Vital Perspective

In the name of Islam

Pakistan:

"The boy with the knife looks barely 12. In a high-pitched voice, he denounces the bound, blindfolded man before him as an American spy. Then he hacks off the captive’s head to cries of “God is great!” and hoists it in triumph by the hair."

Turkey:

"Three Protestants murdered at a Christian publishing house in Malatya, Turkey, were tortured for three hours before their assailants slit their throats [...]  Ugur Yuksel, one of the three victims of the massacre at the Zirve (summit) publishing house, which distributed Christian literature [...] “had scores of knife cuts on his thighs, his testicles, his rectum, and his back [...] His fingers were sliced to the bone."

Philippines:

"Muslim extremists decapitated seven men they were holding hostage on the southern Philippine island of Jolo and sent the heads in sacks to two army detachments, the military said on Thursday." More here.

Thailand:

"Suspected Muslim insurgents shot and killed two Buddhist laborers and then beheaded one of them as deadly violence and scattered bombings continued [...] In separate violence, three suspected insurgents stormed a construction site late Tuesday in the Sisakorn district of Narathiwat province and fatally shot two Buddhist workers [...] After shooting their victims, the attackers beheaded one of the corpses before fleeing."

Saudi Arabia:

"A court in 'Ar'ar in northern Saudi Arabia has sentenced a foreign Arab national to death for having desecrated the Koran. "

Su-Shi Watch: Pakistan

Lots of murder and mayhem in Pakistan, where Sunnis are taking advantage of the crowds at the rather bloody Shiite religious festival of Ashoura to blow people up in various ways:

"Two rockets hit a Shiite Muslim mosque on Monday in the northwestern Pakistan city of Bannu, wounding 11 people, two seriously [...] Anti-government Islamic militants have fired rockets at military and government installations in Bannu in the past, but the targeting of the mosque suggests a sectarian motive. In the past three days, at least two suicide bombers in northwestern Pakistan have detonated explosives near Shiite gatherings for Ashoura. No group has claimed responsibility, but Sunni Muslim extremists are suspected."

You think?

Also this:

"At least thirteen people, including two senior police officials were killed and another sixty sustained injuries in suicide attack in Peshawar, capital of the Northwestern Frontier Province (NWFP), tonight.

Provincial law minister Malik Zafar Azam confirmed 13 fatalities in the attack that took place almost an hour ahead of the start of a Shiite mourning process in Dhaki Dalgaran Bazar of densely populated Qissa Khuwani area.

He said that majority of those killed and injured in the blast were police and law enforcement officials, who were deployed in the area to provide security cover to the mourning procession [...]

''Local authorities found leather jacket and body parts including legs of the suspected suicide bomber from site of the attack, which have been sent to a laboratory for DNA test,'' officials said." [...]

This is the second act of terror since yesterday. A suicide attack near parking area of Marriott hotel in Islamabad had killed both the bomber and a security guard."

Thousands Rally in Pakistan Against Progressive Bill Amending Rape Laws

Some 25,000 supporters of Islamic parties rallied in Pakistan yesterday to protest against the passage of a bill amending the country's rape laws that precluded rape and adultery cases from being heard under Pakistan's harsh religious laws. The protest was organized by the six-party religious alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal in Karachi.

Students from Islamic seminaries holding banners and placards chanted slogans against President Pervez Musharraf and the U.S. "Death to America and its stooges", "Stop joking with Islam in the name of women's liberation", "We reject women protection bill" read banners and placards amid shouts of "Death to Bush-Blair nexus".

Islamist leaders delivered fiery speeches and vowed to intensify protests across Pakistan. "The women protection bill is part of Western agenda that Musharraf is following," the chief of the parliamentary opposition, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, said addressing the protesters. "There will be complete strike on Friday in Pakistan and we will continue our struggle to safeguard Islamic laws."

Pakistan Reforms Rape Laws, Women No Longer Punished for Being Victims

MediaLine reports that Pakistan has changed its rape laws to prevent women from being punished even though they were the victims of sex crimes. Until now, rape was a crime tried in Islamic courts, where any woman found guilty of having sex outside of marriage received stiff punishments, even if she was forced to have sexual relations. Among the changes, the death penalty for extramarital sex has been abolished. Pakistani lawmakers had previously attempted to change the law, but delayed the move because of vocal opposition from Islamist politicians. Women's rights activists welcomed the reform, but said far more must be done to redress the injustices still found in the law.

Suicide Bomber Kills 35 Pakistani Troops Following Strike on Terror Training Site

A suicide bomber on a motorbike killed at least 35 Pakistani soldiers and injured scores today at a military training center in Northwest Frontier Province, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said.

The attack in the town of Dargai took place nine days after the Pakistani army killed at least 80 suspected terrorists in an airstrike on a madrasa in the nearby village of Chingai. Thousands of tribesmen in the area had vowed to seek revenge for the strike, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for today's attack.

President Pervez Musharraf has defended the strike in Chingai, saying terrorism is a threat to national security that will be crushed. At a military commanders meeting, Musharraf said security forces had evidence the madrasa was being used as a trainign center for terrorism. Area residents described the victims as madrasa students, and 20,000 marched last week calling for the deaths of Musharraf and President Bush.

