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WHO Says Afghan School "Poison Attacks" Probably Mass Hysteria
New submitter smugfunt writes "A number of incidents at schools in Afghanistan, especially girls' schools, have been attributed to poisoning by the Taliban. The World Health Organization has investigated 32 of them but found no poison. "Mass Psychological Illness is the most probable cause," they conclude, the Telegraph reports. The Taliban has consistently denied poisoning schools and have even consented to allow the education of girls in a deal with the government which allows significant Taliban control over the curriculum."
Who? Oh, those guys. I don't know what happened but I'm not taking the WHO's word for anything at all.
Hey, they have some kick ass songs. Plus, Pete Townshend's powerslide.
Since the Taliban are the most politically convenient thing to the US Neocons to appear on the global marketplace of \textit{casus belli}, it's more accurate to say, "Something was said about the Taliban.. and people believed them?"
Anyone not allowing themselves to be as the slowly boiled frog over the past 15 years should recognise that nothing which comes out of the mouths of Washington and London is to be believed, nor is any of the reporting home and abroad which can be controlled by either. War reporting died after the DoD saw what happened when people saw the live action footage of Vietnam. It's not that everything's a lie - though everything does, of course, have a spin put on it. It's merely that it would be intellectually dishonest for the average guy sitting at home to claim that he has evidence of what's a lie and what's the truth - anyone who claims so is usually just allowing his prejudices to select the evidence which backs up his views.
. . . and the Taliban are quite successful at spreading it. If you had a bunch of "Islam Gone Wild" retro medieval fanatics romping around your neighborhood killing innocent folks for fun and excitement . . . you might tend to be a bit on the edgy side yourself. A car engine backfire will incite you to grab your assault rifle and empty the clip in all directions, to defend yourself. In essence, anyone in Afghanistan will believe that the Taliban are capable of committing horrific atrocities. That makes people fear the Taliban, and it gives the Taliban strength.
Now, take a look in your own airports, and see if the population of your country is so scared, that they tolerate crotch groping and all other types of submissive humility . . . all because the fear of terror has devoured their souls.
Yep, terror can inflict colossal mass hysteria damage.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
I'm a neurologist and I deal everyday with people that are obviously suffering a conversive disease. This does not mean that they are feigning or malingering, It's just that somehow their brains malfunction and generate bizarre symptoms. In most cases the disease has no anatomical and physiological integrity (i.e. it crosses boundaries that it should not, or a certain part that should also be affected works fine). ... or worse: a harmless congenital defect can be found, which will produce more anxiety.
It's frustrating because the patient and everyone around her (mostly happens to females) is pretty convinced of an impending illnes and they request test after test, sometimes even threatening to sue. Of course nothing is found
This sounds like the work of Scarecrow. A Dark Knight Rises ad campaign?
As best I can tell there have been no reported deaths. That doesn't completely rule out poisoning, but along with there being no actual threats or anyone claiming responsibility, it does lend credence to the idea of it just being hysteria.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
To play devil's advocate, what reason do they have to deny it if they did it? The Taliban is a fundamentalist party that supports acts of terrorism. The difference between a terrorist and psychopath is that a terrorist has a message. If a terrorist group were to lie about culpability it would probably be to take credit for acts they didn't commit. In fact, for pretty much any disaster or accident, there is almost always a group willing to take responsibility whether they did it or not.
The Taliban is a malevolent organization, but they are not comic book villains plotting nefarious acts for evil's sake.
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But even then, the Bible says to give to Ceasar what is Caesar's
I always thought that meant that you had a duty to pay your taxes, serve the army, serve your country...
But that you also had to be mindful of a duty to tithe, serve god, and serve the church..
I'd never read that as "separation of church and state", just an admonishment that you had a duty to both, and should neglect neither.
No offence meant to your brother here, but your evidence that the Taliban is evil is that your brother, a foreign soldier and member of an occupying army, has been attacked?
Wow.
what reason do they have to deny it if they did it?
My thoughts exactly. The fact that they could have done it and nobody would be very surprised is what gives this denial plausability.
The Taliban is a malevolent organization, but they are not comic book villains plotting nefarious acts for evil's sake.
Like all real-life villains, they consider themselves the good guys.
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The "everyone is lying"-approach is not exactly productive, either, is it? I am somewhat fed up by the success of the conservatard "teh scientist are frauds and are only doing it for teh funds!!! lol !!!" meme. Skepticism is good, but it has to be based in facts, not in some herp-derp-it's all lies conspiratorial bullshit. You got any indication that the WHO is covering something up here? If so, I'll play along.
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
The Taliban is a malevolent organization, but they are not comic book villains plotting nefarious acts for evil's sake.
Spot on. The Taliban are basically the political right-wing of the Pushtun tribe (ie: a clan within the tribe). The Pushtun's have ruled the area around the ancient city of Kandahar for centuries, the area is also a natural choke point for intenational trade and is a strategically a very important control point, as such the locals have fought with and against just about every empire that has existed over the past 10,000yrs, there is a desert city in the area that is 7000yo (forget the name), it has been leveled by invading armies 800 times, the current city is built on a 30-40 foot high mound of rubble left over from the previous 799 versions.
Hamid Karzai (the president of Afghanistan and Nato's BFF) is himself a Pushtun but belongs to a different clan. They are all hard people living in a hard place, a large chunk of the population are literally still living in a medieval culture, the more radical clans such as the Taliban remind me very much of the Scottish highlanders who until fairly recently attacked anyone who came to close to their mountains (and did so with sound reasoning based on past experience).
AFAICT US policy seems to be to assasinate the Pushtun warlords it does not like. Having seen the video of Saddam Hussien doing something conceptually similar (start @ 1:25, nsfw), I'm not sure I'm ok with that.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.