You're right that lack of education is a part of it, but drone strikes ARE **a** direct reason that motivates certain people in the Middle East to join the Taliban. Notice we've both said it's "a" reason and not "the only" reason. As time goes on, reasons alternate/evolve/change but much of it boils down to a combination of 2 things IMO:
1) Lack of education (as we've both agreed) Most Muslims in places like Afghanistan are illiterate, so they cannot read the Qur'an themselves and rely on what people tell them, meaning a radical cleric can manipulate the Qur'an to seem more hateful and persecutory than it truly is.
2) unintended civilian deaths. As of January 2014 there have been 2,400 deaths attributed to drone strikes, and many of the dead have been confirmed as civilians. When a drone strike kills civilians and destroys homes, the small, tight knit tribes/communities are going to be angered and hold a grudge. I have a big family, with 30+ some odd first cousins, and 2 siblings; many Muslim families are similarly large, so if your brother, sister, or cousin was killed, you would most likely hold a grudge, too.
As for why Muslims have hated the West for longer than drone strikes, how about when we built military bases on Muslim holy lands, or arbitrarily cut up the middle east into countries after WW1 when the Ottoman Empire was destroyed? As the old saying goes, "history is written by the victors," and western powers with little to no understanding of the different Middle Eastern/Muslim cultures made arbitrary nations that have no respect for cultural differences.
Also, lest we not forget the hundreds of thousands civilian deaths in our Afghan & Iraq "campaigns." Not only that, but when soldiers were accused of killings and rape, there was usually little to no accountability for the actions / responsibility accepted for the actions.
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mrwalrusq
10 years ago
Great points you make. For those who don't think drone strikes are a big deal, sit back and imagine for a minute if it was your hometown or neighborhood. You're sitting down to dinner with your family and suddenly everything explodes. You survive but you have to dig through the rubble until you find the lifeless body of your child. Your wife has lost her legs. Your brother is dead. Your best friend is dead. You would hate those responsible and your life's goal would be revenge.
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scox1980
8 years ago
While I agree with you that drone strikes increases the Taliban's recruiting efforts... But it's not even remotely as much as you seem to think, much less what VICE is claiming.
You are kind of backing up what the OP stated. You are pushing a one sided argument and pretending it is the end of the story. It's biased and it manipulates a very complex issue. Case in point...
There 3 HUGE flaws in your post.
1) Your number is over a 5 year drone campaign under Obama. It was not the total number. So about 500 a year during that specific period. During the Bush's entire administration that number was less than 500 total, as they didn't employ drone strikes even remotely as much as Obama has. It also does not include any drone strikes that were considered "secret" at that the time those figures were released.
Which is pretty good considering the tactics the Taliban employs. Perhaps you arn't aware that they round up civilians and use them as slaves and/or human shields to defend against airstrikes.
2) We, as in the US, didn't have anything to do with "cutting up the middle east into countries". That was the British Empire. And it's not like they were the first either. Heck Palestine... The place that some cry about them needing a Country... Syria Palaestina was a territory that the Roman Empire created after quelling a revolt. Not one person there called themselves Palestinian. Palestinians didn't exist until the 20th century. It was populated by mostly Jews. But more to the point... blaming the West for violence in the Middle East is about as ignorant as it gets. The violence in the Middle East has been ongoing since before Christianity or Islam existed. It predates Alexander the Great.
3) I saved the biggest flaw for last. You complain about the hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. And it is unbelievably tragic... But you say these deaths lead to recruitment for the Taliban? Well then... I guess we are winning the recruitment war BIG TIME.
While you are complaining about 500 civilian deaths a year... again tragic...
The Taliban was responsible for nearly 4,000 civilian deaths and nearly 7,000 civilian wounded/injuries in 2014.
ISIS was responsible for OVER 10,000 civilian deaths in 2014... and that's just in Iraq.
Our, US/NATO/UN/whomever, rules of engagement (even with drones) is designed to minimize civilian casualties. The Taliban... ISIS... they enter a village TO kill civilians that oppose them... steal their women to be used as sex slaves and take their children to be used as enslaved warriors.
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