The rescue narrative about Afghan women erased US complicity in Taliban empowerment
Evidence
Hirschkind and Mahmood show that the Taliban’s restrictive policies toward women impacted those living in urban areas more than those residing in rural ones, because the lives of women living in rural areas were already in line with these policies. They also note the majority of people in Afghanistan reside in rural areas, and there has always been some flexibility in the dress code. Rural women who work in wheat fields alongside men rarely wear the burqa and are not reprimanded (Hirschkind and Mahmood 2002). Furthermore, if one were to review the history of Afghanistan, one could see how U.S. foreign policy aided in the rise of the Taliban. The United States was responsible for arming conservative Islamic groups to fight against the Soviet Union in the Cold War, devoting aid to the most violent and extremist groups because they were viewed as strong fighters against the Soviet army (Hirschkind and Mahmood 2002). — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 46 (
#corroborates, via linked claim)
According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the mujahideen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan [in] December 1979. But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise: indeed, it was July 3, 1979, that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this was going to induce a Soviet military intervention… . The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter: We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam War. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 249 (
#expands, via linked claim)
Categorization
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
- XREF: connects to: CIA-trained Afghan mujahideen produced the terrorist attacks against America — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 269; CIA aid to Afghan mujahideen predated the Soviet invasion by six months — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 249; The Taliban functioned as Pakistan’s proxy, not a genuine anti-imperialist movement — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 368 (+5 more)
Related
- US Cold War aid armed the extremist groups that later became the Taliban (similarity 0.91)
- US Cold War arms policy directly aided the rise of the Taliban (similarity 0.91)
- CIA aid to Afghan mujahideen predated the Soviet invasion by six months (similarity 0.88)
- U.S. Cold War arming of extremists enabled the Taliban’s rise (similarity 0.86)
- US Cold War policy armed the very Taliban it later blamed (similarity 0.86)
- CIA-trained Afghan militants later turned their violent skills against the United States (similarity 0.81)
- CIA-trained Afghan mujahideen produced the terrorist attacks against America (similarity 0.81)
- CIA-trained Afghan militants constituted direct blowback against US empire (similarity 0.81)
- US-backed mujahidin enabled the Taliban power that later justified wars (similarity 0.80)
- US facilitated Muslim violence when it served Cold War interests (similarity 0.80)
- US officials expected Afghanistan under Taliban rule to mirror Saudi subordination (similarity 0.79)
- US policymakers accepted Taliban-style dictatorship as a tolerable analogue to Saudi Arabia. (similarity 0.78)
- US-trained Afghan militants produced blowback against America as imperial power (similarity 0.78)
- Afghan women’s conditions did not improve and even worsened after invasion (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- U.S. Cold War arming of extremists enabled the Taliban’s rise
#corroborates(0.55) - CIA aid to Afghan mujahideen predated the Soviet invasion by six months
#expands(0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 249 - US Cold War arms policy directly aided the rise of the Taliban
#corroborates(0.50) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 46 - US Cold War aid armed the extremist groups that later became the Taliban
#corroborates(0.50) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 46 - CIA-trained Afghan mujahideen produced the terrorist attacks against America
#corroborates(0.40) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 269 - The Taliban functioned as Pakistan’s proxy, not a genuine anti-imperialist movement
#complicates(0.35) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 368