afghanistan

            In the United States today, there is a preconceived notion that comes to mind when one speaks of Afghanistan. The way that one perceives a country comes from their geographical imagination and the limited information they have been exposed to. In America, our thoughts about this country from halfway around the world have been affected by our personal experiences of September 11, 2001. People from all walks of life and from all over the nation are still greatly affected by the tragic events of this day. By closely examining three very different websites concerned with country profiles, one is able to distinguish some aspects of the authors perspective, interests, and viewpoint on Afghanistan.
             For a nation that sent the world into complete uproar and is still surrounded in controversy, one would expect more than a slight blurb about that states history and political issues. However, in both the ABC and the BBC articles there is a lack of information about the underlying political turmoil that has encompassed Afghanistan from its shaky beginning as a country riddled with war and invasions. The most complete history is found in the Reuters article, but even that is flawed as it only dates back to 1933. There is no clear information about when Afghanistan declared its independence and was officially a proclaimed state, or the history of when she was inhabited and who presided as the country leader. .
             All three information sources give a brief overview of the states history and slightly skim the surface of the political system. In fact, despite the poor amount of information given, the Taliban is an issue of primacy in all three articles. Knowing this one would expect heavy emphasis to be on the events of last September, but in all three cases it is a mere few sentences long. The authors may have intentionally done this to show impartiality or to prevent the information presented from being clouded by the amount of coverage given about Afghanistan post 9/11.