Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/August 15 to 21, 2021

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Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (August 15 to 21, 2021)

Prepared with commentary by SSSB, Mcrsftdog, Igordebraga

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The reminders that twenty years have passed since the September 11 attacks started a month earlier, as the country invaded in the aftermath sees the Islamic fundamentalists overthrown back in the day take back the power.

Rank	Article	Class	Views	Image	Notes/about
1	Taliban		6,195,799		Good news: the United States's war in Afghanistan is over, after 20 years of bloody, expensive occupation. Bad news: The United States forgot to do any nation-building. As the U.S. pulled out its troops, the Taliban — Islamist terrorists, a.k.a. the antagonists of 2000s American culture — removed during the invasion of 2001 took power over the weekend with little resistance. American President Joe Biden has come under fire from everybody in Washington, including the former President that had started the withdrawal.
2	Afghanistan		4,384,165
3	Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan		1,658,975		Once the Taliban took Kabul, they effectively reinstated the government that existed from 1996 to 2001. The old government was notoriously repressive of women and blew up some really big Buddha statues before getting ousted by the Americans. However, this new government have styled themselves as "Taliban 2.0" and seem keen to tell the world that they intend to be less extreme this time around. Not that many believe them...
4	Sean Lock		1,418,904		This British comedian died this week, aged 58. He once joked that NASA killed Michael Jackson, what made it so funny was his delivery, something for which he was well-known. Lock also appeared frequently on panel shows, most famously 8 Out of 10 Cats.
5	Ashraf Ghani		1,347,322		Afghanistan's president since 2014, who had been helping the nation rebuild ever since the invasion, fled the country the same day of the Taliban's hostile takeover.
6	Vikram Batra		1,282,514		Going a little south of Afghanistan, India, who is only remembering a war through Shershaah, a film based on this captain's service in the Kargil War, released to Amazon on August 12.
7	Fall of Kabul (2021)		1,182,724		One of the most retrograde governments in recent history (#3) was forcibly removed from Afghanistan after the Battle of Tora Bora in 2001, but in 2003 started to reorganize itself and try to get back into power. The Americans signed with them a peace treaty agreeing to remove its troops last year, which only served to fuel the insurrection that now took over capital Kabul and will reinstate Taliban.
8	2021 Taliban offensive		1,107,809
9	Hibatullah Akhundzada		970,805		#1's current leader.
10	War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)		875,738		US Forces give the nod, it's a setback for your country After Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks, George W. Bush started the War on Terror and sent hell loose on #2, where said terrorist group was given refuge. #1 were trying to solve things, but that would've required to stop the bombings that eventually escalated to their removal. (and in a much more controversial affair, to the next step in the War on Terror, Iraq, who were controversially invaded on Bush's orders even if the country had nothing to do with terrorists - yet) Afterwards, soldiers from all nations of NATO remained there to help the country rebuild and contain a Taliban insurgency until their withdrawal this year, leading to all this recent turmoil.
11	Deaths in 2021		836,538		We sick an' tired of-a your ism-skism game Dyin' 'n' goin' to heaven in-a Jesus' name, Lord.
12	The Suicide Squad (film)		831,999		More Americans invading foreign countries! Though at least it's a case that gets us entertained instead of exasperated - the troops are weird criminals, including two psychos, an insane shrink, a fish man, a woman attached to rodents, and a guy with a weird rash, and instead of weapons of mass destruction there's a vengeful alien. And unlike most wars, public opinion is positive, the only issue being getting people to leave their homes to watch this.
13	Abdul Ghani Baradar		812,984		Two Taliban (#1) founders. Omar was the one who ruled Afghanistan after the group turned it into a fundamentalist state (#3), up until it was taken down by the Americans, and also led the insurrection against NATO forces until he died in 2013 of tuberculosis. Baradar (pictured) held various jobs during that government, was captured by the CIA in 2010, released eight years later to serve in Taliban's diplomatic office, and is expected to be the Afghan president following the new Taliban takeover.
14	Mohammed Omar		806,338
15	The White Lotus		764,680		HBO finished the six-episode season of this comedy-drama show set in a resort, and already renewed things for a second season.
16	Free Guy		680,223		Another movie, with a less traditional war zone: a Grand Theft Auto Online-like game, where a non-playable character played by Ryan Reynolds suddenly grows agency. Inventive and funny, Free Guy finally hit theaters after various pandemic-forced delays, getting positive reviews and topping the box office.
17	Beckett (film)		674,613		More foreign unrest! Although in the Old World, in this Netflix release where John David Washington is the subject of a manhunt in Greece.
17	Shershaah		655,536		And for a movie with a real war for a change - namely one that happened 2 years before #15, in another mountainous territory that like #2 is known for attracting conflict, Kashmir - that took the life of #6.
19	Al-Qaeda		642,861		And back to Afghanistan, namely the ones who led the Americans to invade the country 20 years ago (#10) after attacking New York and Washington with three planes (almost four). The peace treaty agreeing to remove troops was done hoping Taliban would contain al-Qaeda in the country, but whether this goes through is to be seen.
20	Hamid Karzai		630,055		After the Taliban was ousted, this guy became the President of Afghanistan, remaining there until #5's election. While back in the day Karzai had feuds with the Taliban, even leading his tribe against them once the Americans came, he has patched things, and the Taliban have met him following the Fall of Kabul seeking to form a government.
21	Osama bin Laden		618,629		The founder of al-Qaeda (#19) was already on the FBI's most wanted after bombing embassies when he shot atop that list following September 11, 2001. He evaded capture by fleeing to neighbor Pakistan and lived in a fortified home before SEAL Team Six raided it and shot Osama dead in 2011.
22	Islamic Republic of Afghanistan		609,621		After a government that ruled over only 10% of Afghanistan once #3 was effectively in power, came this, that stood from 2002 to the hostile takeover of last week, under #20 and #5. Vice-president Amrullah Saleh has stated he will lead an armed resistance against #1.
23	Sharia		581,872		Religious law according to Islamic tradition. Given the late 20th century saw the rise of people who interpreted it for either terrorism (#20) or fundamentalism (#1, #3), it is a very controversial topic.
24	Soviet–Afghan War		522,177		YouTube could've gotten this position, but better just discuss the storied tradition of countries invading Afghanistan and coming out the worst of it. The last one prior to the US and NATO (#10) were the Soviets starting in 1979 - which even marred the following year's Olympics - and unwillingly leading to the rise of both #1 and #19, as the mujahideen who resisted the Soviets (some of whom are pictured to the left with Ronald Reagan) included #13, #14, and #21.
25	Fall of Saigon		511,839		To finish this off, another time where the Asians who had fought a war with the United States took over the country's capital. Vietnam have been fairly well ever since, ranking among the 25 biggest economies. Don't know if the same will apply to Afghanistan, between rough physical geography (many turned to opium to make a living) and that political instability that is often helped by propension to attract conflict (see above).

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (August 15 to 21, 2021)

Exclusions

• This list excludes the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5–6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94–95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish.