Prior to taking Islam and the West, I had no knowledge about Afghanistan or the Taliban. I had heard of the Taliban in the news but never really considered them to be relevant to my life so I never paid attention. As I learned more about the cause and effect of the Taliban, I wish I wasn’t so ignorant towards the issue. We attended this webinar as a class to further understand what was going on in Afghanistan from the perspective of a well-known reporter. Sarah Chayes reported the fall of the Taliban, created a soap factory in Kandahar, and even became an advisor to the US military. All of her experience and expertise indicate her unique position with the rise of the Taliban since the beginning of the school year.
One of the first points she mentioned was that the “Taliban was built by the Pakistani Intelligence.” Throughout the Afghanistan unit, Pakistan had been mentioned more than any other country. When the US helped fund the Mujahedeen, it went through Pakistan. The opium trade supported by the Taliban goes through Pakistan to refine the drug. Afghanistan and Pakistan both contain the Pashtun people in which creates a bond between the countries. Her point shows that other countries have a great impact on one another even to the point of creating the “government.”
Going along with the “government”, she mentioned that the Taliban isn’t necessarily a government because of their intentions. The people in power aren’t trying to run the country, they are just using the power to benefit themselves. She also mentioned that much of the Taliban’s methods were theatrics. Not that they don’t actually do horrible things, but that they do horrible things for an audience and the attention.
Most of her webinar was the promotion of her book about US corruption but there was a question from the chat that intrigued me. With the new Taliban rule overcoming Afghanistan, women’s rights have become a human rights issue. In order to obtain some UN recognition and to prove themselves to be different from the “old Taliban”, the Taliban is going to allow women up to the age of 13 to attend school. They also claim that the restrictions are temporary. With this in mind, many are questioning how women’s lives in Afghanistan will change. To this, Chayes responded that life won’t change that much for women. This confused me. Then she said that the opportunities for women prior to and after the Taliban aren’t as much as we think besides in Kabul. While thinking about Afghanistan, I had forgotten to consider the rural areas or anywhere besides the big cities. Their experiences are much different and are usually the majority.
Although there isn’t much I can do now, I hope to pay more attention to the news and follow up on the headlines. Also, as a part of my Islam and the West class, we are raising money for the Afghan refugees in the Colorado Springs area. This shows that even though there isn’t much I can do for Afghanistan, there are always individuals who were affected by the situation whom I can aid.