Originally posted by: MegaWorks
Sultan, as a Muslim I'm shocked that you are supporting the Taliban! How can you support a group that is responsible for many crimes against humanity in Afghanistan. Supporting them means that you believe in Wahhabism. Wahhabis are the trash of the muslim world, it?s because of them that the western World views Islam negatively. Supporting them will only justify the killing of more Muslims. Wahhabis are the cause of conflicts between Shia?s and Sunnis, just look at Pakistan today a suicide bomber killed himself in a Shia mosque! Please don?t tell me that you support that barbaric act! Wahhabism is the creator of Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, do you also support them too?
Sultan please don?t make me look at you down. I respect you as a member of AT and a fellow Muslim.
Taliban != Wahabiism.
Islam != Taliban.
If you or I support President Bush, would either of us be any less "Muslim"? On the same grounds, my "support" (which is incorrect - I do not "support" the Taliban) for the Taliban has nothing to do with my religion.
Wahabis are not the reason for the conflict between Shias and Sunnis in Pakistan. Sunni and Shia clerics routinely expouse hatred amongst their followers in Pakistan and call each other as heretics to further their own political agendas/motivations. I am not a Wahabi. I dont follow the Wahabi teachings. I dont care how the Wahabis lead their life. As long as they dont interfere in other people's lives (translate non-Wahabi), we dont have to interfere in theirs (unless of course they request interference themselves).
I dont say the Taliban were puritcanical angels but "crimes against humanity" is not correct.
Please note the history of Afghanistan. After years of Soviet invasion (10 years) and then years of civil war (another 10+ years), the Taliban movement brought the country under one government, which prior to them was being held hostage by numerous warlords across the nation.
The links I have provided in my previous post showed that they had the support of the populace.
Additionally, I count the destruction of the vast opium fields of Afghanistan under the Taliban as one of their most significant achievements. Please note this was carried out while the nation still hadnt come out of the civil war and the country was still under complete sanctions by the rest of the world. Under "democracy", whatever there is of it currently in Afghanistan + our soldiers (around 16000 or so currently there), Afghanistan has resumed production of 75% of the world's opium.
The Taliban is usually criticized for the following:
* Public executions + punishment. The same is carried out in Saudi Arabia. Hey, even in the United States, the public can see the proceedings of capital punishment where it exists.
* Enforcing of Burqa. Watch CNN's coverage of Afghan elections. You can see the women STILL wear Burqas. Does this mean we should unload a few of our Tomahawks on Karzai's palace?
* Treatment of Women. This includes barring females from going to school. For God's sake, the nation does not even have proper electricity and water supply and the world is complaining about this. Nonetheless, the reason behind this action was that the females were molested and abused by the other gender because the country had no proper security/police in place and therefore to safegaurd their honor, such an action was thought necessary. Besides, are you certain that all the BOYS went to school? The economic condition of the nation was hardly sound enough to provide BREAD to all Afghans, let alone schooling.
Some rather extreme punishment was also seen under the Taliban regime but these punishments do not translate into implicit instructions/laws by the Taliban leadership. Remember that most of Afghanistan is tribal in nature, no proper communication system or infrastructure is in place and Afghanistan did not have "a" Taliban member in every single corner of Aghanistan. Therefore, the central government had little, if any control in the events of a remote location. Even in Pakistan's tribal regions, the tribal leaders hold "jirgas" or courts and hand out punishments such as "gang-rape" of the accused's sister. This does not mean the government of Pakistan is condoning, supporting or promoting such punishments. Even in the United States, polygamy exists (I believe in Utah) but the US government has little control on such occurences.
* Support for Al-Qaeda. According to the the leaders of Taliban, OBL was a "guest" of their nation. Since there existed no extradition treaty between the United States and Afghanistan, the government did no have to hand over OBL. However, Mullah Omar asked for proof that OBL was involved in 9/11 attacks upon which they would have over OBL. Till the invasion, OBL was claiming he had nothing to do with 9/11. Direct proof materialized from a video tape found out in a bombed house in Kandahar which showed OBL and the other Egyption dude laughing about how successful the attack was. Without justifying the above reasoning of the Taliban, let me add that Afghanistan was attacked previously under the Clinton administration which would no doubt cause bad blood. Also, please remember that neither any Taliban, nor any Afghan was involved in 9/11 or USS Cole or any other terrorist activity. Please also note how the extradition of General Pinochet took place, and try to draw a parallel if you can come up with any.
* Ban on music, television, etc. I'm sorry, but if that's "crime against humanity", I do not agree with you.
Looking forward to your comments. Always pleasing to have civil discussions
edit: I'd like to add that OBL was invited to Afghanistan but the leaders of the Northern Alliance, not Taliban in 1996. The Northern Alliance is the same militia which received US aid to oust the Taliban. Go figure
edit 2: btw, I'd also like to add that the Taliban were only in power from 1996 - 2001. Also, since so many of us "Westerners" are so much into mistreatment of women, do you know how many mines were laid by the Soviets in Afghanistan, how many are STILL there, how many civilians have been killed or maimed by these mines and what exactly has the "Western world" done about it? We're very much concerned about their education but of course, their lives are meaningless, or maybe their limbs are.
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