Subnostr

Been trying to understand the 80's and 90's and the trigger factors to the rise of insurgencies, guerrilla warfare, and international terrorism - Taliban, RUF, Hezbollah, Hamas etc.

This period was also during the end of cold war - ie US and Soviets withdrawing troops and lettings the countries figure out for themselves

One interesting factor is who funded the “Mujahideen” - who are also known as the Jihads. During cold war, US picked out Afghanistan and Pakistan as the best position against Soviets (in my previous note, the CIA agents shares about it). They funded this jihadis group with training and military arms to go against the soviet-backed regime.

Eventually the Geneva accord was signed which signifies the ending of the Soviet-Afghan War.

Soviet Union held on to its promise and withdrew its army. But US renegaded and kept funding the mujahedin. Eventually the Mujahedin took down the formerly backed soviet regime.

The Taliban grew from the mujahedin.

The various fractions of Jihadist also exist in Iran, Iraq, Cyprus, Myanmar, Philippines, Syria, Nigeria, Somalia, Bosnia

The Arab Springs happened later – as an anti gov't protest (against corrupt gov't) in the 2010s by armed rebellions - starting in Tunisia, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain. It spread even more - Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Jordon, Kuwait, Oman, Sudan, Iraq. Those with oil and wealth sustained. Some became democratic. Some still in civil wars. I'll dive into the foreign interventions during this time on a diff note but this was also when the CIA came back.

But to end this note, Qaddafi of Libya was always portrayed as a cruel, evil dictator. When he died, media everywhere rejoiced in his death. I first came across different sentiments of Qaddafi as I read Frantz Fanon's books - on the spread of Islamization in North Africa, the Black Panther etc.

The second time I read about his kindness and how he was loved by his people was through Mohammad Ali's autobiography. He sent money to build Mosques in the US through Black Panther. He started rebuilding the Libyan economy. He did not want to collaborate with the US and I’m guessing it didn’t make him popular as Libya is top 10 country with oil reserve. He opposed imperialism, removed class system, educated women etc.

But it wasn’t all bed of roses, maybe the first 2 decades of his 4 decade of ruling was great and later he became a bit cuckoo, but he wasn’t hated or feared by his people. I also read how he was killed, including anal penetration.Today there is no longer peace and prosperity in Libya, but there is a ceasefire since 2020.

The world is messy. How do you prevent corrupt gov’ts? Is foreign intervention needed?

What do you do when arm rebellions come to your house and threaten to shoot your family down if you do not shoot your neighbours? Are you then named a terrorist too? I've read many stories similar to scenarios like this.

But one thing I realized is that post colonization, a lot of countries will be figuring out leaderships for themselves and bound to have corrupt leaders, and people have to step up. It becomes messy for some period of time.

Perhaps, this is the adjustment period post cold war which is also somewhat colonization. And perhaps its best to let it be without foreign intervention. A lot of times foreign intervention has ulterior motives and countries are suppressed. However countries like Sierra Leone would not have survive if British did not step in.

I'm still forming thoughts on this, this is an ongoing journey

Mike Dilger ☑️ 2y ago

Sounds like you know a lot more than I do about all that. What principles can be gleaned? I don't know. The issues of nationalism and interventionism remain very murky in my stack of ideals. Generally nationalism feels unnatural to me - humans never evolved to live in such large groups. I think that smaller groups (tribes) have more wars, but maybe among less people involved in each. But larger groups wield more concentrated power and win.

I'd love to hear if you come to any interesting conclusions.

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pam 2y ago

I don’t know enough and the more I read, the more it becomes painfully obvious. But besides nationalism and interventionism there is also the influence on religious ideologies.

I think I should separate Mujahids and Taliban clearly because this the left vs right in the Islamic militant group.

Before the 60s, King Zahir Shah played a significant role in Afghanistan. The religious faith in Afghanistan was rather diverse, a reflection of the country's decentralized and locally rooted political geography. There’s evidence of ancient influence of Buddhism, Greek, mystics, saints, Sikhs, and Islamic warriors.

During the late 60s, there was a rise of Marxism - Cold war started seeping in - and it was a fight between embracing Marxism and Islamic ideologies. Kabul's universities were marked by intense political activity and a clash of ideologies.

Secret Marxist book clubs and Islamist societies operated within the city's academic institutions.

Afghanistan's monarchy was in decline; hence the political atmosphere was stressed up and urgent. The question of whether Afghanistan would adopt a Marxist or Islamic, secular, or religious, modern or traditional path became a constant subject of debate among university professors and students.

