| Sources on Afghanistan Organizations related to Afghanistan Hezb-i-Islami party of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a Pushtun fundamentalist allied with the opposition Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance also known as the Islamic State of Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance is the main anti-Taliban opposition in Afghanistan The Afghanistan Foundation U.S.-based NGO run by former Rep. Don Ritter; generally pro-Northern Alliance Articles about Afghanistan in the General Press "The Accidental Operative" article details the Taliban's public relations efforts in the U.S. "Afghanistan: Heart of Darkness" 1999 article by Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist and the foremost writer on Afghan politics, on Afghanistan's civil war "Inside the Taliban" More Ahmed Rashid, this time an October 2001 article on the Taliban's structure and relationship with Osama. "New Allies Seek Payback" October 2001 article in the Washington Post on the motivations of our allies in Central Asia "The Taliban: Exporting Extremism" November 1999 article by Ahmed Rashid on the Taliban's history and efforts to export Islamic extremism. This link is to an Indian government web site, so it may be edited. "Who Will Rule In Kabul?" October 2001 article in the Washington Post about post-Taliban politics in Afghanistan Articles about the Bombings in the General Press "Afghanistan Hits Will Continue Until Taliban is Ousted" article on the American air campaign in the Washington Times "The Battle to Frame the Battle" - Article in the Christian Science Monitor on public opinion in the Islamic world "Easy to Start, Hard to Finish" Article by Ahmed Rashid in the Far Eastern Economic Review about coalition politics "In Retrospect, CIA Sees Flaws that Hindered Efforts on Terror" - article in the New York Times detailing the intelligence agency's postmortem on Sept 11. "Pakistan, in Border Clash, Turns Back Taliban Forces" - New York Times article discussing the pressures on Musharraf and Pakistan in the wake of the American attacks on Afghanistan "Who Gains from the Special Relationship?" - article in the Economist about the UK-US alliance and its impact on the campaign against terror Other Resources Ahmed Rashid: The Taliban This book by Ahmed Rashid discusses the Taliban and Afghan politics in greater detail. The link sends you to the amazon.com page for The Taliban The British Government's report on the September 11th Attacks and Al Qaeda CIA World Factbook: Afghanistan the CIA's 2001 entry for Afghanistan; mostly data FBI's List of Most Wanted Terrorists - brief bios and other information on Osama and other key Islamic extremists affiliated with Al Qaeda Freedom House's 2000 Report on human rights and political freedom in Afghanistan Human Rights Watch's Reports on Afghanistan - HRW has reports on the records of both the Northern Alliance and the Taliban. I personally think that HRW is too focused on human rights to put abuses in the proper contact, but their reporting is generally pretty good. State Department Human Rights Report: Afghanistan report on human rights in Afghanistan in 2000 State Department Religious Freedom Report: Afghanistan report on religious freedom in Afghanistan in 1999-2000 (2000-2001 report due out soon) State Department Terrorism Report report on patterns in global terrorism in 2000; report main page |
| Links to Sites and Writings on Afghanistan |
| Bill's Media on Afghanistan Published Writings "From Tamerlane to Terrorism" Article on how Uzbek foreign policy has reacted to attacks in that country, allegedly by the Taliban-backed Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan "In Xinjiang, China's Consolidation Isn't Solid" Article on Islamic extemism in Western China "Afghanistan Land Mine" Letter to the Washington Post last year on why the U.S. should be concerned about Afghanistan "No Stingers for Afghanistan's Northern Alliance" Letter to the Washington Times earlier this year on the NA's request for anti-aircraft missiles "Uzbeks and Islam" 1999 Letter to the Economist on why Uzbeks resist Islamic extremism Web "Afghanistan: A Primer" Soapbox updated 2 October on the history and politics of Afghanistan "Lessons from the Last Terror Attack" Soapbox written the day of the attacks Interviews and other Articles "From Porter County to the Muslim World" Article in the Vidette Times (Valparaiso, IN) about one of my presentations to a high school class "U.S. Walking a Perilous Path In War-Torn Land, Experts Say" October Interview with the Denver Post on the difficulties the U.S. will face in Afghanistan "Terror Aftermath: Central Asia Takes Place on International Stage" September Interview with Russia Journal on blowback of a potential U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. "Taleban Insists Osama bin Laden Is 'Under Control'" Summer Interview with Voice of America about U.S. relations with the Taliban |