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John Walker Lindh

John Walker Lindh

John Phillip Walker Lindh (born February 9, 1981) is an American citizen who was captured in Afghanistan during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan while fighting for the Taliban. His capture made worldwide headlines, and the media dubbed him "Johnny Jihad." Walker prefers to go by the name John Walker today, although during his time in Muslim areas, he also went by Suleyman al-Faris.

Youth, conversion and travels

Walker was born in Washington, D.C., to parents Marilyn Walker and Frank Lindh. He was baptized Catholic and grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, until he was ten years old and his family moved to San Anselmo, California, in Marin County. In 1997, at age 16, Walker converted to Islam. In 1998, he traveled to Yemen for about ten months, to learn Arabic so that he would be able to read the Qur'an in its original language. He returned to the United States in 1999, living with his family for about eight months before returning to Yemen in February 2000, from where he left for Pakistan to study at an austere madrassa (Islamic school). He is believed to have entered Afghanistan in the spring of 2001.

Capture and interrogation

Walker was first captured on November 25, 2001, by Afghan Northern Alliance forces, and questioned by CIA agent Mike Spann and another agent at General Dostum's military garrison named Qali Jangi near Mazar-e Sharif. Later that day, the makeshift was the scene of a violent uprising, in which Spann was killed along with hundreds of foreign fighters. Walker took refuge in a basement bunker after taking a bullet in the upper-right thigh, hiding with Saudi, Uzbek and Pakistani jihadis. He was found seven days later on December 2, 2001, when Northern Alliance forces diverted an irrigation stream, drowning many, and eventually flushing out Walker and about 80 survivors from the original 300. Walker initially gave his name as "Abdul Hamid" but later gave his real name when interviewed by Robert Young Pelton for CNN. John Walker Lindh explained how he had trained in Osama bin Laden's camp and was a member of Al Ansar, the Arabic fighters supported and paid for by bin Laden. Pelton's exclusive interview was later used by the prosecution to write the indictment of Lindh. Upon capture, Walker signed confession documents while he was held by the United States Marine Corps on USS Peleliu and informed his interrogators that he was not merely Taliban but al-Qaeda. John Ashcroft, on January 16, 2002, announced that Lindh would be tried in the United States. His defense attorney claimed to the press that he asked for a lawyer repeatedly before being interviewed but he didn't get one, and that "highly coercive" prison conditions forced Walker to waive his right to remain silent. Although the FBI asked Jesselyn Radack, a Justice Department ethics advisor, whether Walker could be questioned without a lawyer present, her advice that this should not be done was not followed.

Trial

On February 5, 2002, Walker was indicted by a federal grand jury on ten charges, including conspiring to support terrorist organizations and conspiring to murder Americans. The charges carried three life terms and 90 additional years in prison. On February 13, 2002, he pleaded "not guilty" to all ten charges. Complicating the prosecution was the nature of the confession. Photos emerged from Lindh's captivity of him being held naked and tied-up, wearing an obscenity-covered blindfold. When details of the conditions of his captivity began to emerge, it was discovered that he had initially been wounded and hid for a week with limited food, water, and minimal sleep in conditions of freezing water before being captured. After being captured and taken to a room with the only window blocked off, Lindh had his clothes cut off him and was duct-taped to a stretcher and placed in a metal shipping container for transportation. Lindh was not even released from the stretcher when he needed to urinate. Instead, guards propped him upright. When interrogated, he was denied a lawyer despite several requests, and was threatened with denial of medical aid if he didn't cooperate. It took more than a week for his wound to be treated and the bullet removed. The court scheduled an evidence suppression hearing, at which Walker would be able to testify about the details of the torture to which he was subjected. The government faced the problem that a key piece of evidence—Walker's confession—might be excluded from evidence as having been forced under duress. Furthermore, the hearing would turn a spotlight on the way that U.S. soldiers had conducted the interrogation. To forestall this possibility, Michael Chertoff, the head of the criminal division of the Justice Department, directed the prosecutors to offer Walker a plea bargain: He would plead guilty to two charges — serving in the Taliban army and carrying weapons. He would also have to consent to a gag order that would prevent him from making any public statements on the matter for the duration of his twenty-year sentence, and he would have to drop claims that he had been mistreated or tortured by U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan and aboard two military ships during December 2001 and January 2002. In return, all the other charges would be dropped. Walker accepted this offer. On July 15, 2002, he entered his plea of guilty to the two remaining charges. The judge asked Walker to say, in his own words, what he was admitting to. "I plead guilty," he said. "I provided my services as a soldier to the Taliban last year from about August to December. In the course of doing so, I carried a rifle and two grenades. I did so knowingly and willingly knowing that it was illegal." On October 4, 2002, Judge T.S. Ellis formally imposed the sentence: 20 years without parole. Walker's attorney, James Brosnahan, said Walker would be eligible for release in 17 years, with good behavior. This is because, although there is no parole under federal law, his sentence could be reduced by 15 percent, or three years, for good behavior. In addition, Walker agreed to cooperate "fully, truthfully and completely" with both military intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the terrorism investigation, and any profits Walker might make from telling his story will be taken by the government.

Imprisonment

Since January 2003, Lindh has been at a medium-security prison in Victorville, northeast of Los Angeles. On March 3, 2003, Lindh was tackled by inmate Richard Dale Morrison, who hit him while screaming obscenities before running off. Lindh suffered a bruised forehead. On July 2, 2003, Morrison was charged with a misdemeanor count of assault.

Hamdi v. Rumsfeld

The other American captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and detained by the U.S. military on the orders of the U.S. administration was Yaser Esam Hamdi. To explain the detention, the U.S. administration announced that Yaser Hamdi was an enemy combatant. He was taken to Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but was transferred to jails in Virginia and South Carolina after it became known that he was a U.S. citizen. On September 23, 2004, the United States Justice Department agreed to release Hamdi to Saudi Arabia, where he is also a citizen, on the condition that he gave up his U.S. citizenship. The deal also bars Hamdi from visiting certain countries and to inform Saudi officials if he plans to leave the kingdom. He was a party to a Supreme Court decision Hamdi v. Rumsfeld which issued a decision on June 28, 2004, repudiating the U.S. government's unilateral assertion of executive authority to suspend the constitutional protections of individual liberty of a U.S. citizen.

Media

On December 12, 2001, David Letterman's Top Ten List on the Late Show was "Top Ten Excuses of the American Taliban Guy." Alt-country musician Steve Earle recorded a song about Lindh titled "John Walker's Blues," released in 2002 on the Jerusalem album. It was highly controversial due to what some perceived as its sympathetic attitude toward Lindh. In 2002, George H.W. Bush referred to Lindh as [http://www.anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=17158 "some misguided Marin County hot-tubber."] The comment provoked a minor furor and prompted a retraction of the statement by Bush.

External links

- [http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/lindh/uswlindh020502cmp.html The Lindh indictment]
- [http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050214&s=lindorff "Chertoff and Torture"], by David Lindorff, The Nation online, posted January 27, 2005
- [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1056139907383 The Trials of Jesselyn Radack] and [http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/storyDetail.cfm?ID=2308 The Woman Who Knew Too Much]
- [http://www.eastbayexpress.com/issues/2003-09-03/feature.html Definitive account of the relationship between hip-hop, the internet, and Lindh's conversion to Islam.] Lindh, John Walker Lindh, John Walker

1981

1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January-February

- January - Sarawak chamber found
- January 1 - Greece enters the EEC
- January 1 - Palau becomes self-governing
- January 4 - Sheffield police arrests Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper
- January 13 - Donna Griffiths, a schoolgirl in Pershore, Worcestershire, UK, begins a uncontrollable series of sneezes that end September 16 1983 - after 978 days
- January 16 - Protestant gunmen shoot and wound Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and her husband
- January 19 - United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity
- January 20 - Ronald Reagan succeeds Jimmy Carter as President of the United States of America. Minutes after Reagan becomes president, Iran releases 52 American hostages that had been held captive for 444 days - Iran hostage crisis ends.
- February 4 - Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes the Prime Minister of Norway
- February 9 - Polish Prime Minister Józef Pinkowski resigns and is replaced by General Wojciech Jaruzelski
- February 10 - A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight and injures 198
- February 14 - Australia withdraws recognition of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia
- February 23 - Antonio Tejero, with members of the Guardia Civil enters the Spanish Congress of Deputies, and stops the session, where Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo was going to be named president of the government. The coup d'état would fail thanks to King Juan Carlos.

March-April

Juan Carlos.]]
- March 1 - Bobby Sands, an IRA member, begins hunger strike for political status in Long Kesh prison - he dies May 5, the first of ten men.
- March 6 - After 19 years hosting the CBS Evening News Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.
- March 7 - Colombian guerillas execute US bible translator Chester Allen Bitterman for being a CIA agent
- March 11 - Chilean president Augusto Pinochet sworn in for an eight-year term as president.
- March 19 - Three workers are killed and five injured during a test of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
- March 30 - President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr., whose family had connections with the vice president. Two police officers and James Brady are also wounded.
- April 11 - Riot in Brixton, South London - rioters throw petrol bombs, attack police and loot shops.
- April 12 - The first launch of a Space Shuttle: Columbia launches on the STS-1 mission.
- April 15 - The Australian Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock resigns from cabinet accusing the Australian Prime Minister Fraser of gross disloyalty.
- April 18 - A Minor League baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island becomes the longest professional baseball game in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning was not played until June 23rd).

May

- May - Daniel K. Ludwig abandons the Jari project in the Amazon Basin
- May 6 - A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
- May 10 - In the second round of the presidential elections in France (French presidential election, 1981), François Mitterrand beats Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
- May 13 - Pope John Paul II is shot at and nearly killed by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a Turkish gunman, as he entered St. Peter's Square in Rome to address a general audience. (Two days after Christmas in 1983, Pope John Paul went to the prison to meet and forgive his would-be assassin)
- May 21 - In France, socialist François Mitterrand becomes president of the Republic.
- May 22 - Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, imprisoned for life for 13 counts of murder
- May 25 - In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- May 26 - The Italian government resigns over its links to the fascist Masonic cell P-2
- May 30 - Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman assassinated in Chittagong.

June-July

Chittagong return to Buckingham Palace following their wedding watched by over 1 billion people worldwide.]]
- June 5 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that five homosexual men in Los Angeles, California have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems (these were the first recognized cases of AIDS).
- June 6 - Seven coaches of an overcrowded passenger train fall off the tracks into the River Kosi, in Bihar, India - about 800 dead
- June 7 - Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor
- June 13 - At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, a teenager Marcus Sargeant fires six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II.
- June 22 - Hamas attacks a travel agency in Greece - two dead
- June 22 - Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr deposed
- June 29 - Morris Edwin Robert armed with a machine gun holds hostages in the FBI section in Atlanta Federal Building. After three hours the hostages are rescued - Robert is shot
- July 17 - Hyatt Regency walkway collapse: Two skywalks filled with people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri collapse into a crowded atrium lobby killing 114
- July 17 - Israeli bombers destroy the PLO HQ in Beirut
- July 27 - Wheel of Fortune premiers in Australia on the Seven Network.
- July 29 - Lady Diana Spencer marries Charles, Prince of Wales.

August-October

- August 1 - MTV (Music Television) is launched.
- August 5 - Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
- August 7 - The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.
- August 12 - The original IBM PC released in the United States.
- August 19 - Gulf of Sidra incident (1981). Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi sends two Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets to intercept two US fighters over the Gulf of Sidra. The American jets destroyed the Libyan fighters.
- August 19 - US President Ronald Reagan appoints the first female US Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor.
- August 28 - South African troops invade Angola.
- August 31 - A bomb explodes at the US Army base in Ramstein, West Germany injuring 20 people.
- September 4 - An explosion at a mine in Zalizin, Czechoslovakia - 65 dead.
- September 10 - Picasso's painting "Guernica" is moved from New York to Madrid.
- September 15 - The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world, at 150 years old, when it operates under its own power outside Washington, DC.
- September 18 - France abolishes capital punishment.
- October 6 - Egyptian president Anwar Sadat is assassinated during a parade by army members who were part of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization, who opposed his negotiations with Israel.
- October 10 - The Ministry for Education of Japan issues the jōyō kanji.
- October 14 - Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected President of Egypt one week after Anwar Sadat was assassinated.
- October 21 - Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece.

