Taliban hit guesthouse used by Westerners in Kabul; 7 dead

World May. 02, 2012 - 04:03PM JST ( 29 )

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29 Comments

3

just-a-bigguyMay. 02, 2012 - 01:44PM JST

America has leave the people of afghanistan in great tragedy! The Kazari government will join the Taliban once western troops leave her soil!
2

EkkusaitoMay. 02, 2012 - 04:03PM JST

I can't imagine these foreign guesthouses would be doing a roaring trade.
-5

johninnahaMay. 02, 2012 - 04:14PM JST

The US brings "peace" and "freedom" to Afghanistan at the point of a gun. Why should anyone be surprised when they reap what they sowed?
3

Ben JackMay. 02, 2012 - 04:25PM JST

America has leave the people of afghanistan in great tragedy

Yes, how true. Afghanistan was so peaceful before the US and its partners went in.

Why should anyone be surprised when they reap what they sowed?

Is it my imagination, or do you seem to be taking some sort of glee in this?

This was Afghanistans first and only chance in a long time to actually have a country with some sort of democracy and freedom. It is the Afghanis who have turned this down. The US should get out and let them have at it. Still, it is a shame and a wasted opportunity for Afghanistan and nothing to gloat about at all.
-2

nudgenudgeMay. 02, 2012 - 06:55PM JST

Is it my imagination, or do you seem to be taking some sort of glee in this?

The accusation is much better aimed at those that supported warring on the Taliban in the first place. So many just plain seemed to crave war and blood and death.

But its pretty hard to say "I told you so!" in monotone, no matter the subject matter.
2

Ben JackMay. 02, 2012 - 07:48PM JST

The accusation is much better aimed at those that supported warring on the Taliban in the first place.

I don't see wanting to rid Afghanistan of the Taliban as the same thing as craving war, blood and death. However, the Afghanis do seem to have chosen the Taliban and the foreign militaries should leave them to it. Ultimately, one can only help those that want help and that are willing at some point to help themselves.
-1

garomakaikishiMay. 02, 2012 - 07:50PM JST

the US should just leave them alone.
2

johninnahaMay. 02, 2012 - 07:59PM JST

Maybe the crux of the problem is that Afghanistan never has been a country. It's a loose collection of tribes.

The American failure in Afghanistan brings me no glee. It's just another in a long line of failures. Britain failed miserably, then the USSR and now the U.S.A.

Perhaps the moral of the story is that you shouldn't judge other people by your own definitions of what is good/bad, right/wrong, etc.

It's their fight. Let them work it out their own way.
1

Ben JackMay. 02, 2012 - 08:31PM JST

I don't think it was about judging other people by their own definitions as much as wanting to get rid of leaders that allowed terrorists that attacked the US to train and live in Afghanistan.

It's their fight. Let them work it out their own way.

I agree.
-3

nudgenudgeMay. 02, 2012 - 09:13PM JST

I don't see wanting to rid Afghanistan of the Taliban as the same thing as craving war, blood and death.

Surely some people just wanted rid of the Taliban, and were so blinded by the idea of regime change that they could not see the war would make things worse. But not all war supporters have the same motives. Some just wanted the war for war's sake. Its why I tend to prefer the company of peace loving people. You can be very sure their motives are not barbaric. With war supporters, you can never be so sure.

However, the Afghanis do seem to have chosen the Taliban and the foreign militaries should leave them to it.

Yes, and I knew that 11 years ago.
2

nandakandamandaMay. 02, 2012 - 10:10PM JST

The Tailban are not barbaric, nudgenudge?
0

Mad moneyMay. 02, 2012 - 10:34PM JST

nandakandamanda, how would you feel if a foreign country invaded your country and kills your family?
1

SerranoMay. 02, 2012 - 10:40PM JST

Obama: "We look foward to a future of peace"

In Afghanistan?
1

SuperLibMay. 02, 2012 - 11:30PM JST

Uh, I think the problem was that the US was leaving Afghanistan alone...
0

HonestDictatorMay. 03, 2012 - 12:24AM JST

Of course its going to be guaranteed that the Taliban will get back into power (unless the people start fighting for themselves). And most likely the training camps will pop back up since there will be no stable government to stop them... in which case once again terrorist groups will have a home base and safe haven to plot plan and strike out at any percieved foreign enemy. And once again the country they strike out against will probably have to go back in again, wash, rinse and repeat.

Only way for that to stop happening is the people need to get together and stop them.
0

Ben JackMay. 03, 2012 - 12:48AM JST

they could not see the war would make things worse

Actually, the sad fact is that there is not much of a change in Afghanistan at all since the US went in.

Yes, and I knew that 11 years ago.

As I said, that was not the main reason the US went in. It was hopefully to be a by-product. Now, they should be left to their own devices.
0

KonstaMay. 03, 2012 - 12:59AM JST

There is quite some good change there with respect to several years ago. A year ago, I read a public UN report about Afghanistan and it was quite good with the number of schools, hospitals and other infrastructure growing. The US should clearly stay, if it can. Unfortunately, Afhganistan is another example of how a country can be radicalized and wasted, and what are the consequences. And speaking about Syria, would you like to have Afghanistan as a neighbour country in the Middle East?
2

Ben JackMay. 03, 2012 - 01:09AM JST

The US should clearly stay, if it can.

