I was on the yahoo page and I see the news, apparently a bomb in Pakistan had killed 54 people, and it has some connection to the point I'm saying (Taliban threatening US)
but they harbored Al Quaeda and kill our troops, they are our enemies
The Taleban did not harbour Al Qaeda. If you read my first post in this thread, you would know the Taleban agreed to negotiations regarding the extradition of Osama Bin Laden. It was the US who ignored this and invaded the entire country out of a sense of moral righteousness and indignation following 911.
The reason they are killing our troops now is because the US invaded their country and removed them from power. Since 2001 their ''aggression'' has been nothing but protracted self defence.
I have that effect on people. Especially knife wielding clowns.
Why some poeple cant accept that the taliban are just as foolish and misled as any western regime I will never know.
It's an inconvenient truth. We refuse to see the world through any terms but our own. Expecting Afghans to embrace secular democracy is infantile and will never work. Make no mistake though, the invasion was nothing but a cynical exercise in politiking. Bush needed to show an angry American electorate that the US doesn't stand for incursioins into their own soil. The double standard was breathtaking.
Perhaps its the constant propoganda or that western countries think they are so very much better.
I don't think there's much propaganda out there, I just think it's general ignorance. The information is there if people bother to look for it. Sadly this is the 21st century. Most people can't even be bothered to read a long forum post, let alone educate themselves on the intricacies of foreign policy in the Asian sub continent.
Sorry for the douple post, HidenxBeast007 posted whilst I was replying to Analog.
ummmm, yes they did harbor Al Quaeda,
That's like saying the British government harboured the IRA by virtue of them being on sovreign British territory.
Did the Taleban actively seek to oust the Taleban? No. But there is no international law which would have compelled them to, nor do they even subscribe to international law in the first place, a fundamentally libral Western construct.
And apart from that, it was total hell over there when they were in control.
Define 'total hell'. For many Afghans the period of Taleban rule was the first period of stability in that country since the Soviets invaded. The 2001 invasion was yet another instance of foreigners meddling in Afghan affairs without so much as a by your leave.
Self defense, ha.
I really don't think you can define the repelling of an invasion anything else.
Weren't the british fighting the IRA? oh yea. they were.
The Taleban, as I just mentioned were not compelled to fight them. Nevertheless, they had recently just won a long and bloody war with the other warlords of Afghanistan (Muhajideen). They didn't have the manpower to both control their own territory and go chasing after Al Qaeda.
It may have been a period of stability but you could not do a whole lot without being stoned to death or shot. Women were basicly slaves over there too.
Afghan culture is one firmly stuck in the Middle Ages. The only way you can tell what decade it is there is by the uniforms of the foreign soldiers. Women are still treated like dirt. The vast majority still have no freedoms to speak of, and incidently since they are now legally entitled to hold positions of power, unlike before, an unprecedented number of female judges and politicians in Afghanistan are being assassinated and need large entourages of security personel to walk the streets. Not to protect them from the Taleban, but from ordinary Afghan people. You, and many other Westerners need to get it out of your head that the Taleban imposed anything other than what is culturally acceptable in Afghanistan. Pre 1994 was not some utopia where women had all the freedoms they wanted, and then the big bad Taleban came to power and changed everything.
I would also like to ask you this. When we went into germany in World War 2, do you consider them just acting on "self defense" and do you think we invaded them?
If by 'we' you mean America and if by 'them' you mean Germany then yes the Wermacht were defending themselves and yes, by definition the US invaded Germany. There isn't some sort of subjective criteria for what can be defined as invasion or self defence as you seem to suggest. What the hell else are you going to call Operation Overlord? A protracted camping trip?
It's an inconvenient truth. We refuse to see the world through any terms but our own.
Very true. I tend to base the world around me as my own sole experience. But what I then do is put myself in their position. Its still self obsessed in a way but it works.
I don't think there's much propaganda out there, I just think it's general ignorance.
I have to disagree but agree with this. Deffo general ignorance and an unwillingness to seek information, but on the other hand there is a great feeding of info from news of all types. Its a double whammy, dont want to find ones self and wants others to show them the way. Bah! Sometimes I really lose it with our race (until I see boobs, then Im back on track)
When we went into germany in World War 2, do you consider them just acting on "self defense" and do you think we invaded them?
I think germany was right in the middle of a war with half the world?!? Your comparison is moooooot!
Sadly some people want to believe in the boogie man, and reeeealy want to believe he is johnny foreigner from arabland with a desolate culture, evil eyes, has sex with little girls, sows up private parts and hates all americans.
Some of this is true in some countries but when you take a look at the western worlds track record of slavery and opression you realise we are ALL the same.
The reason the Taliban threatens the U.S. is because they want to force the U.S. out...... they also want to remove western influence in other middle eastern countries, ive been to Pakistan and there are a crap load of mc donalds and the clothes are not even formal anymore..... Now the kids wear t shirts and jeans instead IOC shalvarkamizes.
The reason the Taliban threatens the U.S. is because they want to force the U.S. out...... they also want to remove western influence in other middle eastern countries,
They dont threaten the US, I doubt they could touch them with a 5000 mile barge pole (sorry, my geography is of a low standard)
I can understand why they want the american influence gone tho, as having McDonalds around is gonna cause no end of trouble.
Perhaps in America, but since about 2007, the coverage on Afghanistan from the mainstream British media has been really rather good in that regard.
Ah, I have to admit my ignorance in this, as some years ago I stopped paying much attention to the media. I feel that UK is heading down a very closed and corrupt path (more than ever before, that is) much like the US.
I feel that UK is heading down a very closed and corrupt path (more than ever before, that is) much like the US.
I don't share your pessimism. We Brits have always had to be internationalist in our outlook because of the empire, the Commonwealth and all the diversity that brings. I think that legacy will ensure our news reporting, although not of the best quality remains one that looks at world issues rather than just domestic as in America.
As for the corruption part, I'm not quite sure what you're referring to. Our politics?
But to get back on topic, people (in Britain) only think Afghanistan is a threat to them because that is what politicians have been peddling to them to justify a foreign poliicy position which amounts to little more than spineless subservience to the Americans. These are the very same people who never bother to watch the 10 o'clock news because it doesn't interest them, but then feel they have the right to voice their unfounded airs to anyone who will listen. Democracy eh?
