// BEGIN editorial data
 var i = 0;
var AfghanPrimer = new Array();
AfghanPrimer.ID = "AfghanPrimer";
AfghanPrimer.ID_WB = 3729515;
AfghanPrimer.sPubDate = "12/7/2004 12:22:10 PM GMT";
AfghanPrimer.navsectionID = "undefined"
AfghanPrimer.appFmt = 8;
AfghanPrimer.template = "/d/ip/afghanprimer/default.asp";
AfghanPrimer.itemsPerPage = 1;
AfghanPrimer.appWidth = 520;
AfghanPrimer.appHeader = "<img src=/d/ip/afghanprimer/header.gif height=60 width=520><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src=\"/m/js/std.js\"></S\CRIPT><img src=/modules/afghanprimer/images/dw_rivenbyconflict_09210-05.gif width=37 height=28><a href=\"/d/ip/afghanprimer/default.asp\" target=_top onMouseOver=\"SwapImage('timeline',1);\" onMouseOut=\"SwapImage('timeline',0);\" onClick=\"SwapImage('timeline',2);\"><img src=/modules/afghanprimer/images/timeline.gif width=94 height=28 border=0 name=timeline></a><img src=/modules/afghanprimer/images/dw_rivenbyconflict_09210-08.gif width=73 height=28><a href=\"#\" onMouseOver=\"SwapImage('geography',1);\" onMouseOut=\"SwapImage('geography',0);\" onClick=\"parent.location.href='/d/ip/afghanprimer/default.asp?cat=1'\"><img src=/modules/afghanprimer/images/geography.gif width=112 height=28 border=0 name=\"geography\"></a><img src=/modules/afghanprimer/images/dw_rivenbyconflict_09210-11.gif width=59 height=28><a href=\"#\" onMouseOver=\"SwapImage('people',1);\" onMouseOut=\"SwapImage('people',0);\" onClick=\"parent.location.href='/d/ip/afghanprimer/default.asp?cat=2'\"><img src=/modules/afghanprimer/images/people.gif width=108 height=28 name=\"people\" border=0></a><img src=/modules/afghanprimer/images/dw_rivenbyconflict_09210-14.gif width=37 height=28>";
AfghanPrimer.sTitle = "Afghanistan's tumultuous history";
AfghanPrimer.appFooter = "bgcolor=cccccc";
AfghanPrimer.appNavStyle = 3;
AfghanPrimer.appLayout = 3;
AfghanPrimer.headHeight = 88;
AfghanPrimer.copyHeight = 294;
AfghanPrimer.copyWidth = 380;
AfghanPrimer.copyMargin = 9;
AfghanPrimer.headlineStyle = "font-size:15px; color:793004; ";
AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","Introduction ","","http://www.msnbc.com/d/ip/AfghanPrimer/afghanistan_intro.jpg","","", "sub", "", "", "", "", "", "", "101", "310", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "Despite its inhospitable terrain of mountains and deserts, Afghanistan's strategic location in the heart of central Asia has guaranteed a steady stream of invaders. During the 19th century, the British and the Russians vied for control of Himalayan mountain passes leading to India. It was during this period that Britain learned - at considerable cost -- the Afghans' reputation as fierce and hardy warriors.  One hundred years later, the Soviet Union would learn the same bloody lesson before retreating in defeat.";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","Geography","","","","", "sub", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<headline/>   <br>Afghanistan is an impoverished landlocked Asian country about the size of Texas. Mountains called the Hindu Kush - up to 24,000 feet high -- and vast deserts make for sharp physical contrasts and extremes in climate. Many roads are barely passable and rivers are mostly unnavigable. Two decades of warfare, first with the Soviets and then among opposing forces within Afghanistan, have left much of the country an uninhabitable wasteland. Although the geography varies widely, much of the land is dry. Afghanistan borders six countries: China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to the north, Pakistan to the south and east, and Iran to the west.";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","The people","","http://www.msnbc.com/d/ip/AfghanPrimer/Afghanistan_Ethnolinguistic_map.gif","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "270", "260", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<font face=arial size=2>The population of Afghanistan is believed to be around 26 million. About 6 million people are believed to have fled the country because of famine and civil war. According to the most recent data available, grinding poverty has slashed life expectancy to around 45 years for both men and women.    <br>The three main ethnic groups are the Pashtuns, also called Pathans, Tajiks and Hazaras. Pashtuns make up 38 percent of the population, Tajiks 25 percent and Hazaras 19 percent. The Pashtuns are mainly in the central, southern and eastern part of the country, and the Tajiks are in the northeast and around Kabul and Herat. The Hazara tribe traces its origin to Mongolia and dominates the central mountain regions. Pashto, Afghan Persian and various Turkic languages -- mainly Uzbek and Turkmen -- are the country's principal languages. More than 80 percent of the population is Sunni Muslim, while the    <br>remainder is Shiite Muslim.";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","Early years","","","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>The geographical area of present-day Afghanistan appears in Western accounts in 328 B.C. following the conquests of Alexander the Great, who seized the land from the Persian Empire.  