The Foreign Service Journal, December 2005

a non-religious Tajik who headed the Northern Alliance. The latter offered the best hope for a secular state, but Islamabad and Riyadh preferred Hekymatyr. For the next several years, betrayals and shifts in alle- giance were the norm. Rival militias took turns occupying Kabul, which became the scene of continuous shelling and house-to-house fighting. In the midst of that chaos, a new force began pouring into Afghanistan from Pakistan in the early 1990s: the Taliban. That word simply means “an Islamic student who seeks knowl- edge,” so few U.S. policy-makers understood just how extreme their views were. But steeped in Saudi- type Wahhabism, and dominated by Pashtuns, the Taliban rejected all things modern and non-Islamic. The Saudis and the Pakistan Army gave the Taliban cash, equipment, transport, planes, food, fuel and am- munition. Those arms and supplies tilted the civil war in their favor and they swept into Kabul in Septem- ber 1996. By contrast, the Northern Alliance did not receive meaningful, sustained support from Pakistan or the U.S. until after 9/11. And their leader, the charismatic Ahmed Shah Massoud, was assassinated by al- Qaida in a carefully planned opera- tion just a few days before the attack on the World Trade Center. 56 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 5 Our foreign policy during the 1980s was a good example of the law of unintended consequences. 2400 Virginia Ave., N.W Washington, D.C., 20037 Tel: (202) 293-2000 E-mail: leasingoffice@columbiaplaza.net Office Hours: Mon. - Fri. 8:00 AM-5:30 PM Sat 10:00 AM-4:00 PM 24 Hour Front Desk Garage Parking Available Controlled Access Potomac River Views Minutes to Fine Dining Newly Renovated Kitchens Market at Columbia Plaza Directly across the street from Main State, minutes to Kennedy Center and Georgetown Beautiful and Spacious: Efficiencies, 1 bedroom and 2 bedrooms available for immediate occupancy Utilities Included Complimentary Voice Mail Courtyard Style Plaza Polished Hardwood Floors Private Balconies Huge Walk-in Closets Capital Living With Comfort and Convenience 24 Hour Fitness Center columbia plaza apartments Casey’s Coffee Now Open!