The Taliban Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Taliban - Research Paper Example forces from Afghanistan. (McNamara, Melissa â€Å"The Taliban in Afghanistan) It is important to note that there are two factions of the Taliban existing within countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. With the Pakistan faction going rogue and, although identifying itself with the Taliban, it actually has a totally different mission and goal than its Afghan counterpart. But in order to understand why the differing goals exist, one must first understand the history of the group. The Taliban can be considered to be religious fanatics who are trying to advance their religious goals and beliefs across the Middle Eastern world. The leader of the Taliban was Mullah Mohammed Omar. A reclusive leader who heads the terrorist group together with 8-10 other colleagues, all of whom are survivors of the Russian war and occupation of Afghanistan in the 1970's. Their governing rules are overseen by the Ministry of Virtue and Vice, often considered to be a religious police force. (McNamara, Melissa à ¢â‚¬Å"The Taliban in Afghanistan†). The group originally emerged as one of the mujaheddin or holy warriors in the region. (Hayes, Laura, Brunner, Borgina, and Rowen Beth â€Å"Who Are The Taliban?†) This group has every intention of establishing a radical Sunni Islamic regime in Afghanistan. The Taliban as a group should not be confused with the Taliban Militia that was established in 1994. (McNamara, Melissa â€Å"The Taliban in Afghanistan†) In Pakistan however, The Taliban Group there has taken on the name â€Å"Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan†, a group with known links and ties to the Al Qeada. Although it shares similar ideologies with the Afghan Taliban group, the group is known as a stand alone group with different goals from the original. According to Raza Rumi, director of policy and programs at the Jinnah Institute, the primary target of the group is the Pakistan military. The goal of the group is the removal of the U.S. troops from the area and they w ould like to see the imposition of the Sharia in Pakistan. (Brumfield, Ben â€Å"Who Are The Pakistani Taliban?†). Since the group is a breakaway faction, it lacks the organized structure of the original and is instead a coordinated militia. Due to the radical religious beliefs of the Taliban, they would rather become known as religious terrorists who use the holy war or Jihad to propagate religious war over their perceived enemies. However, nothing could be further from the truth. There is nothing religious about their terrorist activities. The key to their terrorist campaign is the use of violence. (â€Å"Types of Terrorism†) However, the most common form of terrorism that the Taliban uses can be seen in the way that they need to acquire funding for their terrorist activities. The group has been known to employ the use of roadside bombings in Afghanistan and Pakistan when attacking the U.S. troops stationed there. The group is also not beyond using arson and firebomb ings in order to quash their targets. However, the group, due to the lack of funds through their bank accounts and other channels of receiving financing having been effectively cut off by the international community, has taken to kidnapping and hostage taking for ransom in order to keep their organization afloat and their terror activities

Platos Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Platos Philosophy - Essay Example Plato’s philosophy of the world of becoming and the world of being are separate entities, but their explanation sometimes blurs the line between the two, since the philosopher made no effort to separate his ideas completely. The final form of the never-ending need to understand is a form of knowledge in the world of forms introduced by Plato. In the world of forms, the philosopher is known to have attained the highest form of knowledge available, and can therefore, be able to see the world of ideas in the world immediately. This is the ultimate and possibly, only final form of knowledge that a philosopher would seek. From Plato’s philosophy, we can be made to understand that for the faculty of reason described above, one that transcends real world boundaries, there must be a corresponding level of universal reality. These two different factors are divided into what Plato called the world of becoming and the world of being. In the world of becoming, the forms do not change eternally and have non-objective characteristics like beauty and justice. Conversely, the world of being depicts that the beautiful forms seen in everyday life are infinite copies of the forms described above. Plato considered that objects have the ability to acquire and/or lose beauty, but the essence of beauty is such that it has a distinct existence from the objects in the world. Plato insists that the physical objects seen the world are actually perfect copies of the world of forms or Triangle. ... In contrast, the physical world, the world known by the human senses, is a dynamic world, a world of becoming. Plato then states that the forms have an infinite and singular existence in the world of being, as contrasted to the world of becoming. Plato’s explanation of the forms indicates that our souls were indicated with the forms before the bodies, and the mind realizes the forms in different ways.4 The first way of recognizing the forms is through recollection, where it is understood the soul was acquainted with the forms before the body. In this case, an individual can recollect the knowledge of the soul prior to the existence of the body. In this case, the existence of physical objects is just but a reminder of the beautiful essences of the forms, and education is a way of remembering the forms that existed before the body. The second way of realizing the forms is through speech and dialect, where an individual learns to separate objects and discover how the various spli ts of knowledge are related. The third way of discovering the world of being or the forms, is through the power of love. In the symposium, Plato states that the power of love leads an individual from a beautiful object, to a beautiful thought and finally to the discovery of the essence of beauty itself. Plato’s two distinct ideas, the world of being and the world of becoming, can be explained using different parables or metaphors that he postulated.5 The first metaphor, the allegory of the cave, is an embracement of two allegories and describes both forms of becoming and being. The allegory asks us to imagine ourselves as prisoners in an underground prison, where we are chained without access to the outside. In the