The world is crazy

I just read this article on CNN. Comments to follow.

Taliban threaten to kill aid workers as spies

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A top Taliban commander has issued a new threat to foreign aid workers, saying that under the insurgent group's new "constitution" they will execute them as spies or hold them in exchange for the release of Taliban fighters.

In an exclusive telephone interview Friday night with CNN, Mohammed Ibrahim Hanafi said the Taliban intelligence wing was actively gathering information on foreign aid workers. "If we get someone, that is how we will deal with it under our new constitution," he said.

He added that he was telling "Afghan brothers not to work with NGOs."

Then the article goes on to talk about how the Taliban is determined to keep girls from going to school, and mentions all the acid attacks and why it is that they don't want women to be educated. It's actually pretty interesting, because with all the sensational press about the oppression of Afghan women, they never actually explain why the Taliban don't want women to gain rights. I guess they just figure that it's wrong, so there's no point trying to justify it. Which is wrong in itself, because you can't just tell someone that their beliefs are wrong without at least acknowledging them. Also, I was an anthropology minor in college, so I don't think you can ever tell anyone that what they believe is wrong, simply because it contrasts with what you believe. But that's just me. Wow, that was a long tangent.

Okay, my main point with this article is that by doing this, the Taliban are only hurting their "Afghan brothers". I have no idea if there's any history of spies using NGO's as a cover and that is the reason for this edict, but NGO's exist to help people. Oh, sure, I've read about NGO's in Kabul helping themselves rather than the Afghan people, which is so monumentally wrong I'm not even going to get into it, because that would be another enormous tangent, but their basic purpose is to help people. If the Taliban start kidnapping/executing foreign aid workers, their agencies are going to stop sending them and leave Afghanistan because it's just too dangerous. Now, as things stand now, it's already extremely dangerous. Foreigners are always targeted, and aid workers are no exception (for example, the highly publicized case of Gayle Williams -- who was shot in broad daylight as she walked down a street in Kabul). Politics and corruption notwithstanding, NGO's in Afghanistan are there to help the Afghan people. And as bad as things might be for them now, without any aid, they will be even worse. Plus, if NGO's are scared away, there is absolutely no chance that in the future they will be able to do more than they currently are. That possibility will be gone. Door closed. So the end result of this Taliban decree is that their so-called "Afghan brothers," the people they claim to represent and want to help, will only be hurt. I know, I know, the Taliban is not exactly a fount of humanitarian generosity, but this just seems rather counterintuitive, even for anti-West extremists. But then again, extremists aren't exactly known for being reasonable.