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Neither you nor I know the mysteries of eternity,
Neither you nor I read this enigma;
You and I only talk this side of the veil;
When the veil falls, neither you nor I will be here.
-Omar Khayyam
mehreenkasana: To thwart the Taliban, marines in Helmand province are teaching the locals to read the Koran: For years, America viewed religion in Afghanistan as a minefield. Worried that the war on terror would be seen as a crusade against Islam, the U.S. military mostly tried not to cause offense, and instead focused on killing insurgents and building up the local government, economy, and security forces. But the Taliban has long wielded religion as a weapon, presenting the Talibs as true believers, and coalition forces and their Afghan allies as infidels and apostates. Though the U.S. military’s counterinsurgency manual makes slight mention of religion, the few references neatly summarize Taliban efforts: “Islamic extremists use perceived threats to their religion by outsiders to mobilize support for their insurgency and justify terrorist tactics … Effective insurgent propaganda can also turn an artificial problem into a real one.” In their patch of Helmand, Solomon and his Afghan and American colleagues started meeting this spring to brainstorm ways to counter the Taliban’s message. “The Taliban are Muslim too, but they do bad things against Islam,” Khabir’s assistant, Sergeant Muhammad Nabi, another mullah, told 20 American and Afghan soldiers and religious advisers crowded into a tent in May. “Islam doesn’t say ‘Kill the people, bury IEDs in the road, and ambush the Afghan army.’ Islam doesn’t say ‘Do suicide attacks against other Muslims.’ We have to talk to those who have dark ideas.” More here. Highly recommended read. I always thought that the only way the US could win this war was if it utilized religion positively to combat terrorist ideology.
30 notes
Afghanistan Foreign Policy AfPak US Taliban Helmand News Politics War on Terror Islam Muslim
Reblogged from mehreenkasana
Originally posted by mehreenkasana
  1. fizajihan reblogged this from pushinghoopswithsticks
  2. pushinghoopswithsticks reblogged this from mehreenkasana and added:
    To thwart the Taliban, Marines in Helmand province are teaching the locals to read the Koran:
  3. sugardevil reblogged this from mehreenkasana
  4. kashifpasta reblogged this from thequeenofdiamonds and added:
    If they’re teaching it properly, this is actually smart.
  5. thequeenofdiamonds reblogged this from mehreenkasana and added:
    I always thought that the only way the US could win this war was if it utilized religion positively to combat terrorist...
  6. weeaboo-chan reblogged this from mehreenkasana
  7. mehreenkasana posted this


Source: The Atlantic