Day 1: Afghanistan
       |           

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
March 19, 2024, 02:54:14 AM
News: Election Simulator 2.0 Released. Senate/Gubernatorial maps, proportional electoral votes, and more - Read more

  Talk Elections
  General Politics
  International General Discussion (Moderators: afleitch, Hash)
  Day 1: Afghanistan
« previous next »
Pages: [1]
Author Topic: Day 1: Afghanistan  (Read 1702 times)
phk
phknrocket1k
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 12,906


Political Matrix
E: 1.42, S: -1.22

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« on: January 22, 2006, 12:29:03 PM »

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/af.html

Discuss
Logged
Joe Republic
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 40,028
Ukraine


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2006, 12:50:13 PM »

If you squint a little, it looks like West Virginia.  And I'm not just talking about the outline of it either.
Logged
phk
phknrocket1k
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 12,906


Political Matrix
E: 1.42, S: -1.22

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2006, 01:03:47 PM »

What do you think about Hamid Karzai?
Logged
Joe Republic
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 40,028
Ukraine


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2006, 01:04:59 PM »

I don't personally care, so let's see what other people think.
Logged
○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└
jfern
Atlas Institution
*****
Posts: 53,570


Political Matrix
E: -7.38, S: -8.36

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2006, 03:49:34 PM »

2005 life expentacy is 42.90, which ranks 216th out of 226 countries, losing to countries like Chad and the Sudan.

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html


Afganistan deaths:
US soldiers killed / Total allied killed
2001: 12/12
2002: 48/68
2003: 48/57
2004: 52/58
2005: 99/129
http://www.icasualties.org/oef/

Yes, far more were killed last year than in previous years. Unlike Iraq, a significant fraction of the deaths are non-American.




Logged
they don't love you like i love you
BRTD
Atlas Prophet
*****
Posts: 112,583
Ukraine


Political Matrix
E: -6.50, S: -6.67

P P
Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2006, 09:22:40 PM »

Under the communist government, those burkahs the Taliban made women wear were banned. Shows communists can do some things right.
Logged
DanielX
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 5,126
United States


Political Matrix
E: 2.45, S: -4.70

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2006, 09:33:46 PM »

Under the communist government, those burkahs the Taliban made women wear were banned. Shows communists can do some things right.

Same was true back when the king was in charge. The king's deposition in 1973 was the start of the whole mess - it snowballed from dictatorship to communist occupied state to islamist theocracy with civil war all the way. Before then, Afghanistan was poor but relatively stable.
Logged
Flying Dog
Jtfdem
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 6,404
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2006, 01:26:22 PM »

I heard the Taliban is getting bolder and stronger.
Logged
WMS
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 6,562


Political Matrix
E: -3.48, S: -1.22

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #8 on: January 23, 2006, 02:59:00 PM »

Even with as many problems as it still has, it is still in the best shape it's been in for decades.
Logged
minionofmidas
Lewis Trondheim
Atlas Institution
*****
Posts: 58,207
India


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2006, 03:01:35 PM »

Even with as many problems as it still has, it is still in the best shape it's been in for decades.
No, in ca 2003 it was in the best shape it's been in for decades, and arguably the best shape ever. Now it's in slightly worse shape than 2 years ago, so obviously not the best shape in decades.
Logged
they don't love you like i love you
BRTD
Atlas Prophet
*****
Posts: 112,583
Ukraine


Political Matrix
E: -6.50, S: -6.67

P P
Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2006, 03:02:42 PM »

Even with as many problems as it still has, it is still in the best shape it's been in for decades.

Arguably was better off under the Daoud regime. While Daoud was a dictator in a one party state his modernization of the country did a hell of a more good for women than anything any other leader has and the country was largely peaceful.
Logged
minionofmidas
Lewis Trondheim
Atlas Institution
*****
Posts: 58,207
India


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2006, 03:03:39 PM »

Even with as many problems as it still has, it is still in the best shape it's been in for decades.

Arguably was better off under the Daoud regime. While Daoud was a dictator in a one party state his modernization of the country did a hell of a more good for women than anything any other leader has and the country was largely peaceful.
That was decades ago.
Logged
Filuwaúrdjan
Realpolitik
Atlas Institution
*****
Posts: 67,590
United Kingdom


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2006, 03:07:48 PM »

Daoud was good for Kabul yes; not for most of the rest of the country though. O/c he was a hell of a lot better than the sadistic morons in charge for the few decades after him.
Logged
WMS
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 6,562


Political Matrix
E: -3.48, S: -1.22

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2006, 03:09:06 PM »

Even with as many problems as it still has, it is still in the best shape it's been in for decades.
No, in ca 2003 it was in the best shape it's been in for decades, and arguably the best shape ever. Now it's in slightly worse shape than 2 years ago, so obviously not the best shape in decades.

Hmm? Details, please? One would have hoped that actually holding somewhat free and fair elections without a civil war erupting over the results would have improved things. And I had heard reconstruction is slowly but steadily moving forward...

Even with as many problems as it still has, it is still in the best shape it's been in for decades.

Arguably was better off under the Daoud regime. While Daoud was a dictator in a one party state his modernization of the country did a hell of a more good for women than anything any other leader has and the country was largely peaceful.
That was decades ago.

