Taliban 70 Miles From Islamabad!

[Felch]

What about Hitler being a little more ´coward´ and try to find a morale justification for what he was doing?

If we could choose our enemies, the world would be much different.

Aneesh made a good point. Let the Islamists take over. Let them screw things up. Leave them to their own devices, deny them casus belli. Don't chastise them for burning little girls faces off. Don't sell them food or technology. If they want to live in the 7th century, that's their right. And when they come to their senses, they'll have learned a good lesson.

Of course, if they do try to attack us, we'll pay them out - man, woman, and child. See how good Allah is at protecting you from white phosphorous.

[dannubis]

Good idea,

However the Israeli - Palestinian conflict does show that there are practical limitations to your plan...

Still I agree that as long as they don't threathen the society I live in the can eat dust for all I care.

[aneeshm]

What about Hitler being a little more ´coward´ and try to find a morale justification for what he was doing?

The bad guys are always utterly convinced that either:

a) They are the moral ones, or
b) They're too strong to lose.

Hitler believed both. He (probably - I'm not a time-travelling mind-reader) genuinely believed that what he was doing was ultimately a good thing.

And I would draw a distinction between trying to hide cowardice behind sham moral justifications, as against genuinely restraining yourself because of a moral conviction. I think that the two are very different.

[chequita guevara]

Let the Islamists take over.

Then why bother defending Afghanistan?

[St Jon]

If we could choose our enemies, the world would be much different.

Aneesh made a good point. Let the Islamists take over. Let them screw things up. Leave them to their own devices, deny them casus belli. Don't chastise them for burning little girls faces off. Don't sell them food or technology. If they want to live in the 7th century, that's their right. And when they come to their senses, they'll have learned a good lesson.

Of course, if they do try to attack us, we'll pay them out - man, woman, and child. See how good Allah is at protecting you from white phosphorous.

Afghanistan did endure a considerable period of Taliban rule. The West supported them as they hated Russia, remember the Cold War, and offerred the only serious opposition. They also were very helpful in their hatred of opium production and the West loved them for it.

You cannot just condemn people to life in the 7th century with an attitude of 'as long as you only brutalise those within your own borders it's OK'! Afghanistan is very different from Iraq and, although I opposed both illegal wars, I can at least see a modicum benefit accruing to the Afghani people as a result of our actions there.

In a world that tolerates Israel, Zimbabwe and Burma it all does seem a little hypocritical though when by comparison the Taliban were benificent rulers indeed.

[St Jon]

BTW. How on earth did anyone get away with a Poly name of 'Felch'? Is the term unknown in the US? Maybe the second hand consumption of bodily fluids is looked upon somewhat more favourably in the US?

[MOBIUS]

Man, it comes to something when half the posters on this thread make the Talibs seem like normal rational people in comparison...