Quote:
Originally Posted by S-2
"I didn't really want to say it in my original post because it was just one of the many disagreements I had with Karzai's glossover of the whole US-Afghan relationship and I did not want to veer off on a tangent."
How would this comment by you-one of five retorts you provided in your initial post-threaten to tangentialize your thread anymore than your other four mentioned disagreements?
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I didn't want any of my 5 retorts to veer off into a tangent in the first post. Thus they were kept brief.
Quote:
Originally Posted by S-2
[b]
"It is quite a lot harder for an American to find anything positive about Afghanistan because quite simply, there isn't much effort made to produce such material, so it is quite natural to expect this attitude from an American towards an Afghan."
First, why the agenda by the media against Afghanistan? For how long have we Americans been the unwitting dupes of this conspiracy to single out Afghanistan? Was it the media's objective that we actually come to "hate" all things afghan, to include the people themselves, or simply a result that exceeded their expectations of, say, indifference?
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I never said Afghanistan was singled out, ok well to a certain extent I must admit my belief is that it was when the taliban were being demonized ever since they gained power. The northern alliance was held up to be the legitimate govt of Afghanistan in the news and the taliban as the illegitimate islamic fundementalists that were bringing Afghanistan closer and closer to medieval times. Nothing positive was said about the taliban pre-2001 and certainly not after 2001. I think everyone can agree that the Taliban were demonized in mainstream American media. Pakistan, the UAE and Saudi were the only three nations on the planet who recognized the Taliban as legitimate. Much of the rest of the world, the US included spewed hate propaganda against the Taliban, and by extention(intended or not) the mass of the Afghan people. After all, what is a consumer of mainstream news meant to think during those times? That the average Afghan was a liberal, beer guzzling pagan being opressed by islamofascists? No, I think the impression the average person got was that Afghans must have a preference for this type of lifestyle.
Perhaps the removal of the Taliban was decided long before the catalysing effects of 911, I don't know but the impression I get is that propaganda targetting the Taliban and by extension the Afghan people was being churned out from the 90s onwards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by S-2
[b]
To summarize, we've been the victims/targets of a media campaign of " willful neglect" directed at Afghanistan (of all places). Our instinct, in the absence of available media information, is to "hate" Afghans? On both scores your premise reeks of projection.
"How prevalent is this negative attitude?"
"Hate" is a bit more dramatic than simply "negative" and you've not even remotely made a case for it's existance at all, much less to levels of prevalence.
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I have stated my opinion. Do you want me to dig up something akin to a gallop poll which supports my opinion? Remember I am referring to the majority in the American public, not you specifically or even the posters on this forum.
Quote:
Originally Posted by S-2
[b]
"The remaining majority still wants to civilize Afghanistan but with an Iron fist and have little to no sympathy for Afghans and have an intense distaste for the Afghan mindset."
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Quote:
Originally Posted by S-2
[b]
Maqsad, I put a nat'l flag in front of my moniker. You've the gall to make these claims against my fellow citizens and not enough forthright honesty to allow me to know a damn thing about you. Still, I already know that you bring a sickeningly skewed pre-conceived notion about Americans that is not substantiated by you in any remotely reasonable way.
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I take it once again you are asking me to further substantiate my personal opinion as it applies to American public sentiments. Well my personal opinion is just that, a personal impression that I have formed by living most of my life in America itself. Am I not allowed to form an opinion and express it here?
My "pre-concieved notion" about Americans is simply my own personal observation of how video and text propaganda has affected the majority of the American populace. Am I supposed to make a documentary explaining this phenomenon before I am allowed to express my own opinion regarding what I myself have observed?
Quote:
Originally Posted by S-2
[b]
Here's the worst part, you venomous jerk- we haven't even covered THIS little tidbit of yours yet,
"And "muslims" for that matter actually regardless of what the official denials might be."
I can't wait for more of your dissembling, mindless rationales about what we, collectively, think in a monolithic (mind you, with noted marginal outlyers to denote YOUR reasonable perspective) lock-step mindset march of Amerimania bent on spewing hatred of muslims. 
Last, why the agenda by the media against Islam? |
Lets examine this other tidbit then. I have asserted that there are elements in the media that the average American has access to, which biases them against the middle east and Islam in general. Reason I mentioned this little tidbit by the way was because Islam is the dominant religion of Afghanistan and I thought it was relevent, not because I wanted to sit and whine about "Islam bashing" but simply because I thought it was relevent to the case of Afghanistan.
At the same time I also said that officially you will find that people who run campaigns against the religion of Islam always have an amusing disclaimer up their sleeves such as "I have nothing against the muslim people but blah blah.." or "I have nothing against moderate muslims but ya da da da..". Also we are well familiar with what political leaders say to the press regarding respect for all religions. Indeed GW Bush has come on TV many a time saying how great a religion Islam is etc etc but the average joe doesn't really seem to buy what Bush says, dismissing it in favor of a somewhat more negative opinion he/she has formed using other means.
I suppose you might want me to back all this up too? With sources rich in negative propaganda and perhaps some public polls that back me up statistically?
