Misreading the History of the Iraq War

[jcustis]

Three goatherds

warriors were "sacrificed" for 3 ignorant religious zealots.

Ummm...yeah, we need to wind down a little bit. Being an Afghan does not make one a religious zealot no more than being a goatherd makes one ignorant.

Advancing arguments this way is not how business is done withing the Small Wars Council. We love arguments, and get into them all the time...but we try to make sure they are substantive and well-thought out.

And yes, please post that intro.

[dubya]

Ummm...yeah, we need to wind down a little bit. Being an Afghan does not make one a religious zealot no more than being a goatherd makes one ignorant.

Advancing arguments this way is not how business is done withing the Small Wars Council. We love arguments, and get into them all the time...but we try to make sure they are substantive and well-thought out.

And yes, please post that intro.

Are you saying the Taliban are not religious zealots? If Taliban are such zealots, then being a supporter of the Taliban makes one either a) a religious zealot or b) intimidated by religious zealots.

WRT to ignorance, I don't disagree there is no evidence they are ignorant (i.e., uneducated), but the likelihood is high. What passes for "education" in much of Pakistan and Afghanistan and many other areas where islam is the state religion is memorization of the Koran. This is indoctrination, not education.

I take the goatherds' reporting the presence of Murphy's team to the Taliban as evidence of the goatherds' support of the Taliban, whether by affinity or by intimidation and ignorance.

[jcustis]

I take the goatherds' reporting the presence of Murphy's team to the Taliban as evidence of the goatherds' support of the Taliban, whether by affinity or by intimidation and ignorance.

That is your take, and you are entitled to it, but you also seem to be inflammed by the incident. As I said, advancing an argument that way is not how we do business here.

You couldn't have know it, but I had my moderator hat on when I replied to your post in this thread. For all you know, I may adhere to Islam and may not take to kindly to an open attack on my religion...I recommend that you take a deep breath and explore the site for a while. It will make for a more enjoyable posting experience.

[Ken White]

Let me give you a couple of things to ponder, Dubya.

First, this isn't a political site; if one wants to discuss political ideologies, there are plenty of places on the internet to do that. Your posts thus far indicate you'd be far happier posting on one of those than here.

Second, most everyone who does post here has years of experience watching people tap dance on the head of a pin and blather about nothing for hours and they're rarely impressed by it.

At a minimum, you should take JCustis excellent suggestion and get a feel for where you're posting to insure that you really wish to do so.

Thanks.

[skiguy]

If Taliban are such zealots, then being a supporter of the Taliban makes one either a) a religious zealot or b) intimidated by religious zealots.

Not trying to add to the argument, this just made me think of a question.

Couldn't there be a c) The people support those who are providing social services to them. Religion is secondary.

Or am I giving the Taliban too much credit here?