Should Iran be invited to join a UN-led co-alition to Afghanistan?

[MHz]

Side note to put in perspective:

It would be like sending in the Turkish to help occupy (Kurdish) Northern Iraq because they are both Muslim. Just throw gasoline on the fire.

Why are we even putting forth who would be best? It is who the people that will be seeing them an a day-by-day that should be there. The longer the list the better. Throw enough cash on the fire and it gets smothered, the more gas (as in right now) the more cash needed, it isn't like the banks don't have some of that sitting around.

 

[MHz]

Afghanistan is 80% Sunni. Syria is 65% Sunni. Yemen is 55% Sunni. Turkey is 90%+ Sunni.

I'd think any one of the three would be a good fit.

If it's truly a political equation (Ba'athist), then what are democratic, Christian countries doing in a fundamentalist muslim country. Are they not avowed enemies?

How many tourists could a place called the Sunni Mediterranean attract? LOT$

 

[#juan]

Iran should be invited to join a UN led coalition to kiss my furry ass.

Talk about letting the fox loose in the hen house!!!!

Letting a fox loose in the hen house was installing the Shah. If there is paranoia and unrest in Iran the U.S. can take full responsibility.

 

[Zzarchov]

Afghanistan is 80% Sunni. Syria is 65% Sunni. Yemen is 55% Sunni. Turkey is 90%+ Sunni.

I'd think any one of the three would be a good fit.

If it's truly a political equation (Ba'athist), then what are democratic, Christian countries doing in a fundamentalist muslim country. Are they not avowed enemies?

And you think somehow that Secular dictatorial or secular democratic nations would be a magically better fit?

The categorizing as people as a relgion and nothing more is dehumanizing and unhelpful. They have political movements in Afghanistan, they have schools of thought, they have culture, they aren't just "Islam"

Nor are they all fundementalist Islam, lets not forget it went communist on its own as well.

 

[Machjo]

Well, I'm not crazy about their President......and I don't have much use for their ME proxies, but I suspect the people of Iran are much more open and "liberal" than the nation's leaders would indicate........

So let's just say I don't like their current gov't, and certainly don't trust it.

Granted, I don't like their politics either. But we can't deny that from a practical standpoint, their land troops would be far more competent than ours in being able to communicate with the local population and so establish relations with them. I'm sure we could negotiate something with Iran whereby we let them into Afghanistan with an understanding that the goal is to establish friendly relations with the local population. This would be in iran's interests and ours. it really would be a win-win-win situation if we could just look beyond the narrow politics of the situation.

 

[Machjo]

I'm assuming you think that Muslims do nothing but love their fellow Muslims and would never hurt a brother muslim.

That's not what I'm saying. but how would that be any different from Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, etc.? Overall, they'd likely be able to communicate with the local language through the power of language rather than strictly through the barrel of a rifle. That alone would make a big difference in not making the soldiers feel so foreign. Just look at how we respond to a visitor to Canada who knows English compared to a native-Canadian who doesn't. Which one feels less foreign? We can't ignore that factor. Canadian and US troops are way too obviously foreign to teh locla population to relate to without a common language to communicate in.

 

[Machjo]

Absolutely. Any coalition in Afghanistan should include Iran and Pakistan. They have a better historical and geographical reason for being there than such bastions of Islam as Canada, The USA and Britain.

Those who think not are merely expressing their paranoia

The Pakistani army is likely to have nearly as much difficulty as our troops; again, they couldn't even communicate with the locals. But I could see Pakistan serving as support, like us, to the iranian frotn lines.

 

[Machjo]

How about an option:

No because they have a different religion than the Average Afghanistani and will only fuel the violence.

Shia in Afghanistan are the persecuted minority, thats why Iran nearly invaded and took out the Taliban a couple years before we did.

And while I don't like condoning that kind of bigotry, lets be honest here, if you were trying to occupy Richmond after the civil war, sending in a black platoon to occupy the place will only cause problems, from a purely practical standpoint.

I realize this, but at least their troops could communicate directly with about half of the Afghan population, and not through an interpretor. That's a big plus. They can talk to the locals, listen to their complaints, even joke with them, creating friendlier ties.

As for the difference in religion, there is less difference between Shi'a and Sunni than between Christian and Muslim.