November-December

Prime Minister of Greece
- November 1 - Antigua and Barbuda gain independence from the United Kingdom
- November 13 - The first Friday the 13th event held by motorcyclists in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada
- November 23 - Iran-Contra scandal: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua
- November 25-November 26 - Group of mercenaries lead by Mike Hoare take over Mahe airport in the Seychelles in a coup attempt. Most of the mercenaries escape by a commandeered Air India passenger jet, six are later arrested
- November 30 - Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe (the meetings ended inconclusively on Thursday, December 17)
- December 1 - A Yugoslavian DC-9 crashes into a mountain while approaching Ajaccio Airport in Corsica killing 178
- December 4 - South Africa grants "homeland" Ciskei independence (not recognized outside South Africa)
- December 11 - El Mozote massacre - in El Salvador, army units kill 900 civilians
- December 13 - Wojciech Jaruzelski declares the state of martial law in Poland to prevent dismantling of the communist system by Solidarity
- December 15 - A car bomb destroys the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 61 people. This is the first modern suicide bombing. Syrian intelligence is blamed.
- December 20 - The Penlee lifeboat disaster off the coast of South-West Cornwall
- December 28 - The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born (Norfolk, Virginia)

unknown dates

- Millennium Renactment of the translation of Saint Edward the Martyr's relics from Wareham to Shaftesbury
- Mauritania abolishes the institution of slavery.
- James Tobin wins the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
- Mike Cooley, Bill Mollison and Patrick van Rensburg / Education with Production win the Right Livelihood Award
- The counter-culture wire service LNS ceases operations.
- Public funding of election Campaigns introduced in New South Wales, Australia
- The State Council of the People's Republic of China listed the four cities (Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Guilin) as where the protection of historical and cultural heritage as well as natural scenery should be treated as a prior project.
- Cuba suffers a major outbreak of Dengue hemorrhagic fever, with 344 203 cases. [http://w3.whosea.org/en/Section10/Section332/Section521_2454.htm]
- Computer and Video Games (magazine) begins publication.

Births

January-March

- January 1 - Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian race car driver
- January 3 - Eli Manning, American football player
- January 6 - Mike Jones, American rapper
- January 12 - Quentin Griffin, American football player
- January 15 - El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
- January 15 - Howie Day, American singer and songwriter
- January 17 - Scott Mechlowicz, American actor
- January 20 - Jason Richardson, American basketball player
- January 20 - Owen Hargreaves, Canadian-born footballer
- January 21 - Dany Heatley, German-born hockey player
- January 22 - Chantelle Anderson, American basketball player
- January 22 - Willa Ford, American singer, television hostess, and actress
- January 22 - Beverley Mitchell, American actress
- January 25 - Alicia Keys, American musician
- January 28 - Elijah Wood, American actor
- January 31 - Justin Timberlake, American musician
- February 3 - Alisa Reyes, American actress
- February 10 - Natasha St-Pier, Canadian singer
- February 11 - Kelly Rowland, American singer (Destiny's Child)
- February 14 - Erin Torpey, American actress
- February 15 - Jenna Morasca, American television personality
- February 17 - Paris Hilton, American actress and heiress
- February 18 - Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player
- February 22 - Jeanette Biedermann, German singer and actress
- February 24 - Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
- February 27 - Josh Groban, American singer
- March 1 -Ana Hickmann, Brazilian model
- March 2 - Bryce Howard, American actress
- March 3 - Lil' Flip, American rapper
- March 9 - Antonio Bryant, American football player
- March 11 - David Anders, American actor
- March 11 - Lee Evans, American football player
- March 11 - LeToya Luckett, American musician (Destiny's Child)
- March 16 - Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
- March 28 - Julia Stiles, American actress

April-June

- April 1 - Hannah Spearritt, British singer (S Club 7)
- April 2 - Bethany Joy Lenz, American actress and singer
- April 10 - Michael Pitt, American actor
- April 14 - Mary Castro, American model and actress
- April 17 - Hanna Pakarinen, Finnish singer
- April 19 - Hayden Christensen, Canadian actor
- April 19 - Catalina Sandino Moreno, Colombian actress
- April 19 - Troy Polamalu, American football player
- April 22 - Ken Dorsey, American football player
- April 28 - Jessica Alba, American actress
- May 5 - Craig David, British singer
- May 5 - Danielle Fishel, American actress
- May 11 - Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
- May 13 - Sunny Leone, Canadian entertainer
- May 15 - Jamie-Lynn DiScala, American actress
- May 19 - Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
- May 20 - Sean Conlon, English musician (5ive)
- May 20 - Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
- June 1 - Carlos Zambrano, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- June 7 - Anna Kournikova, Russian tennis player
- June 7 - Larisa Oleynik, American actress
- June 9 - Natalie Portman, Israeli-born actress
- June 13 - Christopher Robert Evans, American actor
- June 12 - Adriana Lima, Brazilian model
- June 21 - Brandon Flowers, American singer and keyboardist (The Killers)

July-September

- July 8 - Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
- July 23 - Michelle Williams, American singer (Destiny's Child)
- July 24 - Summer Glau, American actress (Firefly)
- August 4 - Marques Houston, American singer and actor
- August 5 - Carl Crawford, baseball player
- August 5 - Kō Shibasaki, Japanese singer and actress
- August 8 - Vanessa Amorosi, Australian singer and songwriter
- August 8 - Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
- August 8 - Meagan Good, American actress
- August 16 - Taylor Rain, American actress
- August 24 - Chad Michael Murray, American actor
- August 25 - Rachel Bilson, American actress
- September 1 - Clinton Portis, American football player
- September 4 - Beyoncé Knowles, American singer (Destiny's Child) and actress
- September 8 - Jonathan Taylor Thomas, American actor
- September 16 - Alexis Bledel, American actress
- September 21 - Nicole Richie, American actress
- September 22 - Rocco Baldelli, baseball player
- September 26 - Christina Milian, Afro-Cuban singer, songwriter and musician
- September 26 - Serena Williams, American tennis player
- September 30 - Dominique Moceanu, American gymnast

