Quote (Black XistenZ @ Jan 20 2024 01:56am)

Individual regressiveness and islam don't explain, or excuse, why the Taliban were hosting Al Qaeda though. Them voluntarily associating with a radical islamistic terrorist group can only be explained by a political or religious affinity which goes beyond the usual backwardness of orthodox islam. Basically, all we can do is hope that the Taliban have learned their lesson from 2001 and won't host terrorists again.

Quote (El1te @ 20 Jan 2024 20:59)

I think they did learn to keep themselves distant from Islamic terrorist groups.

But remember it turned out that it was actually Pakistan hosting Bin Laden, not Afghanistan.

As far as hosting Al Qaeda etc. goes, it is not so different from our hosting of neo-nazi Banderite Ukrainian terrorists & former SS members within our Western nations. We should really hold ourselves to the same standard, less we be transparent hypocrites, shooting ourselves in the foot when it comes to obtaining some semblance of peace.

Quote (Black XistenZ @ Jan 20 2024 12:12pm)

To the best of my knowledge, there have been no terrorist attacks or plots against innocent third parties by any Ukrainian groups hosted within Western nations.

Quote (El1te @ Jan 20 2024 07:56pm)

Yes, back when they were fighting the Soviets they were considered great heroic freedom fighters against the oppressive Soviet Union. Then they suddenly became the baddies, funny how that works..

While the Taliban would be wholly unacceptable in our proper Western society, they are saints as far as Afghanistan goes.

The moral atrocity of the endemic Bacha Bazi practice among the Afghans is alone enough to justify the Taliban's rule.

Quote (Prox1m1ty @ Jan 20 2024 01:04pm)

You don't need the Taliban in order to not have Bachi Bazi.

Its possible to persecute sex traffickers but also let woman get an education; Those two concepts don't have to be prisoners of each other.

Is the Taliban the best option of last resort? Probably. It doesn't mean they are not utterly terrible, for at least half the population.

Quote (Goomshill @ 19 Jan 2024 15:26)

Any fair assessment of the Arab world has always been that their cultures are simply incompatible with democracy at best and openly hostile to it at worst. Most of them are tribal and sectarian, few have national identities, and those that do straddle between predisposition to monarchies and religious zealots who must impose their will on others. It was absolutely a waste of resources and a sham to try to build a democracy, but does it make the Taliban awful? The Taliban are a bunch of goat herding tribal chieftains who have learned to coexist by respecting each others autonomy and generally leaving each other alone. That's about the extent of their national identity- that and banning opium. Their oppression of women and general backwards fundamentalism falls more on their individual regressiveness and islam. That's what the people believe in. If you gave them a free and fair vote, that's what they'd vote for. If it wasn't the Taliban, it would be someone else. The Taliban aren't imposing that upon them, and only a foreign master imposing our will upon them could try to change their way for them. And thus was the failed legacy of American neoimperialism and world morality police.

Quote (Black XistenZ @ Jan 18 2024 04:00am)

Shithole countries gonna shithole

Quote (EndlessSky @ Jan 20 2024 04:38pm)

Pakistan has been at war with India for thousands of years. They might actually be worse than Iran here.

Quote (EndlessSky @ Jan 21 2024 12:38am)

Pakistan has been at war with India for thousands of years. They might actually be worse than Iran here.