5 Girls in Pakistan ordered raped to pay off debt

[ECH1969]

village council in Pakistan has decreed that five young women should be abducted, raped or killed for refusing to honour childhood "marriages".

The women, who are cousins, were married in absentia by a mullah in their Punjabi village to illiterate sons of their family's enemies in 1996, when they were aged from six to 13.

The marriages were part of a compensation agreement ordered by the village council and reached at gunpoint after the father of one of the girls shot dead a family rival.

The rival families have now called in their "debt", demanding the marriages to the village men are fulfilled.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/22/wdebt22.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/11/22/ixworld.html
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B**h's close ally knows how to treat women.

[Bluebear]

1. "Bush is Pakistan's pal"

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/01/opinion/main684768.shtml

...Consider this dizzying series of Bush II-era actions:

We have thrown away thousands of Iraqi and American lives and billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars after crying wolf on Iraq's long-defunct nuclear weapons program and now expect the world to believe similar scary stories about neighboring Iran.

We have cozied up to Pakistan for more than three years as it freely allowed the operation of the most extravagantly irresponsible nuclear arms bazaar the world has ever seen.

We sabotaged negotiations with North Korea by telling allies that Pyongyang had supplied nuclear material to Libya, even though the Bush Administration knew that the country of origin of those shipments was our "ally," Pakistan.

[niallmac]

2. OK this is really straining my liberal open mindedness.

How in the hell am I supposed to explain this away as "cultural differences."
I am sorry. This is fucked up. Isn't there a human instinct that wells up from your
soul and says these are children who depend on your protection?
Holy crap I want Margaret Mead to explain this one. Someone conjure up Margaret.

[RoyGBiv]

6. You don't ...

Nothing is ever "explained away" as a cultural difference. Some things, this being one of them, can be explained in part by cultural differences, but this does mean whatever is being explained is excusable, moral, or acceptable. An explanation is not the same as an excuse.

As you say, this is fucked up, should be called fucked up, and any person or any nation who even hints at being accepting of a culture that excuses this practice, whether by overt deed or lack thereof, should, at the very least, be called morally repugnant and excluded entirely from the world community.

[Bozita]

3. I thought Islam respected and even sheltered women

What would Allah do?

WWAD

[Digit]

8. Ha, I know what Geena Davis would do in Commander In Chief n/t

[PsychoDad]

10. This isn't Islam.

This is a group of ignorant village elders.

Islam, as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) 1400 years ago guaranteed women the right to choose their own husbands, and forbade forced marriage. Women became persons in Islamic society with the right to property, a right to public office and a right to voice their opinion to anyone at anytime, even to the prophet.

It was people like these village elders that the Prophet was fighting.

WWAD? The One forbade forced marriage, that's what Allah did.

Peace.

[Erika]

4. Yep W and the Pakistan President are buds

W's selective morality at work again. The GOP should be so proud of themselves for upholding civil rights. Laura should also share in this. W has done so much good for womenhood. Barf.

[Erika]

5. This is why the progressives in Iraq and Pakistan hve fled

The brain drain is severe in these countries. Those with any means have already fled to mostly Canada and Europe. They saw the writing on the wall. Now, exactly, why are we there?

[Endangered Specie]

7. Is there some sort of "worlds most uncilivzed barbarians" competition

I missed?

[NMMNG]

9. But it's tradition, and it would be wrong to alter tradition!

Those women should just go marry those men like they're supposed to and live with it.
:sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm:

[JCMach1]

11. Why is it that this is the only kind of story you here about Pakistan?

Why is it the media is pushing these kind of stories?

Well, it's more politcal orientalism from the MSM...


Sure, stupid and crappy things happen in small backwards villages in Pakistan.

I would dare to say that such stupid things happen ALL OVER THE WORLD in such places...

Why is the only place that these things get reported is in the ME, or Pakistan? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[PsychoDad]

12. Sure, stupid and crappy things

happen in small backwards villages here in the United States.

Take Washington DC for example.. :)

And my Salaams to you.

[JCMach1]

13. Exactly...

Alaikum Salaam-

I see these stories pop-up every few weeks, or months and they are always the same.


Villagers X have done some strange thing to Person Y (usually female). There is always very little story detail and almost NO follow-up.

What REALLY happens in a case like this?

There was also recently the flogging case in KSA. The western media had NO follow-up and merely left the 'horror' story to linger in the psyche.

I have many close Pakistani friends. In fact, a family will be spending Thanksgiving with us here in the UAE. I mentioned this story to one of my best friends and he was shocked and outraged that this might actually happen. It's not Islam and it's just plain WRONG.

It's a crazy world, but at the same time let's call the media on their idiocy and bias once and awhile.