 

[Machjo]

How about sending in the Turkish. That would be the optimal solution. Even Syria or Yemen would be better than what's there now

I would say a common language would be more important than a common religion. but yes, a common religion helps too, so yes, that would be a better option than Canada and the US, again, if we can look past our own ethnocentrism.

 

[Machjo]

Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan would be useful allies to have too in Afghanistan, in parts at least, since they'd share a common language too, but that's just very few parts of the country, but still.

 

[lone wolf]

Maybe we could take a thousand Iranians and a thousand Israelis, form a combined unit and place them on Pakistan border patrol....

 

[Socrates the Greek]

Iran is not to be trusted!

 

[MHz]

And you think somehow that Secular dictatorial or secular democratic nations would be a magically better fit?

The categorizing as people as a relgion and nothing more is dehumanizing and unhelpful. They have political movements in Afghanistan, they have schools of thought, they have culture, they aren't just "Islam"

Nor are they all fundementalist Islam, lets not forget it went communist on its own as well.

Don't Churches have differences, sometimes vast ones. They even call each other by names. Clearly they should never be considered as the only choice for bringing calm to a anxious place.
There was a period since WWII that they were self-governing (than before or since). Humanatarian rights were becoming more equal quite quickly, the % of 'professionals' increased and they were making steady democratic process. North America has it's first women voters {federal) in 1920+ , that means they were only a few decades behind. That should not have changed.

Iran is not to be trusted!

Link please.

 

[Socrates the Greek]

Don't Churches have differences, sometimes vast ones. They even call each other by names. Clearly they should never be considered as the only choice for bringing calm to a anxious place.
There was a period since WWII that they were self-governing (than before or since). Humanatarian rights were becoming more equal quite quickly, the % of 'professionals' increased and they were making steady democratic process. North America has it's first women voters {federal) in 1920+ , that means they were only a few decades behind. That should not have changed.


Link please.

Link for what? They have a dismal record of being fair with the rest of the world, why would anyone want them to be a part of the UN? That would pollute the pool of great people.

 

[lone wolf]

Link for what? They have a dismal record of being fair with the rest of the world, why would anyone want them to be a part of the UN? That would pollute the pool of great people.

You are rather a bigot aren't you. How DO you keep those sheets so white.

 

[Zzarchov]

I realize this, but at least their troops could communicate directly with about half of the Afghan population, and not through an interpretor. That's a big plus. They can talk to the locals, listen to their complaints, even joke with them, creating friendlier ties.

As for the difference in religion, there is less difference between Shi'a and Sunni than between Christian and Muslim.

There is no fight like a family fight as they say. Minor differences in faith tend to have bloodier conflicts than complete differences.

 

[MHz]

Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan would be useful allies to have too in Afghanistan, in parts at least, since they'd share a common language too, but that's just very few parts of the country, but still.

Allies to whom? Their only Allie is the people whose place they are at. Give the local population a lot of money to spend and a lot of things to choose from they are going to choose things they find amusing over torture with that new cordless drill. Development plans have to look at least 20 years into the future.

 

[Socrates the Greek]

You are rather a bigot aren't you. How DO you keep those sheets so white.

Good day LW, easy on the friendly fire, I am not a bigot LW, but these fundamentalist losers are on record calling the west queers, so why on earth do you want to pollute the pool with intellect that has hatred as the #1 agenda.
I am a bigot against anyone who wants to inflict harm to humanity, why is that wrong?

 

[lone wolf]

Good day LW, easy on the friendly fire, I am not a bigot LW, but these fundamentalist losers are on record calling the west queers, so why on earth do you want to pollute the pool with intellect that has hatred as the #1 agenda.
I am a bigot against anyone who wants to inflict harm to humanity, why is that wrong?

Keep writing, sock.... You're digging your way in deeper. You are judging an entire population by those idiots who make the most noise. Do you talk out of the side of your mouth like a certain Liberal?

 

[MHz]

I am not a bigot LW, but these fundamentalist losers are on record calling the west queers, so why on earth do you want to pollute the pool with intellect that has hatred as the #1 agenda.

If somebody offers you some money to use those exact words on a poster or something similar take it, but insist on a base %age because it will sell fast and furious for years on end as a classic.:angry3: