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Baba and Ali Background KR
Baba is born and his parents take in Ali(5yrs old) after his parents are killed in a car accident. -
Coup KR
Amir and Hassan are awakened by shots in the night. The king of Afghanistan is overthrown by his cousin in a bloodless coup. After everything returns back to normal. -
Hassan's Lip KR
Baba gets Hassan's lip fixed as a birthday present -
Kites and Hassan KR
-Every winter the towns battle kites
-Hassan and Amir win the battle
-Hassan goes to run their kite
-Hassan gets chased and raped by the neighborhood bullies -
Amir's Party KR
-it's awkward for Amir to be around Hassan knowing that he abandoned him in the alley
-Amir bullies Hassan because he wants Hassan to hit him, to get him back for what Amir had done
-Amir turns 13 and gets a watch from Baba
-Amir plants the watch and some $ under Hassan's bed
-Amir tells Baba it missing
-Hassan and Ali confess to taking it and even though Baba begs them to stay, they leave -
Stability
Afghanistan has had a rough past but, "three decades ago, Afghanistan was...stable"(NYT),and up until late 1979 Afghanistan was relatively prosperous and secular(separation between church and state). -
Soviets
Soviets parachuted into Kabul, "stayed in the country for more than nine years", and left in February 1989 after peace talks b the U.N. -
Immigrating pt.1 KR
-The soviets have taken over and Baba and Amir are on a bus, trying to get out of the country
-when the bus gets stopped, a Russian guard(who is already getting payed to let them pass) says he wants half an hour with a young woman on the bus first
-Baba stands up for her and just at the soldier is about to shoot him, and older soldier shows up, apologizes and lets them pass -
Immigrating pt.2 KR
-Baba and Amir arrive at a safe-house
-They meet a dad and son from their old town(the son doesn't talk anymore because he was raped by soviet soldiers)
-They get in the fuel tank of a gas truck with other refugees
-the truck takes them to Pakistan where they are safe
-the boy dies from the fumes in the fuel tank and the dad shoots himself -
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California KR
-Amir and Baba are living in Fremont and Amir is graduating high school and going to junior college to be a writer(he's 20)
-He falls in love with an Afghan generals daughter(Soraya) at the market where they sell things
-Baba get's cancer
-Amir and Soraya get married(1986)
-Soraya tells Amir that she isn't a virgin and that she was with another Afghan, but he was in to drugs and when her dad found her he made her cut all of her hair off
-Baba dies
-Despite their efforts, Soraya can't have kids -
After the Soviets(before the Taliban)
Afghanistan became a "beacon to Islamic extremists from across the globe", and later, got divided among warlords and fiefdoms. -
Beginning of the Taliban
The Taliban started from a student movement "dedicated to purifying the country". The Taliban was lead by Mullah Omar,who lost an eye fighting the Soviets (his story is now considered folklore but they say it all started when he got a group of men to help him attack some warlords who raped and shaved a girl). His group grew to about 12,000 who were all defeating war lords, "he created a genuinely popular movement in a country weary of corruption and brutality". -
The Taliban
Pakistani forces had been providing arms, money, and supplies to the Taliban and since the Taliban were fully supported they "[imposed] strict enforcement of fundamentalist Islamic law". They banned movies, music, they banned woman from getting educations, and made them wear all-enveloping burqa clothes.The Taliban also provided a safe place for Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. -
Amir visits Afghanistan KR
-Amir goes to Afghanistan and with the help of some people who live there(Farid + his fam) he finds he orphanage where Sohrab was living but the patron of the orphanage said that the Taliban took him
-Amir and Farid find where the Taliban are keeping Sohrab
-Assef is the one who took Sohrab and challenges Amir for him
-While they are fighting to the death Sohrab takes his slingshot and shoots out Assefs eye
-Amir and Sohrab leave to take Amir to the hospital since he was nearly beaten to death -
After 9/11
After 9/11, the U.S. "gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over [Osama] bin Laden", they refused. Soon after, the U.S.-led coalition forces "[dislodged] Al Qaeda and [removed] the Taliban from power". -
9/11
On September 11, the terrorist group Al Qaeda("the group had been given safe haven in [Afghanistan] by the Taliban") attacked New York and Washington D.C. -
Amir visits Pakistan KR
-Rahim Khan(RK) is sick & calls Amir
-Amir visits RK
-RK tells Amir that he found Hassan(& his wife) & asked them 2 move into Baba's house with him
-Hassan's wife has a baby(died at birth)
-Sanaubar comes back
-Hassan has a boy(Named after character from story from Amir & Hassan's childhood)
-Hassan & wife are killed by Taliban
-Hassan's boy goes to orphanage
-RK tells Amir that Baba was Hassan's birth dad
-RK wants Amir to go get Hassan's kid -
Trying to bring Sohrab Home
-After Amir gets out of the hospital he and Sohrab stay in a hotel because the people who were supposed to take him are gone
-Amir tries to take Sohrab to Cali but he cant because since Hassan and his wife don't have death certificates Sohrab isn't technically an orphan
-After promising Sohrab that he wouldn't have to back to a orphanage Amir says that Sohrab might have to go to one until Amir can bring him home
-Sorab slits his wrists
-Sohrab heals and becomes a mute
- Amir brings him to Cali -
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Hamid Karzai
In 2001, Karzai is elected as the chairman (and later president) of an interim government. At first, he was quite popular and a "White House favorite" but, his popularity dropped because of the "lack of economic progress and [his] corrupt officials". -
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Taliban Resurgence
After their defeat, the Taliban waged gorilla warfare from their mountain basecamp and "began to extend its influence to the southern arts of Afghanistan". They greatly benefitted from the resurgence in opium trade and began to spill into Pakistan. -
Kite Running KR
Amir buys and runs a kite with Sohrab and for the first time since hs attempted suicide, he sees him smile -
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Resent Troubles
In the past the U.S. has sent many soldiers to Afghanistan and in 2009 President Obama sent another 30,000 troops vowing "to start to bringing American forces home from Afghanistan". Due to difficulties, in 2011, the president made a new statement saying that "the United States [would] have forces in the country until at least the end of 2014". The U.S. was doing their best to assure the Afghans that they were trying their hardest and that they were coming for the Taliban.