Afghanistan: girls sprayed with acid by anti-education, pro-Taleban nutcases

[editor]

Hideously vile.

Attackers in Afghanistan have sprayed acid in the faces of at least 15 girls near a school in Kandahar, police say.

They say that the attack happened shortly before at least six people were killed in a bomb blast near a government building in the city.

Doctor say that the six girls were wearing Islamic burkas or veils which provided them with some protection.

Correspondents say the attack is likely to have been carried out by those opposed to the education of women.

The former Taleban government had banned girls from attending school.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7724505.stm

 

[Zachor]

I was going to call them utter medieval tossers but that would be too harsh on those who lived in medieval times.

Makes you realise how big an evil the Allied troops are fighting against out there.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

wow

humanity eh? can't live with it and unfortunately a member of it

 

[Melinda]

Utterly, utterly fucked up.

I bet the zealots who perpetrated this evil act are basking in the self satisfied glow of the pious.

EVIL. Deliberate premeditated evil.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

I was going to call them utter medieval tossers but that would be too harsh on those who lived in medieval times.

Makes you realise how big an evil the Allied troops are fighting against out there.

yeah at least they had to accuse someone of being a witch before burning them



and i'm not sure that this is what the allied troops are fighting against... some of the new lot have quite similar ideas about female education

 

[spring-peeper]

yeah at least they had to accuse someone of being a witch before burning them



and i'm not sure that this is what the allied troops are fighting against... some of the new lot have quite similar ideas about female education

Really??? Which ones?

 

[dweller]

Unfortunately the current Afghan law is still very harsh on women.
On the radio this morning I heard of a young woman who was still in prison in awful conditions and
had been for four years for daring to try and leave her abusive husband.

Afghan laws still repress women http://www.rawa.org/jail.htm

 

[TomPaine]

Gotta love religion haven't you. Beaheadings, acid facials, abortion clinic bombings, shootings and repression all round.

TomPaine

 

[butchersapron]

The religious nutters are riding back into power on the back of the occupation mind. The talban were first welcomed because they brought some law and order and stability to the place, the people didn't like what they got though and so refused to fight for them when the invasion started. How bad must things have got under the occupation that they're now turning back to the taliban?

 

[audiotech]

Gotta love religion haven't you. Beaheadings, acid facials, abortion clinic bombings, shootings and repression all round.

TomPaine

It's about power and those abusing it, using religion as a stick. Look at that serial war criminal Bush for example, with his 'god told me' bollocks.

 

[darkfibre]

How bad must things have got under the occupation that they're now turning back to the taliban?

Maybe it's something to do with the 'war on weddings'?

Latest American air-strike error caused civilian tragedy at engagement party in central province of Ghazni in Afghanistan.

This air-strike in the central province of Afghanistan killed three civilian according to the local officials.

The police chief of Andar district, where the raid occurred, said the latest bombing of civilians happened on Tuesday in the Nazar Khan village.

The killings are the latest in a series of US air-strikes that have killed innocent civilians and also a week back the U.S. army admitted to killing 37 civilians at a wedding party in the southern province of Kandahar.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

You want to oppose the occupation and the exploitation of the country - where do you go? What groups can you get support with and from?

 

[EddyBlack]

The efforts for re-construction have failed to a great extent. This is partly down to the NATO countries failure to implement it, and partly due to the massive amount of corruption that is constantly complained about by the Afghan people. It wasn't until around 2006, 5 years after the invasion, that the security situation became much worse, and it appears to be going further in that direction.

There are other factors to. The forcible iradication of poppy cultivation has in fact strengthened the insurgency that protects these fields in exchange for payment. This further weakens the government in the reach of their control. Its such a mess really, but it needn't have come to this.

Even in provinces directly surrounding Kabul, the Taliban are in charge. They do at least provide some form of security and functioning government.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m48126&hd=&size=1&l=e

I don't see how the insurgency can be beaten having come to this stage. Brigadier Carleton-Smith, the outgoing senior British commander in Afghanistan said recently:

“We want to change the nature of the debate from one where disputes are settled through the barrel of the gun to one where it is done through negotiations,” Carleton-Smith said.

“If the Taliban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, then that’s precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this. That shouldn’t make people uncomfortable.”

War on Taliban cannot be won, says army chief - Sunday Times

I was told by someone who knows a bit more than me:

'I have no doubt at all that the very word Taliban is a deep inaccuracy. In reality the resistance/insurgent forces are made up of a variety of different factions, from what I can tell these fall into 4 different categories,
1) Old Taliban government forces committed to Deobandist Islam
2) Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's forces in the East - Nurangahar, Kunar, Nooristan and across the border in Mahmond Agency and perhaps North Waziristan
3) Jallludin's Haqqani's forces in Khost, Paktika, Paktia provinces and in South Waziristan (perhaps Tank agency too)
4) General Pashtun tribal forces who are not closely aligned with any of the above but who have decided to resist the occupation; this is where much of the drug money comes from

The Taliban and Haqqani's forces are the most aggressive of these, but if Hekmatyar ever decides to go full throttle (he has tens of thousands of men) rather than partial then it will be the equivalent of the Mehdi Army rising up, i.e. NATO/US forces will be in a whole heap of trouble.

