In the efforts made by the United States to end the Cold War by the collapse of the Soviet Union, the intelligence agencies under leadership of government officials conducted programs that had broader implications than those that were analyzed at the time. After the Soviet war in Afghanistan served its purpose and helped end the Cold War, the United States allowed the Mujahideen which they armed and funded to go unchecked and largely ignored. When the Taliban took over Kabul in 1996, the afghan president said, "If fundamentalism comes to Afghanistan, war will continue for many years. Afghanistan will turn into a center of world smuggling for narcotics. Afghanistan will turn into a center for terrorism."