October-December

- October 1 - Jamelia, British singer
- October 3 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Swedish footballer
- October 11 - Beau Brady, Australian actor
- October 15 - Elena Dementieva, Russian tennis player
- October 20 - Willis McGahee, American football player
- October 22 - Michael Fishman, American actor
- October 28 - Milan Baros, Czech footballer
- October 29 - Amanda Beard, American swimmer
- October 30 - Ivanka Trump, American model
- October 31 - Irina Denezhkina, Russian writer
- October 31 - Frank Iero, American guitarist (My Chemical Romance)
- November 1 - LaTavia Roberson, American musician (Destiny's Child)
- November 3 - Jackie Gayda, American professional wrestler
- November 4 - Vince Wilfork, American football player
- November 8 - Azura Skye, American actress
- November 11 - Natalie Glebova, Canadian pageant winner (2005 Miss Universe)
- November 26 - Natasha Bedingfield, British singer
- November 26 - Aurora Snow, American actress
- December 2 - Britney Spears, American singer
- December 3 - Brian Bonsall, American actor
- December 4 - Lila McCann, American singer
- December 7 - Ben Adams, British singer (a1)
- December 13 - Amy Lee, American singer (Evanescence)
- December 15 - Kyle McKain, American Club DJ
- December 15 - Thomas Herrion, American football player (d. 2005)
- December 21 - Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater
- December 27 - Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricketer
- December 28 - Elizabeth Jordan Carr, first American test-tube baby
- December 28 - Sienna Miller, American-born actress
- December 29 - Angela Via, American singer
- December 30 - Haley Paige, American actress

Deaths

- January 5 - Harold C. Urey, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
- January 5 - Lanza del Vasto, Italian-born philosopher, poet, and activist (b. 1901)
- January 6 - A.J. Cronin, Scottish novelist (b. 1896)
- January 10 - Katherine Alexander, American actress (b. 1898)
- January 23 - Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
- February 1 - Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (b. 1908)
- February 9 - Bill Haley, American musician (b. 1925)
- February 15 - Karl Richter, German conductor (b. 1926)
- February 20 - Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, magazine editor, socialite (b. 1904)
- February 26 - Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
- March 6 - George Geary, English cricketer (b. 1893)
- March 7 - Kiril Kondrashin, Russian conductor (b. 1914)
- March 9 - Max Delbrück, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1906)
- April 7 - Norman Taurog, American film director (b. 1899)
- April 12 - Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)
- April 27 - John Aspinwall Roosevelt, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1916)
- May 9 - Nelson Algren, American author (b.1909)
- May 11 - Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
- May 11 - Bob Marley, Jamaican singer and musician (b. 1945)
- May 18 - William Saroyan, American author (b. 1908)
- June 1 - Carl Vinson, U.S. Congressman (b. 1883)
- June 19 - Lotte Reiniger, German-born silhouette animator (b. 1899)
- June 28 - Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (b. 1958)
- August 14 - Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor (b. 1894)
- September 1 - Albert Speer, Nazi official (b. 1905)
- September 2 - Dame Enid Lyons, Australia politician (b. 1897)
- September 8 - Bill Shankly, Scottish football manager (b. 1913)
- September 8 - Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
- September 9 - Sir Robert (Bob) Askin, Premier of New South Wales (b. 1907)
- September 12 - Eugenio Montale, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)
- October 2 - Harry Golden, American journalist (b. 1902)
- October 6 - Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (assassinated) (b. 1918)
- October 16 - Stanley Clements, American actor (b. 1926)
- October 16 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (b. 1915)
- November 7 - Will Durant, American philosopher and writer (b. 1885)
- November 22 - Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1900)
- November 29 - Natalie Wood, American actress (drowned) (b. 1938)
- December 28 - Allan Dwan, Canadian-born film director (b. 1885)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Nicolaas Bloembergen, Arthur Leonard Schawlow, Kai M. Siegbahn
- Chemistry - Kenichi Fukui, Roald Hoffmann
- Medicine - Roger W. Sperry, David H. Hubel, Torsten N. Wiesel
- Literature - Elias Canetti
- Peace - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Templeton Prize

- Dame Cicely Saunders Category:1981 als:1981 ko:1981년 ja:1981年 simple:1981 th:พ.ศ. 2524

Afghanistan

Afghanistan(Pashtu/Dari-Persian: افغانستان, Afğānistān) is a country in Asia. It is in Central Asia, fringing upon South Asia and is sometimes allocated to one of these regions. It is also often considered part of the Middle East, due to its location on the Iranian plateau. It is bordered by Iran in the west, Pakistan in the south and east, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the easternmost part of the country. A part of the disputed Kashmir area claimed by India and Pakistan borders a small portion of the country. It has a population of 29 million people, and is one of the poorest countries in the world. Between the fall of the Taliban after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 Loya jirga, Afghanistan was referred to by the Government of the United States as the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan. Under its new constitution the country is now officially named the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Origin and history of the name

The region currently called Afghanistan has gone through a few name changes in its long history of 5000 years or so. One of the first ancient names, according to historians and scholars, was Ariana - the Greek pronunciation of the ancient Aryanam Vaeja or the Sanskrit "Aryavarta", Land of the Aryans. Today this Old-Persian, and Avestan expression is preserved in the name Iran and it is noted in the name of the Afghan national airline, Ariana Airlines, numerous Afghan owned companies throughout the world, Afghan sports teams, and a popular name for Afghan children, Aryan or Aryana. Many centuries later, Afghanistan evolved into part of Greater Khorasan, and hence was recognized with the name Khorasan (along with regions centered around Merv and Neishabur), which in Pahlavi means "The Eastern Land" (خاور زمین in Persian). (Dehkhoda, p8457) The current name of Afghanistan derives from the alternative name for the Pashtuns: Afghan [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_name_etymologies], being the founders of modern Afghanistan. There are a number of scholars who derive the tribal name Afghan from a people known in antiquity as Ashvakan (q.v.), in turn derived from ashva, "horse" (in reference to their equestrian nature). There are, however, some scholars that link the name "Afghan" to the Uzbeki version of the Turkish language (spoken in Northern Afghanistan and Uzbekistan), meaning "original". At any rate, given the fact that the Central Asians introduced the horse to the surrounding regions, including Afghanistan, there may be some validity to the claim. The remainder of the name originates from the Persian word stān (country or land). The English word Afghanland that appeared in various treaties between Pashtuns and the United Kingdom was adopted by the Afghans and became Afghanistan.

