I think we should keep in mind that the history of the rise and fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan will also include the traditional tribal warfare in this ancient society, regardless of who funded what in the last 25 years. That does not mean that the US is not an accessory nor is Russia innocent. I just don't think that it's an either-or proposition. We can also blame the gods of greed, ignorance and fear as they manipulated super powers throughout the Cold War era and the Third World countries that played as minor players while the tribal groups in the thick of it just sang their traditional chorus in what might be another rewrite of ancient Greek tragedies. When the Spaniards introduced the horse to the new American continent, it and gunpowder provided them the transportation to overtake the natives but it also gifted the natives with new transportation to outrun their attackers and counterattack. Arguments that one detail unquestionably leads to a final conclusion are unavailable to us in history and the social sciences, even sometimes, I'm told, in mathematics. (fuzzy math).
Likewise, the conspiracy theories swirling around the WTC attacks are maddening, polarizing and may never be completely proved one way or the other - except that my faith in the voice of truth surviving through time is strong. For example, I was astounded to hear an otherwise well-educated and extremely intelligent young man at work tell me he wasn't sure that anyone actually landed on the moon, that it was an elaborate hoax; there are many people who will never believe denials about Roswell or that Elvis is really dead. The one that beats all, of course, is denying that the Holocaust truly occurred. I mean, don't you think after all these time, some one person at the very least, involved in such a mass hoax would have succumbed to notoriety if not financial greed for "letting the cat out of the bag", telling the truth? At some time in the future we will know more, but now to let the negative unknowns overtake our positive energy to correct the conditions that contributed to this tragic event is as unproductive as the Israelis and Palestinians continuing to argue who is more to blame for their unending cycle of violence or my rearranging the calendar to obliterate my last birthday. As long as the philosophy does not reconcile with reality, real people on both sides will continue to suffer. Which brings us back to the possibility that it will be fundamentalists vs modernists, as Arthur first suggested, and I simply repeated. I believe very much in cause and effect; however, history also shows that it is possible to see past the failed, the condemned and the destructive. Let's hope so. Karen Jan Matthieu wrote: > Bullshit; In the days before 1973 both Soviets and Americans had their part > in trying to influence and funding parts of Afghanistan. So for example the > famous road from Herat via Kandahar to Kabul has been partly built with and > by Americans and partly by the Soviets. You can easily see what the Soviets > built: there in places where overtaking is forbidden because of curves in > the road in mountainous parts, they built a kind of low wall in the middle > of the road, so, if you venture on the other side you can't get back, > sometimes for a kilometer. Now I understand: The Taliban came to power because the Soviets had built walls in the middle of the road. I always thought the Taliban came to power because they were funded, trained and armed by the US to chase out the Soviets. It has pretty little to do with roads with walls. Btw, Al Qaeda also fought (and won) in Bosnia and Kosovo, on the US side. Of course that was the Soviets' fault too... those darn walled roads! > > That, and a bad foreign policy advisor too. ;-) > > Well, luckily you don't have to judge my performance. True enough, your performance suits your paymasters. How else could it be. But that's okay... as long as we know the bias. ;-) Chris