However, for the sake of the propaganda they always refer to the 4 factions as being Taliban or neo-Taliban, which is not really accurate and clearly just a phrase designed to make westerners comfortable with the concept of there being an enemy which MUST be fought.

Notice I do not place Al-Qaeda in the list as they are (apart from never really existing as such anyway) mostly confined to FATA agencies and have little or no operation in Afghanistan - and even in NWFP mostly they are not Al-Qaeda as much as Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan - plus a few Chechens.'

How accurate it is to say that the insurgency we are fighting in Helmand is actual Taliban I am not sure. It is clear however that Helmand is one of the main areas of opium cultivation.

 

[Detroit City]

thats rich! nutters

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

You're all going to think I'm nuts for asking this question, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway:

Why haven't women started their own terrorist group? Men would have reacted with violence over this long ago if it were them. Likely they would have lynched a few of the perpetrators and been done with it.*

Feel free to slag me now...



* I'm not advocating this just wondering at the difference.

 

[purves grundy]

The efforts for re-construction have failed to a great extent. This is partly down to the NATO countries failure to implement it, and partly due to the massive amount of corruption that is constantly complained about by the Afghan people. It wasn't until around 2006, 5 years after the invasion, that the security situation became much worse, and it appears to be going further in that direction.

There are other factors to. The forcible iradication of poppy cultivation has in fact strengthened the insurgency that protects these fields in exchange for payment. This further weakens the government in the reach of their control. Its such a mess really, but it needn't have come to this.

Even in provinces directly surrounding Kabul, the Taliban are in charge. They do at least provide some form of security and functioning government.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m48126&hd=&size=1&l=e

I don't see how the insurgency can be beaten having come to this stage. Brigadier Carleton-Smith, the outgoing senior British commander in Afghanistan said recently:



I was told by someone who knows a bit more than me:

'I have no doubt at all that the very word Taliban is a deep inaccuracy. In reality the resistance/insurgent forces are made up of a variety of different factions, from what I can tell these fall into 4 different categories,
1) Old Taliban government forces committed to Deobandist Islam
2) Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's forces in the East - Nurangahar, Kunar, Nooristan and across the border in Mahmond Agency and perhaps North Waziristan
3) Jallludin's Haqqani's forces in Khost, Paktika, Paktia provinces and in South Waziristan (perhaps Tank agency too)
4) General Pashtun tribal forces who are not closely aligned with any of the above but who have decided to resist the occupation; this is where much of the drug money comes from

The Taliban and Haqqani's forces are the most aggressive of these, but if Hekmatyar ever decides to go full throttle (he has tens of thousands of men) rather than partial then it will be the equivalent of the Mehdi Army rising up, i.e. NATO/US forces will be in a whole heap of trouble.

However, for the sake of the propaganda they always refer to the 4 factions as being Taliban or neo-Taliban, which is not really accurate and clearly just a phrase designed to make westerners comfortable with the concept of there being an enemy which MUST be fought.

Notice I do not place Al-Qaeda in the list as they are (apart from never really existing as such anyway) mostly confined to FATA agencies and have little or no operation in Afghanistan - and even in NWFP mostly they are not Al-Qaeda as much as Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan - plus a few Chechens.'

How accurate it is to say that the insurgency we are fighting in Helmand is actual Taliban I am not sure. It is clear however that Helmand is one of the main areas of opium cultivation.

I'm always interested to hear your views on Afghanistan, Eddy. I think most of us can understand how different factions are jockeying for power, how the terms of the debate simplify a complex situation on the ground, and how rampant corruption is producing a non-functioning - I hesitate to say 'failed' - state, but how does spraying girls with acid figure in all of this? What place has a radical Islamist ideology in the picture you've painted?

 

[purves grundy]

Why haven't women started their own terrorist group?

If they can't even go to school without being brutally attacked, what hope do they have of organising a rival group?

 

[butchersapron]

Great article by Jon Neale in this month's ISJ, i don't agree with the political conclusions but the amount of useful info and analysis (historical and contemporary) is very high.

On Helmand, he argues this is the real Taliban home, it's their turf - as is almost the whole of the tribal areas just over the border, areas where the pakistani army has already been chased out of and forced to leave alone. This is also the same area the US wants to militarily intervene in (and that Bhutto was calling for blasting at the request of the US, when she was blammed), risking an immediate split in the pakistan army and potential civil war.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

If they can't even go to school without being brutally attacked, what hope do they have of organising a rival group?

You have a good point, but don't they have brothers to protect them? Not everyone can agree with this, I'm sure. (Mine would have laid anyone out who so much as touched me--yes, different culture entirely.)

 

[teqniq]

Sadly this is not a new phenomenon, and IMO utterly vile.

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=13378&size=A

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-dare-we-stand-up-for-muslim-women-969631.html

 

[EddyBlack]

I'm always interested to hear your views on Afghanistan, Eddy. I think most of us can understand how different factions are jockeying for power, how the terms of the debate simplify a complex situation on the ground, and how rampant corruption is producing a non-functioning - I hesitate to say 'failed' - state, but how does spraying girls with acid figure in all of this? What place has a radical Islamist ideology in the picture you've painted?

