This isn’t a reason for our forces to stay in Afghanistan, but it’s a worrying sign for the fate of the government there once we leave.
At least 54 people were killed and 90 others wounded Wednesday in an insurgent attack on a government compound in western Afghanistan where Taliban fighters were facing trial, local officials said.
Nine insurgents with explosives strapped to their bodies stormed the compound in Farah province, bordering Iran, Reuters reported. Explosions were followed by protracted gun battles.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, and Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said that the insurgents on trial were freed in the attack, the news agency reported.
Other news agencies said the attackers were unable to free the Taliban members. NBC News could not immediately confirm the reports.
Nine suicide bombers is a lot. I wonder what they were told, or how they were convinced to end their lives today. Religion? Drugs? Some combination of the two?
Afghanistan is stable and peaceful compared to neighboring Pakistan.
let’s pretend that religion and drugs were not possible motives. What else might motivate them? Payments to their surviving family members? I think I’ve heard that one before. Hatred is also pretty strong. Perhaps some paradoxical version of “self-defense” for the sake of kin selection.
Point is, one doesn’t necessarily need to first ascribe desperate behavior to some form of “irrationality.”
In fact, that’s the first place our mainstream media go for an answer: crazy mooslims. It’s not a winner.
In the analysis of the intelligence, the USA failed horribly. Hamid Karzai was the only leader of which the US was aware. Horrible choice then, worse now. We are propping him in place the way we did presidents in South Vietnam.
The CIA refused to support the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance and mistrusted its leader Ahmad Shah Masud Who happened to be assassinated on 10 sep 2001.
Karzai won’t leave before us, but he will have a “back door” ready to use. Meanwhile, he is helping his Pashtun tribesmen line their pockets.
IIRC, Karzai is a former oil company executive. That would pretty much explain his (s)election.
Although different interpretations are claimed, suicide martyrs are lured with a promise of virgins in afterlife. In addition, financial rewards for family to relieve poverty, often funded by Saudi charities. Remember Saddam’s gifts to Hamas martyrs?
Suicide Attacks in the Path of Allah
Are “suicide bombers” all that different from other warriors? All are committed to whatever cause they espouse. All use violence to further their cause. What varies is the violent means at their disposal and the odds of surviving an offensive or defensive action which ranges from zero for suicide bombers to 100% for drone “pilots.”
Being prepared to die is different than seeking death. We can see it even in civilian life when people accept death they can evidence a change in mental attitude.
Per the CDC, there were 38,364 suicides in the US in one year. Some, probably most, but not all sought death. That’s a huge number compared to the annual number of people worldwide that we label “suicide bombers.” Few if any of whom we know we’re seeking death instead of being prepared to die.
The behavior patterns, and descriptions by those who were recruited yet did not suicide remind me of the old Society of Assassins from the time of the Caliphs.
Those were Fueled by Hashish and promises of Paradise, to to their suicidal killing-missions. No reason to think the general mindset to be different when the mission is much the same.
Did you perhaps mean to say “religion and other drugs”?
I don’t think a minority whose intention is to suppress people with their fundamentalist viewpoint is winning anything in the long run. I know there is some debate in Europe over the spread of islam, however as long as consumerism is the religion of the many, you will see corporate conflicts continuing.
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What varies is the violent means at their disposal and the odds of surviving an offensive or defensive action which ranges from zero for suicide bombers to 100% for drone “pilots.” Video Games Bluray Consoles and accessories