From StrategyPage.com:
TERRORISM: The Unwelcome Guests

September 25, 2001; The Unwelcome Guests- During the Russian war in Afghanistan (1979-92, if you count the three years the pro-Russian government hung on after the Russians left), many outsiders came to the aid of the Afghans. The most numerous were Arabs (led by very religious Saudi Arabians) who arrived to join the “Jihad” against the Godless communists (Russians). There were also Americans, in the form of CIA people to provide weapons (mostly Russian made), equipment (especially things like radios, but also pack animals) and training (on how to use the radios.) The CIA didn’t have to show the Afghan’s how to use weapons (except for the Stinger anti-aircraft missiles) or fight (Afghan’s had their own tactics that worked quite well.) Other Americans came to supervise the vast aid program for the millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistani camps. When the Russians left, so did most of the Americans (except for the aid workers, much of the aid to Afghan refugees is still paid for by America.) 

Many of the Arab volunteers also stayed, and more continued to arrive. This is where Afghans began to call the foreign volunteers "the Arabs." Not all the foreign volunteers were Arabs, but most of them were. And the most active, prominent and most religious of the foreign volunteers were Arab, usually Saudi Arabian or Egyptian. The Arabs didn’t just fight, they also set up religious schools and training camps. The camps taught military skills, they also gave instruction on how to overthrow an unwanted government. This arose because the Afghanistan war was seen as a battle between Islam and infidels. Many in the West missed this shift, as Westerners thought the battle was simply between Afghan's trying to liberate their nation from Russian invaders. It was that early on, but evolved into a clash of cultures. 

Moreover, Afghanistan was never a country, but rather a collection of tribes and cities in a region called Afghanistan. The Russians quickly picked up on this, buying off some of the tribes while going after those that appeared to be the most enthusiastic fighters. The Russian approach was to bomb the targeted tribes, burn their fields and destroy their herds. Lacking food and shelter, these people fled to Pakistan or Iran. These refugee camps proved to be the downfall of the Russians. Unwilling to spread the war to Pakistan and Iran by bombing the camps. The most warlike refugees set up operations in Pakistan (Iran was at war with Iraq during the 1980s, and this limited the movement and activities of Arabs in the Iranian camps.) Aid agencies provided food, shelter and medical care, but the refugees had no work. The men would periodically go into Afghanistan to fight the Russians. Those that survived came back to the camps, rested up for a few weeks or months, and then went off to fight again. 

Life in the camps was boring. For the first time, many Afghans were exposed to the delights (or evils) of Western culture. Western films (VCR tapes or projected in makeshift movie theaters) were available. About half the Afghans were literate, and there was printed material directed the Pushtun population living in Pakistan. It was a whole new world. And then religious fundamentalists from Saudi Arabia entered the camps and began to preach the evils of Western influences and the need for more religion. These men were largely members of the Saudi Arabian Wahabi sect, a two century old version of Islam that stressed strict adherence to certain interpretations of the Koran (many restrictions on women and "foreign influences.") The Wahabi also set up religious schools in the camps. Parents appreciated this, as it kept the kids out of mischief and away from the growing number of criminals operating in the camps. The men saw advantages to the Wahabi approach, as it kept their wives safe while the lads were off fighting. 

When the pro-Russian government fell in 1992, it was thought that the refugees would go home. But the various Afghan factions fell to fighting each other. Some of these factions were more influenced by the Wahabi's than others. But none of the factions was strong enough to win, as when one group seemed to be gaining an edge, the others would gang up. Meanwhile, with the Russians gone, Afghanistan was full of armed men and no law and order. It was chaos, with rape and pillage common. The fighting went on and on until the Wahabi's in the refugee camps began to organize fighting groups from among the students (teenage and early 20s) in the camps. This was the Taliban (from the word for student; "Talib"). 

At first, it appeared that the Taliban were just another faction in the new Afghan civil war. But several important points were missed. First, the Talib were well behaved and incorruptible. They brought a degree of law and order the people of Afghan had not seen since the late 1970s. This was very popular and caused many Afghans to join the Taliban. Second, many of the Taliban were actually Arabs, who had become disgusted with the factional fighting and disorder within Afghanistan. These foreigners left the factions they had fought with and joined the new Taliban units. About the same time (1993) Osama Bin Laden returned to Afghanistan (having been forced to flee his native Saudi Arabia for plotting to overthrow the government.) Bin Laden, himself a wealthy man and from one of the best connected families in Saudi Arabia, promptly began raising money for the Afghan refugees in Pakistan. This bought all sorts of things for the pro-Wahabi refugees, including weapons. Bin Laden supported the conservative Wahabi view of life and became very vocal in denouncing corrupt governments in Moslem nations. The then current chaotic civil war in Afghanistan was denounced as one of those situations that righteous Moslems must deal with. 