With all due respect, nah. The Afghanis have been given a chance. Now they should either do it themselves or just go along with the Taliban. All this time, they could have had the support of the US and the international community.

Sorry, I do not see nearly enough effort on the part of the Afghani people. At least with Syria and Libya they are homegrown movements trying to do things for themselves.

Sadly, enough is enough and the US and its allies should leave them to their own devices.
-3

nudgenudgeMay. 03, 2012 - 08:19AM JST

The Tailban are not barbaric, nudgenudge?

Is there some kind of reason why you feel the need to ask me such a stupid question nandakandamanda? If the point of going to Afghanistan was to out do Taliban barbarism, I would say mission accomplished. There were a whole lot fewer dead kids when the Taliban was in control.
-2

nudgenudgeMay. 03, 2012 - 08:22AM JST

As I said, that was not the main reason the US went in. It was hopefully to be a by-product.

Hanging around for 11 years to get a by-product?
0

Ben JackMay. 03, 2012 - 09:01AM JST

Hanging around for 11 years to get a by-product?

Hey, I did not say I agreed with it. I just said what they had hoped. Sad the Afghanis did not take advantage of the opportunity.
0
Ben JackMay. 03, 2012 - 09:04AM JST

Is there some kind of reason why you feel the need to ask me such a stupid question nandakandamanda?

Wow. Is there some kind of reason you never seem to be able to have a mature conversation with anyone?

If the point of going to Afghanistan was to out do Taliban barbarism, I would say mission accomplished.

Sorry. If n no way, shape or form does this mirror reality. It is kind of ridiculous to blame the US, etc for Taliban killings and bombs.
- ModeratorMay. 03, 2012 - 09:56AM JST
  
  Readers, please keep the discussion civil.
-2

nudgenudgeMay. 03, 2012 - 01:11PM JST

It is kind of ridiculous to blame the US, etc for Taliban killings and bombs.

So you just expected them to quit their own country in the face of American and Coalition jet dropped bombs, attack helicopters, Preditor drones and guided missles??? I didn't. I expected them to fight by any means they can, which is what they are doing.

Figure it out though. I don't approve of those means, but to not expect them would be total ignorance.

But if a bomb blew up your family, you would not be passing out forgiveness if it were a Taliban suicide bomber or American collateral damage. You would just conclude, rightly, that it never would have happened if the Coalition were not in your country. The Taliban did not do this before American charged in with their buddies.

And you know, you don't have to feel bad about it. Its not like anybody knocked on your door and asked your opinion before ship.ping off the troops. So it won't kill you to see this folly for what it is.
0

Tuntematon SotilasMay. 03, 2012 - 01:21PM JST

I'm not sure why Westerners would go stay at this guesthouse in the first place. As well, it is inevitable that the Taliban will take over a few months or a year or two at most after the US leave, even if there is a plan to keep some troops there after 2014. Indeed, Afghanistan has improved since the war began but however, any advantages will quickly be erased unless the Afghan troops take their roles seriously and become a proper fighting force, which I do not believe. This war was not able to be won from the start because insurgents will keep on coming from Pakistan, who gives safe haven to these people. Karzai once said that it will be in Pakistan, not Afghanistan where Osama Bin Laden will be found, and it was true.
2

nandakandamandaMay. 03, 2012 - 02:13PM JST

The Taliban, mostly Pashtun who are based in the south, have a history of ethnic cleansing. When they first took over all of Afghanistan by force, they were religiously extremely intolerant, both to 'lower' sects of Islam, and to 'inferior' tribes such as the Hazara. Public beatings and public hangings were a regular spectacle. There were no education and no medical facilities for women who were forced to stay home in a world where the word of the man was almighty. Naturally men were able to take advantage of the situation to do what they liked, safe in the knowledge that they would be supported by their brothers, the system. Taliban have deliberately hanged children in public, even recently, in order to instill fear into the populace.

This kind of arbitrary behavior, ie intolerance, bloody attacks against minorities, etc., is happening more and more frequently over the border in Pakistan today and the authorities there seem powerless to say no to such bully-boy tactics. Naturally this dammed-up 'culture' of violence will flow back into Afghanistan as soon as the newly-independent Karzai government is left to stand fully on its own two feet.
0

Ben JackMay. 03, 2012 - 02:33PM JST

I expected them to fight by any means they can, which is what they are doing.

Really? You think it is reasonable for them to maim and kill their own people? I guess we see things differently. There is no defence for Taliban behavior, none whatsoever.
0

Ben JackMay. 03, 2012 - 02:36PM JST

The Taliban did not do this before

They supported terrorists who trained and lived in their country and attacked the US. That is in addition to the horrible things the Taliban did to Afghanis. There is no defence of their actions, none whatsoever.
0

Ben JackMay. 03, 2012 - 02:37PM JST

The Taliban, mostly Pashtun who are based in the south, have a history of ethnic cleansing.

Yes, exactly. Sad that some would choose to ignore history and reality in favor of anti-US rants.