Will there be a UN resolution about the human rights abuses in Afghanistan?

The raison d’etre of being in Afghanistan is to protect a failing Pakistani State whose nuclear armaments are under threat from Taliban. We are not there to pass judgment on another, quite ancient, civilization’s social mores. We need to be less, not more ethnocentric.

There is ethnocentricity, and there is intolerability of gross human rights abuses. Why should we prop up their failing state? There are other way to protect Pakistani nukes without providing free security to a backwards society.

Kindly enumerate them. And while you are at it, why should not Islamic states protest our wearing of Bikinis to the public pool? (I know, you are going to say that it is trivial, but I am asking you to think about the concept.)

Islamic states (and conservatives of all religions) can choose not to go to those locals, but women in many Islamic states have no such choice. They are property, to be traded or sold and treated as such. If they are violently raped, in many cases they are at fault, and can be punished or killed for their victimhood. These things are anathema to any rational individual.

To any Western-educated Christian or Jewish individual, including me. Be very, very careful. You may speak only for you.

@pdworkin I stand behind every word, without fear or concern. The continued abuse of women in Islamic societies is one of the most obvious reasons for their continued 3rd world status (that, and the rejection of education). I think the obvious and easy question is, who, other than the men in those societies that monopolize power would choose to live under an Islamic regime.

By the way, there is also a bit of sarcasm in my question. Of course there will be no mention of this in the UN because it doesn’t involve Israel (at least not directly, although the Mossad certainly has a hand…) ~

I wish that Amnesty International and the UN could do more. I do not think the US has the stature in the world these days to do anything.

We have started, stopped and started there, and pretty much made a mess of it. Thank you, President Bush.

I am so disappointed in Karzai. I do think the U.S. should consider not backing him.

The region has been such a mess for many centuries with so many hated and changing overlords, and all of them ultimately failures because of the mountainous territory that is hard to see how to fix it.

The treatment of the women is unconscionable, but we cannot violate the sovereignty of other nations and expect our own to be sacrosanct. I think the region needs more basic stability before UN intervention regarding women’s rights will be effective.

Possibly the best we can do is make sure the Taliban do not regain control.

@pdworkin, I’m sorry, did you just equivocate wearing bikinis to starving your wife?

How do you feel about female genital mutilation? Or genocide? Certainly it’s not us westerner’s place to judge such ancient cultural practices!

First, I object to your characterization of Israel’s role. Secondly, you and I must agree to disagree on this issue.

@shilolo, I’m assuming you’re also being sarcastic about your implication that the UN only comments about Israeli human rights abuses.

To answer your question, this is why I think we need a global police state that actually enforces the UN declaration on human rights. (By “police state” I don’t mean the dystopian variety of constant monitoring—more that warfare between sovereign nations is replaced by something more resembling police action). In the short term, unfortunately, it doesn’t look like America has that much political capital to spend in Afghanistan. It’s largely a barbaric, stone-age society; it’s going to take generations to change. Until it does, we can’t force them to believe differently than they do about women’s rights.

@Qingu Did you mean equate rather than equivocate? I agree with your point that there is no comparison between the two.

Well, I suppose either word works.

I’m all for multiculturalism. That in no way means you need to be morally neutral about every single aspect of every single culture. That’s not tolerance, that’s nihilism.

If, by chance, you refer to me, I am not morally neutral. I find it repugnant. However, when I asked for a list of solutions to the problem of two failing Islamic States with which the Bush administration disastrously entangled us,there were no answers.

@pdworkin Supposedly, the US already has a plan for control of the Pakistani nukes that involves Special Forces teams. Also, my comments about Israel were tongue in cheek. The usual suspects (i.e. the Islamic countries) aren’t going to make a big deal about this because Israel isn’t involved.
@Qingu Owing to past behavior and an inability to reconcile those issues, I will no longer engage in discussions with you regarding religion or politics.

The British had a Plan, and the Russsians had a Plan, and the French had a Plan in what was once French Indo-China, and Ike had a Plan to support the French, and JFK had a Plan to send in advisers, and LBJ had a Plan, and Nixon and Kissinger-the-War-Criminal had a Plan with the grotesque name of “Victory With Honor.”

And George Santayana made a maxim about all these Plans.

@shilolo That’s it? Or are you no longer engaging with me, either?

@pdworkin Was there something I missed? You made your point.