Taliban militants hang Afghan woman, son

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060809/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan;_ylt=Aqcih7j2M6MhETeH4y83i_2s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b3JuZGZhBHNlYwM3MjE-

Taliban militants hang Afghan woman, son

By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer 46 minutes ago

KABUL, Afghanistan - Suspected Taliban militants hanged a woman and her son from a tree after accusing them of spying for the government, while fighting between supporters of rival warlords in northwestern
Afghanistan killed four people, officials said Wednesday.


The 70-year-old woman and her 30-year-old son were killed Monday in the village of Daigh, about five miles north of Musa Qala in the southern province of Helmand, said Amir Mohammad Akhunzada, the province's deputy governor.

Akhunzada did not identify the two but said the woman's son-in-law worked for the police. After the slaying, the militants threatened to kill anyone working for the government, he said.

"This hanging is totally against Islam," Akhunzada said. "They use the name of Islam to go against Islam."

[adriennui]

1. no comment.

this article speaks for itself.

[rocktivity]

15. Well, if Bush can bomb civilians because insurgents are "suspected"

of being among them, what's wrong with the Taliban executing spies on the strength on a mere accusation?

:headbang:
rockination

[cali]

2. Oh fuck.

That's just so sad.

[acmavm]

3. Gee george, quite the job well done. Didn't you declare this

little war won too?

[Vinca]

4. The spread of democracy - it brings tears to your eyes. nt

[atreides1]

5. "They use the name of Islam to go against Islam."

Sort of like the same way that Robertson and Falwell use Christianity.

[Igel]

6. Can't fight them, can't say bad things about them,

can't live with them.

Precisely what the Disciples and their teachers want.

[Onlooker]

7. Yet some people here sympathize with Hezbelloh ...

... who share the same type of philosophy. (Okay, I haven't read about the Khomeniacs hanging women, but they have hung gay teens.) We have to fight religious extremism wherever it exists. Let's not forget that the Taliban are a scourge created by Reagan, not Bush. This article, if anything, helps legitimize our efforts in Afghanistan.

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. What efforts in Afghanistan?

If we were really out to stop Bin Laden and his Taliban allies, why did we send in only 15,000 troops? Why did we let OBL escape from Tora Bora?

Our 'efforts' in Afghanistan have been half-assed at best, particularly since we abandoned it to go into Iraq, to take down a regime that was the ideological opposite of OBL and the Taliban. And when we first went into Afghanistan we had the support of Iran, which actually stopped movement across its border, unlike our allies in Pakistan.

You cannot equate Lebanon with Hezbollah with Iran with Syria with Taliban with OBL. That's what the repub warmongers are doing in their efforts to set the entire region aflame. This incident is no less and no more that what happens in any civil war, where loyalists for one side execute traitors from the other side. It doesn't make either side better than the other. And you did note that this was a political execution, not a religiously ordered execution, didn't you?

An unfortunate incident which means nothing more than the fact that we have once again abandoned Afghanistan - which was a foregone conclusion from the way we approached it.

[zreosumgame]

10. onlooker is to busy being an ass

with it's 'bring it on' and 'fer us or again us" and KILL ALL (insert current made up name for anyone arab) to bother doing more then calling everyone anti-semites if we do not agree with cluster and WP bombing of civilians.

[Onlooker]

19. Actually, it has nothing to do with anti-semitism

It has to do with homophobia. I don't really care for Iran since they hung two gay teens. I oppose Israel's actions in Lebanon, but also despise Hezbelloh. I also oppose the Taliban, but also oppose Bush's foreign policy, believing that war is not the way to change things. If anything, I tend to be a Baathist, in the idealized sense, since they are secular and socialist. Too bad you're embracing religious fundamentalists.

[eagler]

22. If several people here would condemn radical Muslim

atrocities with the same vigor that they display against Israel, then I would say that anti-semitism does not exist here in large measure but the one sidedness of most posters against Israel seems to reveal the truth.

[muryan]

27. I agree

Apparently being a far right christian is worse than being a homocidal right wing extremist muslim. Im not sure how that equates but somehow its always a jews fault.

[adriennui]

28. thank you for explaining my frustration

about the weird double standard on DU.

