The Acts of the Democracies

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1995

Afghanistan

The Taliban take power in Afghanistan. They impose an extreme form of Islamic law on the country: closing schools for girls and requiring women to remain at home and only come out if completely covered. Men are imprisoned if their beards are not long enough. Television, photography and music are banned.

The USA oil company Unocal, invites some of the leaders of the Taliban to Houston, where they are royally entertained. The company offers the new regime payment for oil and gas transported through Afganistan via a pipeline. A figure of 15% is mentioned.

Unocal had been seeking since 1995 to build oil and gas pipelines from Turkmenistan, through Afghanistan and into Pakistani ports on the Arabian Sea. The company's scheme requires a single administration in Afghanistan, which would guarantee safe passage for its goods.

Initially, the USA supports the Taliban. A couple of years later, a USA diplomat would state:

"the Taliban will probably develop like the Saudis did. There will be Aramco [a US oil consortium which worked in Saudi Arabia], pipelines, an emir, no parliament and lots of Sharia law. We can live with that."

© 2024, KryssTal


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