QUOTE (J m HofMarN @ Feb 18 2008, 08:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
That was not a source. that was an article that off handedly accused the taliban of making economic restrictions (ordering stores to close on friday is an economic restriction, not economic planning) If that was a source then your source needs to site its sources. And once again theres no way to prove a negative. But when I think state economic planning I do not think Taliban. Neither would any other sane person.
Give me a valid source that proves that the Taliban had an unplanned economy.
QUOTE (J m HofMarN @ Feb 18 2008, 08:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Theyre really not Westernised. The Talib had very little connection with the US but were handled by Pakistani intelligence who shifted US materiel to them. The West happened to have interests that coincided with the taliban, thats it. I doubt they ever actually took orders from the US.
Fine but ask yourself how long the Taliban would have been in control of Afghanistan had America not sought Al Qaeda.
QUOTE (J m HofMarN @ Feb 18 2008, 08:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
A counterclaim is not a requirement of a good argument, and the Taliban don't need a label. They were a theocracy if you absolutely need some label for them.
They are theocrats? So why was the army in control and not the imams?
QUOTE (J m HofMarN @ Feb 18 2008, 08:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Like the iroquois before you you are a communalist.
Bah! You have found out my secret! Yes, I want a tribal state where people slaughter each other for every scrap of food. (sarcasm)
QUOTE (J m HofMarN @ Feb 18 2008, 08:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Once again your citations are general statements. The main article that that statement SUMMARIZES is incomplete and has nothing on Pakistan's amount of involvement in the formation of the Taliban. The only thing it says is exactly what you quoted. It's the bare bones of an argument at best and at worst its just another sentence that you read and took for gospel without looking into the details in the slightest.
How can one faction defeat all the other warlords without foreign help?
QUOTE (J m HofMarN @ Feb 18 2008, 08:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Ummm yeah man I'm not a big fan of the West here, and imperialism did do some fucked up shit... .But in this instance I'm not going to blame the west for the existence of the taliban and al qaeda entirely.
You blame them for coming to power. Well had they not helped the Jihadists in the 80s destabilize Afghanistan in the first place, I doubt we would be discussing if their helping the Taliban is bad or not.