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Re: Other Alternatives to Bombing..



On Sep 13, 2001 nick@somewhere.invalid wrote
   in <6l7rn9.711.zz@somewhere.invalid>:

> > I want to see the Taliban removed from power.  I do not see a realistic
> > way that that can be achived.
>
> Time.

My desire to have the Taliban removed is not so much for the well-being of
Afghanis or for the region.  And it is certainly not because I will "feel
better" when someone is "made to pay".  My desire is as a deterrent to
other regimes in the future which may otherwise chose to harbor
terrorists.

Your answer most certainly doesn't address the primary purpose the world
has today for removing the Taliban.

> The most extreme regimes are reactions to suffering and oppression -
> look at (for instance) the French or Russian revolutions.  But they
> moderate with time. [...]

> More directly relevant - in recent times, neighbouring Iran was ruled
> for a time by religious zealots [...]

I agree.  If we didn't have them harboring known and active terrorists
issue, I would entirely support that course of action, with quiet
engagement where possible.  (And I certianly wouldn't refer to obvious
missionaries who went to the country with the intent to break local
laws[1] as "aide workers").

> Just a few years later they are a democracy and probably the most
> progressive and tolerant country in their region.

That is nearly 25 years later not "just a few years later", and do you
really consider them more progressive than Turkey, Pakistan and India?
(Not that I am saying that those countries are paragons of virtue).

But in general I agree with you.  Revolutionary regimes moderate in time,
unless they are kept under credible "counter revolutionary" threat.

Unfortunately, there is a real need to deter regimes from supporting
terrorists, and so I stand by my initial position that we should seek ways
to unseat the Taliban.

Because I rule out totally obliterating the country, I do not see how to
achive the goal I think is necessary without assuming implausible levels
of support from both Russia and Pakistan.  But I am not a military
strategist; and there may certainly be a way that hasn't occurred to me.

-j

Notes:
 [1] Those laws are reprehensible, but that doesn't turn the missionaries
     into aide workers.  And for those who doubt this, please explain
     why North American and European aide workers would be carrying bibles
     in Pashto?

-- 
Jeffrey Goldberg
 I have recently moved, see http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/contact.html
 Relativism is the triumph of authority over truth, convention over justice
 From line IS valid, but use reply-to.