A plea from Pakistan

Libby sent me the link to this video, prepared by MEMRI, of an interview in which Pakistani actress Veena Malik responds to charges that she has shamed her family and her country by appearing in an Indian reality show. She challenges her accuser, Mufti Abdul Qavi, to focus on corruption, bribery, and other problems in Pakistan, including sexual abuses committed by the clergy, which are much more serious than the charges he has brought against her. Malik is a very brave and outspoken woman. Let's hope she survives - today's Pakistan is an increasingly dangerous place for someone like her.

Why he did it

You may remember a horrifying crime in 2009 when Muazzamil Hassan, the owner of a Muslim TV station in Buffalo, decapitated his wife. His case recently went to trial; here psychologist Phyllis Chesler analyzes his motivation, based on his own words and on what she knows about how men treat women in Pakistan, where Hassan lived until he was 17.

Hassan's story, as Chesler recounts it, certainly seems crazy: "On February 12, 2009, immediately after stabbing his unarmed wife 40 times with two large hunting knives and then brutally beheading her, he became calm, relieved. For the first time in years, he felt 'peaceful.' Only then did he feel 'safe from the Evil Dragon Terrorist' which is how he referred to Aasiya Zubair Hassan, the wife he had viciously battered for seven years."

This perspective, however, turns out to be normal for Pakistani men. Chesler recounts in detail how women are treated in Pakistan; the story is not for those with weak stomachs. She closes by comparing Hassan's version of how his wife deserved what she got with how jihadi terrorists justify their actions.

Chesler's article is lengthy, but if you have time to read it, please do so - you won't feel you've wasted your time.

While you were sleeping

Mideast expert Barry Rubin highlights here that: "Indian investigators have confirmed that Pakistani intelligence was deeply involved in the massive, bloody Mumbai terror attack in 2008, killing 166 people." As he notes, this report has garnered virtually no notice, including from the U.S. government.

Rubin speculates: "The strategy of ignoring this problem fits into the broader strategy of the Obama administration: buy short-term quiet and apparent popularity at the price of strategic decline and future crises." And he asks, "does the Obama administration want to be an ally of those who murdered 166 people in Mumbai, the equivalent of backing those who carried out the September 11, Lockerbie, Spanish train, and British underground attacks?"

I think the Obama administration has two additional motivations for its silence. First, at least some officials won't or can't admit that "outreach to the Muslim world" won't solve all our problems. Second, I think simple cowardice is also a factor.

Our relationship with Pakistan is certainly complex and we have a lot to lose if relations deteriorate. But there are already reports that Pakistani officials have been helping the Taliban kill Americans in Afghanistan. Now we learn that Pakistani intelligence was behind the recruitment of an American to go to India to identify terrorist targets, including Americans.

Just what more do the Pakistanis have to do to get our attention?

The NYT and Pakistan

Jihad Watch's Fitzgerald here takes exception to the lengthy New York Times article that covers the murder of a 12-year-old maid in Pakistan without ever revealing that she was a Christian and her employer a Muslim. Fitzgerald's article includes a short compilation of Pakistani murder or attempted murder cases in which the perpetrators were Muslim and the victims Christian.

And, indeed, it turns out that the Lahore Bar Association has effectively intimidated (with death threats) any Christian or Muslim lawyer who might step forward to represent the maid. Her employer was the former head of said Bar Association.

Who's our ally?

Columnist Diana West, in this article, compares U.S. support for Pakistan, where "[a]n overwhelming 78 percent of Pakistanis believe those who leave Islam should be killed, 80 percent favor whippings and cutting off hands for crimes like theft and robbery, and 83 percent favor stoning adulterers."

At the same time, the U.S. government says not a word of support for Denmark, the small, democratic ally which has had the courage to defend press freedom in the face of Islamist pressure - and a recently-thwarted terrorist attack.

Just blaming this absurdity on Obama is too easy; the Bush administration did no better. Why? Because our foreign policy elite is willfully ignoring the ideological threat posed by the terrorists and their 'non-violent' Islamist brethren: "The point of Islamic terror is to assert Islamic law. Period." It sure would help if policymakers in Washington understood this.

The true Taliban

In case you missed it, David Rohde, the New York Times correspondent who was kidnapped by the Taliban and held for 7 months, is publishing a series of articles about his experience. The first one appeared on Sunday, October 18, the second one today. I think there are three more on the way.

Rohde found a Taliban more extreme than he had expected - and living fairly well in its own corner of Pakistan. Among them are groups that, influenced by the foreign fighters in their midst, wants to work with Al Qaeda to re-establish the caliphate in Muslim lands.

It's only money

Where, you might ask, does your hard-earned taxpayer money go? Well, in the House version of the 2009 supplemental appropriations bill, Pakistan will get $1.9 billion in various forms of non-military assistance and $400 million to build the counterinsurgency capabilities of the Pakistani security forces.

Meanwhile, Admiral Mike Mullen, the U.S. chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, confirmed that the Pakistani government is increasing its stockpile of nuclear weapons.

Some $665 million in the House appropriations bill is earmarked for bilateral economic, humanitarian and security assistance for the West Bank and Gaza. Additional funds for the West Bank and Gaza will come out of the total of $343 million identified for worldwide refugee assistance.

These funds presumably will remain in despite the fact that Hamas, which controls Gaza, continues to refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist. (Thanks to Jihad Watch.)

Deteriorating Pakistan

Although this story is being well-covered in the mainstream media, I am including it so you can follow the story that began with the Pakistani government ceding control of the Swat valley to jihadists. Now those same Islamist groups are within 60 miles of the capital.

This is dreadful news, and not clear what the United States can or should do about it. For starters, though, it would probably be wise to delay some of the assistance that has been promised Pakistan, at least until it's clear the Pakistani government has committed itself to what is truly a life-or-death struggle with the Islamists. Secretary of State Clinton's contradictory remarks on the subject suggest that she has little confidence that the government will indeed rise to the challenge.

Sharia in the Swat valley

Several days ago the Pakistani government reached an agreement allowing the Swat valley to come under Taliban rule - an area that had voted overwhelmingly against them. Here's an account of what's it's now like for the women who live there - stories as horrifying as those that came out of Afghanistan when the Taliban took over there.

The Swat valley is less than two hundred miles from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. This development is really, really bad news. (Thanks to Jihad Watch.)

Palestine and Pakistan

Harvey Sicherman, President of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, has analyzed the difficulties facing the Obama Administration in Palestine and Pakistan. If you want a single piece that brings you up to date on these two thorny problem regions, this is the one for you.

The Administration has appointed a special envoy for each region (George Mitchell for the Middle East, Richard Holbrooke for Pakistan and Afghanistan.) Neither man, unfortunately, is likely to find quick solutions, especially since both disputes involve failed or failing states.

Predator takes out Al Qaeda leadership

Here, thanks to Jeff, is an article from the British newspaper The Times, that describes the success the United States has had in using its Predator and Reaper drones to identify, target and kill Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan. Among this 'senior management' have been several terrorists specialized in attacks in Europe.