----- Original Message ----- From: Christoph Reuss <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, August 16, 2002 3:32 PM Subject: Burka, Human Rights and Imperialism
> Jan Matthieu wrote: > > > the taliban repression > > could never have happened without the communist meddling in the first > > place. > > Wrong. It could never have happened without US funding, which started > _before_ the Soviet intervention! (Brzezinsky admitted it in his famous > 1998 interview with Le Nouvel Observateur) The US funding continued > until 2001 for various reasons (i.a. concerning drug trade). > 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. Of course they all tried to increase their influence in the country, as they have been doing since the British time. But it was the Soviets who broke the balance, toppled the king and got the whole misery started. And of course the US funded the anti-Soviet opposition, that's what they were supposed to do. The Soviets broke an 80 year old pact about Afghanistan with the British. > > > I hope this opinion doesn't make me a bad human rights activist? > > That, and a bad foreign policy advisor too. ;-) Well, luckily you don't have to judge my performance. Jan Matthieu > > ----- > > Salvador Sanchez wrote: > > By the way, my own "portable prison", five days a week, is a jacket and a > > tie. At least I have some degree of freedom choosing colors. > > Another very common "portable prison" in the West is the Bluejeans (where > even the color is prescribed ;-}). This classic symbol of the US-typical > combination of primitivism (goldrushers) with decadence is being worn > in Europe even by old professors to display "youth" or whatever PR myth > they associate with them. This idiocy extends to "Greens" (despite the > big environmental damage from jeans) who thusly reveal their true colors > (literally). It hurts my eyes, and I never wear jeans. > > ----- > > Alan Lewis wrote: > > > Few victims want to admit that they are being victimized, > > > especially if they have been brainwashed all their life, > > > > True. And who is going to decide who is the one who has really > > been "brainwashed all their life"? Do we represent the vanguard, > > saving the benighted masses from their false consciousness -- the > > fruit of the awful fate of not having been born in a rich, liberal, > > post-Christian "democracy"? > > Of course Westerners have been brainwashed too, as I pointed out i.a. in > my postings about Americanization... There are many subtle forms of > victimization. > > > > > That's like asking a SUV driver whether he feels safe, and when > > > Bubba says Yea, then conclude that SUVs _are_ safe. > > > > Whether or not SUVs are safe is a matter of empirical fact (or > > falsehood), not a matter of Bubba's opinion or feeling. > > The point of my comparison was this: Does Bubba _realize_ that he is > being victimized by the car industry by buying a supposedly safer car > that is in fact less safe? Bubba thinks he's not, but he is victimized. > And yes, the victimization is a matter of empirical fact in _both_ the > SUV and the burka case. > > > > (See, by the way, Jim Kalb's very interesting > > human rights critique page at http://www.rightsreform.net; also, > > see generally Kalb's http://www.counterrevolution.net) > > I certainly agree, see my comments to Jan above. > > > > Perhaps the Afghanistanis, or the > > whole Muslim world, could organize a cultural relief mission to > > the U.S., designed to offer alienated and wealth-obsessed > > Americans some hope of restoring their souls. > > I'm happy to be of assistance in that mission! ;-) > > Chris > > >
