Ok....these guys are freaking crazy. This is what we are up against.....
Scary.......
Some facts about the Taliban:
Upon taking power, the Taliban banned all women from the workforce. As 40% of physicians and half of all teachers were women, this shortage is still being felt today.
Women cannot leave the house without wearing a burqa, an oppressive garment which covers a woman from head to toe with only a tiny bit of mesh through which to see. They are also restricted to travel outside the home only with a husband or male relative, and the windows of their homes must be blacked out. The punishment for violating these decrees is execution, though following them has led to a skyrocketing suicide rate.
90-95% of all Afghan women are illiterate, as are 75-80% of all men -- however, given that, presumably, some people are still alive who lived through the literacy-promoting Soviet regime, I'm not sure how these numbers work out. I'll have to do more research.
The Taliban's leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, decreed in February 2001 that all statues in Afghanistan should be destroyed in accordance with an inaccurately interpreted
Islamic proscription against idol-worship. Those statues destroyed include the two largest statues of the Buddha in the world, as well as countless priceless works embodying the rich heritage of Afghanistan.
Laughing too loudly, a woman showing her ankle, and a man shaving his beard are all imprisonable, if not stonable, offences.
Music, films, cinema, television, computers, musical instruments, and video are all outlawed.
Women are stoned to death for being the victims of rape and committing adultery.
80% of Afghanistan's citizens are unemployed due to gross fiscal mismanagement by the
Taliban, which demolished the economic infrastructure. This has driven many women to prostitution, another stonable offence.
Women are not allowed health care or education, and what education there is for males consists of lackluster "religious instruction."
Boys are thrown out of school for not wearing turbans, which may not seem like much, but aside from the civil liberties violations this embodies, one must take into account that turbans are a great expense for already destitute and often starving families.
The Taliban has destroyed thousands of fertile fields in a show of attempting to curb the poppy crop. This further compounds the famine now in full force.
Afghans are the largest refugee population in the world (2,562,000 according to the UNHCR).
The Taliban harbours extremist terrorist Osama bin Laden, accused of numerous bombing attacks, and allows him to set up training camps, for the purpose of training new terrorist soldiers.
Taliban religious secret police, the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Orwell, much?), are given the freedom to indiscriminately kill, imprison, and "disappear" anyone they suspect of violating Taliban decrees. Not only does this apply to Afghan citizens, but numerous foreign aid workers have been murdered and tortured by the secret police as well.
Ahmad Shah Masoud made deals with the Soviet invaders during the Cold War, allowing them safe passage into the country in exchange for assistance, even going so far as to stage mock battles with Soviet forces to keep other mujahadin groups from becoming suspicious. Currently, summary executions and torture are practiced in the territory controlled by the Northern Alliance.
In May 2001, the Taliban decreed that religious minorities must identify themselves as such. The Sikh population has been thus far unaffected by this as they are already recognisable due to their turbans and beards, but Hindus are made to carry yellow markers with them at all times.
Conversion to or practice of Christianity is punishable by death in Afghanistan.
The Taliban has had a couple publically beaten who were accused of having sex without being married. The man was lashed into unconsciousness.
Scary.......
Some facts about the Taliban:
Upon taking power, the Taliban banned all women from the workforce. As 40% of physicians and half of all teachers were women, this shortage is still being felt today.
Women cannot leave the house without wearing a burqa, an oppressive garment which covers a woman from head to toe with only a tiny bit of mesh through which to see. They are also restricted to travel outside the home only with a husband or male relative, and the windows of their homes must be blacked out. The punishment for violating these decrees is execution, though following them has led to a skyrocketing suicide rate.
90-95% of all Afghan women are illiterate, as are 75-80% of all men -- however, given that, presumably, some people are still alive who lived through the literacy-promoting Soviet regime, I'm not sure how these numbers work out. I'll have to do more research.
The Taliban's leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, decreed in February 2001 that all statues in Afghanistan should be destroyed in accordance with an inaccurately interpreted
Islamic proscription against idol-worship. Those statues destroyed include the two largest statues of the Buddha in the world, as well as countless priceless works embodying the rich heritage of Afghanistan.
Laughing too loudly, a woman showing her ankle, and a man shaving his beard are all imprisonable, if not stonable, offences.
Music, films, cinema, television, computers, musical instruments, and video are all outlawed.
Women are stoned to death for being the victims of rape and committing adultery.
80% of Afghanistan's citizens are unemployed due to gross fiscal mismanagement by the
Taliban, which demolished the economic infrastructure. This has driven many women to prostitution, another stonable offence.
Women are not allowed health care or education, and what education there is for males consists of lackluster "religious instruction."
Boys are thrown out of school for not wearing turbans, which may not seem like much, but aside from the civil liberties violations this embodies, one must take into account that turbans are a great expense for already destitute and often starving families.
The Taliban has destroyed thousands of fertile fields in a show of attempting to curb the poppy crop. This further compounds the famine now in full force.
Afghans are the largest refugee population in the world (2,562,000 according to the UNHCR).
The Taliban harbours extremist terrorist Osama bin Laden, accused of numerous bombing attacks, and allows him to set up training camps, for the purpose of training new terrorist soldiers.
Taliban religious secret police, the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Orwell, much?), are given the freedom to indiscriminately kill, imprison, and "disappear" anyone they suspect of violating Taliban decrees. Not only does this apply to Afghan citizens, but numerous foreign aid workers have been murdered and tortured by the secret police as well.
Ahmad Shah Masoud made deals with the Soviet invaders during the Cold War, allowing them safe passage into the country in exchange for assistance, even going so far as to stage mock battles with Soviet forces to keep other mujahadin groups from becoming suspicious. Currently, summary executions and torture are practiced in the territory controlled by the Northern Alliance.
In May 2001, the Taliban decreed that religious minorities must identify themselves as such. The Sikh population has been thus far unaffected by this as they are already recognisable due to their turbans and beards, but Hindus are made to carry yellow markers with them at all times.
Conversion to or practice of Christianity is punishable by death in Afghanistan.
The Taliban has had a couple publically beaten who were accused of having sex without being married. The man was lashed into unconsciousness.