# Afghanistan's Dirty Little Secret **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 4, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556 "2010-09-04T00:02:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/41 "2010-09-06T17:54:49Z")
Yeah, keeping it secret and occasionally publicly sacrificing a scapegoat makes us Americans morally superior to those who do such things openly. It’s not like millions of people of all persuasions have been doing this stuff forever, regardless of the possible consequences … I mean, it’s not like it’s human nature or something; it is clearly immoral … to those who subscribe to a moral code that makes it so. [/stirring pot] ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/42 "2010-09-06T17:55:02Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Could someone tell me where pedophilia is an accepted part of US mainstream culture, with dancing boys performing in public and civic leaders flaunting their child lovers to show how cool they are? I mean, we got pedophiles and child prostitution in the US, but so far as I know it’s a dark, secret society, since it’s about the only sexual practice other than rape that almost everyone in America consider to be criminal in nature and, well, morally repugnant. Saying it’s the same all over sounds to me very much like a false equivalence. Exactly like one, actually. You don’t understand, anything bad the rest of the world does is OK, because we can find a few cases of the same in the US. Anything bad the US does is not OK because not everyone in other countries does it. Please try and keep up. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/43 "2010-09-06T17:57:22Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > > [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > > > Not to worry. Given the West’s attention span deficit, we shall soon merrily hand boy over to rapists and girls over for sale to the highest bidder. But you know, war is bad and all. > > Well, let’s put it this way: > > If Qatar (or Saudi Arabia) asked for the US’ military help within its borders, should the American forces also try to fight against human rights abuses within that country? Or should the US simply refuse any help until their human rights are improved? The latter. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/44 "2010-09-06T18:26:04Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > > [@linked article](#): > > > > “How can you fall in love if you can’t see her face,” 29-year-old Mohammed Daud told reporters. “We can see the boys, so we can tell which are beautiful.” > > It seems sharia may be superseded by the Law of Unintended Consequences. the Law of unintended Consequences may give a unique twist to this but it is hardly a Pushtun singularity. Not only is this something that happens around the world it is certainly a function of criminal activity that feeds on itself in a loop of generational abuse. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/45 "2010-09-07T01:17:10Z")
[PK1Slot Online Terpercaya: Situs slot online Terbaru 2023](http://wapedia.mobi/en/Pederasty_in_the_Middle_East_and_Central_Asia) Repression does not work. Sexual tension will be released. The absurd concept of separating men and women has consequences and results in shameful actions. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/46 "2010-09-07T08:36:16Z")
> [@Q.N.Jones](#): > > > [@twickster](#): > > > > **Q.N. Jones** , it does appear that you are trying to put words in **Siam Sam** ’s mouth – don’t do that. > > > > **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator > > I’m sorry. That was absolutely not my intention. I think I interpreted what he wrote in a way he did not intend. > > Nevertheless, if this is merely one piece of evidence that Afghanistan is a “whole other world” (his words), I still remain perplexed as to why he would feel that way, given how widespread child trafficking is. However, it seems he has no interest in explaining that, so I have no interest in pursuing a debate he seems not to want. With the emphasis on the words’ struggling against’. We put people in prison. In Aghanistan they are handed govt posts, keys to the national bank vaults and a free hand to deal heroin. Afghanistan is ‘another world’. It is a violent, deeply corrupt land, beholden to primitive superstition and locked in conflicts that reach down from the ethnic to the family. As the saying goes. Me against my brother, brothers against the family, family against the clan, the clan against the tribe. And everyone against women of course. I posted an article in a thread a while back where villagers ‘liberated’ from the Taliban in one of the UK’s hold-no-ground pushes told journalists they welcomed the taliban because they were not as corrupt as the local police and did not kidnap and enslave young boys, like the local police. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/47 "2010-09-07T12:38:30Z")
So if Afghanistan is another world, let’s move it into our world. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/48 "2010-09-07T13:18:46Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > So if Afghanistan is another world, let’s move it into our world. We don’t a big enough lever or a sturdy enough fulcrum. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/49 "2010-09-07T13:19:36Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > So if Afghanistan is another world, let’s move it into our world. How do we do that? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/50 "2010-09-07T13:31:44Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > > [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > > > So if Afghanistan is another world, let’s move it into our world. > > How do we do that? Nuclear fire! ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/51 "2010-09-07T14:06:50Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > So if Afghanistan is another world, let’s move it into our world. Maybe, just maybe, the United States does not have a divine mission to save everyone, everywhere, from every possible evil. We are in Afghanistan for our own reasons, good or bad. In war and diplomacy, looking the other way at something an ally does, no matter how revolting it is to you, is often the best policy. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/52 "2010-09-07T14:18:54Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Whether you’re in favor of our involvement in Afghanistan or against it, [this report](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/29/INF21F2Q9H.DTL#ixzz0yF8jc1iR) is rather interesting, not to mention bizarre. More proof that it’s a whole other world there. (As if more were needed.) Why can’t those Afghan pervs to go female child prostitutes like normal Thai people? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/53 "2010-09-07T16:54:45Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > > [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > > > So if Afghanistan is another world, let’s move it into our world. > > Maybe, just maybe, the United States does not have a divine mission to save everyone, everywhere, from every possible evil. We are in Afghanistan for our own reasons, good or bad. In war and diplomacy, looking the other way at something an ally does, no matter how revolting it is to you, is often the best policy. It seems to me that many times, when the US (and some other countries) try to “save” another country or culture, we make it worse, not better. We seem to cause more problems than we solve. And we go deeply into debt by doing this. Let’s not forget how the Taliban came into being. And let’s not make the same mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/54 "2010-09-07T18:03:49Z")
Wow. It’s a whole new level of prison gay. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/55 "2010-09-07T19:48:27Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > > [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > > > So if Afghanistan is another world, let’s move it into our world. > > Maybe, just maybe, the United States does not have a divine mission to save everyone, everywhere, from every possible evil. We are in Afghanistan for our own reasons, good or bad. In war and diplomacy, looking the other way at something an ally does, no matter how revolting it is to you, is often the best policy. In some ways our success involves a change this situation. If I understand correctly much of this involves the cyclone of evil that rotates around a warlord feudal system which has to be funded by the only viable source of cash (heroin). Success doesn’t mean all the members of the Taliban suddenly die. They exist because there is no money. The only source of money becomes the only source of power so those who move the drugs control the lives of everybody else. It is not the individual members of the Taliban who need to go it is the hierarchy capable of sustaining the drug trade with enough power to subdue other forms of economic trade. If farmers could raise a crop that could be marketed directly to the world (such as flowers) then the money derived from drugs would shift to the producer. Take away the power of the warlords and the power to rape children goes with it. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/56 "2010-09-07T21:46:01Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > > > Whether you’re in favor of our involvement in Afghanistan or against it, [this report](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/29/INF21F2Q9H.DTL#ixzz0yF8jc1iR) is rather interesting, not to mention bizarre. More proof that it’s a whole other world there. (As if more were needed.) > > Why can’t those Afghan pervs to go female child prostitutes like normal Thai people? 😉 Hmmm… we’re in this mess in Afghanistan in the first place because of GWB, right? And we got blessed with him because of which state’s institutionalized electoral incompetence? And you’re from where, again? _“That which thou wouldst not have done unto thee, do not the same to another”_ -Kung Fu-Tse and Hillel, among others ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/57 "2010-09-08T01:30:53Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Maybe, just maybe, the United States does not have a divine mission to save everyone, everywhere, from every possible evil. We are in Afghanistan for our own reasons, good or bad. In war and diplomacy, looking the other way at something an ally does, no matter how revolting it is to you, is often the best policy. Maybe, just maybe, some of us find turning our backs on child rape is morally wrong. Perhaps you have a different opinion about rape. Please explain. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/58 "2010-09-08T01:46:47Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > > [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > > > Maybe, just maybe, the United States does not have a divine mission to save everyone, everywhere, from every possible evil. We are in Afghanistan for our own reasons, good or bad. In war and diplomacy, looking the other way at something an ally does, no matter how revolting it is to you, is often the best policy. > > Maybe, just maybe, some of us find turning our backs on child rape is morally wrong. Perhaps you have a different opinion about rape. Please explain. What, specifically, do you propose that the US should do? Now, if you want to take this on as a personal mission, that’s a different story. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/59 "2010-09-08T01:52:19Z")
I propose we do all we can, where we can, as often as we can, as well as we can. Changing the world for the better is my personal mission. What is yours? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556/60 "2010-09-08T02:02:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Maybe, just maybe, some of us find turning our backs on child rape is morally wrong. Perhaps you have a different opinion about rape. Please explain. > [@](#): > > What, specifically, do you propose that the US should do? I find rape of any kind to be morally wrong. However, short of recruiting and dispatching assassins (which is quite illegal, and sets a bad precedent besides), I don’t know what to do to make the situation better rather than worse. The US helped give the Taliban its power, and we did it with somewhat good intentions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistans-dirty-little-secret/552556.md?page=4)