Posted on 05/21/2011 5:41:38 AM PDT by South40
A suicide bomb attack on a hospital in the Afghan capital, Kabul, has left six people dead and 23 wounded.
The bomber detonated his device in a tent in the grounds of Charsad Bestar Hospital where medical students were eating lunch.
The hospital treats Afghan military personnel and is in a heavily fortified part of the city, yards from the US embassy and international forces HQ.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
The Religion of Pieces strikes again.
For all of you end of world or rapture types its too bad that the muslims can’t be transferred to another place . . .
Get the heck out of this Muslim hellhole.
Now.
Two weeks after we leave the Taliban and AQ will be in control.
And they will love it.
This place is not worth one more American son or daughter coming home in a box.
Declare victory and leave.
Look at how thin people are in these old pictures.
If you go to Walmart today you’d be hard pressed to find even one person that thin. (obviously excluding those with HIV or TB)
moozlum credo: I love you. I will kill you and your family.
You can't blame this on poverty.
True. Food got ‘bigger.’ So have we.
Absolutely incredible.
Going after the wounded? What a bunch of pussies. The al qaeda medal of honor must be a guy wearing some panties.
On the bright side, the Afghan Constitution guarantees “free health care”
Presumably, the pic on the left is Pre Saur Revolution in 1978 (most likely early to mid 1970’s)?
I guess over 30 yrs of non-stop war i.e. Soviet invasion, civil war, creation of Islamic State of Afghanistan, Taliban attacks & invasion supported by Pakistan & the events since 2001 to present day, would destroy any country & make it look like the pic on the right.
I don’t know much about the history of Afghanistan, but I do know women’s fashions and hairstyles—the pageboy hairdo and the dress and skirt of the women are mid to late 1960’s.
I think you are right. Your timeline also fits in w/ Afghan history. Afghanistan, especially Kabul, was quite westernized & prosperous when they had monarchy (Zahir Shah’s reign), which ended in 1973. Though, the ‘modern look’ remained until Soviet invasion in Dec. 1979. Thereafter, when they established the Islamic State of Afghanistan & the Taliban from Pakistan started to attack & invade Afghanistan, everything gradually went down the tube.
Yes, it is also amazing to look at crowd scenes in old movies, everyone looks stick thin. I was born in 1944 and when I was growing up my father was considered a big man at six two and one hundred and sixty five pounds, that is considered a light weight for a fifty year old woman who is five eight now.
Back when people (at least where I live) routinely ate all kinds of foods that are considered forbidden now most were skinny. My father’s favorite snack was to cook a pork sausage patty, pour the fat from it over a baked sweet potato and eat sausage and potato. He died a month shy of 82 and never weighed more than 185 in his life.
This time the Islamic death cultists target a hospital.
My theory is that Americans are now so fat, and constantly getting fatter, that they can no longer commit to sized clothing. I know people my age(north of 70) with closets full of decent clothing they "outgrew," as a result they ooze about dressed in "sweats," expandable waist "Mom" jeans, and other weird (IMHO) slobcrap. I am on airline flights quite a bit, and the clothing people wear is outlandish in the extreme (IMHO). I tell my group that when traveling, the men must wear a coat and tie (my old college team rule, blazer, tie, khaki trousers, shined shoes) and those who can fit into a blazer like it, for the pockets!
When I become king, any male subject who cannot fit into waist size 36 or under khakis will be placed on short rations and hard labor until he does. I also, by imperial edict, will require all male subjects to show 1/2 inch of shirt cuff with suit and sport coat jackets. What? Every tailor in the country is now dead?
The even minimal improvements that were made in public health and sanitation had the effect of lowering infant mortality rates, which may have caused a lower-class population explosion. The lower classes became so numerous that the economies of these places could not expand fast enough to feed, house, educate, and employ them, much less provide them the western style welfare services that all thought came with "modernization."
