Re:VotePlz – The Easiest Way to Vote
by int_19h on Saturday September 10, 2016 @06:59PM
(#12471265)
As I recall, when US demanded that Afghanistan (then ruled by Taliban) extradite Bin Laden, they didn't refuse outright. What they did was demand some evidence that he was responsible, which is a fairly routine and reasonable demand for any kind of extradition request (I mean, would you want US to extradite you to Afghanistan just because they asked, on their word alone that you're a criminal?). They also suggested extradition to a third country, where he could get an impartial trial - again, given the emotions at the time, not really unreasonable.
US response? "We know he's guilty", and we don't care to prove it to anyone else.
And yet, even after US started bombing them, Taliban was still offering extradition deals. All the way up until the ground invasion.
We know that Bin Laden was guilty in retrospect, of course. But he didn't admit it back then, and otherwise, there was nothing particularly unusual or vexing that Taliban was asking for. Whether they would have actually given him up or not if their demands were met is also unclear, but IMO, given the prospect of a large region-destabilizing war (which many people back then were warning way in advance what would happen), it was definitely worth a try. You can always invade if things don't work out.
US response? "We know he's guilty", and we don't care to prove it to anyone else.
And yet, even after US started bombing them, Taliban was still offering extradition deals. All the way up until the ground invasion.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.te...
We know that Bin Laden was guilty in retrospect, of course. But he didn't admit it back then, and otherwise, there was nothing particularly unusual or vexing that Taliban was asking for. Whether they would have actually given him up or not if their demands were met is also unclear, but IMO, given the prospect of a large region-destabilizing war (which many people back then were warning way in advance what would happen), it was definitely worth a try. You can always invade if things don't work out.