72 virgins myth?

[iSok]

As naive as Isok would make me seem, as long as some extremist Islamic religious leaders with an axe to grind say suicide bombers will have a place in paradise with the various pleasures listed above, there will be naive extremists bombers.

It is no different than the Pope telling Crusaders their sins will be absolved by marching into the Holy Land and killing Muslims.

If it is about Islam or getting virgins in Paradise, why do the other people in Afghanistan (like Hazara, Tajik, Uzbek, Balochi and so on) refrain
from war who are also Muslim. Why is the war only in Pashtun dominated area's?
They are the inhabitants of southern Afghanistan and some parts of Pakistan.


"The Pukhtunwali (the Way of the Pukhtuns) is an inflexible ethical code by which all true Pathans traditionally abide. Pukhtunwali requires that every insult be revenged and, conversely, every guest protected. To safeguard his honor, o the honor of his family or clan, a Pathan will sacrifice everything, including his money and his life. He will return even t he slightest insult with interest. According to a Pathan proverb, 'He is not a Pathan who does not give a blow for a pinch.'"

"In Lords of the Khyber (1984), Andre Singer illustrates this by recounting the story of a man he interviewed 'who proudly declared that he had killed seven male members of a Mahsud family for having insulted his wife, and so far only his brother had been killed in the revenge.'"

Insulting a Pashtun woman will always end in death, what do you think will happen if US troops are raiding compounds?
I know the mentality is hard to understand, but that is reality.
You're taking a completely wrong turn by saying that they are killing themselves for virgins...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6tXy2TwaSc

[Crow]

Are you that naive to think that people will blow themselves up for a couple of virgins, just to have sex in paradise?

The people that blow themselves up are from all branches of life.
Some of them are from broken families, from destroyed families where most of the members were killed during air strikes.
Every month hundreds of civillians alone just die in the SWAT valley because of US drone attacks.
You should multiply every reported casualty here on the news with atleast 10, I have family living there so I'm aware of reality.

There may be some that have this mentality (the promise of an enhanced afterlife), certainly part of the mindset for those that are radicalized prior to the NATO forces arriving in Afganistan, and most definitely part of the mentality of those that perpetrate the attacks on areas such as Pakistan which seem to be happening on almost a weekly basis, but for the people that have moved over to the cause that have been affected by whats happened with military action in their country then likely isn't the case.

When NATO forces first went into Afghanistan they destroyed the only means of livelihood for many of the Pashtun tribes by destroying the poppy fields, combine this with Isoks second paragraph and why would they accept the invasion that is only bringing death and misery, whilst the government that's seen as corrupt and incapable (also unwanted) are supporting these attacks. To me that was the biggest mistake of Afghanistan and became futile and pointless since those events happened, not only did they ignore the historic failures of multiple nations but also ignored the advice from many high ranking military officers that insisted that the tribes had to be embraced as allies for any progression to take place, even though that tactic has now been embraced those initial actions have hindered any real progression that might have taken place.

[Sweetdeath]

As an armchair thinker and probably living in a wealthy western country with not so much to worry about...

I don't think you should be assuming anything about Americans if you don't live here. 

We have been going through problems too.  They are not the same as yours, but none the less, don't assume all Americans are wealthy and/or problem free. :/   there's plenty of poverty and homelessness here as well.

Back on topic, I think the 72 virgins myth is just another way to control, poor desparare people.  It's sad.

[iSok]

As an armchair thinker and probably living in a wealthy western country with not so much to worry about...

I don't think you should be assuming anything about Americans if you don't live here.  

We have been going through problems too.  They are not the same as yours, but none the less, don't assume all Americans are wealthy and/or problem free. :/   there's plenty of poverty and homelessness here as well.

Back on topic, I think the 72 virgins myth is just another way to control, poor desparare people.  It's sad.

Particulary if they do not know that there is something like 72 virgins...................
The people that do know usually do not blow themselves up......