Crs Report for Congress - Afghanistan: Post-War Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy: May 2, 2003 - Rl30588 (Paperback)

Afghanistan is stabilizing after more than 22 years of warfare, including a U.S.led war that brought the current government to power. Before the U.S. military campaign against the Taliban began on October 7, 2001, Afghanistan had been mired in conflict since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The Taliban ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until its collapse in December 2001 at the hands of the U.S.-led military campaign. The defeat of the Taliban enabled the United States and its coalition partners to send forces throughout Afghanistan to search for Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters and leaders that remain at large, including Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden. Since the fall of the Taliban, Afghan citizens are enjoying new personal freedoms that were forbidden under the Taliban, about 2 million Afghan refugees have returned, and women have returned to schools, the workforce, and participation in politics. On May 1, the United States and the Afghan government declared major U.S.led combat to have ended and that U.S.-led forces would henceforth concentrate on stabilization. U.S. stabilization measures include training and extending the writ of the national government, building a new Afghan national army, supporting an international security force (ISAF), and setting ...