The Soviet Afghanistan War Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Soviet Afghanistan War - Research Paper Example The international involvement in the war prepared an unsophisticated and unorganized guerilla force for sustained combat operations that lasted over 9 years and demoralized one of the world’s largest superpowers, consequently paving the way for its downfall (Arnold, 1985). Afghanistan enjoyed a healthy relationship with the Soviet Union during most of the 20th Century. Ever since the Russian Revolution in 1919, The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics had taken an active role in the military and economic functioning of Afghanistan. In fact, it was widely acknowledged that USSR and Afghanistan were very close allies and this often worried other political strongholds such as the United States of America and China. This relationship became official in the early 1950s when USSR sent billions in economic and military aid to Afghanistan. In 1978, the Afghan Army, which favored the PDPA (the voice of the masses of Afghanistan), caused overthrew and murdered Mohammed Daoud Khan, the ru ler. Soon after, Nur Muhammad Taraki, Secretary General of PDPA became President and Prime Minister as well. Once again, PDPA was divided internally into factions, Khalq (the masses) lead by Taraki and Hafizullah Amin and Parcham (flag) by Babrak Karmal and Mohammad Najibullah (Arnold, 1985). These conflicts resulted in violence, kidnappings and executions of many Parcham members and further deteriorating relations between the two factions. The problems that Afghanistan faced regarding ethnic and sectarian friction and violence deteriorated in the PDPA regime. Ever since the 1970s, Daoud Khan had neglected and angered the Pashtun populace of Afghanistan. Furthermore, Afghanistan had cemented problems with Pakistan as well after Daoud had urged his hardline Pashtunistan policies to Pakistan. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the Pakistan president at the time reacted by training the Jamiat-e-Islami militants against Daoud’s secular regime. Although these rebels were unsuccessful in overthr owing the government, the roots of an organized Islamic Rebellion had been put in place and their power would be seen in the years to come. During the first two years of his time in office, Taraki employed a liberal approach to governance by modernizing reforms. Many of these changes were seen by the masses as being anti-Islamic, something that greatly inflamed many. For example, the changes put forth by Taraki regarding land reforms and marriage rules were seen as going against the tradition in which this Islamic country was so deeply immersed. So infuriated was the populace that soon rebellions broke out in the country in mid 1978 with people attacking public buildings and military strongholds. Soon civil war had spread throughout the country. So dire was the situation that in September 1979, President Taraki was killed after a palace shootout; Hafizullah Amin took power. The Taraki and Amin governments were similar in practice; both employed Soviet-style governance, establishing reforms that hurt property owners and Islamic sentiment. Inevitably, there was great opposition to these reforms and major unrest through the country which was dealt violently by the government. Large parts of the country went into open revolt against the government. By 1979, 24 of the 28 provinces of the country had surges of violence and instability. The situation was worsened when an American Ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs, was kidnapped and killed by militants with the help of the Soviet Union communists. Afterwards, the United States officially expressed its disapproval to the Soviet Union putting strain on

Law and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Law and Ethics - Essay Example This leads to prevalence in property crime in poverty stricken areas. Generally, children who are brought up in poverty have a high propensity to commit crime which is further accelerated by population factors (Siegel & Worrall, 2011). A child from a poor background is more likely to involve in criminal activities than one from a well off background. In addition, populations that are majorly composed of young generation below 25 years and jobless at the same time, results in higher crime rates than a scenario old poor generation people. Moreover, the poor face more frustrations in life and are therefore more predisposed to mental illnesses than the rich and the affluent (Siegel & Worrall, 2011). The mental stresses and instabilities may lead individuals to commit violent acts, robbery and theft. At the same time, poverty causes the youth to view education with less prestige since they feel it does not warrant access to good jobs. Most poor youths do not have a connection with mentors and role models due to perceived or actual inferior education. The feeling will facilitate their forming groups and gangs which are a leeway to crime. Homicide Before making a decision on the fate of the woman, I would solicit to know the reason for her conduct towards her husband given that she knew that the husband was drunk. The husband is considered as not being of a stable mental state in his drunkenness (Siegel & Worrall, 2011). I would also establish the woman’s true intent for loading the gun as well as how long the argument had taken to warrant application of self defense. Based on the already stated actions, I feel the woman had an aforethought to kill the husband, that is why she went up the first floor and loaded the gun. She did not show any interest to withdraw from the fight. On coming back with the loaded gun, she found her husband holding a kitchen knife. However, she is not clear on the reaction of the husband when he saw her with a gun. Her argument that h er husband wanted to stub her is a hoax, she had a criminal intent to kill even before she saw the knife. As the prosecutor I would charge the woman with a first degree criminal homicide/murder. This is because the murder had been premeditated, was deliberate and was accompanied with malice on the woman’s side. This is further strengthened by her insistence that she was only defending herself from harm by the drunken husband. Although the woman claimed to have been provoked into action by the husband, there is no evidence that she did not have tie to cool off. The Ethics the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) using Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) Forcing arrestees to provide DNA samples irrespective of the charges that have been placed on them and the possibility of conviction is unethical. This is so because the results empower the police officers to provide intimate results and evidences to the government; these have the ability to lead to investigative arrests (Siegel & Worrall, 2011). This phenomenon is opposed to the desired procedures where the juries and judges ought to be the custodians of such information. Although DNA sequencing produces reliable results, it presents ethical, legal and social shortcomings. It has raised questions on privacy matters (Siegel & Worrall, 2011). Unlike fingerprints that are used for identification only, DNA provides insight into several intimate and personal aspects of individuals such as susceptibility to some diseases, predisposed to