On law and order in Afghanistan
One of the big stories of the week has been the case of Abdul Rahman, the fellow who has been threatened with death as a punishment for the crime of converting from one religion to another. Michelle Malkin has been the leading edge of blogospheric coverage on this story, her latest is here.
I can't remember where I saw it (I'll look later and update), but I read a lefty comment saying that we're doing it backwards in the middle east - we should be changing the culture first, rather than changing governments first and hoping it leads to a changed culture. This is a good example of the flaws in that argument. Had we not changed the government in Afghanistan, no one in the west would have heard about Rahman or others like him that were routinely executed for these types of "crimes" under Taliban rule.
As a direct result of what the US did in Afghanistan, the international community is now placing pressure on the Afghan government to end this backward and barbaric style of justice. Changing the culture, I suspect, would have taken far longer and cost many more lives.
Comments
The "culture" of the middle east is anchored in a theology that foments violence and demeans women and non-believers. In order to change that culture, you must first change or at least modify the theology. I don't think that is likely to happen where Islam is concerned.
I once held high hopes that our intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq would result in democratic states. I was sure that once the peoples were freed from the oppression of the Taliban and Saddam, that they would embrace democracy - thinking that all people would desire freedom once they experienced it. I cannot say that I cling to the same hope anymore. Islam is a cruel master and does not tolerate freedom. The two are mutually exclusive, I believe. We have temporarily liberated a people that do not understand the concept of personal freedom - because of their religion. I truly do not understand how Islam is able to perpetuate itself.
Posted by: Old Soldier | March 24, 2006 1:04 PM
Sadly, you may be right.
Posted by: LB | March 24, 2006 5:11 PM