A wave of suicide bombers and gunmen attacked Kabul on Monday, January 18, 2010. Targets of the attackers included government buildings and locations known to be frequented by foreigners. Before the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, suicide terrorism was almost totally unknown in that country.
Learn more about the Afghanistan war.
lol, intellectuals. This professor is a moron. The reason there were no suicide bombings in Afghanistan before the U.S. invasion is because the suicide bombers were the ones in power in Afghanistan. DUH.
Wow Jesusland (aka Crusader boy),
Wonder what they did when the Russian were in there. You are a genius LOL. Do you get all your news from Glen Beck or Hannity? Why dont you pay for the war?
“Glenn Beck” “Hannity”, the mantras of a Leftwing moron. What, no “Rush Limbaugh” and “Fox News” today? I guess you're mixing it up.
In answer to your question, the Taliban didn't exist when the Russians were in power. Thus no suicide bombers.
No. Religious extremism in Afghanistan existed on both sides of the civil war in copious amounts, just as it does today in the current phase of the civil war.
In Afghanistan, suicide bombing isn't a tactic of “religious extremism”, it's a tactic of the Taliban. The Taliban weren't in power when the Soviets invaded. Thus no Taliban pushback against them using suicide bombing.
Describe, please, the use of suicide bombing by the Taliban during the civil war. The Taliban did not just appear and teleport into Kabul and say “hey, we're the government now.”
Your question is irrelevant. The Taliban relied on a superior military force to assume power in 1996 (“teleport”). They didn't need suicide bombers. Nevertheless, where they did need it, Northern Alliance commander Ahmed Shah Massood was killed by a suicide bomber three months before the U.S. invaded Afghanistan.
Whoops I accidentally “liked” your comment.
No, it's not irrelevant. Pop quiz: before he was the leader of the Taliban, what was Mullah Omar's claim to fame? Answer: fighting as a mujaheddin against the Soviets.
They never had any suicide bombings in Afghanistan before the U.S. invasion as long as you don't count the Al Qaeda assassination of Taliban opponent Ahmad Shah Massoud on Sept 9, 2001 in Takhar Province.
Again, Northern Alliance commander Ahmed Shah Massood was killed by a suicide bomber three months before the U.S. invaded Afghanistan. Your thesis debunked.
He was killed on September 9, 2001. Just so we're clear. And to quote Steve Coll's Ghost Wars: “Massoud's death immdiately called into question a central plank of the national security strategy designed to confront al Qaeda in Afghanistan, endorsed by Bush's Cabinet just five days earlier.”
dcrowe,
pretending for argument's sake that suicide bombing didn't exist in afghanistan before the U.S. invasion, what exactly does it prove besides there was no suicide bombing before the U.S. invasion? I'm pretty sure you're hoping we make some leap of “logic” where none has to be made. Assuming, for argument's sake, your thesis is true, it shows only that changing times call for changing tactics. End of story.
No. See above.
First of all, just to be precise and to give credit where it's due, it's not my thesis. It's Robert Pape's thesis, and I'm defending it in this forum. Regarding your question, Pape's thesis is used in the Rethink Afghanistan documentary as an example of the U.S. presence engendering new terrorism.