Please, mods, don't change the title. It fits. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/25/AR2008122500931.html First, this story is just hilarious. Second, I think it's interesting how when we engage the neutrals on a level they can benefit from, it works. And thank God for septugenarian tribal chiefs with several young hotties to service.
I just posted a link on the News of the Weird thread. Guess it's not so weird pops over there wanting to get his freak on. Cue ItN ranting about tax payers sponsored orgies in 5,4,3,2....
It's funny and everything, but I can't help but wonder about those four younger women--like, how much younger are they, and how much choice in the matter did they have as far as marrying this old geezer? I know we're not there to reform Afghan culture, and it's great and all that we're finding novel ways to get the locals to work with us. But at the risk of being labeled a killjoy, it's sort of disheartening to know that we're subtly reinforcing patriarchical tribalism. [/rant]
Reminds me of the old joke. One of his women points down at the geezers joint and says...who do you think you're going to please with that? The old geezer says...me.
And lets not forget that he has 4 mother in laws. That is almost deserving of sainthood, or the islamic equivalent
The policy argument goes like this: the problem with polygamous cultures is that they leave a lot of young men unmarried. The problem with a lot of unmarried young men is that they are more prone to engage in unsavory activity, like joining the Taliban. (Google "lost boys" + "Utah" for more local examples.) So in the long run, if you really want to stabilize the situation in this region, you probably do want to cut down on the number of young unmarried men, and hence move people away from polygamy. That's not a moral argument, it's a practical one.
Sure, but that would require an even more enormous commitment in time. Smart tactics in a war like this one require us to work with local people with authority. Challenging that authority will, in the short run, make it much harder for us to find people with authority who are willing to work with us. Don't get me wrong--I agree with you. But I can understand the arguments against such an approach.
Oh, sure. It would definitely be a long term kind of thing. That said, I don't know how widespread polygamy really is in that region. For all I know, it may be a negligible portion of the population that has multiple wives. I mean, the chieftans have multiple wives partly because they're in a position to support multiple wives. I doubt that's true of many people there.
We're just helping out a crotchety old man.... As far as policy goes, I agree with superdave (???). We're just wisely using their culture to give us the benefits we need. I don't mind using stronger techniques when necessary, but if we can get the info we need in other ways (like Viagra to perverted old men), then do it.
It is very common in that area. You have more money, you get plenty of wives, if you don't have enough money, you share one wife with your brothers, etc. It doesn't need a long time to make the change. In Chinese Xinjiang which is in same area, CCP came in and said: No more polygamy, then there are no more polygamy.