MORAL STANDARDS!!! WTF?! They slit throats of men who commit adultery. And not just a quick slit, they insert the blade behind the esophagus and saw out through it. It is so common that it has a name: "Qasas". Watch one for yourself here. And if that does not do it for you, FRmail me and I will send you a link to a Qasas closeup where you can watch the blade itself as it inserts into the throat.
You mentioned the Chinese. 2 things. We can eliminate the Taliban quite effectively without going into all out war. Second, the Chinese don't see the best way to go the heaven is to kill Americans.
What do you think of the morality of a nation that foists a global ban on a pesticide on false premises with the published goal of population reduction and watching 3 million people die annually for thirty years? What do you think of the morality of a nation that KNOWINGLY and with FORETHOUGHT routinely conducts "habitat restoration" projects that cause death by starvation and pest borne diseases, in one case 22 million people in Central Africa (it was predicted in the EIS and they went forward with the project)? What do you think of a the morality of a nation that abetted the spread of AIDS by preventing every known and proven public health measure from functioning?
These people don't have AZT and AIDS cocktails. Adultery to them is a society-threatening problem (as if it wasn't to ours). The Islamic world has a lower incidence of AIDS than any other undeveloped area in the planet BY FAR. You judge them because their remedial prevention mechanics are horrible and bloody.
I see. I say that it doesn't trouble you because there is no temperence or consciousness of such realities in your replies. These people fear our loose morality and open sexuality for more direct reasons than you apparently suspect or understand. They hate the progenitors of our popular culture because they see it as a threat to their very existence and have no wish to repeat the experience of southern Africa. They see the promulgation of that culture, the emphasis of "tolerance" sold to them by the UN and they see US.
I am not justifying the Taleban, nor am I suggesting that they not be taken out. I am saying that your bellicose attitude is the very one that has induced much of this stupidity through its LACK of emphasis on these issues that so apparently matter to the people of Afganistan. If we are to successfully assist them in installing a government that respects the rule of law and is friendly to our nation, best that we learn to respect their laws and institutions such that we gain the benefit of the popular will. Without it we might as well kill them all. Is that what you want?