During succeeding centuries the area was occupied by the Scythians, White Huns and Turks.  Arab invaders introduced Islam to the area in 642 A.D.  Eventually it settled into a collection of independent communities.";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","The Great Game","","","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Towards the middle of the 19th Century, Imperial Britain and Czarist Russia maneuvered for power among the kingdoms and caliphates of  Central Asia.  Their actions -- a combination of exploration, alliances, and military moves and feints -- became known to British players as \"The Great Game.\"<Br>    <br>Hoping to thwart Russian incursions into Central Asia -- and protect the \"jewel of the crown\" - India -- Britain moved into Kabul in 1839.  Two years later a British envoy was killed by a mob and the British garrison retreated toward what is now Pakistan after it was assured of its safety. But ambushes and massacres by Afghan warlords obliterated the garrison of 4,500 soldiers and 12,000 civilians, leaving only one survivor. Britain retaliated and warfare raged until 1842. After a second Anglo-Afghan war, from 1878 to 1880, London put its own candidate, Amir Abdur Rahman, on the Afghan throne. During this time, the British and Russians officially established the boundaries of what would become modern Afghanistan.";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","Early 20th Century","Amir Abdur Rahman Khan","http://www.msnbc.com/d/ip/AfghanPrimer/afghanistan_Amir_Abdur_Rahman.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "150", "135", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<headline/>    <br>King Abdur Rahman remained neutral during World War I, angering many of his subjects who wanted him to join the Axis coalition. After the assassination in 1919 of Habibullah, Rahman's son and successor, a third son, Amanullah, launched the Third Anglo-Afghan war. Britain, exhausted from World War I, relinquished its control over Afghan foreign affairs by signing the Treaty of Rawalpindi in August 1919.";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","Reform and response","King Amanullah Khan","/d/ip/AfghanPrimer/afghanistan_king_amanullah_khan.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "150", "135", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<headline/>   <br>King Amanullah (1919-29) introduced several reforms such as the abolition of the traditional Muslim veil for women and the opening of a number of coeducational schools. The move alienated many tribal and religious leaders. Amanullah was abducted in January 1929 after Kabul was captured by a rival political group of ethnic Tajiks. The throne passed through several hands before Zaher Shah assumed power in 1933. He served as the king of Kabul for four decades.";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","Daud Khan","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>King Zaher Shah and his prime minister, Shah Mahmud, promoted elections and a free press, and increased Afghanistan's involvement in foreign relations. However, Lt. Gen. Mohammad Daud Khan seized power in 1953. Daud Khan turned to the Soviet Union for economic and military assistance, while somehow maintaining a position of neutrality during the Cold War. During his 1953-63 tenure, Daud Khan also introduced several far-reaching educational and social reforms, such as the  practice of secluding women in private places. Disagreements over the Afghani-Pakistan border in 1961 led to Daud's resignation in 1963.";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","Reform and revolt","King Zaher Shah","/d/ip/AfghanPrimer/afghanistan_King_Zahir_Shah.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "150", "135", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<headline/>  <br>The National Assembly approved a new constitution in 1964 providing for a two-chamber legislature to which the people, King Zaher Shah and provincial assemblies each appointed one-third of the deputies.  The elections of 1965 and 1969 yielded strong showings from both Islamic fundamentalists and the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. But Zaher Shah refused to enforce the constitution, and political instability grew.   <br><Br>   <p>On July 17, 1973, former Prime Minister Daud Khan seized power with the help of leftist military officers. Daud Khan introduced socio-economic reforms, but poverty compounded by widespread government repression provided seeds for a growing leftist coalition. A coup in April 1978 led to the death of Daud Khan and the rise of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. Nur Muhammad Taraki, secretary general of the party, became prime minister.";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","Enter the Soviets","","/d/ip/AfghanPrimer/afghanistan_soviet_enter.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "133", "160", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>After signing a bilateral treaty with Moscow in December 1978, Soviet money and military assistance poured into Afghanistan.  Meanwhile, the People's Democratic Party introduced decrees on land reform, the abolition of usury and changes in marriage customs. The new laws alienated the Kabul-based government from the Islamic traditions of the countryside. To combat insurgency, the People's Democratic Party imprisoned members of the religious establishment as well as the Kabul intelligentsia. The crisis triggered armed revolt in the countryside, where ethnic leaders and conservative Islamic mullahs led protests. As dissatisfaction with the government grew, the People's Democratic Party found itself increasingly reliant on Soviet aid.";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","Coup and invasion","","/d/ip/AfghanPrimer/afghanistan_soviets.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "144", "310", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>After a palace shootout, Hafizullah Amin, a former prime minister and representative of a competing leftist faction, seized power from Taraki in September 1979. Meanwhile, revolts in the countryside continued unabated. A month after the coup, Amin refused to accept Soviet advice on consolidating his power in rural areas.    <p>On Dec. 24, 1979, Soviet airborne troops landed in Kabul under the pretext of conducting field exercises. Two days later, the invading forces killed Amin and recognized Babrak Karmal as the prime minister. A massive Soviet ground invasion from the north followed on Dec. 27.";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","The Mujahedeen","","/d/ip/AfghanPrimer/afghanistan_mugahedeen.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "161", "160", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Although backed by 120,000 Soviet troops, the Karmal regime failed to establish authority outside Kabul. The presence of non-Islamic troops in Afghanistan galvanized resistance as men from throughout the Muslim world flocked to battle Moscow's forces.  The resistance fighters, known as the Mujahedeen, received substantial support in the form of weapons and training from the United States, along with Britain, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","Enter chaos","","/d/ip/AfghanPrimer/afghanistan_sovietpullout.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "176", "310", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<font class=headline>Exit the Soviets, enter chaos</font>    <br>Unceasing Afghan resistance brought the Soviet Union to the bargaining table. The Geneva Accords, signed in 1988, created a timetable guaranteeing full Soviet withdrawal by Feb. 15, 1989.  About 14,500 Soviets and an estimated 1 million Afghans lost their lives between 1979 and the Soviet withdrawal in 1989. Because the mujahedeen were not involved in negotiations, the pullout left a power vacuum in Afghanistan.Z";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","Taliban","","","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<font class=headline>The rise and fall of the Taliban</font>     <br>After the Soviets pulled out, the united front against Moscow collapsed. Various  mujahedeen factions fought among themselves to take over Kabul, which led to the rise of the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban movement. The Taliban finally gained control over Kabul in 1996 and controlled as much as 90 percent of Afghanistan until the United States unleashed a military assault on Oct. 7, 2001, targeting alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, whom the Taliban had protected.     <br>After the fall of the Taliban, the U.S.-led coalition forces and the Northern Alliance defeated Taliban fighters and Hamid Karzai became interim president.";

AfghanPrimer[i++] = new Array("","After the Taliban","","","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AfghanPrimer[i-1].body = "<headline/>      <br>Under a U.N.-backed agreement, an interim administration under the leadership of Hamid Karzai took over Afghanistan in December 2001. Three years later, after two 'loya jirga' or grand council meetings of Afghan elders and an election on Oct. 9, 2004, Karzai was sworn in as the country's first popularly elected president for a five-year term. <br> ";

	// END editorial data