[zreosumgame]

31. nothing quite as satisfing as having a moran

put words in my mouth. Now, where EXACTLY did I say ANYTHING about religion? well, nowhere it turns out. no, that was all from you guys, and so you do your little circle-jerk thing and then accuse me of being anti-christian, as well as being anti-semite. uh, yeah right. you guys write for Bull O'Lielly or something?

[muryan]

32. I was making a generalized comment

just an observation, nothing directed towards you unless you happen to fall into that generalization.

[zreosumgame]

30. if you don't pay attention you wont see

what you do not want to see, and both of you proved that. The plain fact is, packing a vest with explosives and ball bearings and exploding it in a shopping mall or some place like that is dispicable. On the other hand dropping cluster bombs on fleeing civilians or aprtment houses on , at best, sketchy and or outdated intel is dispicable as well. Just because one has 'official' uniforms does not make them any better then the other. We call it 'collateral damage' so pontificating jackasses don't have to deal with the actual carnage. if you can't see that, then you are one sick moran.

[maxsolomon]

12. who SYMPATHIZES?

attempting to understand the motivation of your enemies is a way to defeat them, one that Chimpy McIdiot would have done well to learn from Jesus of Nazareth or Sun Tzu. know what makes them strong, and attack that strength.

the Taliban sucks, but you can't kill every young, disenfranchised, ignorant fundy asshole male in the Muslim world (this applies to our own Rapture Right, also). the better way is to remove the motivation for the anger through enlightenment. takes longer, though.

maybe we could just buy them off with clean water, electricity & jobs, huh?

[Kailassa]

17. Rubbish! The Lebanese are not the Hezbollah.

Wanting Isael to stop killing civilians does not mean supporting Hezbollah.
It's Israel itself that is supporting Hezbollah by giving people reason
to join it and sabataging all their alternatives.

Israel is purposefully pushing the stronger arab nations into fighting.
Both Israel and America want this to escalate into something huge, and idiots
arguing for the continued bombing have no idea what they are doing.

Or am I being overly charitable to the posters concerned here?

[breakaleg]

18. That's quite a leap. You are basically putting all

of these various factions and groups from the middle east in the same bag and condemning them. Is it any wonder they hate Americans in that part of the world?

[Onlooker]

21. Now that's quite a leap

My view stems from conversations with my Lebanese neighbor (who was visiting her family during the war and left by a circuitous route) and two Arab Muslim friends I have. My neighbor says most of the Lebanese want the militant wing of Hezbelloh out, and are somewhat sympathetic to what Israel is doing (though that sympathy is now waning). Of my Muslim friends, one is quite religious, but he's only bothered that I'm an atheist, not that I'm gay. He thinks groups like the Taliban and Hezbelloh or a danger to the reputation and image of Islam. The other friend is Baathist in the idealistic sense. I was merely commenting on the fact that the war seems to be a battle between reactionaries, so it's hard to take sides. Certainly, it's hard to sympathize with the Taliban or Hezbelloh who have reactionary stands when it comes to women and gays.

[breakaleg]

23. It seemed to me that you took an act by the Taliban,

compared them to Hezbollah and said we should condemn them all.

Hezbollah is not the Taliban.

There is such a thing as resistance forces. I don't for a minute agree with Hezbollah, and I disagree with your assertion that there are many of Hezbollah supporters here. What some view as support, is really just recognizing that while we don't agree with their methods, we understand the reasons behind them and do recognize that they have a right to defend their land.

All through time people have done this. Nowhere does it state that only a governemnt approved and run army are the only people in a country that have the right to defend themselves.

And there is the issue that Israel, the supposed democracy that is funded by the US, should be held to a higher standard, not a lower one.

[Onlooker]

25. I don't disagree with you

I certainly don't support Israel's adventurism, but in the light of threats by the head of Iran and in the light of the fact that Hezbollah is founded on the same beliefs as Ayatolah Khomeini, I can understand where Israel is coming from. I think the international community is really at fault for not working harder to impose a resolution. Hezbelloh is not a resistance force in the traditional sense in that they can be seen as invaders too, representing Iran and Syria. They are very unpopular among many Lebanese. Further, even as a resistance force, if that's what you see them as, they are even less noble than the right-wing that currently runs Israel.

