The agony of Afghanistan: no music, no TV, no dancing--and that's just the beginning of the hardships of life under the Taliban. (International).

THE DEFINING FEATURE OF AFGHANISTAN IS despair. Clusters of widows, cloaked head to toe in blue shrouds, wander the streets, begging. Skeletal men, unable to afford donkeys, pull overloaded carts. Bands of children--some missing legs or arms--play in the rubble where buildings once stood.

The people of this landlocked Central Asian nation have known little but misery for decades. They have endured four years of punishing drought that has turned farmland into dust. They have suffered through 22 years of war--first an invasion, then civil war--that has destroyed the country's limited infrastructure and left more than 1 million dead and 750,000 disabled.

And since 1996, most Afghans have lived under the harsh rule of the Taliban, a group of Muslim clerics whose uniquely rigid version of an Islamic state seems to have little to do with providing government services or with the way Islam is practiced elsewhere by its 1 billion followers worldwide.

"In essence, what the Taliban have created is a police state," says Vikram Parekh, who monitors Afghanistan for Human Rights Watch, an independent, nongovernmental organization. "The ordinary functions of government have really taken a back seat to enforcing edicts that regulate personal conduct."

The results have been disastrous. Some 3.6 million Afghans have fled the country as refugees, and another 758,000 are displaced within Afghanistan, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. One out of every four children dies before age 5, and 70 percent of the population cannot read. Relief workers estimate that about 4 million of Afghanistan's 28 million people rely on international aid organizations for food.

Life for the people of Afghanistan took another turn for the worse last month, when the United States began military strikes in pursuit of Osama bin Laden, whom U.S. authorities accuse of masterminding the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The U.S. acted after the Taliban refused to turn over bin Laden and leaders of his militant Islamic group, Al Qaeda.

Even before the assaults on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon focused international attention on Afghanistan, the Taliban had done plenty to provoke world outrage. In March, they demolished the priceless Buddhas of Bamiyan, two giant statues carved out of a cliff more than 1,500 years ago, saying they were an offense to Islam. In May, they ordered the country's Hindu minority to wear yellow identity labels to distinguish them from Muslims, a move reminiscent of the Nazi requirement that Jews wear yellow Stars of David. And in August, the Taliban jailed eight foreign-aid workers, including two American women, accusing them of trying to convert Afghans to Christianity. The Taliban did, however, earn grudging respect for virtually eradicating Afghanistan's poppy crop in a single year. Until 2000, Afghanistan had grown 75 percent of the world's opium.

IN THE CAPITAL, LITTLE MORE THAN RUBBLE

In the meantime, everyday life has become more strained. The civil war has left at least one third--some say as much as three quarters--of Kabul, the capital, as little more than rubble, as ruined as the World Trade Center in New York. The country's roads have been largely destroyed, and the bridges were long ago blasted away. Electricity, where it exists at all, is intermittent. Clean drinking water is hard to come by. As many as 10 million land mines remain from the previous wars, rendering hundreds of square miles of grazing and agricultural land useless. The U.S. State Department estimates that land mines in Afghanistan have killed more than 20,000 people and injured at least 400,000 since 1992.

And still the country remains mired in civil war. As of October, the Taliban controlled about 90 percent of Afghanistan, but remained opposed by the Northern Alliance, a loose band of former resistance fighters and ethnic militias, who control the northeastern corner of the country.

NO BEARD TRIMMING, NO NAIL POLISH

In the territories they control, the Taliban have imposed a series of harsh measures that govern every aspect of life. Music, television, and dancing are banned. So are possession of playing cards, chessboards, nail polish and neckties. In imitation of Islam's prophet, Muhammed, men are forbidden to trim their beards. The only legal cheer Afghans can shout at a soccer match is "Allahu Akbar"--God is Great.

But it is Afghan women who fare worst under the Taliban's rule. Girls over 8 are barred from attending school. Women cannot leave home unless accompanied by a male relative, and then they must be completely covered in a garment called a burqa. Women have been banned from most jobs--a particularly painful edict in a country with an estimated 700,000 war widows, plus hundreds of thousands more women whose husbands are now disabled and unable to earn a living. To feed their families, many of these women have little choice but to beg on the streets.

