Pakistan's Pleasure Police

In Pakistan, political leaders of the conservative Northwest Frontier Province are fighting for a bill that would

...empower an Islamist police force with draconian powers to close down cinemas and businesses at prayer time, interrogate couples about their relationships, and arrest beggars. Offenders could be jailed for up to six months. ... The bill was rushed through the frontier provincial assembly by the MMA, a coalition of hardline religious parties that swept to power on an anti-US platform in 2002. The MMA has banned music in public places, pulled down adverts that show images of women, and prohibited male doctors from seeing female patients.

Musharraf is trying to have the bill declared unconstitutional, but all the same — this perverted, extremist Qu'ran-thumping takes place in a county that's our ally. Imagine what life is like for women and non-fanatics in the lands of our enemies.

Comments

[SisterGeoff]

Exsactly as bad minus the dictator of the country being our ally.

[Martin Owens]

Anybody who thinks we have allies in the Middle East- Arab, Isreali, Christian, Muslim, or anything else - is delusional

They are all out to use us any way they can, and then they'll turn on us- includes the Isrealis ( anyone remember the USS LIBERTY?)
Never mind the patina of refinement and progress. We're dealing with bloodthirsty, treacherous, arrogant tribal savages. Ground Zero is what happens when we forget that.