Originally posted by Badlun
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I would disagree with your assessment since Iraq, for instance, was a relatively secular baathist state under Saddam for decades.
Rather, in times of war, famine, economic downturn, misery, bloodshed etc people turn to paradigms, ideologies, notions that they find comforting and that potentially offer some short term stability if nothing else.
For example, in the US Post Civil War Reconstructionist era, the South built itself back up on this concept of religiosity, patriotism, etc.
In yet other wartorn regions, its tribalism that returns or takes root/ethnic conflict ensues since stable subgroups rally and reorganize around finding or pinning blame on someone else for the current misery.
Therefore, I would posit that two wartorn nations (Iraq and Afghanistan) that have recieved devastating invasion after invasion after invasion were bound to turn to those basic ideas/concepts that underlie the societal fabric.
Iraq has now been through 3 devastating wars in less than 25 years; Afghanistan 2 + if we subtract the Zahir Shah era.
Basically, they are, on the human level, abused kids turning to what comforts them.
The problem boils down to the abuser though, and the ones that hoist war upon them.
Fifth column militant secularists were instrumental in creating problems in the Najib era and are cheerleading more interventionalism and war in this time as well.
Likely, if these nations developed as autonomous productive states with some degree of stability and wealth - they would begin to formulate more complex law codes that had some flavor of influence from religion but also incorporated and accomodated a more dynamic worldview.
Unfortunately, as Michael Scheuer says "Keep trying to push the hedonism of modern American culture onto a mellenium old religious civlization and you will be fighting forever."
I'd say, once again badlun proves wrong, Scheuer is proving correct.

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