Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. It has a population of 28.7 million people. Colonized by Ghengis Khan, the Ottomans, and eventually the British, Afghanistan became independent in 1919 as a monarchy. The ruling king introduced democratic reforms in 1964; these allowed extremist parties to gain hold and the king was overthrown in a coup in 1973. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support communists after yet another coup, but was forced to withdraw by resistance from various factions including Islamic mujahedeen fighters backed by the United States and other countries. The mujahedeen were not party to peace accords leading to the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, and infighting between them and other warlords continued through the mid-1990s, when the Taliban, an extreme religious movement, took control of most of the country by promising control and order. The United States attacked and overthrew the Taliban in October 2001 for giving a haven to terrorist Osama bin Laden. A peace conference between opposition political groups held in Bonn, Germany, in late 2001 resulted in the plan for a new governmental structure. A constitution was adopted in January 2004, and nationwide elections were scheduled for June 2004.

As a consequence of decades of war, Afghanistan has been left with a crumbling infrastructure, widespread poverty, and high unemployment that is exacerbated by lawlessness; in addition to general widespread criminality, warlordism prevails in many areas, and disputes between factions fr quently result in violence. The Taliban's extreme repression resulted in significantly deteriorated status and education for women; the literacy rate is 51% for men and 23% for women.

International involvement in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban is significant. The United Nations agencies, which maintained a humanitarian relief presence in Afghanistan before 2001, are responsible under the peace agreements for assisting the Afghan government in transition and organizing elections under the name the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). In addition, a peacekeeping force, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is present, although as of late 2003 only in Kabul. U.S. forces continue to conduct military operations in other parts of Afghanistan against any remaining Taliban and terrorist holdouts; U.S. forces do not play a peacekeeping role.

ISAF provides security in Kabul and conducts emergency humanitarian operations, civilian/military activities, and a number of small-scale relief projects. The public has been receptive to it as a security guarantor, although it generally turns all but the most serious cases over to the local Kabul city police. [Page 932]

Although a national police force was being organized as of early 2004, the government has little authority beyond the capital, Kabul. ISAF remains the guarantor of security in Kabul; outside Kabul, the degree of security is largely dependent on which warlord controls the area and the extent of his influence.