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The ‘milieu’ in which the Bush Administration made the decision to intervene in Afghanistan: the ‘fear’ of another 9/11
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By Dr Sharifullah Dorani* Introduction ‘Fear was widespread, not just in the days immediately after the [9/11] attacks, but throughout the fall of 2001. Most Americans said they were…worried about another attack.’ Pew Research Center[1] Although later decision-making in the George W Bush Administration was conducted in secrecy and without much deliberation, the decision to…
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“Those fallen from the mountain will get up again, but those fallen from the hearts will never rise.”
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Chapter Thirteen Brigadier and Mahjan greeted my parents in the hallway. A knock on the door, to my anxiety. I pulled the blanket over me. A pause. The door opened, stayed for a moment, and then shut. My withdrawal had worried Mour. Thanks, Khudai, she left without bothering me to join them. I freaked…
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The role of domestic factors in the Bush Administration’s decision to invade Afghanistan
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By Dr Sharifullah Dorani* Introduction This article focuses on the role of domestic factors as a causal factor in the making of the George W Bush Administration’s Global War on Terror (GWOT) strategy that started in Afghanistan. As such, the impact of the American public, American media and Congress on policymaking for the GWOT…
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“You’d officially be presented with the medal of The True Daughter of Afghanistan…You remind me of… Nahid Shahid.”
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Chapter Twelve The buffalo-headed Mullah Rahmat lumbered in, followed by the religious studies ustad, Rauf Khan. The mudir told his two bodyguards, armed with Kalashnikovs, to go back to the edara. Instructed us to get some chairs and the students from nine jim. Baktash and I, together with a few others, executed the order…
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The role of President Bush’s “Freedom Agenda” in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars
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By Dr Sharifullah Dorani* Introduction This short essay first explains what President George W Bush’s Freedom Agenda is. It then explains what impact it had on the Bush Administration’s policymaking towards the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. The essay ends with a conclusion. What is the Freedom Agenda? Professor Shane J. Ralston offers a good…
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“Islam is about respecting women, not oppressing them.” – Chapter 11
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Chapter Eleven The following day, to many students’ horror, the buffalo-headed Mullah Rahmat showed up at the assembly. He’d dismissed Raziq Khan for failing to follow his ‘clear instructions’ and reiterated his ‘feet-and-the-halek’s-stomach’ threat. We marched into separate year nine classes: one all jelais; the other all haleks. We were in the nine alef,…
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“Release yourself from people’s chains…and you’ll fly as high as the…pigeons” – Chapter 10
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Chapter Ten “Release yourself from people’s chains…and you’ll fly as high as the…pigeons.” The following day at school break, Shafih collapsed as we lay on the lawn to enjoy the warm sunshine and the smell of fresh grass. Students chilled out in twos and threes, eating simyan and chickpeas, sucking lollipops, or crunching on…
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The role of personal beliefs of President Bush and his advisors in the making of the GWOT strategy
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By Dr Sharifullah Dorani* Introduction This essay considers how the belief systems and images (beliefs and past experiences) of President George W Bush and his close advisors on how to deal with terrorism/states sponsoring terrorism shaped the Global War on Terror (GWOT) strategy. The belief systems of Bush and his close advisors ‘…there is…