In praise of the good government of savagery

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. The BBC’s relativistic ‘impartiality’ explores the new depths available when you accomodate the Al Jazeera perspective, with this report of the Taleban’s drugs policy. We all know what sensitive and sensible civil administrators the Taleban were, so thank goodness the BBC have The Noble British Academic to rely on for this insightful appraisal. It does seem a bit coy, however, not to explain what having your face ‘blackened’ involved, and what ‘eradication’ implied; what it might be like to be ‘paraded through the streets’ or what an Afghan prison was like under the Taleban. Apparently we must just swallow our ‘neo-con’ pride and learn from their success. Draconian measures (intimidation and terror, for instance) when implemented vigorously, increase the authority of the authorities- wow, I am surprised to hear that. The fact that they worked at ‘local levels’ suggests that what was going on was little better than vigilante behaviour- ok for the Afghans, it is implied, but not for us.

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4 Responses to In praise of the good government of savagery

  1. Eamonn says:
    January 19, 2004 at 2:25 pm

    It is almost funny to follow the BBC’s perverse logic on this (ie. let’s highlight a good point about the Taleban, but let’s highlight only bad things about the USA). Well, can you remember the last time the BBC reported anything positive about the USA and its action in Afghanistan and Iraq?

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  2. Dave F says:
    January 20, 2004 at 11:01 am

    “Say what you like about the Taleban, you have to admit they tackled the war on drugs properly.” Has a familiar ring, doesn’t it?

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  3. ben says:
    January 20, 2004 at 2:52 pm

    Here’s a chap looking for a BBC gig. Or perhaps he was behind the linked BBCi article?

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,482-970194,00.html

    Joshua Rey is an “Aid Consultant”
    Money quote –
    “Of course, the Taleban did many wicked things. The condition of women in Afghanistan was indeed comparable with that of blacks in 1950s Mississippi.”

    So the Taleban were just as evil as those good ole boys!

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  4. Simon Jester says:
    January 20, 2004 at 3:54 pm

    And on the subject of the BBC accomodating the Al Jazeera perspective, I found this on MR. Free Market’s Blog:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3403951.stm

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