What about remaining 60%?
Right after the part you are quoting I noted that the figure does not include non-pakistani members like the Chechnyans and Arabs. That could be really close to 50%. I think that's sufficient to say the Taliban were largely foreign.
Just because there are Taliban soldiers who happen to be Pakistani, does not necessarily mean that the Pakistani government supports them.
"While Musharraf admitted the Taliban were being sheltered in the lawless frontier border regions, the declassified U.S. documents released today clearly illustrate that the Taliban was directly funded, armed and advised by Islamabad itself." (
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB227/)
You can also research for yourself the ISI's involvement in Afghanistan and the training of Gulbideen Hekmatyar. I've given you plenty of names and topics that you can look up for yourself.
Yes, but I want evidence. I would like more detail.
I don't know what you are saying 'yes' to but why are you on this thread if you don't know anything about the Taliban's history? This is common knowledge that a simple google search could inform you about. edit: (i will inform you anyway) After the Soviets got kicked out, there was a power vacuum which resulted in a civil war between the warlords who had previously fought off the Russians. The Taliban started its own campaign south from the border and, with their foreign support, were able to drive the other warlords up North who were exhausted from all the fighting. This resulted in the majority control the Taliban had and the civil war they were fighting with the other warlords who had stopped their invasion just short of the northern province of Panjsher.
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Why would Pakistan would like to gain control of that region? Oh evidence for this too.
Well the geographic importance of Afghanistan is known by all. Moreover, there is a history of Pakistani meddling in Afghan politics since the time of Gulbideen and now the Taliban (the funding of and training of soldiers). At the very least, American intelligence agrees with me and you can see that in the site I linked above.
Again, why are you even discussing this with me if you don't know anything about the region? Type in Ahmad Shah Massoud in Google.
So? You can be educated at Oxford University but it does not mean you are fit to govern a country. Though being educated can be a good basis to get into politics.
And what I said in my last post is that I don't expect a governing body like the Taliban to make any improvements considering they don't have any of the specialized training to govern a country. Locking people up in their homes for 'safety' might reduce the crime rate but law and order are not sufficient in themselves to bring a country out of poverty. The President of America is not an economist there's a reason why he's surrounded by them.
I'm not entirely sure but what are you trying to prove exactly? That the Afghan people do not support the Taliban?
The level of support the Taliban gets from the Muslim world is very misplaced. They are hardly the noble mujahideen fighting the evil NATO crusaders that some of you like to believe.
@Fallen Angel
Wow, way to generalize things. Quite evident you're speaking out of ignorance rather than facts. I've never been sent to a madrassa but i know people who have and none of them turned into"taliban kids" and got sent off to Afghanistan..
I wasn't generalizing. I was talking about a specific brand of Madrassas that are infamous for sending wannabe martyrs to Afghanistan. The rest of your post attempts to criticize my argument by attacking my motives. This is a logical fallacy and if you can re-post something that actually addresses the topic at hand rather than some imaginary bias you think I have then I will be more than happy to respond.
@Lily
I am not shocked by your ignorance-No!.. but if you are going to put your own spin on an Arabic term again do it with like minded fools
I wasn't putting my spin on any Arabic terms; I was talking about a specific brand of madrassas that are infamous for sending wannabe martyrs to Afghanistan. The rest of your post is your usual anger-management stuff.
@Hamza
This might also come as a shock to you but the media will never truly tell you the full truth in context about the invasions of Afghanistan or Iraq for they will tell you their own created "truth". It is very clear to all that you know nothing about the people in Afghanistan apart from what you read in the papers or on the news and you make it out like you know exactly what the Afghan people want. How much more do you want to expose your flawed and baseless arguments?
I welcome you to challenge what I've said any time.
Conclusion:
This thread is full of people who have a lot to say about a region that they are completely ignorant about. Afghanistan has gone through many decades of war and its people are suffering. If you can't help, at least learn about it. That's a start.