The Resurgent Taliban: A Bitter Harvest

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.afgha.com/?af=article&sid=45824

Over the past year, there have been numerous media reports about escalating violence in Afghanistan attributed to the resurgent Taliban. A movement that started insidiously in early 2002 and since has gained momentum. Currently it is spreading across the Afghanistan's Pashtun belt like a contagion.

This paper will detail the resurgence of the Taliban. It will provide a brief overview of the major events in Afghanistan in the past two years. The article will focus on the origins and composition of the resurgent Taliban. It will examine the leadership of the group and factors that encouraged its rise. Additionally, the paper will attempt to discern patterns within the escalating violence and the potential long term repercussions. snip

A Resurgence of the Taliban

The possibility of the Taliban's resurgence was speculated when Mullah Omar
called for an organized retreat in the face of superior US military force in
late 2001.xi Shortly after that the Taliban fighters retreated out of
Southern Afghanistan and headed towards Pakistan.xii In Northern
Afghanistan Pakistani military personnel and associated Taliban frontlines
retreated to the city of Kunduz. The now infamous but clandestine airlift
evacuated Pakistani military personnel, Taliban and Al Qaeda to
Pakistan.xiii It was speculated that plans were afoot to wage an
insurgent campaign against allied forces.

Leadership & Cadre

The leadership of the Taliban with the exception of few significant captures
managed to slip away to safe havens, most likely in Pakistan's tribal belt.
The tribal belt is a poorly developed and conservative region transformed
into a haven for radicals by Pakistan's religious policies, a flourishing
drug trade and freely available weapons. The nearly intact leadership
coupled with established ties to Pakistan's intelligence service, and the
madrassas affiliated with radical Islamic parties form the back bone of the
resurgence. In sum the nexus that brought about the initial Taliban is at
work again.
In March 2003, Mullah Omar, supported by 600 clerics, issued a call for
Jihad against the US and its Afghan allies.xiv The Jihad effort named
Saif-ul-Musalmeen (Sword of Muslims) was based in the city of Asadabad in
Kunar Province of Afghanistan, Parachinar and Miran Shah respectively in
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and North Waziristan of Pakistan.
Following the call for Jihad, Mullah Omar reorganized the Taliban and
appointed a ten member Rahbari shura (leadership council). The council
consists of known Taliban commanders such as Jalaluddin Haqqani (initially
tasked with leading military operations against Operation Enduring Freedom),
and local Taliban commanders from the Pashtun belt. Furthermore the
military committee divides the area into five operational regions.xv

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[soothsayer]

1. I'm still mad that we let them destroy the Bamiyan Buddhas

I guess Buddha would have just laughed, but it still ticks me off that the world did not intervene.

[slor]

2. Who did not see this coming...

and the fact that he still beats Kerry in the "Are we safer" polls. It is amazing. The strategy in Afghanistan really reminds me of hitler's decision to stop bombing British airfields and start bombing cities to scare the Brits. The Royal Air Force got a much needed reprieve and were able to regroup from what historians suggest was mere weeks before complete destruction through attrition.