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Biblical Solutions

Reader comment on item: Reflections on the Debacle in Afghanistan: Interview
in response to reader comment: Representations of Islamic Durability and Intensity of Purpose

Submitted by David Ryan (United States), Aug 21, 2021 at 04:48

There is a biblical solution to dealing with an incorrigible tribal people: 40 years wandering in the desert.

The failure of Reconstruction in the American south to achieve equality and civil rights after the Civil War was primarily due to its being cut short at 12 years and the return to power of former rebels before their neutralization by decrepitude.

Likewise, 40 years rather than 20 would have intervened two generations in Afghanistan and broken many chains more permanently. We have a model for dealing with tribal cultures: the American Old West. The last real battle of the Indian Wars was in 1886. Indians received citizenship in 1924, 38 years later after considerable acculturation. It isn't pretty but it works.

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