a.. Junbish-i Milli-yi Islami (National Islamic Movement) - After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the non-Pashtun militias in the north centered in the city of Mazar-i Sharif, constituted themselves into a new organization, the Junbish-i Milli-yi Islami (National Islamic Movement), founded by General Abdul Rashid Dostum, whose base of support lies primarily among the Sunni Muslim Uzbeks. A large number of fighters forming part of this organization (the numbers vary between 15,000 and 160,000) had a reputation of being the best equipped of Afghanistan. General Abdul Rashid Dostum received support from Uzbekistan and from Russia. He had formed an alliance with G. Hikmatyar in 1994 and was part of the alliance formed against B. Rabbani, the 'Supreme Coordination Council'. Dostum and Commander Abdul Malik shared nominal control of five to six north central provinces. In May 1997, Dostum was defeated in battle by Malik, who defected to the Taleban and subsequently fled the country. The Taleban managed briefly to enter Mazaar-i-Sharif, though they were forced out within days after heavy street fighting. General Dostum, who had held overall control of the city, then fled the country and his faction split. In September 1997 General Dostum returned from exile in Turkey.
b.. Jamiat-i Islami (Islamic Society) In 1973 Burhanuddin Rabbani, a lecturer at the sharia (Islamic law) faculty of Kabul University, was chosen as chairman of Jamiat-i Islami, a predominately Tajik Islamist party which developed as the dominant party in the Persian speaking areas of northeastern and western Afghanistan. At first Rabbani received some financial and material support from the Government of Saudi Arabia, but this appears to have ended in 1993. Former President Rabbani claims to be the head of the Government and controls most of the country's embassies abroad and retains Afghanistan's UN seat after the U.N. General Assembly deferred a decision on Afghanistan's credentials. Rabbani received nominal support from General Malik (until he was driven out of Afghanistan), from General Dostum, and the Shi'a/Hazara Hezb-i-Wahdat.
c.. Rabbani's famous Mujahideen military commander Ahmad Shah Masood built the most sophisticated military-political organization, the Supervisory Council of the North (SCN-Shura-yi Nazar-i Shamali). The SCN coordinated Jamiat commanders in about five provinces and also created region-wide forces which developed into Masood's Islamic Army (Urdu-yi Islami). Rabbani and Masood control the northeastern, largely Tajik, portion of the country, including the strategic Panjshir valley north of Kabul. The area includes the opium-growing area of Badakhshan. Some of Masood's commanders in the north reportedly use torture routinely to extract information from and break the will of prisoners and political opponents; some of the victims are said to have been tortured to death.
External Support
The conflict in Afghanistan has continued to have an international dimension, both from political and economic perspectives.
a.. The United States is intent on offseting Iranian influence on the spread of terrorism and expansion of markets in the region.
b.. Russia had backed B. Rabbani's government in Kabul and feared that a Pakistani backed Pashtun movement such as the Taleban would be expansionist, threatening Russia's interests in Central-Asian countries. Russia has provided Dostem with 500 T55 and T62 tanks that are used against areas that oppose his rule. Russia has also provided Dostem with a large number of Frog 7 and Luna M missiles.
c.. Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov had clandestinely supported his fellow Uzbek, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, with tanks, aircraft and technical personnel, with an expectation that Uzbek dominated provinces in northern Afghanistan would provide a buffer against the spread of fundamentalism from Afghanistan.
d.. Tajikistan, racked by civil war and with a government backed by Russian troops, has been sympathetic to fellow Tajiks led by President B. Rabbani. Many Afghan Tajiks also support the idea of a greater Tajikistan - merging Tajik areas of Afghanistan with Tajikistan.
e.. India in the early 1990s provided technical and financial assistance to Rabani and his military commander Masood. India, according to charges by the Taleban, is using "hirelings in Afghanistan to commit terrorist acts against Afghan men, women, and children." Sources and Resources
a.. Afghanistan Online inclined toward Jamiat-i Islami and Burhanuddin Rabbani
b.. Afghanistan profile @irp.fas.org
c.. Hizb-i Wahdat (Unity Party) profile @irp.fas.org
d.. Taleban profile @irp.fas.org
e.. Afghanistan: The Forgotten Crisis By Barnett R. Rubin - WRITENET (UK) WRITENET Country Papers - (February 1996) [Much of the text of this profile was derived from this source, which seems to be the definitive online treatment of this extremely complex subject
----- Original Message ----- From: "Dennis" <dperrin13 at mediaone.net> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2001 7:36 AM Subject: Re: A Cockburn Classic
> > One thing to bear in mind: a big reason the Russians got bogged down is
> > because we were supporting the other side (during which time we created
> > the Bin Ladens and Khattabs that have exported so much havoc ever
since).
> > And that's been true through history. Afghanistan is great guerilla
> > country, but part of why is because the guerillas have always been
> > supported from without. If Russia and the US (and India and Pakistan
and
> > Iran) were on the same side with the convergent interests, it might be a
> > different story . . .
>
> > So the country might be ripe for another sweep. And if the Taliban
could
> > be cut off from their support in Pakistan -- which might in itself be a
> > crucially good thing for Pakistan, and for India/Pakistan relations --
> > this might conceivably turn out differently from the invasions of Russia
> > and Britain.
> >
> > Michael
>
>
> Yes, and I realized this the moment I sent this "Classic Cockburn Moment"
> in. I think it will be different this time; and I imagine that the US has
> told Pakistan that we're going in and going in hard and to stay the fuck
> outta the way. And if, as a friend suggested to me last night, US troops
> team with Russian commandos, I rather doubt that Pakistan will help their
> Taliban friends, at least not militarily.
>
> But then, who the fuck really knows?
>
> DP
>
>
>