Watching the news earlier about the Taleban attacks in Kabul and some talking head was on saying that it was a cowardly attack. Now, I am no fan of the Taleban and their bonkers religious ideoligy but how can launching these attacks with the knowledge that you are facing certain death be called cowardly? It would take some set of balls to do this surely?
I haven't seen Toby on here for a while. I take it he decided to travel to Kabul to show us he had balls
If you think that you're going to heaven and this act is your guarantee, then it's really not a hard thing to do, is it? Especially when you consider the standard of living that a lot of these people will have.
A human is a human no matter what you believe. Some set of swingers on some of them. They're still at it too.
They don't have the same view of death that we do, as it's been portrayed as a wondrous act to them for their whole lives. Martyrdom ensures their place in heaven, when they normally live in horrible conditions.
You can't call your enemies brave or heroic That's reserved for those taking the queens shilling....just taking it mind
The whole martyrdom thing is overplayed. Half these guys just want the Yanks and the others out. They are not fighting some Holy war here, they are fighting an occupation. I remember during our own conflict politicians and press in Britain would be saying things like 'our whole way of life is under attack' and other such stuff. It was nonsense.
When you talked about facing certain death, I assumed that you were talking about suicide bombers. I'd be very surprised to find out that any of them weren't labouring under the misapprehension that they'll be rewarded in the afterlife. If you mean the insurgents/terrorists/freedom fighters/combatants or whatever, then they're not facing certain death, are they? They are fighting an occupation, but the Taleban see it as a holy war, too.
I imagine that none of those taking part in this attack would expect to come out alive Poll. I would imagine they will fight to the death. Yes the Taleban wrap the whole religious thing round the whole thing but when you strip a man bare, just a rifle and his luck very few will be thinking about all the virgins in heaven, humans think like humans. If, say, a Christian in the US army died in a shootout. He would be called a hero even though he is under the same illusion that he is heaven bound that the Taleban are.
Humans can be programmed to think in certain ways and poorly educated religious loons can be made to believe some very strange things. People have been fighting wars for all eternity and most of them will have believed that they're right and that they're going to win, especially if they think that God is on their side. Is there any difference between a US Christian fighting an armed opponent and an Iraqi Taliban member doing the same thing? Not really. Both probably thinks that they're trying to make the world a better place.
That was basically my point Poll. The guys from the west are heroes while the dastardly Afghans are cowards. A man is a man and wheather you are white/brown/pink to do something like this takes courage, no matter how misguided they are.
If you're just talking about combatants, then I'd agree. Blowing yourself to bits in a market, when you believe that you're going to heaven as a martyr is a little different, though.
The thread was about the attacks going on in Kabul now. Anyone who straps explosives to them thinking they will go straight to heaven as a result is clearly warped out of their mind. Intentionally killing innocent civillians is totally wrong anyway, be it leaving a bomb and running away or strapping it to yourself and taking one for the boys. Of course reasons and excuses can be given but in my opinion they never stand up.
At least one of the Kabul attacks was a suicide bombing. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a police station earlier today. I agree with your points about killing civilians.
the people blowing them selves up aren't the cowards, the real cowards are the ones who send the bombers on missions
After 911 the IRA saw what happens when you fly a jumbo jet into a skyscraper, they ended up bouncing a hot air balloon off Canary Wharf
It was outside a police station. Depends upon your view of the police in that country and what the surrounding area was like. If the police station was isolated and you view the police there as an extension of the authorities, then no. If it wasn't isolated or you view the police as just a group trying to maintain order, then yes.
