9·11 attacks
The 9/11 attacks, occurring on September 11, 2001, serve as a pivotal historical rupture in the novel, directly triggering the American-led war in Afghanistan that ultimately enables Laila and Tariq's return to Kabul and the possibility of rebuilding their lives.
Background and Immediate Context
In the days leading up to the attacks, the political landscape of Afghanistan was already shifting. Laila had heard that Ahmad Shah Massoud, the leader of the Northern Alliance, had gone to France and warned the European Parliament that "if President Bush doesn't help us, these terrorists will damage the U.S. and Europe very soon." Just two days before the attacks, on September 9, 2001, Massoud was assassinated by Al-Qaeda operatives posing as journalists, a bomb hidden in their video camera killing him. Tariq bursts into their bungalow in Murree, Pakistan, with the news, panting and saying, "They killed him. Ahmad Shah Massoud. He's dead." Laila remembers the poster of Massoud that her mother, Fariba, had nailed to her bedroom wall, and how grateful Mammy was that Massoud had said a graveside prayer at her sons' burial. Even after the Mujahideen infighting destroyed Kabul, Mammy had refused to blame him, insisting, "He wants peace. He wants to rebuild Afghanistan. But they won't let him." Laila, however, is not as forgiving, remembering too clearly the neighborhoods razed under his watch and the look on Mammy's face moments before the rocket that killed her parents slammed into their home.
The Attacks Unfold
Two days after Massoud's funeral, Laila and Tariq are cleaning a hotel room in Murree when they hear a commotion from the lobby. They find Sayeed, the concierge, and several guests gathered in front of a television tuned to the BBC. On the screen is a building, a tower, with black smoke billowing from its top floors. As Tariq and Sayeed are speaking, a plane appears from the corner of the screen and crashes into the adjacent tower, exploding into a fireball that dwarfs any Laila has ever seen. A collective yelp rises from everyone in the lobby. In less than two hours, both towers have collapsed. Soon, all the television stations are talking about Afghanistan, the Taliban, and Osama bin Laden.
Consequences and Aftermath
The attacks immediately reshape the geopolitical reality of the novel. The Taliban announce they will not relinquish bin Laden, invoking the Pashtunwali code of hospitality to claim he is a "guest" who has found sanctuary. Tariq chuckles bitterly, revolted by this distortion of an honorable Pashtun custom. A few days later, Laila and Tariq watch George W. Bush on television, a big American flag behind him, as he declares war. Sayeed, who speaks English, explains to them that Bush has declared war "on your country, to begin with." American bombs begin falling on Afghanistan once again. The Americans arm the warlords once more and enlist the help of the Northern Alliance to drive out the Taliban. This new war, however, carries a different promise. Tariq suggests to Laila that "it may not be such a bad thing in the end," a comment that sparks their first fight as husband and wife. Laila, still raw from losing her parents to war, snaps at him, but she knows he is probably right—that there might be hope at the other end of this war. The attacks and the subsequent American intervention create the conditions for the Taliban's ouster from Kabul, the arrival of the International Security Assistance Force, and the establishment of an interim government under Hamid Karzai. These changes directly enable Laila's decision to return to Kabul, to contribute to its rebuilding, and to honor Mariam's sacrifice by becoming a teacher at the orphanage.
