[sterlind]

I tried to untangle all this stuff, but it looked really complicated. Apparently the US encouraged radical Islam as a way of opposing Soviet occupation - resisting state-sponsored atheism and culture and all. But there were a bunch of mujahideen groups, spanning multiple ethnic groups and ideologies.

After the occupation ended, a bunch of the groups signed onto the Peshawar Accord to create a government, but a few of the groups (notably Gulbuddin, who later razed Kabul) didn't, and sparked a civil war. Pakistani intelligence (ISI) backed Gulbuddin, and amidst the bloodshed the Taliban emerged as a force countering all the warlords tearing the place apart. Sensing the winds change, ISI backed the Taliban, who cleaned up the civil war and seized control. I'm not sure what radicalized the Taliban, other than seeing the bloodshed as products of moral failing and not heeding the Qur'an.

From Wikipedia, the early Taliban actually participated in peaceful interfaith debates with Christians and Hindus while it was in Pakistan. I'd like to know how it got so extreme.

[distances]

As usual, /r/AskHistorians has a nice topical article: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/p40j0r/how_d...

Not exactly about the radicalisation but I found this a good background to the current state of the country.

[atatatat]

> Apparently the US encouraged radical Islam as a way of opposing Soviet occupation

Whoops.

[plexman]

I wonder how long it will take for the Taliban to do something about the Uyghurs...