<HTML>Hi Derek,
> The fact that we can shout at each other in the first place
> is one that is all too easily taken for granted. Its easy to
> forget that most citizens of planet Earth do not have the
> freedom, let alone the means, to add their voices to the
> cacophony.
Agreed. I'm not against shouting btw I just think there should be a bit more tolerance and respect all round.
> If we are to fight a war in the name of free and democratic
> civilisation then surely we will have lost that war if we
> fail to deliver freedom and democracy to those who do not
> have it.
I'm not even sure that freedom and democracy can work in Afghanistan. What they need more than anything is a pre-packaged right wing dictator like they have in Iraq or the USA (that was a joke btw so no more hatemail please).
> Sanctions and the threat of military force against all
> undemocratic regimes anyone? Or would that just be warmed
> over Western cultural imperialism?
Like every other morally responsible sap I've realised we need to do something about this rather than just sit on the sidelines and claim the righteous highground by demanding peace at all costs. I get the impression if we decide to wait and only use methods of diplomacy to extradite bin Laden we'll be waiting for a very long time. We can't let him sit in relative security and blow raspberries over the Khyber pass whilst at the same time plotting further atrocities but neither should we march in and give him the holy war he's seeking. A long drawn out military campaign would be a complete disaster for all concerned and would surely inflame local tensions to breaking point in Pakistan particularly if Afghan civilian casualties were high and the humanitarian crisis continued.
Instead I think we'll use targetted aerial bombing campaigns on the main terrorist camps and then employ special forces to attempt to infiltrate and destroy key figures in the Taliban and within bin Ladens network. I'm not at all sure if any of those objectives are attainable but they are desirable.
Any regime the US coalition imposes is likely to be objected to by some faction there so it may not be advisable to enforce democracy on them at all costs. Especially when you consider the manner in which Afghanistan was exploited by both sides during the cold war and was then left to sort itself out when the Russians pulled out. The Taliban will need to be replaced by something though but perhaps its too soon to know what that might be just yet. Whoever replaces them should be given appropriate worldwide support so that the mistakes that led to the rise of the Taliban and the influence of figures such as bin Laden can be prevented from happening again.
Cheers,
Duncan</HTML>