Massoud - who eventually became the leader of Mujahid - acquired a different, more militant form of the Islamic faith compared to his father during his time at Kabul Polytechnic Institute This new Islam faith is said to have conspiratorial and potentially violent aspects.

The influence of this form of Islam came through Afghan junior professors who had studied abroad such as at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, where they were exposed to radical Egyptian Islamist ideas. When they returned to Kabul in the mid-1960s, these professors introduced these radical ideas into their teaching.

This shift in the Islamic faith of some Afghan intellectuals and students - changed the Islam ideological landscape of the country during that period (and globally I would think - because even Islam in my country, before the 70s, was very moderate - the old movies has so many parties and dancing and fun, not controlled by religious police)

But the 60s also signifies the period when the British gave independence to a lot of countries - so I am sure there is a huge influence of newfound freedom of belief in these countries - and perhaps adopting Newton’s law and reacting the opposite way.

The influence of external ideologies led to polarization and significant conflicts within Afghanistan – these were imported ideologies : KGB-sponsored Marxism vs the rise of militant Afghan Islamists.

Students and activists started aligning themselves with either communism or radical Islam, leading to demonstrations, counter-demonstrations, and heated debates.

This confrontation of ideologies significantly reshaped the political landscape of Afghanistan during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The US was playing a role here during this time as well through the CIA. And British’s M16 was popular too, if not more.

Russia left in ‘89. Masoud won in ‘92. US interference slowed down at this point. There was also apparently a rise of democrats in the US who portrayed war as a Republican thing, and they wanted to counter that.

At the same time, the late 80s/90 also gave birth to the rise of far-right conservative parties in the Islam – known as the fundamentalist (literal observation of the Quran and the Hadith) – these are the Talibans, the Al Qaeda’s.

They clashed with Massoud’s Mujahedin militant Islam party because Mujahedin was considered to be a liberal party (left wing). The clash between right and the left happens everywhere!

Now mind you, the Quran is very much like the Old Testament - which is very similar to the Torah. The Islams and the Jews have many similar practices for example praying several times a day, facing North, wearing the hat (Islam wear songkok, Jews wear Kippa). There are also the similarities between Kosher / Halal, not consuming pork etc. I don’t see why they can’t be friends in today’s time.

Back to the 90’s - there’s also the rise of corrupt leaders. Iran’s Ayatollah. Charles Taylor who was the leader in Liberia who funded the RUF to rise against their own corrupted gov’t in Sierre Leone because he wanted a hold of the Diamonds. The Taliban’s were formed in ‘96.

Massoud, opposed to their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam, led armed opposition against the Taliban regime. He eventually fled to Tajikistan. He formed the Northern Alliance and asked European Union for support to exert pressure on Pakistan who was supporting the Taliban. He also appealed for humanitarian aid to alleviate the Afghan people under the Taliban's rule.

Benazhir Bhuto was said to be extremely cunning and cruel women – but because she was well educated (Harvard / Oxford), very pretty, she seemed to get her way with everything. The CIA has very close ties with her. There is a really good video by Assange interviewing Imran Khan and the influence of US in Pakistan and funding corrupt leaders as well.

The Taliban's primary focus was on establishing an Islamic state in Afghanistan. They homed Al-Qaeda, but Al Qaeda’s goals were more global, to promote its brand of Islam worldwide.

On September 9, 2001, Massoud died from a suicide bombing act carried out by two al-Qaeda assassins, as instructed by Osama bin Laden. Massoud succumbed while en route to a hospital in Tajikistan.

Two days later, the September 11 attacks occurred in the United States. NATO and CIA then intervened in Afghanistan and allied with Massoud's forces. The Northern Alliance, with international support, ousted the Taliban’s in 2001.

Over time an entire young generation grew through this liberal (but not as liberal as in the 60’s) political landscape - I know stories of young people who went around building moving libraries etc.

Everyone fled when Biden decided to “leave” Afghanistan just like that. The Afghans were not prepared to be independent yet. A young former mayor of Kabul wrote a good piece on this - on why funding Afghans all those years blinded them and increased their dependencies on the US (and why Ukraine is going down that dangerous path too).

And after US left, Taliban took Afghanistan right back. And now we are back on the same Jihad cycle,

This book 'Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001' by Steve Coll - the managing editor of Washington Post is very interesting. It was embargoed, won Pulitzer Prize etc. I have not finished it – I’ve got a few more books in the pipeline before I get to it – but very well written. Could not put it down.