History

Main article: History of Afghanistan Afghanistan, often called the crossroads of Central Asia, has had a very turbulent history. Through the ages, the region today known as Afghanistan has been on the edge of a number of major empires, including the Persian Empire, the Mauryan Empire, the Kushan Empire, the Hindu Shahi kingdom, the British Empire and the Soviet Union, as well as the empires of Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great. The Afghanistan nation-state as it is known today came into existence in 1746 under the Durrani Empire, but control was ceded to Britain until King Amanullah acceded to the throne in 1919 (see "The Great Game"). During the period of British intervention in Afghanistan, ethnic Pashtun territories were divided by the Durand Line, and would lead to strained relations between Afghanistan and British India, and later the new state of Pakistan, over what came to be known as the Pashtunistan debate. The historical rulers of Afghanistan belonged to the Abdali tribe of the ethnic Afghans, whose name was changed to Durrani upon the accession of Ahmad Shah. They belonged to the Saddozay segment of the Popalzay clan, or to the Mohammadzay segment of the Barakzay clan, of the ethnic Afghans. The Mohammadzay furnished the Saddozay kings frequently with top counsellors, who served occasionally as regents, identified with the epithet Mohammadzay. Since 1900, eleven rulers have been unseated through undemocratic means: in 1919 (assassination), 1929 (abdication), 1929 (execution), 1933 (assassination), 1973 (deposition), 1978 (execution), 1979 (execution), 1979 (execution), 1987 (removal), 1992 (overthrow), 1996 (overthrow) and 2001 (overthrow). The longest period of stability in Afghanistan was between 1933 and 1973, when the country was under the rule of King Zahir Shah. However, in 1973, Zahir's brother-in-law, Sardar Mohammed Daoud launched a bloodless coup. Daoud and his entire family were murdered in 1978 when the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan launched a coup and took over the government. Opposition against, and conflict within, the series of leftist governments that followed, was considerable. In August 1978 the American government commenced funding anti-government mujahideen forces; the Soviet Union invaded on December 24, 1979. Faced with mounting international pressure and losses of approximately 15,000 Soviet soldiers as a result of mujahideen opposition trained by the United States, Pakistan, and other foreign governments, the Soviets withdrew ten years later, in 1989. For more details, see Soviet war in Afghanistan. The Soviet withdrawal was seen as a clear Russian defeat in the West, which many claim to have been the sole objective behind their backing of the mujahideen - especially the United States wanting to "revenge" Russian damages caused during and after the Vietnam war. Having concluded a 'victory' over the USSR, the West stopped paying attention to the issue of Afghanistan. As the vast majority of the elite and intellectuals had either been systematically eliminated by the communists or escaped to take refuge abroad, a dangerous leadership vacuum came to existence. Fighting continued among the various mujahidin factions, eventually giving rise to a state of warlordism. The chaos and corruption involved in warlordism in turn spawned the rise of the Taliban in reaction. The most serious of this fighting occurred in 1994, when 10,000 people were killed from factions fighting in the Kabul area. Using this leadership vacuum, a few regional bedfellows like the Pakistani secret intelligence service (ISI), the regional mafia and a few Arab extremist groups that were looking for a safe operational hub joined forces and created the Taliban movement (Ahmad Rashid, 2000)[http://www.ahmedrashid.com/]. Backed by Pakistan and her strategic allies, the Taliban developed as a politico-religious force, and eventually seized power in 1996. The Taliban were able to capture 90% of the country, aside from Afghan Northern Alliance strongholds primarily in the northeast. The Taliban sought to impose a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. The Taliban gave safe haven and assistance to individuals and organizations that engaged in terrorism, most notably Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda. The United States and allied military action in support of the opposition following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks forced the group's downfall. In late 2001, major leaders from the Afghan opposition groups and diaspora met in Bonn, and agreed on a plan for the formulation of a new government structure that resulted in the inauguration of Hamid Karzai as Chairman of the Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) on December 2001. After a nationwide Loya Jirga in 2002, Karzai was elected President. On March 3 and March 25 2002, a series of earthquakes struck Afghanistan, with a loss of thousands of homes and over 1800 lives. Over 4000 more people were injured. The earthquakes occurred at Samangan Province (March 3) and Baghlan Province (March 25). The latter was the worse of the two, and caused most of the casualties. International authorities assisted the Afghan government in dealing with the situation. As the country continues to get its feet back on the ground, as of late 2005, it was struggling against extreme poverty, severe warlordism, a battered infrastructure, a huge number of land mines and other unexploded ordinance, as well as a sizeable illegal poppy and heroin trade. It was also subject to occasionally violent political jockeying as the nation's first elections were successfully held, and occasional acts of violence from a few remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban elements and the on-going military operations to root them out. See also: Afghanistan timeline, Invasions of Afghanistan

Politics

Main article: Politics of Afghanistan Afghanistan is currently led by president Hamid Karzai, who was elected in October of 2004. Before the election, Karzai led the country after having been hand-picked by the administration of United States' President Bush to head an interim government, after the fall of the Taliban. His current cabinet includes members of the Afghan Northern Alliance, and a mix from other regional and ethnic groups formed from the transitional government by the Loya jirga (grand council). Former monarch Mohammed Zahir Shah returned to the country, but was not reinstated as king, and only exercises limited ceremonial powers. Under the Bonn Agreement the Afghan Constitution Commission was established to consult with the public and formulate a draft constitution. The meeting of a constitutional loya jirga was held in December 2003, when a new constitution was adopted creating a presidential form of government with a bicameral legislature. Troops and intelligence agencies from the United States and a number of other countries are present, some to keep the peace, others assigned to hunt for remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda. A United Nations peacekeeping force called the International Security Assistance Force has been operating in Kabul since December 2001. NATO took control of this Force on August 11, 2003. Some of the country remains under the control of warlords. [http://www.newstatesman.com/200502070006] On March 27, 2003, Afghan deputy defense minister and powerful warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum created an office for the North Zone of Afghanistan and appointed officials to it, defying then-interim president Hamid Karzai's orders that there be no zones in Afghanistan. Eurocorps took over the responsibility for the NATO-led ISAF in Kabul August 9, 2004. National elections were held on October 9, 2004. Over 10 million Afghans were registered to vote. Most of the 17 candidates opposing Karzai boycotted the election, charging fraud; [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1354517,00.html] an independent commission found evidence of fraud, but ruled that it did not affect the outcome of the poll. Karzai won 55.4% of the vote. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3977677.stm] He was inaugurated as president on December 7. It was the country's first national election since 1969, when parliamentary elections were last held. On September 18, 2005, parliamentary elections were held. see also: List of leaders of Afghanistan, List of Afghanistan Governors

Subdivisions

Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (velayat) which are further divided into districts. Main article: Provinces of Afghanistan Main article: Districts of Afghanistan The 34 provinces are:

Geography

Districts of Afghanistan Main article: Geography of Afghanistan Afghanistan is a mountainous country, with plains in the north and southwest. The highest point, at 7485 m (24,557 ft) above sea level, is Nowshak. Large parts of the country are dry, and fresh water supplies are limited. Afghanistan has a continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters. The country is frequently subject to earthquakes. The major cities of Afghanistan are its capital Kabul, Herat, Jalalabad, Mazar-e Sharif and Kandahar. See also List of cities in Afghanistan, Places in Afghanistan.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Afghanistan Afghanistan is an extremely poor country, highly dependent on farming and livestock raising, but most people only farm enough food to feed themselves. The economy has suffered greatly from the recent political and military unrest, while severe drought added to the nation's difficulties in 1998-2001. The majority of the population continues to suffer from insufficient food, clothing, housing, medical care, and other problems exacerbated by military operations and political uncertainties. Inflation remains a serious problem. Following the US-led coalition war that led to the defeat of the Taliban in November 2001, many of the country's farmers have resorted to growing cash crops for export, instead of food for the sustenance of their people. A notable example of such a crop is the opium poppy (1,300 km² in 2004 according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), the cultivation of which has largely increased during the last decade: Afghanistan has become the first illicit opium producer in the world, before Burma (Myanmar), part of the so-called "Golden Triangle). International efforts to rebuild Afghanistan led to the formation of the Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) as a result of the December 2001 Bonn Agreement, and later addressed at the Tokyo Donors Conference for Afghan Reconstruction in January 2002, where $4.5 billion was collected for a trust fund to be administered by the World Bank Group. Priority areas for reconstruction include the construction of education, health, and sanitation facilities, enhancement of administrative capacity, the development of the agricultural sector, and the rebuilding of road, energy, and telecommunication links. Two-thirds of the population live on less than US$2 a day. The infant mortality rate is 166 per 1000 births.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Afghanistan The population of Afghanistan is divided into a large number of ethnic groups. Because a systematic census has not been held in the country recently, exact figures about the size and composition of the various ethnic groups are not available.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3717092.stm] Therefore most figures are approximations only. According to the CIA World FactBook (updated on 17 May 2005), the ethnic group distribution is as follows: Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4%. According to the CIA factbook, the official languages of Afghanistan are Persian (local name: Dari) 50% and Pashtu 35%. Other languages include Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%. Also a small number of ethnic minorities, primarily Sikhs and Hindus, speak Punjabi. Bilingualism is common. According to the CIA World Factbook (updated on 17 May 2005), religiously, Afghans are overwhelmingly Muslim (approximately 80% Sunni and 19% Shi'a). There are also Hindu and Sikh minorities. Afghanistan was once home to a many-centuries-old Jewish minority, numbering approximately 5,000 in 1948. Most Jewish families fled the country after the 1979 Soviet invasion, and only one individual remains today, Zablon Simintov. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39702-2005Jan26.html] With the fall of the Taliban a number of Sikhs have returned to the Ghazni, Nangarhar, Kandahar and Kabul Provinces of Afghanistan.

Constitution

Main article: Constitution of Afghanistan According to the 2004 constitution, Afghanistan is run by a president, who is elected by direct popular vote to a five-year term. The president may only serve two terms. A candidate for president must be at least forty years of age, a Muslim, and a citizen of Afghanistan. The country has two vice-presidents. The president serves as head of state and government, and is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president makes appointments for his cabinet, as well as posts in the military, police force, and provincial governerships, with the approval of parliament. The legislative body of Afghanistan is a parliament consisting of two houses: the Wolesi Jirga (House of the People) and the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders). The Wolesi Jirga consists of up to 250 members elected to five-year terms through direct elections in proportion to the population of each province. At least two women must be elected from each province. In the Meshrano Jirga, one-third of the members are elected by provincial councils for four years, one-third are elected by district councils of each province for three years, and one-third are appointed by the president for five years, of whom half must be women. The judicial system of Afghanistan consists of the Stera Mahkama (Supreme Court), appeals courts, and lower district courts designated by law. The Stera Mahkama is made up of nine judges appointed by the president, with the approval of parliament, to a ten-year term. Judges must be at least forty years of age, not belong to a political party, and have a degree in law or Islamic jurisprudence. The Stera Mahkama can judge the constitutionality of all laws in the country.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Afghanistan Many of the country's historic monuments have been damaged in recent wars. The two famous statues of Buddha in the Bamiyan Province were destroyed by the Taliban, who regarded them as idolatrous. Other famous sites include the cities of Herat, Ghazni and Balkh. The Minaret of Jam, in the Hari Rud valley, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The people of Afghanistan being renowned horsemen, the sport known as Buzkashi is popular there. Afghan hounds (a type of running dogs), originated in Afghanistan. Although literacy levels are very low, classic Persian poetry plays a very important role in Afghan culture. The Persian language is regarded as one of the richest in the world. Poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in both Iran and Afghanistan, to the level that it has integrated itself into culture. Private poetry competitions known as “musha’era” are quite common even among ordinary people. Almost every home owns one or more poetry collection of some sort, even if it is not read often. The Afghan dialect of the Persian language Dari derives from "Farsi-e Darbari", meaning 'Persian of the royal courts'. It is regarded by scholars as the more original version of the language. Iran, having a larger population, a stronger economy and closer ties to the rest of the world has developed its language further in the course of history. Afghanistan took a more conservative approach mainly due to lack of resources. As a result, Dari has not changed much over the last few centuries. Many of the famous Persian language poets of 10th to 15th centuries stem from what is now known as Afghanistan. They were mostly also scholars in many disciplines like languages, natural sciences, medicine, religion and astronomy. Examples are Mawlvi Balkhi (Rumi), born and educated in the Balkh province in the 13th century and moved to today’s Istanbul, which was then known as the Eastern Rome), Sanaayi Ghaznavi (12th century, native of Ghazni provice), Jami Heravi (15th century, native of Jam-e-Herat in western Afghanistan), Nizam ud-Din Ali Sher Heravi Nava'i, (15th century, Heart province). Also, some of the contemporary Persian language poets and writers, who are relatively well-know in both Iran and Afghanistan includes Ustad Behtab, Khalilullah Khalili [http://www.afghanmagazine.com/arts/khalili/khalili.html], Sufi Ghulam Nabi Ashqari ([http://www.afghanmagazine.com/jan2000/music/kharaabat/], Parwin Pazwak and others. In addition to poets, world-famous science personalities like Avicenna (Ibn Sina Balkhi) came from Afghanistan. Avicenna, who travelled to Isfahan later in life to establsh a medical school there, is known by some scholars as the "the father of modern medicine". George Sarton called Ibn Sina "the most famous scientist of Islam and one of the most famous of all races, places, and times." His most famous works are The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, also known as the Qanun. Avicenna's story even found way to the contemporary English literature through Noah Gordon's The Physician ([ http://www.noahgordonbooks.com/index.html ]), now published in many languages. Before the Taliban gained power, the city of Kabul was home to many musicians who were masters of both traditional and modern Afghan music, especially during the Nauroz-celebration. Kabul in the middle part of the 20th century has been likened to Vienna during the 18th and 19th centuries. See also: Radio Kabul, music of Afghanistan, Islam in Afghanistan