Afghanistan was not always this way. "It used to be a country with a lot of joy and excitement, a place where people were exceedingly hospitable," says Thomas Gouttierre, director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska. "They were a people who loved music, loved to dance and have family parties. Education was going through a modern boom."

But in 1979, the Soviet army invaded, beginning a brutal 10-year battle with Afghan freedom fighters, known as mujahideen. Seeing the conflict as a holy war between Islam and Communism, many Muslims came from across the Arab world to join the Afghan cause. Over the course of the conflict, the U.S.--seeing the mujahideen as an ally against the Soviet Union, its longtime Cold War enemy--backed them with $2 billion in weapons, supplies, and cash. Saudi Arabia matched that contribution dollar for dollar.

FROM MAYHEM TO ISLAMIC LAW 

In 1989, the mujahideen succeeded in forcing the Soviets to withdraw from Afghanistan. But with the Soviets gone, the mujahideen began to fight among themselves. The country was in chaos and no one was in control. Local warlords and thugs terrorized the population, and what little remained of trade was disrupted. This factional fighting killed as many as 40,000 civilians and displaced more than half a million, according to Physicians for Human Rights, a Boston-based human rights organization that operates in Afghanistan.

It was this environment of lawlessness that gave birth to the Taliban movement in 1994. According to local legend, the Taliban was created when Mullah Muhammed Omar, a religious leader from a village in the south, sent a small band of religious students to avenge the gang-rape of two girls.

Initially, the war-weary people of Afghanistan welcomed the Taliban, who disarmed the population and put an end to the gangs of bandits that roamed the countryside.

Their brand of Islam was rigid, but it brought some semblance of law and order. And neighboring Pakistan, eager to see a more stable regime installed across the border, funded and armed the Taliban, providing the resources for their relatively swift rise to power. Many of the boys recruited into the Taliban had grown up in refugee camps in Pakistan and were already exposed to the militant version of Islam taught in religious schools in those camps.

THE PRICE OF LAW AND ORDER

In September 1996, the Taliban marched into Kabul and took over the country's government. But the relative security the Taliban have brought to Afghanistan has come at a steep price. Officers of the Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, many of them teenage boys carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles, patrol the streets to enforce the harsh rules of conduct. These officers often beat or whip women whom they find in the streets with a bare ankle or wrist showing. And women who appear in public without male chaperons can be punished by stoning or public flogging.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Taliban have conducted massacres, executions, and the systematic burning of homes and taking of farms in areas of central and northern Afghanistan where people are suspected of supporting the Northern Alliance. According to a survey conducted last year by Physicians for Human Rights, 94 percent of Afghan women questioned in Taliban-controlled areas said the Taliban's policies had made their lives worse.

"The people of Afghanistan became disillusioned because the Taliban did not do anything but fight wars," says Nazif Shahrani, an Afghan professor of political anthropology at the University of Indiana. "They did not open schools or build hospitals; they did not provide any kind of social services."

And while the Taliban have established some measure of stability, they have not been able to bring peace or unity to Afghanistan. Most of the international community recognizes the Northern Alliance as the official government of Afghanistan; as of mid-October, Pakistan was the only nation that still recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan's government.

"They are hated," an Afghan from Kabul said about the Taliban, after he crossed the border into Pakistan. "Hated for what they have done to women, hated for the fear they have spread, hated for the hunger they have brought to people, hated for the way they have distorted Islam, hated for making Afghanistan a base for people like bin Laden who have brought so much misery around the world."

RELATED ARTICLE: A DIRE WARNING: THE RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE

AS U.S.-LED MILITARY FORCES SEEK TO punish Afghanistan's Taliban leaders for harboring Osama bin Laden, the scope of the conflict remains unclear. But U.S. planners are taking a long look at the Soviet Union's 10-year war there for clues on how to fight--and how not to fight--the current campaign.

The Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan on Christmas Eve 1979 to prop up a failing Communist government. But the giant Soviet bear soon found itself being eaten alive by the swarming gnats of guerrilla warfare: the mujahideen, or Afghan freedom fighters.

Soviet military strategy relied heavily on its advantage in firepower, writes military historian Lester W. Grau. Using tanks, artillery, and bombers, they tried to obliterate the enemy's defensive positions, rather than engage in close combat. But most of Afghanistan is mountainous, with few roads on which tanks can pursue the enemy. And the mujahideen had no entrenched bases for Soviet heavy weapons to blast.

Standard Soviet procedure was to shell rebel positions in a specific area. But the rebels, who knew the terrain far better, would melt away, taking shelter in tunnels and caves. When Soviet troops moved up, the mujahideen would reappear to cut them to pieces.

The Soviets tried to adapt to these conditions. They assembled smaller commando teams to fight the rebels. They used powerful helicopter gunships to pursue rebel units over rough terrain.

The U.S. supported the mujahideen against the Soviet Union, supplying weapons, ammunition, and other supplies. In 1986, the U.S. shipped the Afghans hundreds of shoulder-launched Stinger surface-to-air missiles. The U.S.-made Stingers downed 270 Soviet aircraft and proved invaluable in reducing the Soviet air advantage.

Nearly 1 million Afghans died in those 10 years, compared with 15,000 Soviet troops. But the determination of the mujahideen swelled while Soviet morale was deflated by illness, failure, and the enemy's guerrilla tactics. The Soviets pulled out in 1989, and Afghanistan sank into the civil war that continues to this day.

With Afghanistan now in the crosshairs of the U.S., Soviet veterans have been quick to offer dire warnings, based on their painful experiences. They caution that air power and cruise missiles alone will do little to cow battle-hardened guerrilla warriors like bin Laden. Most Soviet veterans believe American troops would share their fate if they Invade and occupy Afghanistan. And they worry that heavy-handed attacks will only unite the region's Muslims against the U.S. "Carrying out a strategic operation on the territory of Afghanistan is unlikely to lead to any good," says Boris Gromov, the last Soviet general to leave Afghanistan.

The Russian experience in Afghanistan was so traumatic in terms of casualties, cost and damage to national morale--proving that a superpower could be defeated--that many credit the war with helping to bring down the Soviet Union. --Sean McCollum

RELATED ARTICLE: A who's who of Afghanistan.

KEY PLAYERS

TALIBAN (Pashtu for "Islamic students")

Rulers of about 90 percent of Afghanistan before U.S. strikes, the Taliban have imposed a uniquely harsh version of Islamic law. The Taliban are accused of human rights violations including summary executions and denying rights to women.

NORTHERN ALLIANCE

This loose coalition of former mujahideen (see below) and other ethnic militias has been the primary opposition to the Taliban since 1996. The Northern Alliance, which controls the northeastern corner of the country, is essentially the internationally recognized government of Afghanistan. They occupy the country's seat in the United Nations and most of its foreign embassies.

MUJAHIDEEN (Arabic for "holy warriors")

Resistance fighters who fought the Soviet Union from 1979 to 1989, and later the Communist-led Afghan government until 1992. They enjoyed strong support from the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Arabs from across the Muslim world joined this fight, and their experiences planted the seeds of radical Islamic movements that have spread across the Arab world. Many leaders of both the Taliban and the Northern Alliance are former mujahideen.

PAKISTAN

Most of the Taliban's leadership and many of its followers grew up in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan, attending religious schools where a radical version of Islam was taught. Many experts hold Pakistan responsible for the Taliban's rise to power, since it funded and armed the group in its early phases. The Pakistani city of Peshawar served as a base for the mujahideen throughout the Soviet conflict.

OSAMA BIN LADEN

A Saudi Arabian millionaire-turned-militant leader of the Al Qaeda terror network, he is suspected of masterminding the September 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. Since 1996, he has used Afghanistan as his base of operations, with the Taliban's blessing.

MULLAH MUHAMMED OMAR

The reclusive head of the Taliban, his official title is Emir of the Faithful. He began as a small-town religious leader from the Kandahar area who fought with the mujahideen against the Soviets.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

RELATED ARTICLE: A long history of conflict.

