Politics | 02/16/2009 10:10 am

Pakistan and Taliban Strike Islamic Law Deal

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Pakistan’s government has made a deal with the Taliban.

The Pakistani government has agreed to impose Islamic law in the Swat Valley region — once a tourist paradise — after local Taliban leaders said that would have to be part of any peace deal to end fighting in the area.

"We have agreed to end all non-Islamic laws in the region," said Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, chief minister of the valley’s North West Frontier Province. "This was the peoples’ demand."

It’s not as if the "people" had much choice. Extremists have gained influence through beheadings and burning girls’ schools. The Swat Taliban’s version of Islamic law — otherwise known as Sharia — is especially horrific, banning female education, forbidding many forms of entertainment and barely letting women go outdoors. Authorities are reportedly setting up so-called qazi courts to apply strict Sharia law. And it doesn’t bode well for the area’s citizens. From Britain’s Times:

The move to Sharia is likely to make the region’s already conservative culture even more repressive. Many extremists in northwest Pakistan favor the exceptionally strict brand of Sharia the Taliban imposed in Afghanistan before the U.S. invasion in 2001, where female education and music were banned. The Swat Taliban have declared a ban on girls’ education. Many civilians in the region support an Islamic justice system, and some of the regulations under discussion have been on the books but never implemented.

Without a doubt, the Pakistani government’s agreement hurts everyone. The country seems to be conceding to a way of life that oppresses women and girls, and wreaks violence on many who live within its societies. Let’s hope Pakistan rethinks this horrible decision. The U.S. should speak out against this so-called "peace deal."

Click here to read wOw’s story on Sharia finance and how some think the U.S. banking bailout may be funding Sharia-adhering terror groups.

Read more about: Islamic Law, News, Pakistan, Sharia Law, Swat Valley, Taliban, women, World

13 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

“”We have agreed to end all non-Islamic laws in the region,” said Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, chief minister of the valley’s North West Frontier Province. “This was the peoples’ demand.” “It’s not as if the “people” had much choice. Extremists have gained influence through beheadings and burning girls’ schools.” This is not agreement, this is blatant Blackmail. If we do not take a tough stance with these Islamic terrorists, we will have this coming to a neighborhood near us very soon.

By Robert Thompson on 02/16/2009 10:19 am

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Once you give in to a thug you are forever at his mercy.

By Andrea Brandon on 02/16/2009 11:53 am

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Here is another great idea from Obama!! Obama Signs Presidential Determination Allowing Palestinians Loyal to Hamas to Resettle In US http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2181149/posts Posted on Sunday, February 08, 2009 3:18:31 PM by NoLibZone President Barack Obama has signed an executive order presidential determination allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to resettle in the United States . Sure, what can go wrong when we allow hundreds of thousands of people who have been, as Mark Steyn memorably described, “marinated” in a “sick death cult,” who voted for Hamas, and 55% of whom support suicide bombings live here and at the American taxpayers’ expense: By executive order, President Barack Obama has ordered the expenditure of $20.3 million in migration assistance to the Palestinian refugees and conflict victims in Gaza . The “presidential determination” which allows hundreds of thousands of Palestinians with ties to Hamas to resettle in the United States was signed on January 27 and appeared in the Federal Register on February 4. President Obama’s decision, according to the Register, was necessitated by “the urgent refugee and migration needs” of the “victims.” Few on Capitol Hill took note that the order provides a free ticket replete with housing and food allowances to individuals who have displayed their overwhelming support of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the parliamentary election of January 2006. Let’s review some of Barack Obama’s most recent actions since he was inaugurated a little more than two weeks ago: * His first call to any head of state as president was to Mahmoud Abbas, leader of Fatah party in the Palestinian territory. * His first one on one interview with any news organization was with Al Arabia television. * He ordered Guantanamo Bay closed and all military trials of detainees halted. * He ordered all overseas CIA interrogation centers closed. * He withdrew all charges against the masterminds behind the USS Cole and 9/11. * Today we learn that he is allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refuges to move to and live in the US at American taxpayer expense. Anyone else seeing a pattern here?

