This is a very good post.

As much as the western governments and media want us to view the Taliban as mindless monsters hell bent on destroying everyone and everything, we have to remember that they are human.

[edit on 29/9/09 by Kram09]

These guys really aren't that smart.

Wouldn't it be better to lay low until the NATO forces feel that they've completed the task at hand and left? Then start up a violent insurgency. You know, instead of fighting the armies that come equipped with jets and helicopters.

Originally posted by Dnevnoi
These guys really aren't that smart.

Wouldn't it be better to lay low until the NATO forces feel that they've completed the task at hand and left? Then start up a violent insurgency. You know, instead of fighting the armies that come equipped with jets and helicopters.

If a foreign nation invaded the continental US today, would you just "lay low" or would you band together with your neighbors, and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?

Originally posted by Kram09
This is a very good post.

As much as the western governments and media want us to view the Taliban as mindless monsters hell bent on destroying everyone and everything, we have to remember that they are human.

[edit on 29/9/09 by Kram09]

Yes, it was. And what you are referring to is called "demonizing the enemy." This has been done for centuries by just about every Nation at war with another Nation.

Originally posted by fordrew
This is from Newsweek, a great article telling the story from the Taliban's side on the "War on Terror".

"The Taliban in Their Own Words"

AKHUNDZADA: When the bombing started, I was commanding some 400 fighters on the front lines near Mazar-e Sharif. The bombs cut down our men like a reaper harvesting wheat. Bodies were dismembered. Dazed fighters were bleeding from the ears and nose from the bombs' concussions. We couldn't bury the dead. Our reinforcements died in their trenches.

Getting the other side of things on anything has gotten more and more difficult. We can't even get a view of the real war(s).

The Taliban commander sounds a lot like some from Vietnam years ago.

Glad to have a chance to read this. Very interesting and explains something about what I'd heard back during the Russian thing.

Let me make this very clear: I'm not brainwashed by the American media machine who gives us a new bogeyman to hate on a daily basis. On the same token, I'm also not brainwashed by propaganda that causes us to sympathize with monsters or their causes. The below is my independent conclusion after taking many factors into consideration.

The Taliban are not noble freedom fighters banding together as neighbors to protect their people against American imperialism.

Make no mistake: I am ardently against us sticking our nose where it doesn't belong. However, the Taliban cannot be equated with people who just want their freedom and to watch their children grow and live in peace.

The Taliban is in fact an extremely twisted regime that pours acid on school children, believes in stoning rape victims, wants to kill you if you leave the faith, sets fire to houses with families inside, etc. Their own people and fellow Muslims despise and fear them.

They are not fighting some righteous crusade even if in their own minds they are. Please don't give into the propaganda by defending their actions as a cause to be respected. These are not regular folks who just want to live a peaceful life and allow their fellow citizens to live a peaceful life but the 'evil Americans' keep getting in the way. Instead, they want to force their fellow citizens to live under their extremely horrific rules.

Let's choose our battles here, folks. Some deserve our sympathy but the Taliban is not one of them.

[edit on 10/3/2009 by AshleyD]

My 18 year old son has just started a 6 month tour in Afghanistan and he will be facing a ruthless hardened enemy that shows no mercy, I could not give a s..t what the Taliban feel or think about a war started with them over their support for the al qadea terrorist friends. they are animals and should be killed, every last one............


IT IS THEIR CHOICE TO FIGHT...

Hi


I think the Taliban are normal human beings fighting for what they think is right. For one thing, the Taliban does not think that this is a "War on Terrorism" as the US put it. They think it's a war on their religion - Islam.

Taliban don't want violence and destruction in their country. They just want the true Islamic Shariah (law) to govern it and its people. The fact remains that the US is invading their land, and what the Taliban are doing is a normal reaction.

Also, i'm pretty sure that the Taliban are well educated people, who treat their women normally etc. etc. The thing is Taliban follow the Islamic law and no where in the Quran does it say that you should hit your women, or not get an education.

Remember Usama Bin Laden is a millionaire engineer and Ayman Al Zawahiri is a very rich doctor. So why doesnt anyone ask, why do such people, who had such good lifes, go ahead and create a group to fight the US invaders?? They had a rich and glamorous life, yet they chose the hard path. Why would they do that??