Huge, poverty-stricken populations became the breeding ground of radical Islam. Even fabulously wealthy countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia cannot really keep up with population growth and pay the lower classes enough welfare money to remain calm. The more money the Muslim lower classes do get, the more cousin-wives they take, and the more children they have. I worked in the ME with locals who had upwards of 30 children! KSA went from 5 million people in 1960 to 25 million people in 1990! All the men do is go the mosque to listen to fire-breathing imams, and father more children. If one has 35 children, selling one of them to become a suicide bomber for $50,000, just might strike one as a good deal, especially if one's imam, with whom one spends most of every day, says so.
The test case is Turkey. They are at the crossroads. They have a fair chance of becoming a real country ... or relapsing into just another flyblown Islamic terror hellhole. Could go either way.
I used to dress when I traveled but don’t now. I wear jeans for the simple reason they offer more protection from the TSA. I refuse to expose myself to the radiation so once in a while I get the pat down and I’m prepared.
Continuous domestic political change/instability & foreign interference were important factors too. The other hindering factor was Islam & Islamic beliefs of religious leaders.
Post Anglo-Afghan War, under Monarchy from 1919 until 1973, Afghanistan had some stability. Most reforms & modernization efforts were introduced by various Monarchs during that period. Namely, elementary education was made compulsory, Moslem veil for women was abolished, co-educational schools were set up, both the US & USSR competed for influence in Afghanistan which resulted in building highways, and vital infrastructure there.. But, these reforms actually alienated tribal & religious leaders, who were vehemently anti-modernization. So, they started a rebellion. The leader of the rebels (Habibullah Kalakani) was killed, and the next King (Nadir Shah) decided to slow down the modernization process.
Matters got more complicated when Zahir Shah (1933-1973), last King of Afghanistan, was overthrown in a coup, in 1973, by his cousin and brother-in-law (Mohammad Doud Khan), who had been Prime Minister since 1953 under Zahir Shah’s reign. Doud, then, became President of Afghanistan. Between 73-78, Doud tried to implement economic reforms, but was undermined & eventually killed by members of PDPA (People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan) – a Communist party, a faction of which was called “Parcham”, which had pro- Soviet sympathies. PDPA started the “Saur Revolution” in 1978. Subsequently, the USSR, to bolster “Parcham” faction of PDPA, invaded Afghanistan in Dec. 1979 .
The US, as part of the Cold War strategy, then decided to fund, train & arm various Islamic groups (aka Mujahedin), mostly via Pakistan’s ISI, to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. Saudi Arabia was the other key contributor as least in funding the Mujahedin. 10 yrs of Soviet occupation saw about 2 million civilians dead, and approx. 5-6 million refugees fleeing to Pakistan, Iran, and some to western countries. The Soviets withdrew in 1989 (the US & the Mujahedin saw it as an initial ideological victory – for the latter it was the Islamic ideology that won). Though, the Soviet proxy President Mohammad Najibullah stayed in power until he was overthrown in 1992, due to Civil War. The Islamic State of Afghanistan was established thereafter & Civil War between various Islamic grps continued. Ahmad Shah Massoud (aka leader of Northern Alliance) was in charge.
The Taliban, supported by Pakistan & indirectly by S. Arabia, started to bomb parts of Afghanistan, particularly Kabul in 1995 & managed to finally take over in Kabul in 1996. Many assume that the Taliban is a native product of Afghanistan. It is not. It is a product of Pakistan & their Islamic ideology is or was also backed by the Saudis. Although, the Taliban mostly consists of Pashtun tribes, it is an Islamic Movement. Those Afghans who support the Taliban or are part of the Movement, were originally taught “Taliban ideology”, in mosques & religious schools, when they sought refuge in Pakistan during Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Of course, we all know the events since 2001 in Afghanistan. But, given the above history, I am not sure if we can kill an Ideology only with guns & military. Especially, when the source of that ideology originated from outside Afghanistan & is still fed by those outside the country. Even as persons belonging to the Taliban operate inside Afghanistan.
In my view, Turkey is a different ball game. Though I agree that given the strong Islamic leanings of the ruling AKP gov't, it can go either way.
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