The Afghanistan Embassy in Australia, at least as far as this article shows, didn’t provide any details on how exactly the Taliban is distorting Sharia. It would have been enlightening if it had done so, as the Taliban actually are scrupulous in carrying out Sharia provisions as exactly as they possibly can. This conflicts with the prevailing view in the West, that Sharia is benign and completely compatible with Western secular society, and so it is likely that the Afghanistan Embassy in Australia is saying the Taliban’s application of Sharia is “distorted” in order to play to Western sensibilities, and not because of any actual difference between genuine Sharia and the Taliban’s application of it.
“Videos show Afghan civilians being tortured, murdered by Taliban,” IANS, July 16, 2021 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
New Delhi, July 16 (IANS) The Afghanistan Embassy in Australia has released a series of videos which appear to show appalling atrocities committed by the Taliban as the militant group intensifies its campaign to take control of the country, ABC reported.
The Embassy said it has collected the recordings from several parts of Afghanistan, which have recently fallen back under Taliban control as Western forces withdraw from the conflict-hit nation.
The deeply distressing videos show civilians being beaten, tortured and murdered.
Two separate clips show Afghan civilians — who the Embassy said are civil servants working for the government of Afghanistan — being beheaded by the Taliban, the report said.
One video shows Afghan soldiers surrendering and then being shot and killed by men who appear to be Taliban fighters.
Another video shows a man — apparently a civilian — being subjected to brutal torture in a public square, while a fifth video showing a woman being whipped by Taliban soldiers for breaking “modesty” laws.
The Embassy also provided photos showing the dead bodies of three people which it has identified as Afghan civil servants.
In a statement, the Embassy said the videos showed “the extreme violence, heartbreaking atrocities, and the horrible war crimes committed by the Taliban in the areas where they have recently entered”.
The Embassy said the videos and photos proved that the Taliban remained wedded to its “distorted interpretation of Islamic Sharia”….
Frank Anderson says
What happened in Vietnam and Cambodia following the April 30, 1975 US exit? Millions slaughtered. What is the difference? President Ford was prevented from stopping the invasion of the south, as had been promised, by the Democrat Congress. “Those who cannot remember the lessons of the past are condemned to repeat them.” Jorge Santayana, The Life of Reason (1905).
Infidel says
Frank
What exactly is your alternative? We’ve been there for 20 years, during which we tried to train the Afghan troops to fight for their country. But we can’t instill in them the will to defend it: that has to come from within. More insidiously, I think enough members of the Afghan army consider the Taliban as their own. I think they’d have fought tooth and nail had it been a real non-Afghan and non-islamic army, such as Russian, Chinese, US or Indian trying to conquer them
Also, your comparison to South Vietnam and Cambodia in 1975 is degrading to the people of at least South Vietnam. Before and for much of the war, they were a ragtag army, but by 1975, when the US were withdrawing, they were a ruthlessly efficient force and averaged an enemy a bullet while fighting the Viet Cong. What overwhelmed them was not the mere US withdrawal but the fact that the North Vietnamese far outnumbered them, since Vietnam had a much larger population, and that too of conscripts. However, despite that, the South Vietnamese fought tooth and nail, and went down in death. Completely different from the Afghan cowards who’re surrendering all that advanced weaponry to the Taliban
And Cambodia was not invaded until the Khmer Rouge started attacking Vietnam b’cos they thought that Hanoi was up to conquering them and forming an empire. This actually started in 1975 on the Khmer Rouge’s end, and Vietnam only seriously retaliated 3 years later, and overran Cambodia, making the Khmer Rouge’s fear a self fulfilling prophecy
But yeah, neither of these countries deserve their brave people who died fighting to be equated to these Afghan cowards
commonsense says
Infidel – your knowledge of the Far East is invaluable. Thanks for posting.
Frank Anderson says
I., I do not have one NOW. 20 years ago, the better alternative might have been to go in and slaughter every jihadi that could be found. Too much effort was made and too many people were sacrificed to arrest and jail people who should have been killed on the spot. They were terrorists, not uniformed soldiers in lawful combat. They had no Geneva Convention limiting their attacks, brutality and slaughter. They mocked our fear of acting decisively and simply wore us out.
I agree the comparison of Vietnam is not a perfect match. But the slaughter that will follow today will match or exceed those witnessed in Vietnam and Cambodia. What would happen if the US etc. bailed today on South Korea or Europe (as it appears to be softening on Taiwan)? Promises are hollow to the US, as they were to Neville Chamberlain, “. . . a people far away about whom we know little. . . ” How about Ukraine, which was guaranteed its borders only to see that guarantee become for all intents and purposes worthless.
The enemies we face have a simple goal, our destruction and enslavement. They have no rules of engagement while we are handicapped by rules imposed by people who want us to lose. You have almost certainly read the koran, scrambled in order of the longest chapter first and flooded with useless details of desert life. A more direct view is obtainable if you will look. You cannot win a fight against savages with one rule (WIN), by drowning yourself in rules that make your defeat certain.
