Karzai: “God Allah forbid, If ever there is a war between Pakistan and America, Afghanistan will side with Pakistan”

Sounds just like our affirmative action Muslim commander in chief who “will stand with the Muslims when the wind shifts in an ugly direction…”

 Remember: this is a guy who’s got his whole extended tribe already settled in the U.S.  Karzai embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars  from his American benefactors and will be the first to seek American protection once the Taliban come waltzing in again. And when we pull out, it will be as if we had never been there……

Gratitude. “Afghanistan to back Pakistan if wars with U.S.: Karzai,” by Augustine Anthony for Reuters, October 22 (thanks to JW):

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Afghanistan would support Pakistan in case of military conflict between Pakistan and the United States, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview to a private Pakistani TV channel broadcast on Saturday….”God forbid, If ever there is a war between Pakistan and America, Afghanistan will side with Pakistan,” he said in the interview to Geo television.

Related:

• Paki headbanger threatens journalists for promoting “hatred against jihad”. 
• The Country Where Hope Goes to Die
• Photo Gallery: Life and Suffering in Afghanistan

“If Pakistan is attacked and if the people of Pakistan needs Afghanistan’s help, Afghanistan will be there with you.”…

Karzai said tensions between the United States and Pakistan did not have any impact in his country’s attitude toward Pakistan….

Afghans have long been suspicious of Pakistan’s intentions in their country and question its promise to help bring peace. Karzai repeated that concern in his remarks.

“Please brother, stop using all methods that hurt us and that are now hurting you.

“Let’s engage from a different platform, a platform in which the two brothers only progress toward a better future in peace and harmony,” he said….

Good news: Taliban not terrorists anymore

Chasing “Hearts & Minds” of Islamic terrorists, how good is that?

Of course, they’re still jihadis and Islamic supremacists. But everyone is just fine with that. “U.N. to remove Taliban from blacklist: Karzai,” from Reuters, June 22 (thanks to JW):

KABUL (Reuters) – The United Nations has agreed to remove Taliban members who renounce ties to al Qaeda from a U.N. blacklist on a “gradual” basis, Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s office said on Tuesday.

Taliban Entertainment

Afghanistan haulage contract helping to fund Taliban, says US report/ Private haulage companies that carry vital supplies to American soldiers in Afghanistan have helped to fund the Taliban and fuel “a vast protection racket …

Senior diplomats from the 15-nation U.N. Security Council were in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, following a call for a review of the names of Taliban figures on its sanction list at a peace conference in Kabul earlier this month.

“The president asked the U.N. delegates to remove Taliban members from their blacklist and the delegates agreed to do so gradually and provided the members had no links to al Qaeda or other terrorist groups,” Karzai’s palace said in a statement….

A statement summarizing the June 2-4 meeting of 1,600 tribal and religious leaders in Kabul urged the Afghan government and foreign powers to “take serious action in getting the names of those in opposition removed from the consolidated blacklist.”

• Best we can do is to pull out of Afghanistan
• Karzai asks UN to remove Taliban names from terror list

It gets worse:

• Pentagon money could be is funding insurgents/Creeping Sharia
• U.S. Gave Millions to Charity Linked to al Qaeda, Anwar Awlaki/Creeping

Call me Mr Taliban:

“If you and the international community pressure me more, I swear that I am going to join the Taliban,” Mr. Karzai said, according to a Parliament member…

New York, Apr 8(ANI): A former United Nations (UN) ambassador to Afghanistan has questioned the ‘mental stability’ of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and suggested that he may be using drugs. One India

PESHAWAR: Taliban fighters armed with petrol bombs and rockets torched eight NATO oil tankers in a pre-dawn attack in northwest Pakistan today.

The attackers targeted a terminal used by the NATO tankers in Zakha Khel area of Khyber tribal region, an official said.  ”They hurled petrol bombs and then fired rockets, destroying eight oil tankers,” the official said. Times of India

Turkey: Another 20  anti-Islamization suspects arrested

• Muslims call for Britain apology over shooting range mosques
• Kyrgyz opposition “seizes power”, president flees – UPDATE 1
• Turkey wants to open Turkish schools in France The Turkish premier said that Turkey was fulfilling a historic constitutional amendment.
• Turkish students enjoy university in Bosnia’s Sarajevo / PHOTO
• Muslims in Sweden eye new Andalusian-style Mosque in Stockholm

Addicted to Jihad:

Former Chief of Pakistani ISI Lt.-Gen. Hamid Gul: I Am an Ideologue of Jihad; As Far As Al-Qaeda is Concerned – Come Up With the Evidence for 9/11; You Haven’t Even Charged Osama bin Laden; It Is Very Clear That Obama’s State of the Union Address Did Not Focus On Terrorism; After Obama’s December 1 Speech, It’s Clear That the Taliban are Afghanistan’s Future – And the Americans Are Its Past  / MEMRI

In Speeches, Article, and Letter, Lashkar-e-Taiba Founder and Jamaatud Dawa Chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed Warns India: ‘One Mumbai [is] Not Enough’; ‘Jihad is the Only Option Left, As India Will Never Let Go of Kashmir’; ‘Islam is a Religion of Peace and Security, Jihad in the Path of Allah is an Important Part Of It’

Obama Strikes Back:

Team Obama Bans “Islamic Radicalism” & “Jihad” From National Security Documents

Yesterday, he removed nukes from the equation – Today he removed “Islamic radicalism” and “jihad.”
The Obama Administration will remove the terms such as “Islamic radicalism” from national security documents in a new effort to win over Islamic countries.
FOX News reported/Gateway Pundit

Keep him in Sowdi Barbaria!

A Saudi cleric announced on his television show on Sunday that he would be broadcasting his next program next week from Jerusalem.  Given that Israelis are not allowed into Saudi Arabia, I see no reason to let this guy in. But unfortunately, it seems that if he applies for a visa, the Israeli government will grant it.  Carl in J’lem

Al Reuters is the enemy:

Sweetness & Light:

7 Yr Old Video Shows Attack On Reporter-Associated -With-Terrorists

Muslims Murder 49 More Muslims In Iraq

Karzai joins Taliban:  Cause for ‘Great Concern’

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer on ‘very troubling’ tensions between Afghan President Karzai and Western world

Around the World: 4/5

New wave of terror attacks in Russia; students protest university’s social class discrimination in India

Saudi Shiites arrested over worship: rights activist

Only one type of Islam welcomed here!! Saudi Shiites get the Christian treatment ~ persecuted for worshipping their faith in the Islamic world. As always in these cases, Sheik Yer’mami is rootin’ for both sides….. AFP/Islamization Watch

No Hijab On The Soccer Field: Iranian Girl’s Youth Olympic Team Barred At Singapore Games Good riddance! IW  Read more…

“Our man in Kabul”

Now wait a minute: isn’t Karzai a modern moderate Muslim who abhors the Taliban’s extremism and twisting and hijacking of the peaceful religion of Islam?  Hmm, I think not. “Our man” Hamid filled his pockets with hundreds of millions of dollars, his brother controls the opium trade and his relatives are already in America. Hamid pretends he is not a puppet, but without American support he wouldn’t last a day.

“Lawmakers: Afghan leader threatens to join Taliban,” by Amir Shah and Christopher Bodeen for AP, April 5 (thanks to Weasel Zippers / Jihad Watch

KABUL (AP) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatened over the weekend to quit the political process and join the Taliban if he continued to come under outside pressure to reform, several members of parliament said Monday.Karzai made the unusual statement at a closed-door meeting Saturday with selected lawmakers–just days after kicking up a diplomatic controversy with remarks alleging foreigners were behind fraud in last year’s disputed elections. [...]

Afghan President puppet Hamid Karzai, center, surrounded by his body guards walks through Kandahar city, south of Kabul, Afghanistan

“He said that ‘if I come under foreign pressure, I might join the Taliban’,” said Farooq Marenai, who represents the eastern province of Nangarhar.

“He said rebelling would change to resistance,” Marenai said–apparently suggesting that the militant movement would then be redefined as one of resistance against a foreign occupation rather than a rebellion against an elected government. [...]

Two other lawmakers said Karzai twice raised the threat to join the insurgency.

The lawmakers, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of political repercussions, said Karzai also dismissed concerns over possible damage his comments had caused to relations with the United States. He told them he had already explained himself in a telephone conversation Saturday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that came after the White House described his comments last week as troubling.

The lawmakers said they felt Karzai was pandering to hard-line or pro-Taliban members of parliament and had no real intention of joining the insurgency. [...]

The Taliban rigidly oppose education for girls and women’s participation in public affairs, citing their narrow interpretation of conservative Islam and tribal traditions. Militants, who are strongest in the south and east, carry out beatings and other punishments for perceived women’s crimes from immodesty to leaving home unaccompanied by a male relative….

Hugh Fitzgerald/Posted at JW in early 2009:

Fitzgerald: Building That Bridge Over The River Kwai, Or, Why Are We In Afghanistan?

The very idea that because Al Qaeda was based in Afghanistan, Afghanistan has a special, irreplaceable importance in the “war against terrorism,” is false.

In the first place, the fact that Al Qaeda found Afghanistan under the Taliban (a Taliban nurtured by an American-supported Pakistan, and recognized by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) useful does not mean that Al Qaeda can only regroup in Afghanistan. The terrorist attacks in London were not hatched by those trained in Afghanistan, but by people living in, raised in, Great Britain. Those who bombed the Atocha station in Madrid were not from Afghanistan. Those who killed Pim Fortuyn (a weak-minded Dutchman put up to it by Muslims) and Theo van Gogh were not trained in Afghanistan. The Chechens who seized the theatre in Moscow, or the school in Beslan, were not trained in Afghanistan. Anywhere there are Muslims, ready to participate in Jihad through violence, they will be able to find sufficient weaponry and bombs. Afghanistan is being endowed with a significance it does not possess.

In the second place, the very idea that Americans and other NATO troops must be sent in large numbers to pacify Afghanistan, a vast country, remote from Western bases, difficult to get in and out of (just look at the sums demanded by Kyrgyzstan for the continued use of an airbase), and that requires the collaboration of another meretricious Muslim state that is actually far more hideous and dangerous than Afghanistan itself, Pakistan, is nonsense. Afghanistan, or rather the various ethnic groups within it, can be controlled, or at least the threat coming from them can be managed from afar. The very idea that the only choice is ever-increasing numbers of American troops, and ever more billions poured into Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries on earth, on the theory that Muslim hearts, if they are not with the Taliban, are therefore accessible and winnable, is absurd.

Here and there, just as in Iraq, some locals will prefer to use the Americans, and to temporarily curry favor with them out of self-interest — that is, out of a desire for American weaponry, supplies, and money. In Afghanistan, local groups and even individual warlords, and Karzai himself, have proven adept at leading the Americans by the nose for quite a while, just as the Pakistani military has managed to do for decades, and as the Al-Saud have done in presenting themselves as not the most dangerous enemies of Infidels, but as “America’s staunch ally.”

The United States has squandered at least two trillion dollars in Iraq. What is the result? Possibly, a state, and an army, that consists mainly of Muslim Arabs (the Kurds are slowly being squeezed out, and Maliki’s “outreach to the Sunni Arabs” will be, predictably, at the expense of the non-Arab Kurds), one that possibly will not be quite as ostentatiously aggressive as was the state run by that obviously hideous despot Saddam Hussein. But so what? How does this improve the Infidel position in the world? What has been accomplished, or could possibly be accomplished, to weaken the hold of Islam on the minds of men in Afghanistan? Nothing at all.

We, the Infidel Americans, have managed or may have managed to hold Iraq together a bit longer by doing everything we could to prevent the fissures, sectarian and ethnic, from leading to open and large-scale hostilities. And we, those American Infidels, were further kindly allowed by the local Arabs and Muslims to spend nearly two trillion dollars on this effort at a time when it is now recognized that economic warfare, and economic damage, is a key weapon in the jihadist arsenal. This remains true whether that damage is inflicted from without or self-inflicted by the assumption of responsibilities that make no geopolitical sense. And every dollar spent on Iraq, on Egypt, on Pakistan, on Afghanistan, on Jordan, on the “Palestinians,” represents a transfer of wealth from Infidels to Muslims, one that goes beyond the trillions in unmerited oil revenues the Arabs and Muslims have received.

We have spent that money, and have received, and will receive, no gratitude in return. When Iraq dissolves inevitably into the warring tribes and groups, who will be blamed? America. Americans. And so much of what we spend there, by the way, is on goods (such as oil shipments from Kuwait) and services (contractors, from ditto), that enrich Kuwaitis and Qataris and Bahrainis (when our ships are in), so that we are propping up all of these statelets and peoples who are not and cannot ever be our friends, but who in the end will use and abuse us every which way. And they will do this while we spend time trying to figure out what makes them tick, when what makes them tick are the texts, the tenets, the attitudes, the atmospherics, of Islam.

Tarbaby Iraq is about to be followed by Tarbaby Afghanistan. The military men involved focus on the immediate task at hand. They do not have time to study, or so they think, the texts, the ideology, of Islam. They do not have time, or do not have the inclination, to think beyond the immediate theatres of war — war understood only in the military sense, or at least in the sense of either making war or “winning hearts and minds” of combatants — in Iraq and now Afghanistan. Do you think General Petraeus, General Odierno, General McKiernan, has stopped to consider what is happening in Western Europe? Do you think they understand that there many ways to conduct Jihad, and that deployment of the Money Weapon, campaigns of Da’wa, and demographic conquest (already showing its effects on the fear displayed by many in the political and media elites of Western Europe, determined to appease Muslims and meet their demands on so many levels), is a much greater threat to the United States and to the civilization of the West than any conceivable outcome in remote and impoverished Afghanistan, or in Iraq?

Local entanglements of course inevitably engender human sympathies — sympathies, say, by the American officers for this or that local gunga-dinnish figure, who seems — and in a certain sense may be — appealing. But policy should not be based on that kind of sentimentality, and on a handful of local exceptions. We need to weaken the Camp of Islam and Jihad. And we need to do this without unduly squandering men, money, materiel, and morale. Propping up Afghanistan has to come to an end. Instead, officials should be soberly, coldly, even ruthlessly, deciding to manage the situation from afar, through help given to now this, and now to that, local group whose interests temporarily coincide with ours. They should be stopping all this wasteful “construction” that earns no gratitude, and merely rescues Muslims from the obvious consequences of inshallah-fatalism.

The logic of events will in the end require this realization. But how long will it take? Another few years? It ought to have been understood long ago, and would have been, if those making policy had understood, had allowed themselves to study, the meaning, and the menace, of Islam.

In the end, if Obama wishes to staunch the flow of American lives and money, he will have to pull out of Afghanistan and adopt what is suggested here. But he can protect himself from criticism on the right only by adopting, as well, the rationale offered here: pull out of Afghanistan not because Islam, and Muslims, are no threat, but precisely because they are. And resolve never to help them out of their problems, but to allow their political, economic, social, intellectual and moral failures to be on obvious display, not least to themselves. If Infidels, or a sufficient number of them, grasp the connection between the nature of Islam and the failures of Muslim states and societies, then Muslims themselves will have to begin at least to attempt to answer the argument that insists upon that connection. And in so doing, the most advanced Muslims will have to admit, to themselves if not to Infidels, that in fact Islam does explain those failures.

It explains the natural tendency toward despotism of Muslim lands, for the political theory of Islam is not one that pays attention to the will expressed by the people, but rather to the will expressed by Allah. Islam does explain, through its inshallah-fatalism, the economic paralysis, does explain the mistreatment of women and of all non-Muslims, does explain Islam as a vehicle for Arab cultural and linguistic imperialism, does explain the stunting of mental growth among those who are taught to regard themselves as merely “slaves of Allah” in a collectivist Total Belief-System, and discouraged from the kind of free and skeptical inquiry without which no progress in anything can be achieved. Infidels cannot undo all this by rescuing Iraqis, or Afghanis, from the consequences of Islam itself.

They may do so, just possibly, by removing themselves from Muslim countries, keeping Muslims from acquiring the kind of weaponry that can inflict great damage, and halting Muslim immigration to non-Muslim lands while working to reverse as much as possible the aggressive Muslim presence already achieved in those lands, through a fit of criminal negligence by our ignorant-of-Islam elites. This is the way, the only way, to divide and demoralize the Camp of Islam. Winning hearts and minds cannot be done, and those who think they can do so with armies, expensively maintained in the wilds of Afghanistan, are committing folly upon folly.

In their inattention to the real context, and their monomaniacal attention to the immediate task at hand — the wrong task, undertaken for the wrong reasons — they all remind one of Alec Guinness, as Colonel Bogey, building that bridge, urging his men to do more and more and more, and forgetting, in his mad attention to that bridge, that he is actually building it for the Japanese, helping them in their war effort. And that is exactly what some, both in the military and in the civilian part of our government, appear to be doing: overlooking the larger picture, the only picture that counts.

[Posted by Hugh on February 28, 2009]

Update:   German troops kill 5 Afghan soldiers: NATO

By SLOBODAN LEKIC (AP

KABUL — Taliban fighters attacked a detachment of German troops who were on a bridge-building and mine-clearing mission, triggering a gunbattle that left three soldiers dead, the German Defense Ministry said.

Five other Germans were wounded in the fighting Friday southwest of Kunduz city, the ministry said.

• Karzai whines about “occupation”
• Karzai blames “foreigners” for election fraud

White House: Afghan president’s comments cause ‘genuine concern’

German troops and Afghan police exchanged fire with their attackers for about an hour, with fighting resuming three hours later, local government chief Abdul Wahid Omar Khil said. He estimated about 200 Taliban militants were involved.

One Taliban fighter was killed and another was wounded, but the Germans and Afghan police were unable to use heavy firepower because the militants were firing from inside and on top of civilian homes, Omar Khil said.

Kunduz provincial police Chief Gen. Abdul Razaq Yaqoubi said the battle began after a mine exploded under a German armored vehicle. He said the troops were preparing to build a bridge and clear mines in the Chahar Dara area, about eight miles (12 kilometers) from the provincial capital.

Berlin has more than 4,000 troops in Afghanistan — the third largest foreign troop contingent — as part of the NATO presence fighting the Taliban and seeking to establish central government authority.

German forces control much of the country’s north, which is relatively peaceful. The surroundings of Kunduz, however, have recently proven increasingly volatile.

Including Friday’s casualties, 22 German soldiers have been killed by fighting or attacks in Afghanistan since 2001 and another 138 wounded, according to the Defense Ministry.

Another 17 German soldiers died of natural causes or accidents while on duty in Afghanistan.

Also Friday, a main political rival accused Afghan President Hamid Karzai of undermining the war against the Taliban by blaming the international community for fraud in last year’s election.

Abdullah Abdullah — who dropped out of a presidential runoff against Karzai because he believed it would also be tainted — also said he was worried about what he described as the president’s erratic behavior.

“As a former colleague and doctor, I think this is beyond a normal attitude,” said Abdullah, who was foreign minister during Karzai’s first term.

Abdullah spoke to reporters a day after Karzai accused the U.N. and international community of trying to rig the presidential election in order to either deny him a second term or tarnish his victory.

After the Obama administration expressed dismay over Karzai’s assertion, he called U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday and clarified his remarks.

“President Karzai reaffirmed his commitment to the partnership between our two countries, and expressed his appreciation for the contributions and sacrifices of the international community,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said, indicating that Clinton told Karzai that they should focus on common aims for stabilizing Afghanistan.

“They pledged to continue working together in a spirit of partnership,” he said.

The Obama administration and its NATO allies are depending on Karzai’s government to be a reliable partner in the war against the Taliban. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, believes the support of the Afghan people for the government is key to winning the war.

During the news conference, Abdullah accused Karzai of undermining the morale of Afghan forces battling the stubborn Taliban insurgency by implying that Afghanistan was still a country under foreign occupation.

“It was extraordinary … this is treason to the national interest,” Abdullah said. “What is the message to the thousands of soldiers and national police defending the country?”

“(Karzai) thinks that by taking that message he has delivered a populist stance, an anti-foreigner message,” Abdullah said. “He tried to blur the line between national resistance to terrorism and the insurgency.”

Karzai’s comments, delivered Thursday to employees of the state election commission, came after parliament rejected his bid to expand his control over the country’s electoral institutions. The remarks were seen as sharpening the power struggle with an increasingly independent-minded parliament over whether foreigners will help oversee parliamentary elections scheduled for September.

During his speech Thursday, Karzai acknowledged there had been “vast fraud” in the August vote, which returned him to office for a second five-year term. But he blamed the fraud on the U.N. and other foreign organizations.

Turning the accusation back on Karzai, Abdullah said it was clear the president and his supporters were the ones responsible. Two good things came out of Karzai’s comments, he said.

“First, the admission that there was massive fraud; and second, the admission that his rule was in fact illegitimate,” Abdullah said.

Muslim brothers…

I agree with Karzai: he should have never been arrested. I think he should have been shot.

Karzai “was very angry” when he heard that the Pakistanis had picked up Baradar with an assist from U.S. intelligence, the adviser said. Besides the ongoing talks, he said Baradar had “given a green light” to participating in a three-day peace jirga that Karzai is hosting next month. AP

Talib Chief Roasted in Drone Attack

ACLU shrieks: ACLU Sues US Over Use of Drones in War Zones/The ACLU wants use of drones banned in war zones./Gateway Pundit

The US killed a key al Qaeda operative involved in the network’s external operations during an airstrike last week in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan.

Sadam Hussein Al Hussami, who is also known as Ghazwan al Yemeni, was killed during the March 10 airstrike in the town of Miramshah, according to a statement released on a jihadist forum.

Read more:.longwarjournal

Burqa wearing suicide bombers roasted

H/T Vlad Tepes

Burka-clad bomb attackers shot dead in Lashkar Gah

We posted this earlier:

Taliban leaders ‘offered asylum’ under London peace plan

In other news:

• Iraq has spent a total of £52 million on 1,500 bomb detectors that are about as effective as waving your hand over a bag. Someone has been arrested.

Today Pamela has this: UN, London Surrenders to Taliban – Offers Hundreds of Millions in Booty, “Respect,” Asylum, Travel, Removal from US List

I think it very unhealthy for Islamic organizations (ie, the UN) to be dictating the terms of surrender to Islam. By g-d, whatever the West is smoking is some crazy wild shiz.

Could the Taliban be any more devoutly Islamic, violent, oppressive, misogynistic, barbaric, savage, and bloodthirsty? And yet, their names were taken off a UN sanctions list which has frozen their assets and blocked foreign travel. Any deal would also need their removal from United States “kill or capture” lists. Read that again.

And hundreds of millions of dollars in jizya.

From the Age/thanks to Dhumme

“Cash, not muscle, may end Afghan war”

After winning reluctant support from Western allies, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said yesterday he planned to offer money and jobs to Taliban fighters to draw them back to civilian life and away from their warlord masters.

Mr Karzai said he would use money from the international community to pay salaries and resettlement costs of former insurgents, saying his country must have ”peace at any cost”.

The plan to ”buy out” insurgents, known as reintegration, is a key pillar of the new strategy…

And who dreamt up this fantastic plan? England’s dumbest Jew: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband…

Meanwhile, on the home front:

Britain raises terror threat

• UK terror threat raised to ’severe’
• British Muslims Threaten Muslims who Vote?…
• (UK) Government Advisor on Religion Linked to Extremists…
• (UK) Muslim Cops Say Infidels to Blame for Islamic Terror…
• Useful idiots: we stand with the Muzz….

1.  Senegal Muslims Urged to Stone ‘Suspected’ Gays…
2. Danish Muslim Majority Opposes Freedom of Speech…
3. Pakistani Police Stood by During Mob Assault on Christians…
4. Taliban Formally Reneges on Swat ‘Peace for Sharia’ Deal…
5. Suspected Poison Attack on Afghan Girls School Injures 40…
6. Christian Minister and Wife Hacked to Death (Indonesia)…
7. Sweden: Europe’s New Rape Capital
8. ‘Neutral’ Switzerland vs. the Jews

* Who said there is no humor in Islam?

Cartoon In Saudi Daily: Following Fatwa Permitting His Killing, Mickey Mouse Writes Will (with thanks to MEMRI)

*****

Thai Jihad: Ten killed in Thai south on mosque raid anniversary

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Ten people have been killed by suspected separatist militants in Thailand’s deep south in the past two days around the fifth anniversary of a bloody government raid on a Muslim mosque, security officials said on Tuesday. More>>

Today’s Obambination:

The Commander-in-Chief didn’t want to take credit for his boneheaded decision to allow Air Force planes to scare half of the Tri-State area into thinking we were under another 9/11-style terrorist attack, he does the usual: throws yet another guy under the bus. I posted video of this frightening scenario played out over the Manhattan skyline, earlier today.

Read the rest at Debbie Schlussel…

Cartoon from Sigmund, Carl & Alfred:

• Today’s Paki Peekaboo:

“Taliban: Peace pact with Pakistan is ‘worthless’,” by Zarar Khan for the Associated Press, via JW

• Hamid Karzai, “our man in Kabul”, goes into damage control mode:

Afghanistan Prez says marital rape law will be amended

Muhammad said: “If a husband calls his wife to his bed [i.e. to have sexual relation] and she refuses and causes him to sleep in anger, the angels will curse her till morning.” — Bukhari 4.54.460

And: “By him in Whose Hand lies my life, a woman can not carry out the right of her Lord, till she carries out the right of her husband. And if he asks her to surrender herself [to him for sexual intercourse] she should not refuse him even if she is on a camel’s saddle.” — Ibn Majah 1854

But international pressure can get (some temporary) results.

An update on this story. “Afghan’s Karzai says will amend controversial law,” from Reuters, April 27 (JW):

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday the Justice Ministry was amending a controversial law which contains harsh provisions on women that critics have called a step back toward Taliban-era controls.The law, which applies to Shi’ite Muslims who make up about 15 percent of Afghanistan’s population, requires women to satisfy their husbands’ sexual desires. Opponents say this could be used to justify marital rape.

Other controversial passages require wives to get permission when leaving the home unless for employment, education or medical reasons, and allow a man to order his wife to wear make-up.

Karzai said the law would be changed to bring it in line with the constitution, which guarantees equal rights for women, and international treaties the country has signed.

“The law is under review and amendments will take place,” Karzai told a news conference with visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

“I assure you that the laws of Afghanistan will be in complete harmony with the constitution of Afghanistan, and the human rights that we have adhered to in our constitution and in the principles of the international treaties,” he added….

That’s hardly reassuring, given that Karzai evidently saw no contradiction between the Afghan Constitution and the prosecution of Abdul Rahman for apostasy.

 The Times

 ”Our Man in Kabool” Hamid Karzai, who is turning more Talibanish by the day, meets resistance…

President Karzai’s Taleban-style laws for women put troop surge at risk