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Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0
Given what I've read about Afghanistan that sounds entirely plausible. ... An awful lot of Afghanis don't appreciate American values (looking back on it, I can't help but think people were naive to think this wouldn't be the case) and find the presence of American troops offensive.
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Why limit it to Afghanistan? Those sorts of emotions and reactions seem to be practically universal across all human cultures. It exists here in America, too. Just take a look at how fired up people get at the notion that some want to impose sharia law here, or the idea that China owns us and that we should all learn Chinese. What's going on is a rejection of external forces overwriting our own culture and societal operation.
The problem is something that
aohige touched on: that there's almost a double standard, a certain intellectual blindness when it comes to us and everyone else. Americans reject sharia law because it seems backwards and evil to us; we assume that because
we feel that way, then everyone else must see it as such, too. Similarly, because we like our way of life, we assume that it's the best fit for everyone, and that everyone would appreciate it. Yet the reality is that for many people, it represents a social order and a way of life. Perhaps to those people, the American way of living seems strange and even harmful.
And troop occupations - that should surprise no one. Again, imagine if it were happening in your own home country. Pick a country that you're wary of, but that we're not at war with; popular choices in the United States will probably be either Russia or China. Imagine if they set up military bases, and occasionally busted down doors to capture or kill political dissidents. Even if they weren't screwing up and occasionally massacring innocent people or causing other destruction, I'm pretty sure that people would be miffed about those actions. It undermines your own community's autonomy and creates a source of danger.
The people who thought that everything American would be immediately accepted and welcomed either believed that fairy tales were historical accounts or they were just so self-centric that it didn't occur to them that not everyone wants to live as they do. Given that we recently had some Americans booing the "golden rule" (treat others how you want to be treated), I'm guessing we have a case of the latter growing. Kindergarten teachers, take note: you have a critical lesson to instill in your students!