What would international politics be without some nutbag (often godbag) doing something completely inane? Well, friends, today is no exception, as a Pakistani cleric has now offered a $1 million bounty on the head of the cartoonist responsible for those offensive Mohammed illustrations. I wonder if he realizes that the cartoons were drawn by 12 different people?
In the northwestern city of Peshawar, where riots left two dead and scores injured on Wednesday, prayer leader Mohammed Yousaf Qureshi announced the bounty for killing a cartoonist to about 1,000 people outside the Mohabat Khan mosque, where worshippers burned a flag of Denmark and an effigy of the Danish prime minister.
He said the mosque and his religious school would give $25,000 and a car, while a local jewelers’ association would give another $1 million. No representative of the association was available to confirm it had made the offer.
“This is a unanimous decision of by all imams (prayer leaders) of Islam that whoever insults the prophet deserves to be killed and whoever will take this insulting man to his end, will get this prize,” Qureshi said.
Which is a great plan, you know, when you live in an economically struggling nation where you still haven’t totally recovered from a major natural disater — offer a million bucks to kill some guy for drawing a picture instead of, say, getting clean water to a rural village or educating some of your kids.
Of course, it’s not exactly a big secret that Pakistani president Pervez Musharaff and his government funnel money to terrorist organizations, while simultaneously acting as a friend to President Bush and the United States (and, to be clear, I’m actually not being too critical of the Bush administration here — they do need a strategic alliance with Pakistan, they just need to do a better job at it). Of course, the terrorist groups funded by Pakistan spend most of their energy launching attacks on India and in Kashmir, though terrorist extraordinaire Osama bin Laden has certainly spent some time in Pakistan trying to get his hands on nuclear technology. (And as a slight sidenote, if the words “nuclear” and “crazy godbag government” scare you when used together in the same sentence, you might want to avoid reading this). But back to Pakistan: The bottom line is, when you create a culture where the government tacitly endorses these groups, you can’t be surprised when they extend beyond your borders.
Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, chief of the radical group Jamaat al-Dawat, became the first religious leader detained by authorities since protests began in Pakistan early this month. He was due to make a speech in Faisalabad, about 75 miles away.
Intelligence officials have said scores of members of Jamaat al-Dawat and assorted militant groups joined protests in Lahore on Tuesday and had incited violence in a bid to undermine President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s government.
And you can’t be surprised when they turn on you.
Thanks to Lauren for the link.