Realm of Truth: Will The Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?

Realm of Truth: Will The Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?

And who gets to do the defining of the civilization? The Muslim people themselves or loudmouths with guns and slogans? Obviously western interference is wrong, but this does not mean we should support any force that happens to be opposed to it. Nor should we reject any force out of hand simply because it may play along with the west for a time. How is Musharraf a dictator? He may be an un-elected executive, but that in and of itself does not make one a dictator. If he wants a law passed he has to go about it by parliamentary means; he can't simply make it so by fiat. While he has made mistakes, he's also not cruelly oppressive. You can say what you want in Pakistan, or print articles criticizing the government. Could you have done any of that under the Taliban? Could you write this blog under the Taliban? Or would they take you out into the street and beat you (or worse)? The Taliban executed the entire diplomatic delegation from Iran, nearly provoking a war, they were repressive of Afghan women (and it doesn't take some western feminist group to tell us this), and there is evidence to suggest that they attempted the ethnic cleansing of the Hazaras. We both rightfully decrie the crimes against human dignity that the US government has perpetrated throughout its history and resent the growing intrussions of the government into private life. We both lament, I believe, the closing of a relatively open society. We would have both very much resented the constant intrussions of the Amr bil Maroof committee into our lives, regardless of whether they tried to justify it with Islam. I don't think either of us would have liked to live in constant fear of a knock in the door at night signifying a suprise inspection. I don't think either of us likes TV, but they could have taken computers, tapes, or (more to the point for us) books. I would resent having to justify my library even to people who approved of my collection. Wouldn't you? How much of the insurgency in Afghanistan is actually do to any kind of support of the Taliban? How much is do to Pashtunwala? How much is there in the Dari speaking areas? How much is just the resistence to foreign occupation that one would expect? I am not saying the current government is legitimate, but the fact that the succeeding government is a puppet regime in no way confers after-the-fact legitimacy on the preceeding one. Akhi, I mean no disrespect in any of this. I just feel obliged to register a note of dissent with you on this issue.

In regards to the issue with the Hazara you can check out this and this