And I would say the communist regime was way too repressive to make those gains worth the cost. Also, you can't force secular/modern changes on a society that doesn't want to make them - usually, you get a backlash (see Turkey in the countryside, Iran after the Shah, etc.) that makes things even worse. Changing a society takes some time to accomplish...
Logged
Filuwaúrdjan
Realpolitik
Atlas Institution
*****
Posts: 67,590
United Kingdom


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2006, 03:11:09 PM »

Hmm? Details, please? One would have hoped that actually holding somewhat free and fair elections without a civil war erupting over the results would have improved things. And I had heard reconstruction is slowly but steadily moving forward...

Lewis might be talking about something else, but the Taliban have become fairly active in the south again.
Logged
phk
phknrocket1k
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 12,906


Political Matrix
E: 1.42, S: -1.22

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #15 on: January 23, 2006, 03:13:12 PM »

Hmm? Details, please? One would have hoped that actually holding somewhat free and fair elections without a civil war erupting over the results would have improved things. And I had heard reconstruction is slowly but steadily moving forward...

Lewis might be talking about something else, but the Taliban have become fairly active in the south again.

I believe many went into the "no-man's" land on the Afghan-Pakistan border and are returning.
Logged
WMS
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 6,562


Political Matrix
E: -3.48, S: -1.22

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #16 on: January 23, 2006, 03:14:35 PM »

Hmm? Details, please? One would have hoped that actually holding somewhat free and fair elections without a civil war erupting over the results would have improved things. And I had heard reconstruction is slowly but steadily moving forward...

Lewis might be talking about something else, but the Taliban have become fairly active in the south again.

Well, that was inevitable - as long as the Pashtuns in the NWFP in Pakistan keep supporting them, there's going to be trouble down there. I've also heard the Taliban have been fracturing, with some of their leaders accepting government amnesties, but this sort of thing is always murky.
Logged
Schmitz in 1972
Liberty
Jr. Member
***
Posts: 1,317
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #17 on: January 23, 2006, 05:03:09 PM »

Afghanistan is in my opinion a place to be pitied. It seems that they always get trouble there, be it the British war over Khyber Pass, or the 1979 Soviet Invasion, or the 2001 US invasion. And that's just recent history. I dare no mention the campaigns of Darius, Alexander, and Genghis Khan throughout the centuries.

But most of my pity evaporates of course when I remember their terrible drug industry.
Logged
Beet
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,772


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #18 on: January 23, 2006, 05:57:52 PM »



Logged
minionofmidas
Lewis Trondheim
Atlas Institution
*****
Posts: 58,207
India


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #19 on: January 24, 2006, 07:06:09 AM »

Even with as many problems as it still has, it is still in the best shape it's been in for decades.
No, in ca 2003 it was in the best shape it's been in for decades, and arguably the best shape ever. Now it's in slightly worse shape than 2 years ago, so obviously not the best shape in decades.

Hmm? Details, please? One would have hoped that actually holding somewhat free and fair elections without a civil war erupting over the results would have improved things. And I had heard reconstruction is slowly but steadily moving forward...
Your info is out of date. While the situation hasn't exactly gone to hell in a handbasket, it's been getting slowly worse for years ... and of course it's not just the Taliban, just the overall security situation. The parliamentary elections were a bloody (not literally) mess by the way, much worse run than the presidentials that went before them.
Logged
WMS
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 6,562


Political Matrix
E: -3.48, S: -1.22

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #20 on: January 24, 2006, 02:57:40 PM »

Even with as many problems as it still has, it is still in the best shape it's been in for decades.
No, in ca 2003 it was in the best shape it's been in for decades, and arguably the best shape ever. Now it's in slightly worse shape than 2 years ago, so obviously not the best shape in decades.

Hmm? Details, please? One would have hoped that actually holding somewhat free and fair elections without a civil war erupting over the results would have improved things. And I had heard reconstruction is slowly but steadily moving forward...
Your info is out of date. While the situation hasn't exactly gone to hell in a handbasket, it's been getting slowly worse for years ... and of course it's not just the Taliban, just the overall security situation. The parliamentary elections were a bloody (not literally) mess by the way, much worse run than the presidentials that went before them.
Hmm...my info wasn't exactly brimming with optimism, but did have signs of progress, tied to the slowly increasing national Afghan military (because as it increases, it can reduce the power of all the trillion-and-one local warlords, drug lords, odd Taliban factions, etc.). I think you may be overestimating how good things were in 2003. Wink I haven't heard much about the parliamentary elections - wasn't there a thread about that somewhere?
Logged
they don't love you like i love you
BRTD
Atlas Prophet
*****
Posts: 112,583
Ukraine


Political Matrix
E: -6.50, S: -6.67

P P
Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #21 on: January 24, 2006, 03:02:46 PM »

I read a story about this female candidate who won a seat in this ultra-conservative province which used to be ran by a governor who treated women almost as bad as the Taliban mostly just because she was hot, and her campaign posters just were pictures of her with makeup on. Needless to say she got some interesting threats.

There was a picture of her in the paper too. She was good looking from what I saw, but I couldn't tell too well since she still had one of those awful headscarves on. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to live in a country where most women wore those evil things.
Logged
Pages: [1]  
« previous next »
Jump to:  


Login with username, password and session length

Terms of Service - DMCA Agent and Policy - Privacy Policy and Cookies

Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines

Page created in 0.055 seconds with 11 queries.