The drug gangsters aren’t afraid of death but the Wahabbi welcome it.
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We have cops who kill black people for selling cigarettes. Taliban what?
meaningless
Today, that elastic vision belongs to Walmart.
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And we have at least a nominal cultural expectation that such behavior is bad. We don’t have institutionalized rape and violence for half the population over the crime of learning to read.
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Afghanistan is rich in resources and borders China.
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Well now that DeVos is out of office maybe.
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The location of bin Laden compound in Abbottabad 1.3 kilometers from the Pakistan Military Academy in hindsight hardly seems coincidental. Nevertheless, Pakistan’s ambassador the the US even recently has been trying to downplay the bad behavior of his country. I would say US-Pakistan relations are currently headed on paths of maximum divergence.
Ambassador Khan cited the importance of the US-Pakistan bilateral relationship as a stand alone relationship and highlighted Afghanistan as an area of convergence in the US-Pakistan relationship. Ending his remarks by saying, “We see a bright future for our relationship because we have all that it takes to have a strong partnership with the United States.”
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Even then. Call out the American Right for their bullshit and crimes, but don’t go reaching for false equivalences with even bigger monsters out there.
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Although @trustywoods used a bit of snark, Betsy Devos did actively undermine the ability of institutions and their female students to hold rapists accountable and she repeatedly violated the laws governing student loan forgiveness and funding for religious institutions. So, a matter of degree…
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Well. You could argue it’s their turn.
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We’ve discussed this earlier. Those resources are hard to get at. So you need help from the world’s sixth largest military. Pakistan. What is interesting among all the countries that have received Belt & Road loans from China, Pakistan stands out in terms of military aid.
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She did. But that’s still a far cry from saying that not only is it acceptable for that to happen, but to call for it to happen.
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The monarchy was overthrown and a more-or-less Marxist government was decreed, to be replaced in 1978 with Russian support.
Afghanistan has never, ever been a functional democratic society since it was unted as a country in the 1870s
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Good thing those resources will still be there after the Chinese dispose of the Taliban. Russia had their turn, and lost. The USA had our turn, and we also lost. The Taliban are no friend of the Chinese. It’s their turn to make the attempt to get rid of them. After all, control of our planet’s natural resources has dictated global foreign policy for the past 200 years. I would not be at all surprised to see some attempt by the Chinese to replicate their treatment of the Uyghur Muslims in Afghanistan. Like @geographyjones suggested, it’s all about those precious resources, and we know what the Chinese are capable of doing to ethnic Muslims. .
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Conservatives? … no doubt they have amnesia when it comes to the entirety of Trump’s FUBARing of the situation …
NOTE THE “CONSERVATIVE” CONCLUSION IN 2020 -
“For the United States, the present imperative should be to deny Putin opportunities to exploit our vulnerability. The means to do so is readily at hand: Terminate the U.S. war in Afghanistan forthwith and complete the endlessly discussed withdrawal of U.S. forces.”
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Did you actually think before you typed that?
Or do you just feel I am unreasonable for disagreeing with you?
ETA - would posting a picture of Mike Lindell help?
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So it’s a mere distinction?
Afghanistan is rich in resources. But let’s look at that border, hmm?
The Wakhan corridor is a nature preserve, mostly because it’s not really useful for much, and it’s damned near impassible. The real ‘border’ runs through Pakistan. And while Pakistan’s definitely sucking up to China in the way that organized states can, the Taliban are pretty zealous religious extremists. How well do you think they’re going to relate to the atheist Chinese government, which actively persecutes Muslims? Do you think they’re going to be obedient to them?
Most of these guys, or their fathers and grandfathers, were fighting the Soviets in the 1980s. They need Pakistan’s help right now, and they’re happy to use that aid, but mark my words, once they’re firmly established again, they’ll be the belligerent, unruly bastards they were 20 years ago.
If China wants control, they’re gonna have to send in their own army.
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You’re right, I was thinking about Kabul in terms of similarity to Tehran and my brain jumped tracks on that. But even under the monarchy, they were a fairly open, liberal society.
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