosting troops in Afghanistan", Xinhuanet (China), July 19, 2004.
• Noor Khan, "Afghanistan gripped by worst fighting since 2001," The Independent (UK), May 21, 2006.
• Committee to Protect Journalists news alert, "CPJ renews call for release of Afghan journalist Ajmal Naskhbandi," March 22, 2007.
• Committee to Protect Journalists protest, "A call to colleagues: Press for release of Afghan journalist Ajmal Nakshbandi," March 23, 2007.
• Edward B. Colby, "The Worrying Case of an Ambitious Afghan Journalist," CJR Daily, March 27, 2007.
• Alisa Tang, "Afghan journalists face growing pressure," Associated Press, March 28, 1:55 PM 2007.
• David A. Gross and Amir Zai Sangin, op/ed: "Afghanistan's Communication Revolution," Washington Post, September 8, 2008.