Fascinating: The Nature in Afghanistan

Because of Afghanistan’s political problems, the natural treasures of this beautiful country are often forgotten.

Afghanistan is very mountainous; about 50% of the land is above 2000 meters. The main mountain chain, called the Hindukush system, runs through the middle of the country in a southwest-northeast direction. These mountains are mostly bare and rocky with a few trees and small bushes. The Himalayas are partly in Afghanistan.

In addition to its mountains, the country has many rivers, lakes and deserts. The streams from the mountains run into the major rivers.

Farming is possible only on 15 percent of the land in Afghanistan. Only the farms in the river valleys and the few places where underground fresh water for irrigation are successful. In addition, the constant unrest and wars over the last years have left some of the land unusable because of neglect and the planting of explosive land mines. Sheep and goat grazing make up the remaining agricultural land use. Only about 4.5 percent of the country is forested. Much of the forests were cut for firewood used for cooking and heating.

The sparse plant life in Afghanistan is diverse. Trees that grow in the mountains are evergreens, oaks, poplars, wild hazelnuts, almonds, and pistachios. The northern plains have no trees and are very dry. The plains in the south-west are deserts. Although theses regions are very dry, there are plants that are able to grow there on very little water: camel thorn, locoweed, spiny restharrow, mimosa, and wormwood, a variety of sagebrush. More than 100 species of wild mammals live in Afghanistan; many are almost extinct: the goitered gazelle, leopard, snow leopard, markor goat, and Bactrian deer. In addition to the common wild animals such as bears, wolves and foxes, there are also marco Polo sheep, ibex, mongooses and wild boar. Small animals include hedgehogs, shrews, hares, bats, and other rodents. More than 380 species of bird are found in Afghanistan and more than 200 species use Afghan lands and lakes as breeding grounds. Flamingo and other water birds, such as duck, breed in the lake areas. Partridges are common, but bird hunting is popular, primarily as a food source, and many species, including some endangered species, are dying out.

World Trade Center

The current war in Afghanistan started on October 7, 2001 after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Terrorists hijacked the American Airlines Flight 11 and crashed into the northern tower of the World Trade Center twin towers. Seventeen minutes later a second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, which had also been hijacked, crashed into the southern tower. Although fewer people died in the crash into the southern tower because they had time to leave the tower after the crash into the northern tower, between 2,500 and 3,000 people died when the two towers collapsed from the impact and resulting fires. There was a third plane that was hijacked, but crashed in Pennsylvania before it could reach its target. The fourth plane that was hijacked hit the target and crashed into the Pentagon.

The Afghan terrorist organization, Al-Qaeda, took responsibility for this attack. Their targets are usually important symbols (public buildings, embassy and military personnel, etc.) of the United States, its allies, and moderate Muslim governments. They target America and other western countries, as well as Jewish targets and Muslim governments that they see as corrupt or not following Muslim ways, for example Saudi-Arabia.

Tactics include assassination, bombing, hijacking, kidnapping, and suicide attacks. There are reports and the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, has publicly said that they want to get and use biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.

Future in Afghanistan

Experts are predicting that the Afghanistan War against the Taliban will end sometime in 2011. The main reason is that the Canadian Parliament and the American House of Representatives will see that this war cannot be won and will decide to withdraw their troops from the area. The fighting in Afghanistan probably will not end until a few years later.

Talking to the Taliban is becoming more important because it might be the only way to bring the unrest to an end. The US, NATO or Afghanistan’s neighbours are beginning to realize that it might not be possible to defeat the Taliban with military force but rather by rebuilding the country or promoting democracy.

It will be important that the West can trust and respect the government that will be built in Afghanistan. By bringing this war to an end, by signing peace treaties between the warring groups, and by selecting a government that is able to knit the country together, the Western countries can hope for some stabilization in Afghanistan. The cultural values in Afghanistan must be respected as well, so it is not realistic to support a government that allow the women to wear make-up and slacks. Women’s rights and female literacy must be allowed to develop without needing military intervention.