By Robert Thompson on 02/16/2009 12:45 pm

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Why do you post the same excerpts from right wing bloggers over and over in every thread you visit? Do you really think that anyone is going to give this drivel any credibility just because you viral post it?! The only people who give it any credibility are your like minded conspiracy theorists, and they already are on the same page as you. For everyone else, it’s just a confirmation of how nuts the conspiracy theorists are.

By Marina B. on 02/16/2009 2:00 pm

Robert, Here is the exact wording from the Federal Register (Feb. 4): [[Page 6115]] You and your sources have taken a huge leap from emergency aid to moving Palestinians to the US. “Presidential Determination No. 2009-15 of January 27, 2009 Unexpected Urgent Refugee and Migration Needs Related To Gaza Memorandum for the Secretary of State By the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 2(c)(1) of the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 (the “Act”), as amended (22 U.S.C. 2601), I hereby determine, pursuant to section 2(c)(1) of the Act, that it is important to the national interest to furnish assistance under the Act in an amount not to exceed $20.3 million from the United States Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund for the purpose of meeting unexpected and urgent refugee and migration needs, including by contributions to international, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations and payment of administrative expenses of Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration of the Department of State, related to humanitarian needs of Palestinian refugees and conflict victims in Gaza. You are authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register. (Presidential Sig.) THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington, January 27, 2009 [FR Doc. E9-2488 Filed 2-3-09; 8:45 am] Billing code 4710-10-P”

By Lee Harrison on 02/17/2009 5:48 am

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There are few things I wish for more than that we had spent even a portion of the trillions we have spent invading Iraq instead on funding secular schools in Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere, and also in funding other programs (such as family business initiatives and healthcare) that would have stabilized this very dangerous region both economically and socially, and which would have correspondingly rendered the Taliban and other right wing extremists impotent.

By Marina B. on 02/16/2009 2:34 pm

You are not alone in wanting an educational approach: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4511548.stm

By Zera Lee on 02/16/2009 11:47 pm

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Thanks, Zera. I hadn’t checked the BBC for a while, so I missed this - I didn’t see it covered here.

By Marina B. on 02/17/2009 12:47 am

Check the date, Marina. The article is more than 3 years old. The OIC has no authority to impose, and I have not heard that their recommendation was adopted by anyone. I do know that Saudi Arabia has a deprogramming project underway, but that treats the symptoms - not the disease. Or it’s cure rather than prevention…having trouble with my analogies today. Know a good analogesic? ;-)

By Zera Lee on 02/17/2009 3:38 pm

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This alone tells us how the Iraq war was a waste of time. The other thread asking if Republicans were “right” on the war…. well, if the Republicans really had intended on weakening the Taliban, looks like our invasion and occupation of Iraq didn’t do the job and the Taliban is stronger than it was on 9/11.

By DeBúrca obj on 02/16/2009 2:45 pm

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By us going into Iraq it only emboldened the Taliban…that only inflamed what was simmering with them by us invading that country especially for no valid reason as so many people know now. That invasion of Iraq has increased terrorists by the thousands to join the fight against us….so for those who think we have won the war in Iraq I think they are sadly mistaken.

By caj p on 02/16/2009 3:13 pm

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This is heart-breaking news. Please take note of the following: A january 21, 2009 issue of the Pakistan daily newspaper The News, reports Taliban enforcement of a complete ban on female education in the Swat district. Some 400 private schools enrolling 40,000 girls have been shut down. At least 10 girls schools that tried to open after the January 15, 2009 deadline by the Taliban were blown up by the militants in the town of Mingora, the headquarters of the Swat district. More than 170 schools have been bombed or torched, along with other government owned buildings. I feel so sorry for the approx. 1.4 million inhabitants of this region, the vast majority of whom have no choice at all. They just go along with it or be killed or tortured if they refuse. Tiffie/Canada

By Anne Canwell on 02/17/2009 3:39 am