Wednesday, October 26, 2005

What is America Doing to Afghanistan?

The Scranton Times-Tribune speaks truth to power in its editorial on resurgent Taliban-style Islamism in Afghanistan:
The power of the Islamic state was brought to bear upon Mr. Nasab for his magazine’s publication of two articles that, according to the prosecutor, put the editor in the position of having abandoned the Islamic faith. One article argued that Muslims who convert to other faiths should not be stoned to death; the other argued that people who commit adultery should not be subjected to 100 lashes.

Democracy advocates were left to ponder that U.S. allies within the government noted that Mr. Nasab was given just two years in prison, whereas the prosecutor had argued for the death sentence. And, of course, the magazine itself was removed from newsstands.

This cannot be what Americans are fighting, dying and paying for in Afghanistan.


I wonder who made the American decision to let the Taliban back into Afghan government--instead of completely crushing them--and why?