Originally Posted by Chris

Sigh ... please, go and read a little history. The facts are not hard to find.

The USSR got a good kicking at the hands of a loose alliance of Afghan warlords collectively known at the time as the Mujahideen. They were well funded by a number of foreign powers, notably Regan's USA.

It was the failure of the Mujahideen to set up an effective government in the wake of the Soviet withdrawl that led to the formation and triumph of the Taliban. Once the Russians were gone, the warlords were more interested in squabbling amongst themselves settling old scores (a very traditional Afghan pursuit). It was relatively easy for the religious nutters to form up and take over, especially as they were being egged on by other religious nutters inside Pakistan who thought that turning an entire country into an oppressive religious theocracy would be an interesting experiment which, if successful, could be repeated in Pakistan itself.