[breakaleg]

26. I don't see how any group can be seen as less noble

that those currently running Israel.

Hezbollah may be funded by Iran but the fact is, they have their own agenda. Israel is funded by the US, does that mean they have the same agenda? The US funded Hamas in the past, does that mean they have the same agenda?

That argument doesn't wash.

[Onlooker]

29. You think Muslim fundamentalism is better?

Hezbelloh subscribes to the philosophy of Khomeini, which in my opinion is a sick and dangerous philosophy. While they may have some differences with Iran, their philosophy is rooted in that type of fundamentalism.

Israel's core philosophy is far more englightened. Israel has equal rights for Arabs to pretty much the same degree we have equal rights for blacks. In addition, in Israel, there are gays in the military, Arabs in Parliament, abortion is legal, and they have universal health care. I'm not saying that Israel is a perfect country, but frankly Zionism is less oppressive than Muslim fundamentalism.

The Israeli right, while it's bad, is fighting a perceived threat by Iran and Hezbelloh. The fact that Hezbelloh seems to have an unlimited supply of missiles makes me think that something was going on, especially since Ahmadinejad has called for Israel's destruction. I don't agree with Israel's approach, but if I had neighbor who swore to destroy me and were stockpiling weapons, I might not act in the most enlightened way.

Again, I don't support the way Israel is handling Hezbelloh, but as long as some Arab countries keep threatening to destroy Israel, it's hard to see how things will change.

[breakaleg]

34. Of course I don't see

Muslim fundamentalism is better.

What I'm saying is, Israel has the power in this thing and they should behave better than those they oppress.

Israel is holding Palestinians prisoner inside this huge wall. I won't go into the long list of things being done to them, as it will lead elsewhere. But you can't compare fighting with homemade weapons, rocks and such to US bought weapons. It's like a fight between a 5 year old and an adult. It's inherently unfair.

I think Israel has the greater responsibility here, in part because of their treatment of the Palestinians, and in part because they are funded by the US and they claim to be a democracy.

And it is a "perceived threat", not necessarily an actual threat in the way Israel claims. It's one thing for these groups to threaten to drive Israel into the sea, but they have no power to back up those claims. It's not something that will likely happen. In that way, I think Israel is using that threat as an excuse to further their military and political goals.

[eagler]

20. Agree!

nt

[daleo]

33. X does activity A

Y "shares X's philosophy"
so Y does activity A as well.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Wacko Christians kill doctors, but that doesn't mean every pious Christian is a doctor-killer, or agrees with doctor killing.

[JackNewtown]

36. I agree, good post nt

[MrPrax]

8. Wow...terrible...

Maybe we should do something...like invade them....kill them...and get them on that western track to success and kill more of them if they don't...

:eyes:

[kurth]

11. Mission Accomplished

There are always barbaric assholes in the world. Heck, there are a bunch right here at home.

[AliceWonderland]

13. This chaos in Afghanistan is tragic and worse, foreseen

You cannot create increasing levels of massive structural violence and not expect such injustices to occur. The story of societies pounded to rubble by internal and even more powerful external forces is heartbreaking. Moreover, it is difficult for true rebuilding to ever take place in the current climate.

[leesa]

14. Don't worry, there are no Taliban. Dubya said so.

[tabasco]

16. September 27, 2004 to be exact.

"And the Taliban, I guess, just didn't believe me. And as a result of the United States military, Taliban no longer is in existence. And the people of Afghanistan are now free."

The headline just can't be correct! Lord God Bush said the Taliban was "no more."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040927-4.html

[warrens]

24. Why didn't we finish this job?

Oh, yeah, they don't have any oil and the pipe line was a pipe dream. So Bunnypants had other priorities.

[JackNewtown]

35. Radical Islamism is the biggest threat to progressive values

We must defeat this. This is the 21st century's version of Nazism.

[Amonester]

37. Sure. And the "non-existent (as per Bushler)" Taliban have a fleet

of 1027 submarines, 5987 destroyers, 8 AF-carriers, 259873 missiles, 14 space-sattelites, too many B-52s to even care counting them, and they clearly threatened (and have what it takes...) to invade and occupy India, China, Russia, and all, in order to submit them to their home-made barbaric 21st century nazism. NOT!

Oh well...