Education

Main article: Education in Afghanistan In the spring of 2003, it was estimated that 30% of Afghanistan's 7,000 schools had been seriously damaged during more than two decades of Soviet occupation and civil war. Only half of the schools were reported to have clean water, while fewer than an estimated 40% had adequate sanitation. Education for boys was not a priority during the Taliban regime, and girls were banished from schools outright. In regards to the poverty and violence of their surroundings, a study in 2002 by the Save the Children aid group said Afghan children were resilient and courageous. The study credited the strong institutions of family and community. Up to four million Afghan children, possibly the largest number ever, are believed to have enrolled for class for the school year beginning in March of 2003. Education is available for both girls and boys. Literacy of the entire population is estimated at 36%.

References

- Griffiths, John C. 1981. Afghanistan: A History of Conflict. André Deutsch, London. Updated edition, 2001. Andre Deutsch Ltd, 2002, ISBN 0233050531.
- Levi, Peter. 1972. The Light Garden of the Angel King: Journeys in Afghanistan. Collins, 1972, ISBN 0002110423. Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1973, Indianapolis/New York, ISBN 0672512521.
- Moorcroft, William and Trebeck, George. 1841. Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Panjab; in Ladakh and Kashmir, in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz, and Bokhara... from 1819 to 1825, Vol. II. Reprint: New Delhi, Sagar Publications, 1971. Oxford University Press, 1979, ISBN 0195771990.
- Toynbee, Arnold J. 1961. Between Oxus and Jumna. Oxford University Press, London. ISBN B0006DBR44.
- Wood, John. 1872. A Journey to the Source of the River Oxus. New Edition, edited by his son, with an essay on the "Geography of the Valley of the Oxus" by Henry Yule. John Murray, London. Gregg Division McGraw-Hill, 1971, ISBN 0576033227.

External links

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- [http://www.afgha.com Afgha.com - News, Discussions, and more about Afghanistan]
- [http://theafghanblog.blogspot.com/ The Afghan Blog]
- [http://www.afghanistan.sc/ Afghanistan Service Center with daily news]
- [http://www.aims.org.af/ Afghanistan Information Management Service] - provided by joint UN projects
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/country_profiles/1162668.stm BBC News Country Profile - Afghanistan]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/af.html CIA World Factbook - Afghanistan]
- [http://www.state.gov/p/sa/ci/af/ US State Department - Afghanistan] includes Background Notes, Country Study (1997), Rebuilding, USAID and NATO
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Asia/Afghanistan/ Open Directory Project - Afghanistan] directory category
- [http://dir.yahoo.com/regional/countries/afghanistan/ Yahoo! - Afghanistan] directory category
- [http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/afghanis.pdf 2002 UN map of Afghanistan] (PDF)
- [http://www.ArianaNet.com/ News Service latest News about Afghanistan, Discussion board]
- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/asia/centralasia/afghanistan/returntoafghanistan/returntoafghanistan.htm Return to Afghanistan] - A series of short films by the Washington Post on the New Afghanistan
- [http://www.mod.uk/rcds/bashir.htm British Royal College for Defense Studies analyses and proposes a war in August 2001]
- [http://www.geopium.org Geopium: Geopolitics of Illicit Drugs in Asia (Afghanistan and Burma)]
- [http://topics.developmentgateway.org/afghanistan Development Gateway's Afghanistan Reconstruction Portal]
- [http://www.afghanan.net/index.php Afghanan Dot Net]
- [http://www.AfghanMania.com Afghanistan Portal]
- [http://www.sabawoon.com Sabawoon Online]
- [http://www.afghan-web.com/index.html Afghanistan Online]
- [http://www.whatisindia.com/issues/afghanis/index.html Afghanistan Portal on The Indian Analyst] Index of News, Analysis, and Opinion from many sources
- [http://www.bh.org.il/Communities/Archive/Afghanistan.asp/ The Jews of Afghanistan]

Video

- Category:Central Asian countries Category:Landlocked countries als:Afghanistan zh-min-nan:Afghanistan ko:아프가니스탄 ms:Afghanistan ja:アフガニスタン simple:Afghanistan th:ประเทศอัฟกานิสถาน

2001 invasion of Afghanistan

The United States invasion of Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) occurred in October 2001, in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., marking the beginning of its "War on Terrorism" campaign. Seeking to oust the Taliban and find Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden, the Afghan Northern Alliance provided the majority of forces, and the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada provided support. The officially-stated purpose of the invasion was to target al-Qaeda members, and to punish the Taliban government in Afghanistan which had provided support and haven to al-Qaeda.

Background

Since approximately 1996, Osama bin Laden had been resident in Afghanistan along with other members of al-Qaeda, operating terrorist training camps in a loose alliance with the Taliban. Following the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, the Clinton administration fired cruise missiles at these camps with limited effect on their overall operations. After the September 11th attacks, investigators rapidly accumulated evidence implicating bin Laden. In the weeks prior to the military action in Afghanistan, US President George W. Bush delivered an ultimatum [http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/20/gen.bush.transcript/] to the Taliban, to:
- deliver Al-Qaeda leaders located in Afghanistan to the United States
- release all imprisoned foreign nationals, including American citizens [http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,595750,00.html]
- protect foreign journalists, diplomats and aid workers in Afghanistan
- close terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and "hand over every terrorist and every person and their support structure to appropriate authorities".
- give the US full access to terrorist training camps to verify their closure President Bush further stated that the demands were not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban refused to directly speak to Bush, stating this would be an insult to Islam, but made statements through their Pakistan embassy. Their initial response was to demand evidence of bin Laden's culpability in the September 11th attacks and to offer to try him in an Islamic court. Later, as the likelihood of military action became more imminent, they offered to extradite bin Laden to a neutral nation. Moderates within the Taliban allegedly met with American embassy officials in Pakistan in mid-October, in order to work out a way to convince Mullah Muhammed Omar to turn bin Laden over to the U.S. and avoid the impending retaliation from the United States. President Bush rejected these offers made by the Taliban as insincere. The UN Security Council also issued a resolution on September 18, 2001 directed towards the Taliban demanding that they hand over the terrorist Osama bin Laden and close all terrorist training camps immediately and unconditionally. The council also referred to a resolution it adopted in December 2000 demanding that the Taliban turn over bin Laden to the United States or a third country for trial in the deadly bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa in August 1998.

