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| Afghanistan | |
| Afghans stage anti-US protest in Kabul | |
| 2003-05-24 | |
About 200 people chanted "Death to Americans" and threw rocks at the US embassy in Kabul on Saturday in protest against the killing of four Afghan soldiers by US troops at the same spot earlier in the week. The protesters also smashed windows of cars belonging to the international peace-keeping force parked nearby. US special forces guarding the embassy pointed guns at the crowd but did not fire. The crowd later dispersed and there were no immediate reports of any injuries. US troops shot dead four Afghans and wounded four others outside the US embassy on Wednesday when they mistakenly thought they were about to come under attack. The protesters, who initially numbered almost 50, were joined by more people as they moved towards the US embassy. They chanted and threw rocks and bricks at the mission building. They also shouted slogans against US-backed President Hamid Karzai and called for the withdrawal of US forces. "We want (revenge for the) blood of our martyrs," some shouted.
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| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #7 during the afghan monarchy (pre-1974) Afghan was steadily modernizing and even centralizing to some degree. These people are not, for the most part savages. They have been subjected to horror for the last 25 years, its no wonder they have trouble building up democracy. (and we should note that much of their horror occured when they fought a war that brought down the Soviet empire, with our support. They could as easily have collaborated) These comments do remind that the US is not naturally imperialist - the world has less to worry about from us than they think. But if we're going to win this thing we need to stick to it, and Afghan is first place. If we leave them, the people who won the cold war for us, we will have no credibility elsewhere. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-05-27 08:37:56 |
| #6 No, Eric. They either need to come into the 21st century voluntarily because they want to or we'll just have to sanitize the entire region with gamma radiation. I'm sick and tired of being played for a fool by those savages. If they want to die, let them. We have the means. |
| Posted by: Emperor Misha I 2003-05-24 23:41:37 |
| #5 I'm sorry those Afghan soldiers are dead, but I'm glad that our troops have got permission to defend themselves. No more Beiruts! |
| Posted by: The Sanity Inspector 2003-05-24 22:44:42 |
| #4 But Fred, if we just get up and leave them to stew in their own Ignorant juices, we'll just get another Taliban in charge over there. We have to keep trying to bring them into the 21st century (or at least the 20th) for our own self-defense. We don't need yet another 9/11 training ground. |
| Posted by: eric 2003-05-24 17:11:59 |
| #3 I second, or actually "third," those comments. Keep it in perspective. One can find 200 kooks anywhere to protest nearly anything. Heck, I've seen strike pickets in this country that were nastier, and larger, than that. It's also a positive sign, I believe, that they feel free to protest, and it was "jus" some rock throwing and chanting. The road to democracy will be a long one, but the fact that we didn't machinegun the protestors will register positively with a lot of people. |
| Posted by: Ralph 2003-05-24 14:01:13 |
| #2 I agree with Damn Proud. 200 is tiny. Also, the Tajik, Uzbek, and Hazara districts of Afghanistan (perhaps 60 %) are in no danger of becoming the "low rent district of the NWFP." The Pashtuns, on the other hand .... |
| Posted by: closet neo-con 2003-05-24 13:09:16 |
| #1 I think you're way off on this. It was only 200 people and we shot four of their soldiers. Could you imagine how much bigger this protest would have been in other countries, for example South Korea.... |
| Posted by: Damn_Proud_American 2003-05-24 11:06:38 |