This is an research paper about Afghanistan with reference to the novel ‘kite runner’ by Khaled

Hosseini

In today’s world,what determines the future of a country is politics,or how powerful that

country is. The power is compared in the terms of money, military strength, etc.In the case

of Afghanistan,”political turmoil is responsible for the breakdown of present day

Afghanistan”. The president of the United States of america, Barack Obama along with

other NATO allies had agreed upon the plan to evacuate U.S troops from Afghanistan. But

most of us are unaware of the fact that why did United States invade Afghanistan,and

What role was played by politics in the destruction of Afghanistan. The answer to his

question lies in the long war history of Afghanistan.

The start of the Afghanistan war was marked by the coup that took place during the night

of July 16,1973. Amir and Hassan were scared due to the sound of bomb explosions and

gun firing . They were unaware of the fact that this was just the start of the never ending

war.  when Kabul woke up, it saw that Daoud Khan, had ended the king’s rule which had

lasted for over four decades . After establishing a regime over Afghanistan, Daoud khan

tried to playoff the USSR. He was unaware of the fact that the soviet army would invade

Afghanistan and would lead to his death. in addition to this the soviet union established a

communist government in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, it was overthrown by the

Mujahideen groups. These groups particularly were anti - Russia and were  supported by

the United States, Pakistan,china,Iran and Saudi Arabia . United states also supported

these groups by supplying stinger missiles. This enabled the Mujahideen to defend against

Sovient Union attack helicopters. Thereby restricting the Russian Forces to destroy

Taliban camps.

The start of the war also impacted the lives of millions of people living in Afghanistan, as

they were forced to leave their motherland . The refugees settled in Pakistan and Iran.

People travelled secretly under cover in the dark to cross the border. As referring to this in

the 'Kite runner', Baba and Amir escaped  Afghanistan by travelling in truck. They stayed

in a basement for about a week and then reached their destination by travelling in a fuel

tank . Adding to this, in the novel we could see that Baba hated Russians because they

invaded Afghanistan. They could hear the Russian aircrafts roaring. In the end, the

Russian invasion came to an end .  USSR,USA,PAKISTAN and  AFGHANISTAN  signed

an agreement . The mujahideen groups  were successful in overthrowing the communist

government. They then  shortly seized control over Kabul. their regional autonomy was

accepted by Pakistan  and Iran .Taliban imposed strict islamic laws and punished people

who did not  follow them. The harsh treatment of the Taliban is witnessed by Amir when he

when back to Afghanistan,to search for Sohrab.When Farid and Amir reached Kabul, Farid

told Amir to Keep his head down . Farid told Amir that they would find any excuse to kill

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him. In addition to this, they went to the Ghazi Stadium to see a soccer match. They saw

the ruthless killing and the way Taliban is cautious about its laws.

After the world witnessed this, things were not good in america. The 9/11 attacks in New

York  . As a result of which American forces invaded Afghanistan . In particular, America

wanted to destroy Mujahideen bases and wanted to take revenge . Therefore,United

States increased its military presence in Afghanistan. This benefited the Afghanistan

military to take hold of Afghanistan. Moreover,United States military also provided the

afghan army essential things like intelligence, air cover, logistical support, etc. After

elections in the United States the newly elected president Barack Obama ensured America

to bring back its soldiers and put an end to this war . Adding to this the american forces

were successful in eliminating the leader of Taliban, Osama bin Ladin . subsequently,Nato

allies also joined the Afghanistan war. In a recent interview U.S. major general Sean s win

dell,  told in an interview,"our coalition footprint has shrunk so the Taliban perceives their

initiatives". The question that arises is whether or not  United Staes want to leave

Afghanistan? The answer to this is not yet answered because the government are making

plans to post some troops in Afghanistan. The troops would be providing back up to the

afghan troops . The United States is afraid of the fact that it does not want Afghanistan to

go in wrong hands as the new Taliban leader has ended his peace talks with the afghan

government.  Afghan troops are hugely depended on international funds to continue its

operations in the valley.

But the facts remains that international powers played a crucial role in determining

Afghanistan future. We can say this by taking the example of super powers like Russia

and the United States invaded Afghanistan  for different reasons. For most of the part, the

thing which we can find common is that the invaded Afghanistan because they wanted to

display their power to the world . In addition to this, recent attacks and air strikes on

hospitals gives as a hint that this war is not yet over. With new terrorists organisations

emerging in different parts of the world  ,it is difficult to tell whether the world would live in

peace . Above all,it is important for countries to follow international treaties and policies so

as to eliminate terror. As an example, Afghanistan faced war because of political

rivalry.between the King and his brother  Daoud Khan. After this,Daoud Khan wanted to

playoff Russia. Thus aggravating Russian forces to invade Afghanistan .This lead to the

interferences of other super powers into the problems of a nation. This made situation

even worst in Afghanistan .As a result of which, this threaten the stability of the country.All

the countries should not engage them in unnecessary conflicts. Politics and warfare have

some connection with each other. Most of the wars start due to weak political stability of

relations with other country. Countries should avoid dirty politics. If these problems  are

resolved, then it would make the world a better place to live .