Making a Deal With the Devil Part Two

Not too long ago I wrote this post about the Taliban's deal with the Pakistani government.

And, yes *SURPRISE* despite the Taliban's assurances to the contrary, they are doing what they do best. Yes, as we all know and should know, the biggest threat to any country or people is its women. I say, if we just whip and flog a few wayward women prosperity shall be ours, Inshallah.

So, I for one, totally support the flogging of the hapless 17-year old girl, flung face-down (with her hijab around her face), with a few men, including her brother holding her down. And, may Allah give strength to the tireless arms of the poor, Talib brother who flogged her repeatedly, while she cried aloud in agony.

Okay, I can't keep this up. I saw the video. I will not post a link to it because it made me sick to my stomach and made me cry. It is circulating on the Web. Yes, people, the holy Shariah law is indeed making life even more wonderful for the women of Swat.

What deal-makers and others don't get about organizations like the Taliban is this. They *don't* truly recognize the existence of political entities and states. They don't think that any rule of law apart from Shariah and the Quran is valid. So, yes, if it is expedient they will make a deal with you to placate you, to regroup, and then they will continue doing what they feel they are divinvely ordained to do. And it is okay--in fact, it's commendable--if you lie and cheat your way into creating a perfect, Utopian, Islamic society.


Oh yeah, remember the Taliban's assurance to the Pakistani government that girls schools would be re-opened? Do you mean *gasp* that they did not follow through with this? Here's an article about more than 100 girls schools being blown up. A radio station was also destroyed. Here's another article.
I mean really, who was naive enough to think that this would not happen? It was only a question of when and how it would happen.

Well, technically, they didn't close the schools did they? The problem...well...simply...disappeared. Ingenious!

Think this doesn't touch you? Think about this: the Taliban and people who endorse, support, apologize for them...are on an upswing. Read this article, which uncovers the fact that emeralds from Swat are being used by the Taliban to grow stronger.

Already, the resurgent Taliban are returning in another incarnation to the place of their birth, Afghanistan. Remember, the U.S. bombed Afghanistan and committed troops, and installed Hamid Karzai, basically a puppet-leader for the beleagured country. Well, the worm has turned. And, of course, to safeguard a country in crisis, he did what any responsible leader should do. Yep...make rape within marriage legal (you mean it wasn't already).

Of course, about a month later he is trying to scrap the law, because of Western pressure. Prime Minister Brown of Britain said his soldeirs would not die to defend a country where this was legal.

Now, everyhing is murky and there are no clear heroes and villains. There are tremendous complexities at work that I cannot even begin to comprehend or explain. More than that, the genie is out of the bottle...again. The law might be scrapped on the books, but do you think it will stop being applied? I'm sure there isn't a great and functional legal system in place there anyway. It's not like women were lining up to accuse their husbands (or anyone else for that matter) of rape. But at least if there was a law, there was a slim chance that some woman might or at least gain some internal power by knowing she could if she wanted to. Having the law scrapped due to external pressure is merely a token gesture. Will things on the ground really change?

Once a sovereign country accedes any amount of its power...nay, makes a deal with anti-national insurgents and willingly hands over a territory...the damage is already done. Why would that group fear a government that rolls over so easily? In fact, a government and a people who, at the very least sympathize with and/or support those goals? Anything less is semantics.

If my manifesto derives from God and any work I do for him is divine and unequivocally correct, there is no room for debate or negotiation, is there? I might make expedient deals, but once I am strong, I have no incentive to hold up my end of the bargain. This is what has happened in Pakistan, and perhaps also in Afghanistan.

The battle is already lost. Will we also lose the war?