To explain this i will cover a little historical and cultural information. Give you an understanding about the psychological effects and sociology of the general population. You will need to know a little about the Taliban also. Historically i could throw things around like the crusades but I'm going start with the creation of Israel. After WW2 nato deemed it necessary and justified to give jews a state after the holocaust. Grandchildren of the local muslims who were their when Israel was built believe it was their land and revere it as holy. America reached its peak oil in the late 70's and started finding more oil in other areas. The middle east being a large part of it. The largest oil spill in history was caused by the Taliban during the gulf war. Culturally middle-eastern muslims look at things alot different than we do. Their are words in arabic that don't translate to english. Their view of modesty is different than ours. Muslims don't cover their bodies because they have to. They beleive that the way people look at each other isn't the way god looks at us, so it is not pure. Very liberal muslims wear normal clothes while muslims that still hold some of their culture still wear a hijab while in normal clothes. Women are not the only ones subject to concealing their bodies. Men wear generally longsleeve robes and their headdress, a taqiyah. Their clothing isn't just concealing their bodies, that is the slightest notion of its significance. Their clothing has a lot of religious meaning as Muhammad wore a taqiyah. It represents not hiding your religious views as with lots of other religious significance. Pyscologically almost every muslim looks at us wondering why we look the way we do. Not every middle eastern hates us, but some of them do. They live in an area that has less than what it needs. being depleted of its resources. By an area with more than what it needs and the area thats doing it took some of their grandparents land. Sociologically alot of them share discretions with the u.s and take extremists veiws against us, as they are very stressed out. With parts that do have electricity only getting it for a few hours a day. lots of places that don't even have electricity. Don't get me wrong some large cities have full functioning power. Although The taliban don't thrive in the cities. The taliban are muslim extremists that take the koran very seriously. Most schools are run by the taliban that teach their interpretations of the koran. They beleive that those who arent muslim are infidels and must be dealt with by jihad. I'm a pacifist and am no way, shape, or form defending the taliban. only trying to give you another perspective. So they look at as from their cultures perspective as very different. Theirs rational muslims in the middle east caught between all this. It's a very controversial issue, I just wanted to give another outlook on the situation.
"Most schools are run by the taliban that teach their interpretations of the koran." As far as I understand Taliban is present only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. However there are plenty of other moslem schools which have a similar approach.
To be honest i don't know where all the Taliban is present, although im sure their not subject to only 2 countries in the middle east. yes their are other schools, the point im trying to make is that alot of people who are fighting america today have been taught to do so since they were children and alot of these schools still exist.
The largest oil spill in history was caused by the Taliban during the gulf war? This is indeed an alternative outlook on history!
The oil in the Middle East was being fought over in WWII - this mess is a lot older than 1970. The Taliban are mostly Pashtun, an ethnic group mostly found in Pakistan and Afghanistan. There are no Taliban - except as travelers etc - in Iraq, for example, and they had almost nothing to do with the Gulf War.
Your right this is a problem a lot older that I'm explaining it to be. Although I'm just giving reference points to show our involvement. The Taliban may not have been their in the gulf war, but countries their are the size of our states. They are a product of it to some degree. Please don't jump to conclusions or take me too seriously, as i am just trying to show how they see it.
Thank you for the comments in the OP, but I think one very important difference was omitted. In most of the middle East, large extended families exist say 300 or more "close relatives" with considerable, if not the norm, inter marriage - to that group is the first loyalty. For many their version of religion is equally strong. The nation is not very important - more of a problem than an aid. Taxes and regulations, etc. that require bribes to avoid. Thus US´s nation building ideas are not getting much traction - basically misguided and doomed to fail. Do you agree?
Yeah I completely agree we aren't accomplishing anything over their. We cant impose our culture and perceptions on them, they look at the average american like an alien and the individual states different countries. Although, if we were to open schools and kill them with kindness it would be a different story. As gay and cliche as it sounds, I believe it to be true.
