Afghanistan, the Soviets, and the Taliban
Several issues regarding Afghanistan in the aftermath of Soviet withdrawal are addressed in this brief essay. The immediate aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1988-1989 saw the fall of the regime it was defending; the elimination of a Marxist regime that had been in place since 1978 was a direct consequence of the Soviet troop withdrawal because as the Soviet troops withdrew, the regime itself proved unable to make good use of the vast assortment of military weapons and other materials left behind (Katz 1). President Najibullah remained in power until April 1992, due in part to continuation of Soviet military and economic assistance as well as mistakes made by some of the Mujahedeen and their Pakistani supporters, divisions among the Mujahedeen, and the Najibullah regime's exploitation of these problems (Katz 1).
When Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev left office and the Soviet Union itself collapsed in December 1991, Moscow's assistance to Kabul came to an end (Katz 1). Elements of the Mujahedeen included the group that would become the Taliban. In 1992, Kabul was captured by resistance forces and a coalition government was established which would last a very brief time. Groups of Taliban or religious students were loosely organized on a regional basis during the Soviet occupation and the ensuing civil war but only emerged as a united entity under the Taliban of Kandahar in 1994 (Hayes, Bruner, and Rowen 1-2).
Taking the city of Kandahar and capturing Kabul in September 1996, the Taliban succeeded in part because of the fact that many Afghans were weary of conflict and anarchy and responded to the devout Islamic regime of the Taliban who had some success in eliminating government corruption, restoring peace, and allowing commerce to once again emerge. Hayes, et al (2) note that integral to the Taliban regime was the institution of a very strict int...