Salman Rushdie

tycho102 · 11-12-05, 11:10 AM

Has something interesting to say about Kashmir.

He's talking about the upcoming winter in the Himalayas, and over 100,000 people freezing to death (I imagine both Indian and Pakistani). To be completely honest, I have no compunction about aiding the Indians. The vast majority of Indians I've known have been decent people, even the really driven businessmen and physicians.

But the majority of Pakistani living in Kashmir are fueled by jihad; the same jihad that flys planes into buildings and loads up backpacks with TATP. I've heard it said the best that Pakistian can achieve is a police-state. Like remote New Zealand, over half of Pakistan is ruled by tribal law because "civilization" simply has not had time to spread to those areas.

If we save lives, but give them no other choice than to join the jihadists, then I feel we put ourselves in greater danger. If they have no other choice than a madarassa (or forced, at gunpoint, into jihad), then I feel it's a matter of Allah's will that they will die. Had the jihadists been more interested in constucting and preparing for this kind of disaster, then Allah might have willed them to live. As it is, their focus on killing the enemy has left them vulnerable to the ravages of weather.

There is something to be said for Natural Selection, here. Yahweh and Allah might take a day off, but Natural Selection doesn't.

I think it's an issue worth a bit of discussion.

11-12-05, 11:10 AM	#1
tycho102 Ace of the Deep Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1,100 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Salman Rushdie Has something interesting to say about Kashmir. He's talking about the upcoming winter in the Himalayas, and over 100,000 people freezing to death (I imagine both Indian and Pakistani). To be completely honest, I have no compunction about aiding the Indians. The vast majority of Indians I've known have been decent people, even the really driven businessmen and physicians. But the majority of Pakistani living in Kashmir are fueled by jihad; the same jihad that flys planes into buildings and loads up backpacks with TATP. I've heard it said the best that Pakistian can achieve is a police-state. Like remote New Zealand, over half of Pakistan is ruled by tribal law because "civilization" simply has not had time to spread to those areas. If we save lives, but give them no other choice than to join the jihadists, then I feel we put ourselves in greater danger. If they have no other choice than a madarassa (or forced, at gunpoint, into jihad), then I feel it's a matter of Allah's will that they will die. Had the jihadists been more interested in constucting and preparing for this kind of disaster, then Allah might have willed them to live. As it is, their focus on killing the enemy has left them vulnerable to the ravages of weather. There is something to be said for Natural Selection, here. Yahweh and Allah might take a day off, but Natural Selection doesn't. I think it's an issue worth a bit of discussion.