Mid-19th century: A series of conflicts erupts between British India and Imperial Russia for control over Afghanistan, which is seen as geographically strategic. By 1871, the British have solidified their political control over Kabul.

1919: Afghanistan gains independence from Britain.

December 1979: Troops from the Soviet Union invade, beginning a decade-long occupation. Muslims from around the world join Afghan freedom fighters, known as mujahideen, to oust the Soviets.

February 1989: Last of Soviet troops withdraw; civil strife continues between mujahideen groups.

1994: In an increasingly lawless society, the radical Taliban movement begins promising peace and order.

1996: The Taliban capture Kabul and most of the country, becoming the Afghan government in the areas they control. They impose a rigid form of Islamic law, strictly enforced by religious police. Osama bin Laden takes refuge in Afghanistan.

August 1998: U.S. cruise missiles strike facilities in Afghanistan believed to be terrorist training camps run by bin Laden.

October 2001: The U.S. begins military strikes in Afghanistan after the Taliban refuses to turn over bin Laden, chief suspect in the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

RELATED ARTICLE: Afghanistan at a glance.

POPULATION: 26.8 million

AREA: 250,000 square miles (about the size of Texas), mostly rugged mountains and desert plains

RELIGION: 99% Muslim (84% Sunni and 15% Shiite): 1% other (Hindu, Christian)

ETHNICITY: 38% Pashtun: 25% Tajik; 19% Hazara; 6% Uzbek; 12% minor ethnic groups (Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and others)

LANGUAGES: 35% Pashtu; 50% Dari (Afghan Persian); 11% Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen); 4% speak 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai)

LIFE EXPECTANCY: 46 years

POPULATION OVER 15 YEARS OLD ABLE TO READ AND WRITE: 47% of men; 15% of women

INFRASTRUCTURE: Most roads and utilities were destroyed before the current American assault began; only 16 miles of railroad tracks remained in the entire country

ANNUAL GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: $800 per person

SOURCE: THE WORLD FACTBOOK 2001, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

The Agony of Afghanistan

FOCUS: Harsh Rule in a Land Ravaged by War and Religious Extremism

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

To help students understand what life is like under the radical religious rule of Afghanistan's Taliban regime.

Discussion Questions:

* Experts on Afghanistan say the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance is also guilty of violating human rights. Should this fact prevent the U.S. from cooperating with the Northern Alliance?

* Why, if a majority of Afghans hate the Taliban, has there been no widespread resistance to their rule?

* What do you think would be an appropriate title for a TV documentary about life in Afghanistan today?

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES

Photo Study: Ask students to examine the photo on page 20. Ask for their reactions to the photo. Tell students that the punishment for not wearing a burqa is a beating.

Critical Thinking: Note that most of the Taliban were raised in refugee camps in Pakistan and educated in male-only religious schools where a radical version of Islam was taught. Ask students to speculate about the curriculum in these schools. What is the likelihood that there was a free exchange of ideas in these classes? (Most of these schools teach only a radical version of Islam. Other subjects, except history as found in the Koran, are excluded. Hatred of the U.S. is preached daily.)

Discuss the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. What does the name of this bureau suggest about relations between government and religion? (Separation of the two is anathema.)

The article also notes that gun-toting teen boys account for many of the Ministry's enforcers. Why would the Taliban rely on teen boys to enforce their harsh laws? Are young people, who know no other way of life, more easily indoctrinated, more willing to follow orders, less likely to resist authority?

Debate: If the U.S. military assault on Afghanistan results in the toppling of the Taliban, does the U.S. then have an obligation to help rebuild Afghanistan?

Web Watch: For background on current events relating to Afghanistan, see www. academicinfo.net/afghan.html. For violations of human rights in Afghanistan, see www.humanrightswatch.org/campaigns/ afghanistan/

With reporting by New York Times reporters BARRY BEARAK and DAVID ROHDE in Afghanistan and BARBARA CROSSETTE at the United Nations.