By 1996, the Wahabi trained and Bin Laden financed Taliban had defeated all but one of the factions, and occupied most of Afghanistan. The Taliban were actually led by Afghans from Kandahar (in southern Afghanistan), but many of the fighters and key advisers and technical experts were foreigners; "the Arabs." The Taliban quickly revealed themselves to be religious zealots of unflinching adherence to a very rigid interpretation of Islam. They were also hostile to the "corrupt" governments of most Islamic nations. Only three nations recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan (Saudi Arabia; because of the Wahabi connection, United Arab Emirates; because is seemed a good move and Pakistan; because they thought they could use the Taliban to keep the peace in neighboring Afghanistan.) Initially, the Taliban brought law and order, which was much appreciated by all Afghans. Taliban fighters killed bandits who refused to surrender and punished those they did catch. Many weapons were collected from the population (but not all of them, as many more were hidden). The Taliban said they would rule for two years, in order to bring peace, and then allow the people to choose their own government. 

One reason the Taliban remain in power is because non-Pushtun tribes to the north continued to resist. Moreover, many tribes, particularly the Dari (Iranian) speaking ones in the west, did not join the Taliban enthusiastically. Heavily armed drug gangs in the west continued to operate, and neither the Iranian police (and army) or the Taliban could eliminate this drug traffic. One reason for the Taliban forbidding the growing of drug crops two years ago was to weaken the drug gangs. So, in effect, the Taliban's war on disorder continues. The harsh form of Islam enforced by the Wahabi influenced Taliban is increasingly unpopular among the Pushtun tribes. For many of these people, their own traditions (which are often nearly as severe as what the Taliban wants) are dear to them and they resent outsiders forcing them to do otherwise. 

But Afghans note that that strongest Taliban military units are largely composed of "Arabs" (a category that includes other foreigners like Chechens, Pakistanis, Turks, Bosnians and so on). Resistance to the Taliban brings on an intimidating visit by heavily armed "Arabs." What does worry the Taliban is the ancient Afghan resistance to foreigners. Even when outsiders bring welcome things, like law and order, they are not appreciated if they overstay their welcome. 

Afghans know that Bin Laden and the "Arabs" also brought terrorist training camps. No other nation was as safe for Islamic terrorists as Afghanistan and they swarmed in from all over the world. Afghans were also recruited for the cause of world terrorism and Islamic revolution. Now Afghans see their country threatened with invasion by Islamic and infidel nations, all because of the "Arabs" and their terrorist cause. The Taliban know they are losing popular support because of this, and America hopes to exploit the hostile Afghan attitude towards their unwelcome guests to crush the Bin Laden terrorist organization in Afghanistan. 

comments?

comments?

>Afghans were also recruited for the cause of world terrorism and Islamic revolution.

A few things struck me right away about the post.

1) The map takes 'way too long to load.

2) The age distribution is 'way skewed! Most of the people in Afghanistan are really young. When our soldier go in there to fight, a) the soldiers are going to have a hard time mentally, because they're going to have to make a career out of killing kids; b) our soldiers are going to look like monsters to the world media, as high tech, well equipped soldiers are contrasted against teenagers with 20 year old rifles. It's going to be like all those obnoxious photos and videos from Israel with rocks vs. guns.

3) These people are dangerous and, if we go about this war with the kind of "management" philosophy that we seemed to use in Vietnam, then I predict we will lose this war.

This whole "Islamic Revolution" is a revolution of ideals! Certainly they are ideals that were nurtured and matured in a culture that never knew the guidance of the Holy Spirit and never experienced the humanizing hand of Christ -- consequently they are, from most of our points of view, twisted and inhuman ideals -- but they are ideals nonetheless. I'd imagine the bulk of our soldiers are young kids fresh out of the US public school system. Our kids have had the whole concept of "ideals" trivialized and distanced from them.

It's good to know the enemy. But this post just scares me and horrifies me thinking about what our soldiers are going to face and what the reaction will be back here at home. Mark W.

Interesting analysis of how the refugee camps played such a large part in the current situation.

Thanks for posting this.

Why are you worried? All the news reports suggest our forces are immense so powerful that it is a million times more than is needed. Remember Iraq? Saddam had the what 4th largest army in the world. LOL

Many weapons were collected from the population (but not all of them, as many more were hidden).

The Taliban are just like any other gang: they disarm the good people all in the guise of "law and order".
The Saudis also disarm their people.
So it the illegal junta leader of Pakistan doing the same thing.

>Remember Iraq? Saddam had the what 4th largest army in the world. LOL

Yes, the "mother of all battles" kind of puked out. Or so it seems.

But if a person had some energy, they could actually make the case that we lost that war...

Saddam Hussein is still there. He still gets to crow every now and then when he shoots down some US drone. He still gets the "credit" in that world for having fired missles at Israel. He still gets the "credit" in that world for trying to "reclaim" Kuwait from the West. And he still cost us uncountable dollars in expenses mounting that whole worthless war. (Though our military loses were minimal, we actually did lose some ships during that war -- it didn't make the headlines, but it happened.) Also, since bin Laden specifically cited how US soldiers in Saudi Arabia contributed to heating up the "Islamic Revolution" the whole WTC can be seen as a kind of "after shock" of the Iraq thing.

It's easy to laugh on the surface. But a person could make the case that we lost that war. (It's just that in the "modern" world, winning and losing don't always mean what they used to.) Mark W.

