Conference, Anyone?
So much for the unassailable logic of those who stress the necessity of conferring with the enemy, when all else fails. It's such a good idea, so civil, so cerebral: speak to those whose agenda you don't quite agree with, those whose behaviour runs against the grain of moral, ethical, civilized mores. At least as seen and recognized by the West.For it is the West represented by soldiers from Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States, Denmark and Estonia currently involved with NATO, under the UN-sponsored blessing of aiding and abetting the national aspirations and hopes for the future of the population of Afghanistan, threatened by a resurgent Taliban that face constant danger, along with Afghan national security forces.
Those bystanders who bemoan the difficulties seen in completely combating the Taliban in their fanatically fervent determination to once again hold the balance of power in Afghanistan, feel it might be helpful to communicate with these Islamist fundamentalists, to palaver for the purpose of reaching mutually-agreeable solutions to the current offensives.
The problem here should be obvious to anyone with half a brain, anyone who has made even a cursory study of the mindset of religious fanatics. They believe in nothing and no one but their own fundamentalist-inspired programmes of installing their version of an Islamic state. This is a hard-line, irreducible Islamist vision of total abnegation to the will of the mullahs and their interpretation of Islam.
What the West sees as social and economic repression and denial of basic human rights, the Taliban, their ruling mullahs and associated supporters recognize as the basic necessity of an Islamic state. There is only the will of Allah to be obeyed, and by extension that of the imams and mullahs who transcribe and translate the dictums of the Koran amply set out in a series of strictures that bely civil life.
There can be no dissent from among Afghanistan's population; they are meant to submit to the will of Allah, to the interpretations by the imams of the holy books, to the orders of their local mullahs should they wish to retain their very lives. So who will be delegated to speak humbly on behalf of the invading armies to treat with these rather opinionated leaders among the Taliban?
Will they, first off, chide the Taliban for the latest atrocities against civilians in the Kandahar area? Their bid to persuade locals that it is not in their very best interests to aid and abet the invading armies? The decapitated bodies of four men hang beside an Islamic shrine; another four hang beside a rest stop for travellers, while 18 additional decapitated bodies hang scattered in various area locations.
These stark reminders of what can happen to those who feel they can ignore the demands of the Taliban in favour of acceptance of NATO forces have the population cowering in fear of retribution lest they be seen as abandoning the Taliban. The population suffered under Taliban rule, and they may hate the Taliban but they understand they must be seen to help these religious fanaics or they will be murdered.
That sounds fairly uncomplicated; the Taliban take great umbrage at their ouster by the combined forces of the West. They have no intention of withdrawing, nor are they interested in discussing possible alternative outcomes with the invaders.
Yet since there are those who remain convinced that talks could be useful, stand right up and be counted. Get right out there and do your thing. Let us know how it all turns out.
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, December 20, 2006
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