Proliferation Security Initiative Exercise Has 25 Nations Miles Off Iranian Coast

Earlier today, 25 nations took part in a U.S.-led naval exercise in waters not far from Iran aimed at training forces to block the transport of weapons of mass destruction and related equipment. Italy, the U.S., Australia, Britain, France and Bahrain deployed ships and personnel to the drill, part of President Bush's Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). Other countries, including the UAE, Qatar, Pakistan and South Korea, sent observers.

About 20 miles from Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf, Italian and Bahraini marines sped through the water in small inflatable bloats and boarded a British vessel, the RFA Brambleleaf, which was carrying mock nuclear detonators. Marines armed with machine guns guarded the crew as another team searched the vessel.

Iran said it was not concerned about the exercise but warned those participating not to destabilize the region. "Given the amicable ties among countries of the region and the powerful presence of ... Iran as standard bearer of peace, justice and security, there is no room for any concern," the official IRNA news agency quoted government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham as saying.

Several Middle Eastern countries have endorsed PSI principles this year after visits by U.S. officials to the region were stepped up, a State Department official who declined to be identified said. Sunni Gulf Arab states have traditionally been wary of Iran's Shiite imperialistic intentions in the region.

One major player that was not present was Russia, perhaps because of President Vladimir Putin's desire for further talks on Iran's nuclear program. Russia is not convinced there is a case for tougher sanctions against Iran and is at present time building an atomic reactor in Iran. If you're not convinced that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons, then you probably wouldn't see the utility today's PSI exercise.

After Peace Deal, Taliban Establishing Parallel Government in N. Waziristan

According to a report in The London Daily Telegraph, the Taliban has set up offices, introduced taxes and taken control of justice in the Pakistani tribal agency of North Waziristan, where last month the government signed a peace agreement with wanted Taliban terrorists. Pakistani officials hoped the deal would empower tribal elders to control the Taliban, but an estimated 120 have been killed in the past year.

The deal signed by the government stipulated that al-Qaeda was to be expelled from North Waziristan, and pro-Taliban militants were not to run a "parallel administration" or take part in fighting against coalition forces across the border. In return, Pakistani forces, who had been fighting them over the summer, withdrew from combat. The army retained the right to carry out strikes in the area if militants did not adhere to the deal.

Power is now in the hands of a "mullahcracy" and people who Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf describes as hashish-smoking thugs who use the Taliban's mantle to coerce locals. Maulana Abdul Khaliq Haqqani, a member of North Waziristan's Taliban shura, said his followers were abiding by the pact, but still offered "moral support" to those fighting in Afghanistan. "There is no doubt that we support this jihad against infidels, against these Christians who have invaded a Muslim land."

After Pakistan Picks Up F-16s, India Buys Qatari Jets, Israeli Missile System

India is on a military spending spree this week and their finding willing partners in the Middle East. The new spending may have been prompted by the announcement earlier this week that the U.S. will be selling new F-16s to Pakistan.

According to MediaLine, India has confirmed it is buying some 40 second-hand jets from Qatar and France, and has shown interest in picking up a further 80 aircraft from a variety of countries, including the U.S., Russia and Sweden. India is also close to signing a deal with Israel for the purchase of a missile system, which will help New Delhi defend its fixed bases, including its nuclear installations.

The purchase will be for 18 SPYDER systems, pending the approval of the Indian security cabinet in the next few days. The missile is a quick-reaction surface-to-air projectile. While India intends using the system to defend army bases and other strategic points, the missile can be fired from the back of a truck, offering considerable mobility. The missile has a range of some nine miles and can reach a height of five miles.

Inside Pakistani Madrassas, Pro-Taliban Teachings Favor Jihad in Afghanistan

Charles M. Sennott has an interesting article in today's Boston Globe on education in Pakistan. He describes a religious school, or madrassa, where some 10,000 students study the teachings of the Koran. The assistant headmaster, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, sits on the floor with a Koran and a Kalashnikov as he praises Osama bin Laden's call to jihad. He expressed "great pride" that "at least hundreds" of graduates from his school have answered the call to take up arms against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. And he openly described himself and his students as "pro-Taliban."

The students are "absolutely going and those going are justified to fight jihad against U.S. troops. It is a legitimate jihad to fight and kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. . . . We teach that here because it is the accurate teaching of the concept of jihad."

Speaking in perfect English with a hint of a British accent, Ghazi continued, "Osama bin Laden's philosophy is quite logical and consistent with the Koran. If there are any forces attacking your people and your faith, you are justified in attacking in response. In fact, you are obligated to do so."

One Western diplomat said that madrassa was on a list of militant institutions that the Pakistani government has placed under surveillance. President Pervez Musharraf and other Pakistani officials say the countries have cracked down relentlessly on Taliban and al-Qaeda extremists, arresting more than 600 since 2001. Musharraf said in Washington that only 5 percent of the schools in Pakistan are radical, and added "we are moving slowly" against them.

Afghan leaders -- including President Hamid Karzai, during a visit to Washington this week -- have complained angrily that the Pakistanis have not done enough to go after Taliban networks in Pakistan and close radical madrassas. Karzai declared: "Those places have to be closed down."

Musharraf: Pakistan Will Eventually Recognize Israel; Calls for Two States First

Pakistan will eventually have no choice other than to recognize Israel, but to do so now would undermine attempts to build bridges between Western and Muslim countries. That is the assessment of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

Musharraf said his country would consider formally recognizing Israel only after the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Recognition of Israel at this stage, he said, would only anger those who believe Israel's actions are deplorable. His speeches in the U.S. to mark the publication of his book earlier this week have helped sales push it to #14 on the bestseller list.