IR 002: Lecture 20 Flashcards
(32 cards)
What year did the US recognize Afghanistan as a independent country?
1921
How did the US provide assistance to Afghanistan during the cold war?
- Arms
- Development projects (dams, schools, roads, etc.)
Did the US or the Soviet Union have a larger influence in Afghanistan during the Cold War?
The Soviet Union
How did the US respond to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan?
The US supported the Afghanistan resistance
What year did the Soviet Union invade Afghanistan?
1979
Why did the US fear a Soviet invasion of the Middle East?
- Middle East provided 25% of US oil imports
What was the covert US intervention against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan?
Mujahideen (Holy Warriors)
Why is the Soviet-Afghan war so important?
- First global Holy War
- Afghanistans radicalization
- Pakistan radicalization
What was the outcome of the Soviet- Afghan war?
- The Soviet Union withdrew
- A Civil war began in Afghanistan from 1992-1996
What year did the Soviet Union withdraw from Afghanistan?
1989
How did the US respond to the Soviet Union’s withdraw from Afghanistan?
- US lost interest in Afghanistan
- No assistance during the Afghan Civil War
- No economic assistance
- Let Pakistan and Saudi Arabia support local radicals
When was the Taliban created?
1994
When did the Taliban take control of Kabul?
1996
What lead to the degradation of the US -Taliban Relationship?
- Talibans treatment of women
- Drug trafficking
- The rise of Al Qaeda
- 9/11
How did 9/11 result in the launch of “Operation Enduring Freedom”?
1) US war on terror
2) Taliban refuses to hand over Bin Laden
3) US begins its intervention in Afghanistan
Why did the US only send a few thousand troops to Afghanistan initially?
- No Soviet-like entanglement
- Anticipated an easy victory
- Thinking about a war in Iraq
What lead to an initially quick victory
- US Air Strikes
- Cooperation with the Northern Alliance’s Warlords
- Retook Kabul in November of 2001
- Inexpensive war
- Only 56 American casualties
- US troops welcomed in many areas
How did the initial US operation in Afghanistan fail?
- Bin Laden escaped to Pakistan in December of 2001 (Battle of Tora Bora)
- No enough US troops
- Mullah Omar escapes to Pakistan
What policies did the US set in Afghanistan after December of 2001?
- Attempted to democratize Afghanistan (2004: The new Constitution and presidential elections)
Why did the US struggle to democratize Afghanistan?
- Ethnic rivalries
- Insecurity
- Underdevelopment
- Religious traditionalism
- Hostility to foreign interference
What are the two main arguments why the US failed to democratize Afghanistan?
1) The US and its allies did not do enough
2) The US and its allies could not succeed due to to many obstacles and ambiguities
What are examples of challenges Afghanistans society faced?
- 40% of the weapons supplied in 2004 disappeared by 2014
- 2/3 without adequate sanitation
- 50% of children were malnourished
- More than half of marriages involved girls under the age of 16
How did the Taliban gradually resurge in 2001?
- Suicide missions growing from 1 in 2002 to 136 in 2006
- Armed attacks beginning in 2005
- US/NATO Death toll rising from 60 in 2004 to 295 in 2008
What was Obamas approach to the Afghan war in 2009?
- Sent 33,000 US troops and 5,500 NATO troops
- Goals: Reverse the Talibans momentum, Kill al-Qaeda terrorist, Train the Afghan Army and Police, and Reduce Kabuls corruption