Infidel says
20 years ago, the right thing to have done would have been to ignore President Musharraf and target both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Cripple al Qaeda as well as the militaries of both countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan, and in particular, be sure to take out Pak’s nukes. Once that was done, victory should have been declared and our troops withdrawn. Anyway, 20 years ago is water under the bridge: either Trump or Biden could only have played the hands they were dealt, which was a few casualties in Afghanistan every few weeks for a mission that’s more a mystery than anything else
On South Korea and Europe, bailing would indeed be a good idea. In South Korea, President Moon has been very sentimental towards Korean unity, and has been willing to achieve that at any cost, including a North Korean takeover of his country. We can’t have our troops there when our ‘ally’ is more enamored w/ their northern brothers than w/ their foreign protectors. Europe too, I have long argued that NATO’s mission is now unknown (which is why they proposed climate change to their mission recently), and so our troops should not be in Europe either. The countries that are directly threatened by Russia i.e. Georgia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland, we can have military deals w/ them to train their armed forces to the teeth. But we have no business having any troops there
Taiwan is a bad idea for troops as well, as China has the distance advantage over us by far. The best we can do for Taiwan, like in the case of Ukraine, is to arm them fully so that China gets a bloody nose like they did in India last year if they try to attack
Frank Anderson says
I., your opinion and evaluation are just as good as mine. We can be sure that neither of us will likely change what is going to happen. Somewhere along the way somebody is going to have to draw a line and mean it. Otherwise we and those who follow will learn what it is to live and die in totalitarian rule. We have too many imitators of Neville Chamberlain calling the shots today. But even he finally had to see a line he could not cross, at what price?
Infidel says
Frank
Right now, the only thing I want to see is damage control by all the non muslim actors in the area – namely US and India. We should stop spending one more cent on anything – reconstruction, nation-building, training their army, arms or anything else. Just bring our troops home. Hugh noted a few days ago how our withdrawal has brought panic to the policy makers in Beijing, Teheran and Moscow, and would even do so in Islamabad, if their prime minister wasn’t a clueless moron. At any rate, let’s leave them to their own devices: there are a lot of other places in the world that we need to worry about, even if our globalist overlords are determined to put America last
Frank Anderson says
I., on that we agree.
As a personal experience, I was confronted with the total corruption of the state where I lived, from the bar and supreme court down, including my family. It was necessary to accept the loss and move away to do a complete restart, from digging ditches, fencing pastures, feeding cows and working in a furniture plant. But they no longer had the ability to threaten me. I survived and learned how to fight. If I had stayed, they would have succeeded as they have many times with others who were trapped in their control, in killing them by any means available. To their massive disappointment, I am still alive and more able to fight than they ever expected.
Infidel says
Frank
There needs to be more people like you in government. At every level! Thank you for everything you’ve done!
gravenimage says
Sadly, Frank, it is not possible for us to civilize Afghanistan–a place that is almost 100% Muslim.
gregbeetham says
And that gravenimage is the actual problem, to fix Afghanistan or Pakistan you would have to first remove Islam and to do that you would have to remove 100% of the population. You can’t convince Afghans to fight for their ‘country’ because their first allegiance is to Islam and besides the attempt at installing democracy in such places is doomed to fail because the leaders have an Islamic heritage and therefore corruption and nepotism reign supreme which the average Afghan won’t particularly feel like fighting and dying for.
Wellington says
I would add, Infidel, respecting Vietnam, that the 1973 Paris Peace Accords which allowed many thousands of NVA soldiers to remain in northern South Vietnam was a “kiss of death” and foretold an almost inevitable end even if President Ford had gotten what he wanted from Congress, which, as Frank pointed out, he didn’t.
Beneath the Veil of Consciousness says
The West and Afghanis have not yet hit their bottom. I knew we were in trouble when then President George W. (Fredo Corleone) Bush exclaimed that Islam was a religion of peace, soon after said “religion” slaughtered 3000 Citizens of the United States. I am reminded of the scene in the Exorcist where the younger priest described the various demons. The elder priest brought him up short with the retort that there is only one Satan regardless of its manifestations. The West still grapples with the notion that afghanis, who are followers, albeit tacitly, of a satanic death cult, are not victims, but rather, enablers of their own perilous fate. The idea that these people could build a free and democratic society is absurd. EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT ISLAM I LEARNED ON 911.
Infidel says
BTVOC
I once saw the last line of yours as someone’s signature back in the days when we had those below posts. It was pithy but accurate, and a muslim who was arguing w/ that guy was just exasperated: it was fun to see him seethe
David M says
After 9/11 President George W Bush said a Saudi (Osama Bin Laden) masterminded it, & 20 Saudis carried it out. Then he evacuated Saudis out of the US, bowed before the Saudi king & invaded Iraq, while staying friends with Saudi Arabia. It is known high level Saudi Arabian officials were involved in organising it. Hmmmm.
gravenimage says
Saudi Arabia is not our ally. Too many in the west have unfortunately believed that they are.
Wellington says
Sometimes you need to know only one thing to grasp a much larger matter. An example of this is that the Taliban are very devout Muslims following Islamic directives thoroughly and assiduously. Ah, if only America over the last forty years had known this one “thing.”
Didn’t. Still doesn’t.
gravenimage says
+1
gregbeetham says
Yep we found the limitations of being naïve, ignorant and dumb and that’s about it.
gravenimage says
Taliban torturing and murdering civilians based on its ‘distorted interpretation of Islamic Sharia’
……………..
Even though this is what every pious Muslim group does.
sidney penny says
“so it is likely that the Afghanistan Embassy in Australia is saying the Taliban’s application of Sharia is “distorted” in order to play to Western sensibilities,”
Yes, it is a play to Western sensibilities.
islamic mirror says
Free download in Arabic or English. Copy and paste LINK into browser.
http://www.islamic-laws.com/download/Islaamic_Sharia_Law_sunni.pdf
and
• early biography of mohd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Ishaq
• Islamic scholars do not want muslims and non-muslims know about these links as they will be exposed of not telling the facts
gravenimage says
Thanks for those links.