Are you not noticing the pattern... ? If you're *that* unhappy, you will/would find other reasons to act out... instead of just conveniently waiting for a religious reason to throw your most massive of s**t-fits. The common denominator here is not "occupation", it's "violence in the name of religion".
no its occupation... I'm sorry but me personally being in Marjah, Afghanistan it didn't matter if we were building schools, paving roads etc they still wanted us out. "You occupy our lands and ON TOP OF THAT you burn our holy book?" That's what they are thinking. And they have every right to be.
It really pisses me off that people like ATW who have never suffered foreign occupation or being raised in a war torn country from child birth has the nerve to criticize these people.
Sorry, but no matter how hard your life is or was, there no excuse for this kind of violence because somebody burned a book you like.
Different? Probably. Better? Hell no. Certainly not if I think it's cool to riot violently over a book burning. Those are some seriously retrograde and toxic morals and values at practice.
You keep saying this as if it justifies them violently rioting over a book because it tells them it's ok. Sorry, it doesn't, and it won't. Ever. You're conveniently ignoring the direct and overt impetus for the violence (religion) and shifting the blame elsewhere. Not buying it.
Not many people are going to agree with the violence. But when you are in a foreign land and break their laws or do something that is looked down upon in the culture, there will be a punishment or reaction. It doesn't matter if it's burning a holy book, selling pot, insulting the king, stealing the village elephant (tony jaa will come after you), eating somebody's dog... you gotta be aware of what borders you are within. But... on with the religion bashing ye go.
And you will never understand these people because you will never be in their shoes... I personally know Marines who are mentally unstable from ONE TRAUMATIC event such as their fellow squad member being shot and killed in front of them. Now I wounder how unstable a human would be from a lifetime of seeing family die, friends die, mother being raped, air strikes.
If you honestly think religion has a direct correlation with these riots and not where a person was raised then explain to me this. There were obvious public protests in the States of Americans burning the quran, yet why no violent protests from Muslim Americans. My Mom who is a devout Muslim could not give two ****s about what happened. Living through a war makes people crazy. I've personally witnessed it.
Nowhere have I said that culture does not play a role here. In fact, I've said the opposite. However, what you conveniently ignore is that without the Quran and Islam, this violence never happens in the first place. U.S. Army personnel burn a box of gummi bears a prisoner had on him, nobody flips their s**t and riots. U.S. Army personnel burn a book that these people believe is sacred and worth fighting and dying over, everybody flips their s**t and riots. See the difference? Irregardless of culture, or how war-torn your country is, the violent directive has to come from somewhere. And it's a lot easier to be violent when you believe God is telling you to do it, instead of the Haribo candy company. I can "understand" their culture and plight as well as anybody, but it does not offer *any* excuse or justification for this behavior, only an explanation.
For the people of Afghanistan this is like a pep rally or a team building exercise. Yes though they are a backwards anachronism of religious intolerance and dogma, they are also a persecuted, downtrodden, occupied people that will take any opportunity to feel empowered and relish the group unity. Self-righteous indignity is an intoxicating emotion.
Do you honestly believe that if these people where from a different religious background that they would not find something else to riot over. Violence is a big part of their lives both on the receiving end and the giving (mostly receiving).
and that riot was over ONE MAN being assaulted by the police. How many civilian deaths have occurred by foreign invaders in the past few decades in Afghanistan?