I would say that we should extend the same lack of Trust to Islamist radicals with decades of intermingling with terrorist organizations.
But, instead, State is pitching that the Taliban will be our counter-terror partner in country :roll:
And my response to anybody that thinks this is "Are they nucking futs"?
Just look at what the Taliban was like the last time they were in control of Afghanistan. I know most completely ignored Afghanistan in the time between the Soviets leaving and 9-11, but I did not.
I watched in horror as they destroyed 1,400 year old cultural artifacts which were part of a UN protected historical and cultural site. I watched as they would stone women simply because divorce was not allowed and their husband wanted to marry somebody else. I watched them turn women into essentially slaves, unable to do things like go to school, drive, or work.
I watched as they used assassination to kill the leader of the organization that was successfully fighting against them.
I do not trust the Taliban. Like Hezbollah, they will make any promise, and feel free to break it at any time in the future if it serves their goals. And their goal is nothing less than making Afghanistan into a fundamentalist nation that follows
their version of Sharia law. And it is not even Sharia Law I am distrusting. If they were to somehow become a Theocracy, which allowed all an equal say and guaranteed the rights of everybody regardless of faith I would probably support it. But history has shown us that they would not do that, they would take total control and exclude or kill anybody that does not accept their beliefs.
I am a huge believer in "Self Determination", so long as it takes into consideration the rights of others who do not follow the majority. The framework of the country actually matters little to me, only that the rights of all are respected. We have seen benevolent dictators, Marshal Tito comes to mind there. He largely left Yugoslavia alone, so long as they did not try to persecute those in other regions. A brutal dictator, who even went after those of his own region if they stepped out of line.
Democracy, Republicanism, Monarchy, Oligarchy, Theocracy, Dictatorship, even Communist. To me it does not matter, so long as the rights of individuals are protected and guaranteed. And the biggest laugh in the idea of trusting the Taliban is that they ultimately are the inspiration for those other more radical groups like ISIS we have seen in the last decade. ISIS started as a bastard stepchild of al-Qaeda, but it must be remembered that al-Qaeda was essentially the intelligence and Special Operations arm of the Taliban government. And groups like ISIS (regardless of claimed paternity) are essentially following the framework of the original Taliban government.
It would be like overthrowing the government of North Korea, but leaving the party in control. Anybody thinking they would not install another dictator as brutal as the Kim Dynasty (or even another surviving member) and not continue exactly as it has for the last half century is an idiot.
