Well, in fact, The Taliban is a rather new male religious cult that was formed as a result of the Russian occupation and the Afghan civil war, influenced by . It is far more radical than what most Afghans want.

I am one of many women around the world who have been aware of the rise of the Taliban in the 90's and what they began doing to women in Afghanistan.

Here is a timeline of their formation and rise:

The Taliban - history and resurgence



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"Groups of taliban ("religious students") were loosely organized on a regional basis during the occupation and civil war. Although they represented a potentially huge force, they didn't emerge as a united entity until the taliban of Kandahar made their move in 1994. In late 1994, a group of well-trained taliban were chosen by Pakistan to protect a convoy trying to open a trade route from Pakistan to Central Asia. "

snip

"While the Taliban present themselves as a reform movement, they have been criticized by Islamic scholars as being poorly educated in Islamic law and history—even in Islamic radicalism, which has a long history of scholarly writing and debate."

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From my home town of Bozeman, Montana, Greg Mortenson has been working to set up schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Mortenson advocates girls' education as the top priority to promote economic development, peace and prosperity, and says, "you can drop bombs, hand out condoms, build roads, or put in electricity, but until the girls are educated a society won't change".

Mortenson's web sites:

Book tour, reviews and media on www.threecupsoftea.com
Central Asia Institute website www.ikat.org
Pennies For Peace website www.penniesforpeace.org