THE AFGHAN AFTERMATH IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Abstract

On 7 October, the United States began military operations against the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Afghanistan and the Taliban regime that had given them shelter. The impact of the US operation upon the Taliban could not be clearer. Just two months after the commencement of bombing, Northern Alliance forces entered the radical Islamist movement’s spiritual capital of Kandahar, effectively ending the Taliban’s seven-year rule in Afghanistan. However, the repercussions of Operation Enduring Freedom go far beyond the mountains of Afghanistan. Just as the terrorist attacks of 11 September marked a watershed in the United States’ domestic security policy, so too did the subsequent American military campaign inalterably change America’s approach toward the Middle East. The reverberations of the campaign to end the Taliban will have an impact on the entire Middle East, Turkey and Israel for years to come