1. In 1973, the king of Afghanistan
was deposed and the new ruler
relied on the support of
communists.

2. But when the ruler purged the
communists from power, a
communist takeover of the
nation occurred in Of
course, not everyone was happy.

3. To help the communist regime,
the Soviets invaded in 1979 and
occupied the land until 1989.

4. The Mujahidin quickly formed.
It was a coalition of groups
opposed to the Soviet
occupation.

5. One group within this rebel
coalition was the Taliban,
a fundamentalist Islamic
group.

6. By the time the Soviets were
forced to leave Afghanistan,
the Taliban had gained
control of 90% of the nation.

7. The Taliban established a
fundamentalist, Islamic
society. Women had to
be covered and segregated
from men.

8. But after the September 11th
attacks in the United States,
the Taliban was overthrown
by U.S. forces.

9. The Taliban had aided and
abetted Osama bin Laden, the
“mastermind”
behind the
attacks.

10. However, fighting still persists in Afghanistan. The Taliban
are determined to regain their
power.

11. Iraq, too, has experienced great
conflict.

12. From 1979 until 2003, a
dictator ruled Iraq.

13. But in 1990, Sadaam Hussein,
the Iraqi dictator, invaded
neighboring Kuwait.

14. The United States and other
nations defeated Iraq in the
Persian Gulf War.

15. But Sadaam Hussein continued to defy the international
community. He refused to stop
a nuclear weapons program.

16. Once again, Iraq’s dictator was
in trouble. After 9/11, the
U.S. attacked Iraq again.

17. By 2003, Sadaam was captured,
brought to trial, and executed.

18. But like Afghanistan, peace
has not come to Iraq. There
is still conflict between the
different groups of the
nation.