I think it is a terrible thing. Is something this extreme a fairly isolated incident though? And do we even know it was ‘the Taliban’? Well no we don’t actually. Anyway, I was responding to Fridgemagnet’s question. Being somebody who is critical of the current occupation and war I was trying to outline a wider context so that we cannot simply decide ‘they must be destroyed, we are in the right and must continue to fight forever’. Not that I am saying anybody here necessarily has that view, apart from Zachor.

Incidents like these could support the case of those arguing that it is the ‘good war’. And it is no such thing.

Even if you take the view that now we are there, the Taliban must not be allowed to exist (despite their widespread support) we are failing for so many reasons, and facing a war without a foreseeable end which our soldiers and Afghan civilians are dying for.

 

[EddyBlack]

As you see, it happens in Bangladesh, the girl who was stoned to death in Somalia etc.

 

[Detroit City]

Why haven't women started their own terrorist group? Men would have reacted with violence over this long ago if it were them. Likely they would have lynched a few of the perpetrators and been done with it.

it is quite sad but the reality is that violence against women occurs in every corner of the world, not just in afghanistan....

over here some woman was murdered the other day by her bf cause she broke up with him...happens all the time even in 1st world countries.

 

[Gingerman]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/12/pakistan-gender-anti-women-cabinet

 

[dylanredefined]

You have a good point, but don't they have brothers to protect them? Not everyone can agree with this, I'm sure. (Mine would have laid anyone out who so much as touched me--yes, different culture entirely.)

Men ,boys, livestock,women.In that order in some parts of afganistian. Not
all women or men subscribe to that idea ,but,In a lot of places thats what it is like .Cant understand the mentality of someone that opposed to education
dont want to just to stop them.

 

[Detroit City]

Men ,boys, livestock,women.In that order in some parts of afganistian.

um, please correct me if i'm wrong but wasn't it like that in the UK, the US and most of Europe up to 100 years ago???

 

[Ae589]

This is *exactly* why women should wear the burqa.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

This is *exactly* why women should wear the burqa.

I'm sure it's a great way to conceal carry.

 

[likesfish]

somebody on returning from Afghanistan came up with a plan remove all the women and young boys and leave the rest there
don't think even a 100 years ago in the UK a horse was more valuable than a wife
or daughter

 

[Aldebaran]

The efforts for re-construction have failed to a great extent. This is partly down to the NATO countries failure to implement it, and partly due to the massive amount of corruption that is constantly complained about by the Afghan people. It wasn't until around 2006, 5 years after the invasion, that the security situation became much worse, and it appears to be going further in that direction.

There are other factors to. The forcible iradication of poppy cultivation has in fact strengthened the insurgency that protects these fields in exchange for payment. This further weakens the government in the reach of their control. Its such a mess really, but it needn't have come to this.

Even in provinces directly surrounding Kabul, the Taliban are in charge. They do at least provide some form of security and functioning government.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m48126&hd=&size=1&l=e

I don't see how the insurgency can be beaten having come to this stage. Brigadier Carleton-Smith, the outgoing senior British commander in Afghanistan said recently:



I was told by someone who knows a bit more than me:

'I have no doubt at all that the very word Taliban is a deep inaccuracy. In reality the resistance/insurgent forces are made up of a variety of different factions, from what I can tell these fall into 4 different categories,
1) Old Taliban government forces committed to Deobandist Islam
2) Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's forces in the East - Nurangahar, Kunar, Nooristan and across the border in Mahmond Agency and perhaps North Waziristan
3) Jallludin's Haqqani's forces in Khost, Paktika, Paktia provinces and in South Waziristan (perhaps Tank agency too)
4) General Pashtun tribal forces who are not closely aligned with any of the above but who have decided to resist the occupation; this is where much of the drug money comes from

The Taliban and Haqqani's forces are the most aggressive of these, but if Hekmatyar ever decides to go full throttle (he has tens of thousands of men) rather than partial then it will be the equivalent of the Mehdi Army rising up, i.e. NATO/US forces will be in a whole heap of trouble.

However, for the sake of the propaganda they always refer to the 4 factions as being Taliban or neo-Taliban, which is not really accurate and clearly just a phrase designed to make westerners comfortable with the concept of there being an enemy which MUST be fought.

Notice I do not place Al-Qaeda in the list as they are (apart from never really existing as such anyway) mostly confined to FATA agencies and have little or no operation in Afghanistan - and even in NWFP mostly they are not Al-Qaeda as much as Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan - plus a few Chechens.'

How accurate it is to say that the insurgency we are fighting in Helmand is actual Taliban I am not sure. It is clear however that Helmand is one of the main areas of opium cultivation.

Thank you. This is like a good summary and indication how much more complex matters are then how they are portrayed, and not only in Aghanistan.(In Iraq for example it is all brushed under the convenient umbrellas "ALQaeda" and "sectarian violences")

salaam.