DBBrinson1 wrote:
ReTox wrote:
DBBrinson1 wrote:
Something tells me Lotta isn't a Hindu. Also what if he's right and you're wrong? Reap the VIPAKA!
Hindu or not, what goes around comes around.
I hope he never experiences someone placing that amount of hate towards him. If that is bad karma for me then so be it, I'd rather be damned than wish that on anyone.
Too late. There are people who all ready do hate him. They also hate you, and me. They hate what your country fights and stands for. They hate what my country fights and stands for. Talk karma all you want. The people I'm FEOS and I are writing about don't believe in that shit.
Yes there are people who would rather see me dead than breathing but that doesn't mean I feel that way towards to them, or anyone.
That is why I advocate infrastructure as much as combat for all the NATO troops in Afghanistan. I watched an enthralling documentary the other day on how much attitudes have changed in Kandahar since schools have been rebuilt, Afghans are being shown how to secure their own lands as best as is possible and the attitudes towards the west are changing. Slowly but they are changing and that is progress in the right direction. It isn't enough to just give people food and money... show them "how to fish and they can feed themselves forever". This works quite well.
But it's also important that once Afghanistan is stable, and it will happen, that we leave when asked to. This is also the major factor in my initial and total confusion in Bush's choice to hit Iraq. Yes it is been debated ad nauseum but if the troops in Iraq would have been kept in Afghanistan the middle east would be much more stable. Afghanistan might even be able to stand on her own with pride for the first time in 30+ years. I can't help but think a stable and democratic Afghanistan would be a powerful ally in negotiations with less friendly countries over there.
I'm Buddhist, that doesn't mean just when it is convenient, it means I have decided a certain way of living brings me the most happiness and peace. It also means that life is sacred to me, all life, including the most vile and despised people in the world. Amazing things happen when you risk talking with your enemy. Just look at North Korea in the last few months... their biggest reactor demolished, NY Philharmonic invited to play Pyongyang and the North Korea equivalent played in NY all because we lifted some sanctions and started talking. It might not seem like much but when you think about the famous "axis of evil" regime being so cut off from the world and now there is a marked progress towards glasnost.
The same can be done with the Taliban and other extremist groups. The Taliban wanted to negotiate, Karzai said yes, NATO said no. That was a missed chance. Bring them to the table and start a dialog at the least. I firmly believe there is a solution to every problem and an agreement reachable in every dispute. We just have to have a willingness to try. I don't buy the "God commands me to kill all non Muslims" rhetoric... there is an underlying problem there that if dealt with will change that hateful attitude.
The best example of what I mean is here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. A Mosque was just opened here and our Prime Minister attended the ribbon cutting because the Imams have publicly invited anyone, regardless of religion or belief, to come and learn and share. That is beautiful to see and a place I do intend to visit soon. People in the community donated the money to build the $4,000,000 Mosque and then opened the doors and said "Please come sit with me and let us be neighbours". That is what I've always thought Canada's multiculturalism to be like and because of it I have to believe it can be accomplished elsewhere.