>I don't know how we prepare guys for seeing comrades flayed, but we are likely to find out soon. In the frontier days after the Civil War, it was calculated that dealing with the Indians cost the government about one million dollars per dead Indian. A bad precursor.

Yeah, that's the kind of thing I was talking about. Fierce people with nothing to lose and a whole different notion of what's acceptable and endurable... Mark W.

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
~~ John Stuart Mill ~~ </font size>

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We created part of the problem (of course Russia bears most of the blame)

Yes we did, the mind readers and fortune tellers in the Pentagon were off the day we decided to arm those fighting the Russians. How were we to know what people like Usama Bin Laudin were going to do after the Russians lost?

From Stratfor.com, War Plan: Part 2: The Afghan Theater of Operations (very long read):

the United States has a rather clear set of options, in ascending order of resource commitment and risk:

• Carry out punitive air strikes on Afghanistan and likely bases of al-Qa'ida using cruise missiles, naval aviation and long-range U.S. Air Force bombers, some based in the United States.
• Launch special operations against bin Laden personally and al-Qa'ida's infrastructure in general.
• Conduct a systematic air war against Afghanistan using resources listed in the first case, along with land-based aircraft based in or near the Afghan theater of operations.
• Use special forces and logistical support to enable forces hostile to the Taliban to overthrow the government.
• Use ground forces built up in-theater to invade Afghanistan, seizing the major cities and securing key roads.
• Use ground forces to invade Afghanistan, destroy the Afghan army and pacify the countryside.

the optimum strategy is one combining all of the elements of insurgency -- from psychological warfare to supply of weapons to insurgents. The virtue of this strategy is that it is the only one that could possibly bring down the Taliban and destroy bin Laden. We believe this is the option defense planners have selected. There will be no massive deployment of aircraft or divisions to the region. This will be a guerrilla war, with the United States orchestrating the guerrillas.

"...one of the rationale's on leaving was that his opposition within would finish him. "

As I recall, we promised to assist his opposition and, when they rose up against him,
we didn't provide supplies, advisors, or support, and he basically wiped them out using
his REAL army...the one he did NOT put out on the desert as targets.
For all our running around screaming "we WON! we WON!", I don't see where we won jack.
Our continued occasional bombing hasn't done any more than create a lot more people
with good reason to become anti-American terrorists.
What did albright say?
500,000 dead children, "we think the price is worth it"
And people wonder why we have terrorists targeting our country!

Very good article.
Several points to notice:

"religious fundamentalists...entered the camps and began to preach the evils of
Western influences and the need for more religion."

We have heard this before...from more than one place....

"The Wahabi also set up religious schools in the camps. Parents appreciated this, as it kept the kids
out of mischief and away from the growing number of criminals operating in the camps."

Commendable...and a tremendous opportunity for them to educate the young "their way".
(Sound familiar?)

" The men saw advantages to the Wahabi approach, as it kept their wives safe while the lads were off fighting."

Explains why this form of religion was popular.

"...with the Russians gone, Afghanistan was full of armed men and no law and order."

A power vacuume that no one group was strong enough to fill.

"...the Talib were well behaved and incorruptible. They brought a degree of law and order..."

Very attractive. How many people in this country would support a group that would put an end,
ANY end, to the chaos? Most people would be in favor of them being in charge.
At least, at first.

"The Taliban quickly revealed themselves to be religious zealots of unflinching adherence
to a very rigid interpretation of Islam."

Once in charge, their true agenda became obvious.

"They were also hostile to the "corrupt" governments of most Islamic nations."

A fact that we should have/should be using to our advantage.

"The Taliban said they would rule for two years, in order to bring peace,. "

"...only for the duration of the emergency..."
A line used by politicians for centuries in order to fool enough of the people for just enough time.
Something we need to think about as our government increases it's power incountry.

"Afghans see their country threatened with invasion by Islamic and infidel nations,
all because of the "Arabs" and their terrorist cause."

We need to exploit this situation, both militarily AND politically.
We DON'T want to be fighting against the Afghans.
We want to help them get the Taliban out of power and get a Afghan leader in their place, and then get OUT.
We would be smart to use this as an opportunity to ally with (well, as close as you can ally with someone
that doesn't like you to start with) the neighboring countries to rid EVERYONE of a common problem.
This will require diplomacy as well as military force.
Hopefully we have people in office that are capable of it (for a change).

Outstanding post, sanchmo -- very important information here. Thank you for putting it up. Very interesting point, Afghan resentment and hostility to "foreigners" who overstay their welcome in Afghanistan. The Bush Administration seems to be aware of this, with its cautious and moderate response so far. (We should avoid making enemies out of the enemies of our Main Enemy. You know the Arab proverb: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend.") Also the derivation of Taliban from "talib," meaning student. Reminds me of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in that respect...teenagers destroying everything that didn't measure up to their half-baked "ideals." We are engaged in a battle of ideas, even a spiritual battle. We therefore need all the information and understanding we can get. That, and a great deal of prayer. Thanks again, sanchmo. best, bb.