I came away from watching this doc thinking that what would defeat the Taliban would be schools in which women learn to read and movie theaters showing what life can be with religious freedom. I don't know how the U.S. can achieve those things.
shareNATO 'wins' this war if it prevents Afghanistan from being used as a base to plan and execute terrorist attacks against the West and Western targets. Altering how these people view the world and human rights etc. will take generations and is really not a 'war' objective.
shareI think now a days, with the middle east, the US is fighting a new type of war. If you paid attention when they raid the Afgan flag, they kept saying God is good. I think what drives these people in the middle east, is religion. How do you defend against people, who will blow them selves up?
If anyone watches NatGeo channel, they had the guy who interrogated Saddam, and one of the question he was asking, was about Bin Laden. Saddam said, something to the effects of, he was too religious for him to work with. I think that summed it all up.
BTW: I have no problems with Islam, and I do understand there are extremists.
SomeNightsCostALittle,SomeNightsCostALot.ButIAmTheBillionDollarMan,ANDYOUWILLBEBOUGHT!
Frankly I think you can take whatever Saddam said after he was captured with a grain of salt. Saddam used religion when it suited him and eschewed when it didn't.
I certainly noticed when the ANA soldiers said "God is Great" at their assembly. That isn't surprising.
And just because an enemy is willing to "blow themselves up" to kill you doesn't make them invincible. Ever hear of the Kamikaze pilots used by Japan in WWII? Same thing as a suicide bomber. And they were ultimately defeated and now the Japanese culture has now evolved into one of the most admirable in the world. So overcoming that kind of maniacal behavior is possible and has been accomplished before.
The key to defeating radical Islamists lies in the other members (Islamic or otherwise) of the countries that these radicals live in ceasing to tolerate that kind of radical behavior. Unfortunately, the non-radicals in these countries just aren't there yet. A majority either tacitly approve of the radicals or are in outright denial that a radical Islamist problem exists. A segment does recognize that the radicals are a problem, but they lack the popular support to do anything about it and as long as that status quo persists things in the Middle East and Central Asia will stay on the unfortunate path that they are on now.
I would not take it with a grain of salt, he said he had no WMDs and the US has not found any. He did say he had the capabilities.
I don't think the Japs, Kamikazed themselves screaming about religion.
SomeNightsCostALittle,SomeNightsCostALot.ButIAmTheBillionDollarMan,ANDYOUWILLBEBOUGHT!
So you believe everything Saddam Hussein ever said? Curious.
And the Kamikaze attacks were largely based on religion. The entire Japanese culture at that time was based on its worship and devotion to their Emperor who they believed to be the living descendant of God. Look it up if you don't believe me.
I believe when Saddam said, he had no WMDs. I do not believe everything. You are trying to generalize everything he said, rather than a certain comment he made. I think Bush used the 9-11 attacks to go and get Saddam. There were no WMDs recovered, and until there are, I believe what Saddam said.
As for the Japanese, I wouldn't call thinking someone is a God like figure as a religion.
SomeNightsCostALittle,SomeNightsCostALot.ButIAmTheBillionDollarMan,ANDYOUWILLBEBOUGHT!
This discussion has has nothing to do with Bush and whether Saddam had WMD's. I said Saddam embraced Islam when it suited him and ignored it when it did not. That is a fact that you just don't seem to grasp.
And you're just dead wrong about the Imperial Japanese culture. Their extremist devotion to the Emperor and belief in him as a living God very closely parallels radical Islam.
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I think it's hard for us to be able to really change the mind of anyone who holds religious beliefs as close to their hearts as these people do, both in Afghanistan, and anywhere in the world. They look at our country as an opposing Christian nation, yes we have "religious freedom" compared to what they have, but at the same time we have a history in the Middle East that most people won't soon forget. We cannot be the police force of the world, unless our intentions are truly genuine- which up until this point they have not been. In Afghanistan, yes, but then we invade Iraq and that completely alters the perception of how people see the way we do business. The integrity of our motives is called into question, and the misinformation spread within thee communities about us only fuels the fire as well. There is no easy answer to any of this, so with that being said...
Religion is the predominant force behind the ills of this modern world, and the only way we will advance as a global society will be to educate ourselves as well as everyone else. We don't just need freedom of religion, we need to not have it at all. I know people hate to hear that, and I understand that on micro levels it does good for people, but the cons of religion overall heavily outweigh the pros.