Military operations

Initial attack

Prior to October 7, U.S. and British Special Forces clandestinely infiltrated Afghanistan to make contact with the Northern Alliance to organize those forces to over throw the Taliban. There were explosions in Kabul within a day of September 11, although these were minor rocket attacks by the Northern Alliance. At approximately 16:30 UTC (12:30 EDT, 21:00 local time) on Sunday October 7, 2001, US and British forces began an aerial bombing campaign targeting Taliban forces and al-Qaeda. Strikes were reported in the capital, Kabul (where electricity supplies were severed), at the airport and military nerve-centre of Kandahar (home of the Taliban's Supreme Leader Mullah Omar), and also in the city of Jalalabad (military/terrorist training camps). The US government justified these attacks as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks and the failure of the Taliban to meet any US demands. The Taliban condemned these attacks and called them an "attack on Islam." September 11, 2001 attacks. The carrier launched airstrikes in support of Operation Southern Watch and Operation Enduring Freedom.]] At 17:00 UTC, Bush confirmed the strikes on national television and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair also addressed the UK. Bush stated that at the same time as Taliban military and terrorists' training grounds would be targeted, food, medicine, and supplies would be dropped to "the starving and suffering men, women and children of Afghanistan." [http://www.australianpolitics.com/news/2001/01-10-07.shtml]. These drops came under criticism for having the same color as the cluster bombs that the United States was using. A number of different technologies were employed in the strike. Air Force general Richard Myers, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that approximately 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles, launched by British and US submarines and ships, 15 strike aircraft from carriers and 25 bombers, such as B-1 Lancer, B-2 Spirit, B-52 Stratofortress and F-16 Fighting Falcon were involved in the first wave. Two C-17 Globemaster transport jets were to deliver 37,500 daily rations by airdrop to refugees inside Afghanistan on the first day of the attack. A pre-recorded video tape of Osama bin Laden had been released before the attack in which he condemned any attacks against Afghanistan. Al-Jazeera, the Arabic satellite news channel, claimed that these tapes were received shortly before the attack. In this recording bin Laden claimed that the United States would fail in Afghanistan and then collapse, just as the Soviet Union did, and called for a war of Muslims, a jihad, against the entire non-Muslim world.

Taliban retreat

Initial air campaigns

Bombers operating at high altitudes well out of range of anti-aircraft fire began bombarding al-Qaeda training camps and Taliban air defenses. During the initial build-up before the actual attack, there had been speculation in the media that the Taliban might try to use U.S.-built Stinger anti-air missiles that were the bane of Soviet helicopters during the Soviet occupation in the 80's. If any of these missiles existed at the time of the air campaign, they were never used and the U.S. never lost a single aircraft to enemy fire. Beyond that, the Taliban had little to offer in the way of anti-aircraft weaponry, relying mostly on left-over arms and weapons from the Soviet invasion. U.S. aircraft, including Apache helicopter gunships, operated with impunity throughout the campaign, while cruise missiles pounded the country. The strikes initially focused on the area in and around the cities of Kabul, Jalalabad, and Kandahar. Within a few days, most al-Qaeda training sites had been severely damaged and the Taliban's air defenses had been destroyed. The campaign then focused on communications and "command and control". The Taliban began losing the ability to coordinate, and their morale began to sink. But the line facing the Northern Alliance held, and no tangible battlefield successes had yet occurred. Two weeks into the campaign, the Northern Alliance, not seeing a breakthrough, demanded the bombing focus more on the front lines. Critics began to see the war losing its way. Civilian casualties also began to mount. Several Red Cross warehouses were bombed. Meanwhile, thousands of Pashtun militiamen from Pakistan poured into the country, joining the fight against the U.S. led forces. The next stage of the campaign began. Hornet bombers hit Taliban vehicles in pinpoint strikes, while U.S. planes began cluster bombing Taliban defenses. However, for the first time, Northern Alliance commanders began seeing results. The Taliban support structure was beginning to erode under the pressure of the strikes. Then, for the first time, U.S. Special Forces launched an audacious raid deep into the Taliban's heartland of Kandahar, even striking one of Mullah Omar's compounds. However, the campaign's progress seemed to remain very slow. The last week of October had ended, and it was now the beginning of November. At this time, the next stage of the air campaign began to fulfill long-awaited Northern Alliance expectations. The Taliban front lines were bombed with 15,000-pound daisy cutter bombs, and by AC-130 gunships. Poor Taliban tactics increased the effect of the strikes. The fighters had no previous experience with American firepower, and often even stood on top of bare ridgelines where Special Forces could easily spot them and call in air attacks. By November 2, Taliban frontal positions were decimated, and a Northern Alliance march on Kabul seemed possible for the first time. Many Afghan Taliban troops had terrible morale, and were regarded as untrustworthy. Foreign fighters from al-Qaeda took over security in the Afghan cities, demonstrating how unstable the regime had become. Meanwhile, the Northern Alliance and their CIA/Special Forces advisors planned the offensive. Northern Alliance troops would seize Mazar-I-Sharif, thereby cutting off Taliban supply lines and enabling the flow of equipment from the countries to the north, followed by an attack on Kabul itself.

Land advances: Mazar-e-Sharif

On November 9, 2001, the battle for Mazar-e-Sharif began. U.S. bombers carpet-bombed Taliban defenders concentrated in the Chesmay-e-Safa gorge that marks the entrance to the city. At 2 P.M, Northern Alliance forces then swept in from the south and west, seizing the city's main military base and airport. The forces then mopped up the remnants of the Taliban in the gorge in front of the city, meeting only feeble resistance. Within 4 hours, the battle was over. By sunset, what remained of the Taliban was retreating to the south and east. Mazar-e-Sharif was taken. The next day, Northern Alliance forces seeking retribution combed the city, shooting suspected Taliban supporters in on-the-spot executions. 520 young Taliban, demoralized and defeated, many of whom were from the fighters that crossed from Pakistan, were massacred when they were discovered hiding in a school. Looting was rampant. The same day the massacres of former Taliban supporters was taking place in Mazar-e-Sharif,