After a failed Taliban assault on the city early in 1997, Northern Alliance forces are accused of killing more than 3000 Taliban prisoners, many by suffocation when they were locked in steel shipping containers.

Taliban "bad.

Northern Alliance "good".

Right? Or did that change recently?

Or are you telling me that our most recent alliance in Afghanistan was with a group that would kill 3000 prisoners?

The doctrine of "impunity" argues that being called to account should act as a brake on cycles of human rights abuses. The UNHCHR's critics say the 1997 massacre was an opportunity to show the Taliban that the world "would do the right thing" when its fighters were victims of excess, thereby curbing its appetite for more violence.

Is this the same Taliban that is linked to ObL who is linked to the WTC attack?

But showing them that we cared about them would be a good thing?

Ummmmmmmmmmm, be nice to the "bad" guys?

Does that mean we should treat the captured Taliban people as POW's?

The point that we'll ally ourselves with ANYONE.

No matter WHAT attrocities they've committed.

After all, we're there with different objectives in mind than they were.

Ummm, so allying with a murderer is okay as long as you have different objectives than the murderer?

Now, is there anyone else out there who needs a reminder of WHY we are so despised over there?

And this wasn't even that long ago.

I'm sure that there are relatives of those 3000 murdered prisoners who now see the Northern Alliance fighting under the US flag.

There was a day when that flag stood for something more than opportunistic exploitation.

I guess we don't have much "good" in our history of dealing with non-US citizens.

Can you think of any large nation or Empire that has been universally revered for more than a few years at best?

In the past, I can understand why not. The empire grew by conquering (militarily) the vassels.

Do we need to flex our military might in that manner now? Don't we have enough resources within our own country to support ourselves?

Seems like that any sufficiently large entity whether it be a country, religion, or corporation will end up exploiting/abusing some group at one time or another despite the best of intentions.

I can understand corporations. They're in it for the money. Not to further any concept of human rights or freedoms (individuals as 'consumers').

I can also understand religions. Once you have "The Truth", everyone else is either "saved" or "damned".

Countries as well. Of course >YOUR< method of government is "The Best". So exporting that is a "good" thing.

But will we, as a nation, ever look back at how we've treated other people and realize that waht is "best" for us is NOT what is "best" for others? And that the others have as much right to find their own "best" as we did?