It is important not to leave a “power vacuum” when the military moves out of Afghanistan, that is, there needs to be a secure leadership in place so that when the US and their allies leave, the local factions will not start another civil war for control of the country. They need to make sure that high security for the people living there remains in place and that the new government will be stable. Only with this solid and secure base will it be possible for Afghanistan to be able to develop peacefully. I don’t think the soldiers should stay long-term, but for the time being they provide stability to the region.

History of Afghanistan

Some people argue that the history of 9/11 goes back to 1979 during the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union had long been interested in Afghanistan, so when the Afghan government was overthrown by an internal coup in April 1978, the Soviets quickly took advantage of the situation. By the end of that year, in December 1978, the Soviet government signed an agreement of friendship and cooperation with Afghanistan. The Soviets also promised to provide the new government with a military assistance program. The new government depended on the Soviet Union for military equipment and advisers as the unrest by the opposing Afghans spread and the new Afghan army began to collapse.

By October 1979, relations between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union grew worse when the leader refused to take Soviet advice on how to stabilize the government. When the security situation got worse, large numbers of Soviet airborne forces landed in Kabul on December 24, 1979 and joined the Soviet army already there. Two days later, on December 26, these invading forces killed the Afghan leader and installed a man who had been an exiled leader of another faction. He was brought back from Czechoslovakia where he had been exiled and was made the Afghan Prime Minister. Soviet ground forces invaded from the north on December 27.

Al-Qaeda is an international terrorist network founded around 1988 by Osama bin Laden to defeat the Soviet Union. Al-Qaeda helps finance, recruit, transport and train thousands of fighters from dozens of countries to be part of an Afghan resistance. Al-Qaeda's current goal is to continue the holy war beyond Afghanistan to spread and support Muslims beliefs by establishing a network throughout the world. They work with allied Islamic extremist groups to overthrow "non-Islamic" regimes and expelling Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries.

Introduction: The War in Afghanistan

The war in Afghanistan started when the Americans retaliated for the terrorist attacks on New York City in 2001. This war affects us all in one way or another. Anytime someone wants to board an airplane to fly somewhere on vacation, they encounter strict airport security. Anyone living in cities has to be concerned with potential attacks by Muslim extremist terrorists on hotels or public transportation.

This theme also interests me because it affects me personally. My uncle is in the American army and was sent to Afghanistan many times. It also interests me because of women’s rights, which are very different from the Western countries. I know how the families feel who have a father, mother, uncle, aunt, bother, sister, husband or wife in Afghanistan. The families are afraid for their safety. Unfortunately, not many people are interested and people should do more to help end the war in Afghanistan.

Before the Taliban came, women in Afghanistan had more rights and freedom than now. Women now have to wear a burqa because, according to a Taliban spokesman, “the face of a woman is a source of corruption” for men not related to the women. Girls are allowed to be educated up until the age of eight – they are only allowed to study the Qur’an, but not afterwards any more. They’re also not allowed to work.

After the age of eight, women in Afghanistan have to follow a lot of rules. All of these rules and more were introduced by the Taliban; these rules didn’t exist before. These are some rules women have to follow:

- Women were not allowed to be in direct contact with men, other than a close blood relative, husband, or in-law

- The women are not allowed go onto the streets without a burqa or without a blood relative man

- Nobody is allowed to hear the foot steps of a woman

- They’re not allowed to speak loudly in public

- Women are not allowed to be seen in their houses from the street

- They are not allowed to stand out on their balconies

- They are not allowed to be on radio or television

- It is not allowed to take pictures of women and display these pictures

They are punished in many different ways if they are caught not following the rules. Some of the punishments included public beatings, stoning, and imprisonment. The husbands could also be punished for not looking after their women.

Women and men should have the same rights and should be treated equally. I think these rules are wrong because I think the men only want to show power to other men so the other men have respect for them.

I don’t support the war, but the Americans could help the Afghan people to chose a government and support them as well as they can so the soldiers can go home to their families.