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Originally Posted by fragment
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Godless Dave
I think you're right about the history, but I also think the Soviet occupation polarized people much as the Shah's rule polarized people in Iran. The hardline Islamists were the ones doing the bulk of the fighting against the Soviets so they got popular support.
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Quite likely. Nonetheless I did have some hopes that the support wouldn't be so ingrained as to continue indefinitely under a post-Taliban government, and that the judiciary wouldn't continue to hand out death penalties for religious crimes. Small hope perhaps, but the Taliban were so goddawful that even a run-of-the-mill despicable regime would be an improvement. |
I think one of the biggest mistakes we Westerners make is assuming most people in third world countries want some kind of representative government with guaranteed civil rights. Democracy and liberty are mostly middle-class interests.