A video posted on the BBC website shows the Taliban stoning to death a couple accused of adultery in northern Afghanistan. It includes only short clips because “most of the video is too graphic to be shown.” The website describes the event as follows:
The video begins with Siddqa, a 25-year-old woman, standing waist-deep in a hole in the ground. She is entirely hidden in a blue burka. Hundreds of men from the village are gathered as two mullahs pass sentence. As Taliban fighters look on, the sentence is passed and she is found guilty of adultery. The stoning lasts two minutes. Hundreds of rocks – some larger than a man’s fist – are thrown at her head and body. She tries to crawl out of the hole, but is beaten back by the stones. A boulder is then thrown at her head, her burka is soaked in blood, and she collapses inside the hole. Incredibly Siddqa was still alive. The mullahs are heard saying she should be left alone. But a Taliban fighter steps forward with a rifle and she is shot three times. Then her lover, Khayyam, is brought to the crowd. His hands are tied behind his back. Before he is blindfolded he looks into the mobile phone camera. He appears defiant. The attack on him is even more ferocious. His body, lying face down, jerks as the rocks meet their target. He is heard to be crying, but is soon silent…
It is a shame that the Obama administration and its European allies no longer justify the war in Afghanistan on moral grounds, such as democracy and human rights. Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai now lashes out at its Western backers and courts Taliban terrorists and those that harbor them. The brutal execution of the young couple, however, is a grim reminder of what will happen to the 30 million Afghan people, especially women, if the United States and NATO forces leave the country prematurely.
9/11 is the justification. If the suffering of innocents was the main justification, we would be in more wars than any of us would care to count.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe Afghan people have lost the right to appeal for our support on moral grounds. If they refuse to stand up for their own democracy and human rights, we can't do it for them.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCavemen.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe fact our government thinks that we should feel guilty about 'civilian casualties' in that region speaks more to why we shouldn't be there than anything else. Only the most disciplined and heartless kind of military occupation can bring civilization to that place, and if we're not up to it then we should leave.
If we went to war everywhere we find "honor killings" we'd be in wars from Pakistan to Michigan.
The "moral" issue is an obvious one here, but beyond that, who is to decide what is "moral"? I find abortion to be a great immorality and a vile violation of the human rights of millions. Should I be able to use the US military to rectify this moral outrage?
The men and women of the US military did not join (willingly choose to risk their lives) to be the instruments of correcting every moral outrage on the planet.
Were the gulags not a great violation of human rights? Should we have invaded the USSR? [Repeat ad nauseum]
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis is beyond appalling. And yet in the United Kingdom, record numbers of British women, in particular, are converting to Islam. One wonders what they are thinking.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLiberals believe that 'moral grounds' should only be defined by and applied to individual conscience. Any attempt to apply moral grounds to a national ethical code is anathema. That's why Bush did and Obama doesn't.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe comments here show how distant we now are from our moral responsibilities. Did we not invade that country? Do we not have a moral responsibility to leave behind a secure environment for millions of Afghans who joined hands with us to fight the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 tragedy? If we continue to act like self-centered, heartless citizens, what will be our image in the world in future? We've already paid the heavy price for ignoring the terrorist Taliban in the 1990s. Let's not make the mistake again.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseJeff: there is absolutely a moral responsibility; a "you break it you buy it". We were obligated to make a good faith effort to secure the country.
I was a supporter of the surge in Iraq because up to that point we had not made a good faith effort to secure it.
I was also a supporter of the surge in Afghanistan for the same reason.
At this point, the people/leaders of Afghanistan have lost quite a lot of my sympathy. We have been there for so long, fighting the monsters of the Taliban and al Qaeda, trying to foster the growth of democracy, trying to deliver aid, etc, and huge numbers of the people side with the Taliban. At this point we don't owe Afghanistan one more drop of blood or one more cent.
But to the extent that leaving could allow the pre-invasion status quo to return, there is a case for staying. We can't allow it to once again become a launching pad for strikes against us.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI won't send my two young sons to die for an Afghani person's right to marry who they want, no matter how heartbreaking it might be.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseA fine post, just one word too many at the end. Thusly:
"The brutal execution of the young couple, however, is a grim reminder of what will happen to the 30 million Afghan people, especially women, if the United States and NATO forces leave the country."
And that's the problem.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe Taliban has nothing to do with this horrific event. It's just business as usual in Afghanistan. Afghans can claim that the Taliban was/is the source of all brutality in that country, but Sharia law and the terrible punishments for transgressions of that law have existed for much longer than the Taliban and will not magically go away even if the Taliban is eventually defeated.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI may be in the minority here but as this "couple" (what an awful way to describe it) acted as far as can be ascertained in their proper minds and broke the law why should we be involved?
Yes, the US has a moral responsibility in the region. Yes, I believe the Taliban are barbaric. Yes, I believe that adultery (which is an evil) should not be punished this way. No, holding up law breakers as a reason for invasion is not a good idea. Don't screw around with your neighbors wife. Bad things happen. In _any_ country.
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