husnain1;4725510 said:
1) umm No. the point was that I might actually understand Pakistan's history and internal politics in a way that might not make sense to you. you might just have learned about some of these people now but again we've known about them for years. for instance you might have HEARD about asif ali zardari but do you know of first hand accounts of the things he's done and been accused of? I doubt it. maybe if you did you might interpret things in a different light. For example, instead of implying that Pakistan may be a terrorist state based on whats been happening in the past 10 or so years, you could actually look at its history and understand that Pakistan has always been "moderate" in terms of its religious values.
2) I fully admit Pakistan would do things to screw over the US if it was in its best interests (hell every country does things like that), however Pakistan has done far more to help the US and has had to pay for it in the blood of its soldiers and citizens. Coupled with the fact that this has been the US's m.o. from the start of its relationship with Pakistan I dont think you can blame Pakistan for being a reluctant partner.
3) No one ever stated you said anything. When I say "you" im speaking in a general nature. Furthermore, here's the problem with you thinking that there is a reason why these people are being labelled terrorists/fundamentalists, I dont think you understand enough about islam to make a distinction from someone who is following the faith in its intended form. for example, one may call them terrorists because they believe they are fighting jihad. here's the problem, westerners here jihad and then equate it with fundamentalism. in islam jihad is a concept that has many different meanings. for example, the jihad that westerners know of is when it is applied to war, however a key misunderstanding is that a true jihad can ONLY be defensive in nature! Now if one doesnt understand this point they can make the "intellectual" leap of equating islam with terrorism. On the flip side the afghanis (taliban or whoever else) believe they are defending themselves after all they were attacked they didnt do the attacking. the most the taliban could be accused of was giving sanctuary to bin Laden which if you go back and research the issue you'd see the taliban did state that if evidence was provided for bin Laden's guilt they would try him in an islamic court. So again in their view they were the ones being attacked so for them jihad is justified ( it would still be a problematic issue from an islamic legal point of view). one needs to understand the religion before one can even pretend they understand what terms like fundamentalism and wahhabi even mean. maybe then you might understand why terrorism seems to only be associated with muslims. when a white man shot up a theatre in aurora, colorado he wasnt called a terrorist even though in the strict sense of the term what he did WAS an act of terrorism. instead you have people questioning his sanity. when a black person commits a crime he is stereotyped because thats what black people do and now when muslims or those claiming to be muslims (and there is a huge difference there) commit violence its labelled as terrorism. the point in all of this that before one applies labels one must understand them first, especially from a point of view that is not of your own.
01. let me repeat a point: you're saying i might just have learned about something you've known for years based on nothing more than your own background (hence the "you might not know anything about other posters on this forum - their background, their education, their level of knowledge, etc, etc"). it would be more logical to make your point on topic, because this method is simply saying, "i'm of Pakistani descent, so i know and you don't." yeah, you might have reason to care about the topic more, but than increased concern also doesn't make you immune to the "propaganda and psychological warfare" stuff you mention. and again, when did i call Pakistan a terrorist nation?
02. from the start of the relationship, both sides had their agendas and operated in accordance with them. the major differences are that Pakistan is right there and thus pays the price in people getting killed that the US generally does not, and that Pakistan can be accused of double-dealing in ways the US cannot (ON THIS ISSUE, let's not totally stray). if you think Pakistan is a reluctant partner because they think the US is about to leave them in the lurch, fine, but that argument makes it more likely they'd fuck over the US as they saw fit.
03. if you want to speak in a general sense, i suppose i would have to ask you to actually make that clear. do i not know enough about Islam, or do Americans/Westerners not know enough about Islam? because it comes across as a shot at me that you then step aside from by saying "well, i don't mean YOU." yet it's you and i debating this topic, so i don't know who else you're talking to.
another key misunderstanding is stating something like, for example, "true jihad can ONLY be defensive in nature" without considering that people are always, ALWAYS going to manipulate stuff like this for their own interests. i get your point, but you're presuming a universal agreement on this topic.
as far as the Colorado shooter, if we're going with terrorism being for the purposes of coercion, we probably wouldn't call him a terrorist because we don't know what the hell he would have been trying to coerce us into. and if i have to say it, i don't think i'm arguing people don't unnecessarily equate Islam with terrorism.