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Edited on Thu Feb-28-08 06:31 AM by Fedja
A short timeline of facts, if you will.
Fact 1: In July 2000, the ruling Taliban banned the growing of poppies as a sin against the teachings of Islam.
Fact 2: Heroin production in the country fell to "next-to-none", massively affecting global Heroin supply
Fact 3: The Taliban negotiated grants from developed countries in return and made some visible efforts to provide the desperate farmers of their country with alternative means of income.
*this was obviously very limited in effect as an undeveloped country always lacks the infrastructure for viable farming reform on such a massive scale
Fact 4: -War happens, the US assumes control of Afghanistan-
*yes, their government is a US puppet regime
Fact 5: Under the US/US-backed rule, poppy production rockets to never before seen heights, global Heroin supply increases dramatically, price drops
*(2006)Afghanistan supplies 80 per cent of the world's opium. According to a UN survey, Afghanistan produced a record 6,100 tonnes of opium in 2006
Fact 6: The current Afghanistan government replies to global criticism by simply razing poppy fields at random, destroying the affected farmer's annual income and making him starve.
Fact 7: With no alternative means of survival, the farmers ask the Taliban fighters (who are now individual disassociated bands) to protect their livelyhood from the government in return for payment.
Now... to elaborate just a bit on who this ruthless animal with an AK47 is. He grew up when Afghanistan was being ravaged by the Russians. He fought for his country, for his god since he was a child. Without food to eat, his religion was his sustenance. He fought his holy war year-in, year-out, and eventually the Russians backed off. He is now a warrior, a hardened veteran who has seen every single horrible reality of life in that country, and has no skills which would allow him to make a living. And so, he is recruited by the new government of the Taliban. He's the soldier, the policeman, and the regime is one that tributes his god. It is one that sancftifies the teachings which have been his food, his water, since he can remember. Their rules and actions are extreme, but so is living in Afghanistan. Everything is extreme.
Then the war happens, he's not sure why since he has no TV. He fought against the Americans, as he did against the russians, but before, the Americans gave him bullets and some food. Now he was on his own, and they lost the fight. He can't go back to work for the government, they call him a terrorist. So he retreats to the valley in the mountains where he grew up. He meets his peers, their stories are the same. And so they wait for life to get better. Warriors without anyone to fight. Pillars without a roof to hold up. The villages in the area live off poppy as they once did, and they get by.
Then the G-men come. They jump off trucks with canes and sticks, and they go through the fields. Not a plant left standing, they smash and smash until all is destroyed. They wear the symbols of the government on their uniforms, but they destroy every poppy plant in sight. They jump back on their truck and head to the next valley.
The warriors sit and watch. Their villages got murdered. The people live, but they won't have food over the winter. Their livelyhood destroyed, just like that. They barely made enough money to feed their children before, now they have nothing. Nothing in the world but the dirt that surrounds them. And they decide that such a government is not their government. Call it what you will, that was inhumane, ungodly. They will fight for their people once more. And they pick up their rifles again, and woe be it to any government uniform that comes close to their village again. Kill or be killed is the game, it always has been. And they refuse to lay down and be killed.
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The story above is part-fiction. But that what happened to the average Joe in Afghanistan. The key points are based on proven facts, the thoughts in his mind... an illustration. Put yourself in that position, what would you do? What would Jesus do?
Before you throw around your inherited and rampant hatred, face the fact that you are clueless. Uninformed. That you don't possibly "understand" the situation in the country. And face the fact that the MSM has been serving you a big pile of steaming demonizing shit for a decade. If you choose to just trumpet it on, you're no better than the people responsible for the situation in which hundreds of thousands of people (PEOPLE!) suffer and starve.
It's so easy to call someone a religious fanatic and call him evil. The Taliban regime exploited the poor country to push their agenda. Misguided as it was, it was a holy and righteous agenda to them. Their loss of power won't be mourned. However, they are people. The US is also led by a religious fanatic. He tortures people, he brings poverty to his own nation. He kills people in the millions to make some oil money. He wages war on other countries. Would you call "Americans" the same hateful labels that you use for the "Taliban"? And why not?
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