Taliban Apologise

[emmie]

reposted this in news, still not sure they have..


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/17/taliban-letter-malala-yousafza

[emmie]

sorry, you might see this in CB, that was unintentional, so i have reposted it in news, if any care to read and comment....

[LazyGun]

Your link appears to be broken, Em. I have reposted your link from your post in chatterbank, which does seem to work;

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/17/taliban-letter-malala-yousafzai

Less an apology, more an attempted justification from someone who believes it acceptable to use the threat of violent reprisal to elicit compliance with medieval and fundamentalist interpretations of a religion.

The letter, and the people involved in writing it, should be treated with all the contempt it deserves.

[emmie]

thank you, not sure why that happened.

[emmie]

i wonder if any of these men watched her appearance and speech at the UN, they should, i only hope that they get the message, she is not anti anything, she just wants what should be for all, freedom, education for all children, that isn't too much too ask is it?

[LazyGun]

No it is not too much to ask, Em, for any rational person. But zealots see education and especially education of women as a wedge through which western values will be introduced, threatening their culture, one of the foundation stones of which is a mysogynistic view of a womans place in their culture.

And they will do anything in an effort to stop this trend. Ultimately this is futile, because basic changes like this are inexorable. So they use the tactics of the bully and the terrorist; threats of violence, bullying, arson, blackmail - and murder in an effort to prevent change. And all the while, the body count mounts......

[ludwig]

As LG says, it's not an apology. It's more like a 'we're sorry that you forced us to take this action'.

[Peter Pedant]

You sataness !

HIS (bold and not shout) speech was - to return to the girls school -and do you know he didnt even say and I will make sure you dont get shot up this time - and read ONE book. Yup you can guess which one.

I reluctantly admit the Christians did book burning 500 y ago and the Germans only 50y ago - but even at that time there were people protesting.

which is kinda odd if you reflect on the time that the Islamic science led the world. I am interested in why historically a civilisation can rejeect a way of thinking that obviously works (empiricism) and adopt instead a way of thinking that obviously doesnt work (mysticism ) - but the Taleban personify that - cursing modern western science but not eschewing the products - microchips, mobile phones and laptops.

[LazyGun]

@PP and rather more alarmingly, embracing modern weaponry- the AK47, rocket launchers, etc.......

[emmie]

that is a very good point, it's why i have a problem with this idea that all modern life is wrong, all the while they use every gadget going, including weapons, really odd thinking.

[emmie]

Naomi, not much different from the other post...

[mikey4444]

If anybody still wants to know why we went into Afghanistan, then look no further than Malala. The Taliban were, and still are a group of stupid, uneducated morons who want to drag people back into the dark ages.

[LazyGun]

@ Mikey - I agree with your sentiments as expressed in your last post

"The Taliban were, and still are a group of stupid, uneducated morons who want to drag people back into the dark ages."

However, this was not the reason we were "invited into Afghanistan", nor it is grounds in itself to embark on military incursions in foreign fields. International law protects sovereignty of nations unless some over-riding threat to the security of other nations can be shown. Invading merely because we do not like the way they treat their women is not a good enough excuse to start a war or a "police action" or whatever euphemism they want to call it....

[mikey4444]

I agree lazy...we should have just sat at the border, waiting patiently like some expectant father, while the Taliban continued to murder the Afghani population.

[emmie]

mickey, not sure i understand that point, Malala is from Pakistan, the swat valley i believe, she is just one child amongst millions, wanting what we take for granted, an education. What the Taliban want and may still get in Afghanistan is some degree of power, if that happens then the country and it's people will be lost for good.

[mikey4444]

After all, I'm sure that the Taliban would have got around to having democratic elections sometime in the near future, in the same way that they would built hospitals and schools, where women and girls could attend as well. They might also have got around to immunising all the kids against illnesses that had been killing them in droves.

All this would have happened eventually, while the UN were sitting around sunbathing just over the border.

[emmie]

i don't believe we should ever have been in Afghanistan nor indeed in any of these places, there are calls for British troops being sent to Syria, that would be a huge mistake

[LazyGun]

If thats how you choose to see it Mikey.

Declaring war, invading countries, imposing governance should only be the answer in the most extreme of circumstances.

We are not the worlds conscience or its police, nor is the US.

[Octavius]

No, its not an apology as such. Its a "sorry, we didn't shoot you for that, we shot you for this."

Which in the minds of the nutters, makes it more ok.

[emmie]

mikey, have you not watched the news, read the papers and read the link, that is not what they want at all. Democracy is anathema to them, they hate the west and all it stands for. Malala spoke out not against the Talibs, but for the rights of women, girls, they will not permit females to be part and parcel of modern life, they want to keep them subjugated and her shooting proves the point. They haven't actually apologised, it's a nonsense to think that if they get into any sort of power in Afghanistan it's going to become a forward thinking, modern country, it won't, it wasn't before when they did hold power...

[Gromit]

As pathetic crass non apilogies go, it almost ranks as bad as this one:

// Seven children died when American aircraft bombed a religious school in an attack against the Taliban in the Afghan province of Paktika, the US army said yesterday.

 "We are saddened by the innocent lives that were lost as a result of militants' cowardice," said Major Chris Belcher. Coalition troops had "surveillance on the compound all day and saw no indications there were children inside," said Major Belcher.

"Coalition forces confirmed the presence of nefarious activity occurring at the site before getting approval to conduct an air strike on the location," the statement said.

US-led coalition forces, which operate separately from Nato's command structure, accepted responsibility for the Paktika raid but accused the Taliban of using the children as human shields. //