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monarchy: a thing of the past
One night Amir and Hassan were sitting in the livibng room and heard gunshots and Ali told them it was just people hunting ducks. The next morning "it turned out, they hadn't shot much of anything that night of July 17, 1973. Kabul awoke the next morning to finnd that the monarchy was a thing of the past."(hosseini 36) This is important because this was a turning point in afgani history when the talaban took over. -
Winter of 1975
Hassan was in a very dangerous situation and Amir was there and he could have done something to save his friend. all he was thinking was " I could step into the alley, stand up for Hassan-m the way he'd stood up for me all those times in the past - and accept whatever would happen to me. Or i could run. In the end I ran". (hosseini 77) This part inthe bookis very important because this changed the relationship between Hassan and Amir and course of the characters lives. -
The Soviet Invation
On December 27 1979 the Soviet army invaded Kabul becasue they wanted to "assist Babrak Karmal, who had become president in a coup withing Afghan Communist leadership. Mosckow insisted that the troops came in respons toa plea for help from a ligitiamtly constituted Karmal Goverment." (Afganistan - An Overveiw The New York Times) -
Period: to
War With Russia
After the Soviet troops took over Kabul they "stayed in the country for more than nine years, fighting a conflict that cost them roughly 15,000 lives and undisclosed billions of rubles...The Kabul Government generally kept a firm grip on the cities, but throughout the war was unable to rout the rebles in the countryside." The war finally came to an end "after peace talks moderated by the United Nations, the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989." (Afghanistan-An Overview, NYT) -
Rising to Power
After the Soviet troops left Afghanistan "The Taliban grew out of a student movement dedicated to purifying the country, based in the southeast, the home of the dominant ethnic grouop, the Pashtun. In a story that is now part of Afghan folklore, the groups first action occurred when Mulllah Omar, a Pashtun who had lost an eye fighting the Soviets, gathered a small band of men and attacked a group of warlords who had raped a girl and shaved her head." (Afghanistan-An Overview, The New York Times) -
Taliban Take Over
By 1996, the Taliban "had taken control of Afghanistan, imposing strict enforcement of fundamentalist Islamic law, banning movies and music and forcing women out of schools and into all-enveloping burqa clothing." (Afghanistan-An Overview, The New York Times) -
The Taliban and Terrorists
Along with rising to power, "The Taliban also provided a haven for Mr. bin Laden, who arrived by chartered jet a Jalabad Airport in May 1996, and for Al Qaeda. Western diplomats say Al Qaeda helped perusade Mullah Omar to order the destruction of the 800-year-old Buddha statues at Bamiyan, an act condemned around the world." (Afghanistan-An Overview, The New York Times) -
9/11
On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon were attacked by Al Qaeda, the terrorist group let by Osama bin Laden. -
Post 9/11 Invasion
After Al Qaeda attacked "the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Mr. bin Laden. When it refused, the United States joined forces with rebel groups that had never accepted Taliban rule, notably the Northern Alliance, which represesnted minority tribes." (Afghanistan-An Overview, The New York Times) -
The Karzai Government
While President Bush was in office, the people of Afghanistan got their own president. "Hamid Karzai, a supporter and relative of Mohammad Zahir Shah, the exiled former king of Afghanistan, was named chairman of an interim government that replaced the defeated Taliban, making him the leader of the country." (Afghanistan-An Overview, The New York Times) -
Karzai Becomes President
After being interim president for two years, "Mr. Karzia was elected to a five-year term as president in 2004." (Afghanistan-An Overview, The New York Times) -
Obama's Plan
On December 1, 2009, President Obama delivered a speech at West Point Military Academy where he "announced his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops. He vowed to start bringing American forces home from Afghanistan in the middle of 2011, saying the United States could not afford and should not have to shoulder an open-ended commitment." (Afghanistan-An Overview, The New York Times)