WEBQUEST

AFGHANISTAN CRISIS

INTRODUCTION: You may be hearing a lot in the news

about Afghanistan and the Taliban. Let´s understand the
Taliban's position within Afghanistan, how the Taliban's
practices have raised concerns about human rights, and
the economic and cultural climate in Afghanistan today.
Afghan people have been devastated not only by the
Taliban, but by years of civil war and a ten year war with
the former Soviet Union when it invaded Afghanistan in
1979. The U.S. response during this time was a) to arm
and train Afghan rebels fighting the Soviets, many of
these rebels now Taliban members, and b) to bomb
suspected terrorist camps on the Afghanistan-Pakistan
border in 1998.

You are going to search in the web the following answers so you can use this knowledge to
comprehend what´s going on in Afghanistan today.

QUESTIONS

1. Who are the Taliban’s?

2. How did the Taliban come to power?

3. Why are human rights organizations worried about the Taliban?

4. How do the Taliban's religious views compare to those of other Muslims around the world?

5. What do you think the United States should have done in Afghanistan following the Soviet-
Afghan War and during the rise of the Taliban. Could we have prevented or improved the
present state of affairs in Afghanistan?

6. Write about contemporary life in Afghanistan from one of the following perspectives. What
would this person want for the future? What would this person fear? How might he or she feel
about a the new government?

 Taliban military leader.

 Afghan woman, former teacher
 Afghan soldier.
 American soldier.