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Kite runner and the history of Afghanistan
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Hassan gets plastic surgery to fix his cleft lips
"'Well,' Dr. Kumar said, 'my job is to fix things on people's bodies. Sometimes their faces'" (Hosseini 45). -
Amir saw Hassan run a kite for the last time
"In the winter of 1975, I saw Hassan run a kite for the last time" (Hosseini 55) -
Amir turns 12
"I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975" (Hosseini 1). -
Hassan gets raped by Assef
"Assef knelt behind Hassan, put his hands on Hassan's hip and lifted his bare buttocks. He kept one hand on Hassan's back and undid his own belt buckle with his free hand. He unzipped his jeans. Dropped his underwear" (Hosseini 75). -
Hassan and Ali leaves after Amir's 13th birthday
"'Please," Baba was saying, but Ali already turned to the door, Hassan trailing him. I'll never forget the way Baba said that, the pain in his plea, the fear" (Hosseini 107). -
Stable times in Afghanistan
"Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, has known little peace since 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded" (The New York Times). -
Afghanistan Start war with the Soviets
"The turmoil and extremism that have dominated its history since then can be traced to the 1979 invasion by the Soviet Union and the reaction both by Afghans and by their allies in the United States and Pakistan" (The New York Times). -
Baba and Amir go to San Francisco
"Fermont, California. 1980s. Baba loved the idea of America. It was living in American that give him an ulcer" (Hosseini 125). -
Amir graduate high school
"That summer of 1983, I graduated from high school at the age of twenty, by far the oldest senior tossing his mortar board on the football field that day" (Hosseini 131). -
Amir get married with Soraya
"'Amir jan is my only son... my only child, and he has been a good son to me. I hope he proves... worthy of your kindness. I ask that you honor Amir jan and me... and accept my son into your family'" (Hosseini 168). -
Baba Dies due to cancer
"After each round of prayers, groups of mourners lined up and greeted me on their way out. Dutifully, I shook their hands. Many of them I barely knew. I smiled Politely, thanked them for their wishes, listened to whatever they had to say about Baba" (Hosseini 174). -
Amir finishes his first novel
"In the summer of 1988, about six months before the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, I finished my first novel, a father-son story set in Kabul, written mostly with the typewriter the general had given me. -
Afghanistan End War with the Soviets
"After Soviet forces departed, Afghanistan descended into vicious internecine strife; by the summer of 1994, power was anarchically divided among competing warlords and individual fiefdoms" (The New York Times). -
Taliban Rise up and take control
"The Taliban grew out of a student movement dedicated to purifying the country, based in the southeast, the home of the dominant ethnic group, the Pashtun. In a story that is now part of Afghan folklore, the group's first action occurred when Mullah Omar, a Pashtun who had lost an eye fighting the Soviets, gathered a small band of men and attacked a group of warlords who had raped a girl and shaved her head" (The New York Times). -
Hassan gets killed by the Taliban
"'Hassan protested again. So they took him to the street'...'and order him to kneel'... 'and shot him in the back of the head'" (Hosseini 219). -
Invasion remove Taliban from power
"The 2001 invasion succeeded in dislodging Al Qaeda and removing the Taliban from power, but not in eradicating either group" (The New York Times). -
The Taliban Resurgence
Despite their defeat in 2001, the Taliban continued to wage a guerrilla warfare from a base in the mountainous and largely lawless tribal area on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. -
Post 9/11 attack
"President George W. Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Mr. bin Laden. When it refused, the United States joined forces with rebel groups that had never accepted Taliban rule, notably the Northern Alliance, which represented minority tribes. An air and ground campaign began that drove the Taliban out of the major Afghan cities by the end of the year" (The New York Times). -
The Karzai Government form
"In December 2001, Hamid Karzai, a supporter and relative of Mohammad Zahir Shah, the exiled former king of Afghanistan, was named chairman of an interim government that replaced the defeated Taliban, making him the leader of the country. He took office as interim president in June 2002, saying he hoped to secure peace for Afghanistan and win the country much-needed international aid. Mr. Karzai was elected to a five-year term as president in 2004" (The New York Times). -
Amir defend Sohrad from the General when he calls Sohrad a Hazara
"'And one more thing, General Sahid,' I said. 'You will never again refer to him as 'Hazara boy' in my presence. He has a name and it's Sohrad'" (Hosseini 361). -
Amir breaks his promise with Sohrad after gaining some trust
"'You promised you'd never put m,e in one of those places, Amir agha,' he said. His voice was breaking, tears pooling in his eyes. I felt like a prick" (Hosseini 341). -
Sohrad smiles for the first time
"I looked down at Sohrad. One corner of his mouth had curled up just so. A smile. Lopsided" (Hosseini 370). -
Amir and Sohrad fly a kite together
"I ran. A grown man running with a swarm of screaming children. But I didn't care. I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the Valley of Panjsher on my lips" (Hosseini 371). -
U.S focus military administration on Afghanistan
"President Obama made Afghanistan the central military focus of his administration, drawing troops out of Iraq and increasing the number in Afghanistan by almost 50,000. He put Gen" (The New York Times). -
Obama administration wants to keep troops in Afghanistan until 2014
"Though initial plans called for American combat forces to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan in the summer of 2011, the Obama administration increasingly emphasizes the idea that the United States will have forces in the country until at least the end of 2014, when it intends to pass responsibility for security to the Afghan government" (The New York Times).