Predominantly Islamic nations are not like western nations. Their culture is one of obedience and subservience. Islam basically means 'submission to the will of Allah'. That carries itself from private personal life to public political life. That is why they are generally so content to be ruled by strong, undemocratic or dictatorial leaders (although rumblings in Iran give a hopeful suggestion otherwise). They generally don't mind being subservient to one of their own but they get irate if it's an outsider, as anyone would. The fist in Afghanistan will be that of the strongest tribe or indeed perhaps the Taliban. You can't bomb a mindset. In fact, as witnessed in Northern Ireland, you can magnify and augment that mindset by doing exactly that. Bombing specific targets on a preventative or reactionary basis will be far less offensive to them than becoming de facto rulers of their nations. It is at our cost that we occupy those nations, not theirs. The cost of some missile strikes would pale in comparison to supporting armies in a hostile area thousands of miles from home.lowing wrote:
Nope, I think Iraq will fall into chaos again, and the reason for this is more than "just a few". It is a mindset that prevails in countries like Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan etc. and a mind set that prevails within Islam itself.
Rule Afghanistan with an iron fist? Who's fist? Or should we just drop bomb after bomb, missile after missile on it. Not sure how that is going to contribute to winning of hearts and minds.
If Islam were taught as you say then there would not be the issues it has, at the very least, it would be able to contain these issues. Much like the KKK within Christianity, the KKK has been reduced to a punchline in a bad joke by the prevailing attitude. This is not the case within Islam, for if you insist Islam is 99% taught as a peaceful tolerant progressive religion, ( which I do not believe to be the case) it is certainly a classic example of the tail wagging the dog, and who shall be blamed for this lack of control?
Your disbelief of the reality of the predominant manner in which Islam is taught is not qualified by any experience I have had with Muslims or indeed by statistical probability. A simple matter of maths. Dividing the number of muslims on earth by the number of terror attacks. Arithmetic. It's quite simple really. Islam has problems but that is mainly a problem with the societies in which they live - oil money allowing people to loaf around aimlessly and frustratedly with levels of unemployment running at 25%, impoverished rural timewarp areas that couldn't muster two brain cells between all the inhabitants, etc. Too much spare time and too much bad government breeds mental malaise. I saw the same type of mental malaise in the yokel rednecks that frequented the bars and restaurants I worked, ate and drank in in Wisconsin. People who can't find any purpose in life so they turn to silly old books.