Hello, I'm Bobby Sims. I recently began attending PTG meetings and joined this list. I'm studying to be an RPT. I noticed this string of messages and thought this e-mail I received earlier was informative. I'm thankful that our President and his cabinet are being cautious in this "war" against terrorism. As stated in the following e-mail there is not a lot we can do to hurt the Afghani economy or tear up their country, Russia already done that I suppose. We must take out terrorism at it's root. I sure hope God does Bless America. He only knows how much we need it. Hopefully the next post I send will be concerning the piano and I can learn from your experiences. Thanks, Bobby Sims sims-n-sons@ev1.net > > > Dear Friends, > > > The following was sent to me by my friend Tamim Ansary. Tamim is an > > > Afghani-American writer. He is also one of the most brilliant people > > > I > > > know in this life. When he writes, I read. When he talks, I listen. > > > Here is his take on Afghanistan and the whole mess we are in. > > > -Gary T. > > > > > > Dear Gary and whoever else is on this email thread: > > > > > > I've been hearing a lot of talk about "bombing Afghanistan back to > > > the Stone Age." Ronn Owens, on KGO Talk Radio today, allowed > > > that this would mean killing innocent people, people who had > > > nothing to do with this atrocity, but "we're at war, we have to accept > > > collateral damage. > > > What else can we do?" Minutes later I heard some TV pundit > > > discussing whether we "have the belly to do what must be done." > > > > > > And I thought about the issues being raised especially hard > > > because I am from Afghanistan, and even though I've lived here > > > for 35 years I've never lost track of what's going on there. So I want > > > to tell anyone who will listen how it all looks from where I'm > > > standing. > > > > > > I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. > > > There is no doubt in my mind that these people were responsible > > > for the atrocity in New York. I agree that something must be done > > > about those monsters. > > > > > > But the Taliban and Ben Laden are not Afghanistan. They're not > > > even the government of Afghanistan. The Taliban are a cult of > > > ignorant psychotics who took over Afghanistan in 1997. Bin Laden > > > is a political criminal with a plan. When you think Taliban, think > > > Nazis. When you think Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think > > > "the people of Afghanistan" think "the Jews in the concentration > > > camps." It's not only that the Afghan people had nothing to do > > > with this atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators. > > > They would exult if someone would come in there, take out the > > > Taliban and clear out the rats nest of international thugs holed up > > > in their country. > > > > > > Some say, why don't the Afghans rise up and overthrow the > > > Taliban? The answer is, they're starved, exhausted, hurt, > > > incapacitated, suffering. A few years ago, the United Nations > > > estimated that there are 500,000 disabled orphans in Afghanistan-- > > > a country with no economy, no food. There are millions of widows. > > > And the Taliban has been burying these widows alive in mass > > > graves. The soil is littered with land mines, the farms were all > > > destroyed by the Soviets. These are a few of the reasons why the > > > Afghan people have not overthrown the Taliban. > > > > > > We come now to the question of bombing Afghanistan back to > > > the Stone Age. > > > Trouble is, that's been done. The Soviets took care of it already. > > > Make the Afghans suffer? They're already suffering. Level their > > > houses? Done. Turn their schools into piles of rubble? Done. > > > Eradicate their hospitals? Done. Destroy their infrastructure? > > > Cut them off from medicine and healthcare? Too late. Someone > > > already did all that. > > > > > > New bombs would only stir the rubble of earlier bombs. Would > > > they at least get the Taliban? Not likely. In today's Afghanistan, > > > only the Taliban eat, only they have the means to move around. > > > They'd slip away and hide. > > > Maybe the bombs would get some of those disabled orphans, > > > they don't move too fast, they don't even have wheelchairs. But > > > flying over Kabul and dropping bombs wouldn't really be a strike > > > against the criminals who did this horrific thing. Actually it would > > > only be making common cause with the Taliban--by raping once > > > again the people they've been raping all this time. > > > > > > So what else is there? What can be done, then? Let me now > > > speak with true fear and trembling. The only way to get Bin > > > Laden is to go in there with ground troops. When people speak > > > of "having the belly to do what needs to be done" they're thinking > > > in terms of having the belly to kill as many as needed. Having the > > > belly to overcome any moral qualms about killing innocent people. > > > Let's pull our heads out of the sand. What's actually on the table > > > is Americans dying. And not just because some Americans would > > > die fighting their way through Afghanistan to Bin Laden's hideout. > > > It's much bigger than that folks. Because to get any troops to > > > Afghanistan, we'd have to go through Pakistan. Would they let us? > > > Not likely. The conquest of Pakistan would have to be first. Will > > > other Muslim nations just stand by? You see where I'm going. We're > > > flirting with a world war between Islam and the West. > > > > > > And guess what: that's Bin Laden's program. That's exactly what > > >he wants. That's why he did this. Read his speeches and > > > statements. It's all right there. He really believes Islam would beat > > > the West. It might seem ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarize > > > the world into Islam and the West, he's got a billion soldiers. If the > > > > > West wreaks a holocaust in those lands, that's a billion people > > > with nothing left to lose, that's even better from Bin Laden's point of > > > > > view. He's probably wrong, in the end the West would win, whatever > > > that would mean, but the war would last for years and millions would > > > die, not just theirs but ours. Who has the belly for that? > > > > > > Bin Laden does. Anyone else? > > > > > > Tamim Ansary > > ________________________________________________________________ > > GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! > > Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! > > Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: > > http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. > > > >
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