Bullypulpit
Senior Member
In Afghanistan, Abdul Rahman, told his wife that he was a Christian. He then told his neighbors that he was a Christian, which brought shame to his household. He then told the police. At that point his future became very uncertain.
He is now standing trial for the "crime" of converting to Christianity. If found guilty, he could be killed. But wait, isn't this Afghanistan which US forces liberated from the grips of the Taliban? Weren't those rabidly fundamentalist Islamicists whipped naked and howling into the wilderness? Doesn't a democratically elected government rule in Afghanistan? Isn't Afghanistan's president a staunch ally of the US, and committed to democracy?
To answer: Yes. Yes, kind of...they're back. Not so much. Kinda, maybe.
US troops broke the Taliban's hold on power in Afghanistan, but only temporarily. They weren't able to finish the job because Junior decided his woody for Saddam took precedence over stabilizing Afghanistan.
After being drinven from power in 2001, the Taliban, and elements of Al Qaeda have been waging a guerilla war against the Afghan government.
As for democracy in Afghanistan, well, it's kinda tenuous. While the Taliban were driven from power, the equally fundamentalist warlords filled the vaccum they left behind. Instead of a budding deomcracy in the countryside, we have a fulminating Islamic republic cleaving to extrist interpretations of sharia law.
As for Hamid Kharzhai, Afghanistan's elected president, he is really little more than the Mayor of Kabul. He ahs little sway over the warlords and mullahs who control the surrounding countryside.
The upshot of all of this is that an innocent man will likely be killed. And why? Despite noises Dubbyuh made about being "deeply disturbed", no action followed. No high ranking official was dispatced to rattle the cages in Afghanistan and let the powers that be know we won't spend our blood and treasure to prop up an fundamentalist regime.
Of course, had our troops actually been allowed to finish the job properly, and a fraction of the bllions wasted in Iraq been spent rebuilding Afghanistan, this man would not be on trial for his life. Converting to another religion would not be a crime. Real democratic institutions respecting the rights of all of Afghanistan's people might actually be taking root. But Dubbyuh had other things on his mind.
He is now standing trial for the "crime" of converting to Christianity. If found guilty, he could be killed. But wait, isn't this Afghanistan which US forces liberated from the grips of the Taliban? Weren't those rabidly fundamentalist Islamicists whipped naked and howling into the wilderness? Doesn't a democratically elected government rule in Afghanistan? Isn't Afghanistan's president a staunch ally of the US, and committed to democracy?
To answer: Yes. Yes, kind of...they're back. Not so much. Kinda, maybe.
US troops broke the Taliban's hold on power in Afghanistan, but only temporarily. They weren't able to finish the job because Junior decided his woody for Saddam took precedence over stabilizing Afghanistan.
After being drinven from power in 2001, the Taliban, and elements of Al Qaeda have been waging a guerilla war against the Afghan government.
As for democracy in Afghanistan, well, it's kinda tenuous. While the Taliban were driven from power, the equally fundamentalist warlords filled the vaccum they left behind. Instead of a budding deomcracy in the countryside, we have a fulminating Islamic republic cleaving to extrist interpretations of sharia law.
As for Hamid Kharzhai, Afghanistan's elected president, he is really little more than the Mayor of Kabul. He ahs little sway over the warlords and mullahs who control the surrounding countryside.
The upshot of all of this is that an innocent man will likely be killed. And why? Despite noises Dubbyuh made about being "deeply disturbed", no action followed. No high ranking official was dispatced to rattle the cages in Afghanistan and let the powers that be know we won't spend our blood and treasure to prop up an fundamentalist regime.
Of course, had our troops actually been allowed to finish the job properly, and a fraction of the bllions wasted in Iraq been spent rebuilding Afghanistan, this man would not be on trial for his life. Converting to another religion would not be a crime. Real democratic institutions respecting the rights of all of Afghanistan's people might actually be taking root. But Dubbyuh had other things on his mind.
