I know someone on DU who was in Nepal and has met the rebels. He says they are very friendly and get along very well with tourists. Largely they are just sick of their country's exploitation by big foreign businesses (mainly Coca-Cola) and oppressive feudal traditions.
And that's just fine.
Don't pretend those girls with guns don't look evil to those who they're pointing the guns at. There's an essential difference between the Nepal rebels and the Iraqi insurgents/Al-Queda - the Nepal rebels aren't pointing their guns and aggression at you and your family/country. On the other hand, the insurgents and bin Laden are pointing their guns at us - that automatically makes them seem more evil to us, and we get the image of Islamic insurgents in our head as evil. If the Nepal rebels started going after you, they'd appear more evil to you.
Also, do you think the insurgents look like that when they go home to their families? You can't judge someone solely on how they appear - there's a number of menacing looking people in the world who are completely nice guys, and plenty of nice looking people who are evil sons of bitches.
They're pointing their guns at the photographer, who was almost certainly friendly with them since it looks like a staged shoot. But I know no one in Iraq, and since I was against the invasion and am totally against our current government, it hardly seems like my country or something involving me is over there. But I still think these guys look like evil SOBs:
I'm not going to ask, first of all, why the hell someone would do something like go to Nepal to meet rebels. And, honestly, I do not care what your friend on DU has to say. Personal experience for a few days is hardly worth mentioning, especially when it is not yours.
you didn't ask, but I'll answer anyway, he did not go to Nepal to meet rebels. Nepal is a very popular tourist destination.
Ted Bundy lived in this very neighborhood. Went to my middle school. Charming, social fellow. Many sociopathic people are smooth, handsome, and disarming, and can talk about brutally murdering innocent people with a smile on their face and not even a tangential understanding of what guilt is supposed to be and feel like. A photograph proves nothing other than that they can comb their hair, crawl into the fetal position, and smile for the camera. Everyone's an actor when the pay is good, so to speak.
You think a POW is able to prepare to look good for the camera?
You are about as convincing as Dr. Crippen's defense lawyer.
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