Stop the presses. By Ed Johnson for Bloomberg:
March 30 (Bloomberg) -- President Pervez Musharraf has failed to tackle Islamic extremism in Pakistan's religious schools, which continue to promote a holy war against the West and foment terrorism, the International Crisis Group said.
Five years after the government pledged a crackdown on the schools, known as madrassas, many still preach a violent ideology and train and dispatch fighters to Afghanistan and Indian-administered Kashmir, the Brussels-based advocacy group, which aims to resolve conflicts, said in a report yesterday.
``The Pakistani government has yet to take any of the overdue and necessary steps to control religious extremism,'' the group said. ``Musharraf's periodic declarations of tough action, given in response to international events and pressure, are invariably followed by retreat.''
[...]
The ICG said the government's ``reform program is in shambles'' and that banned extremist groups continue to operate openly in Pakistan, particularly in the port city of Karachi.
The group called on the government to introduce a law that ``bars jihadi and violent sectarian teachings'' in madrassas and close schools that fail to comply. Many madrassas remain unregistered and government attempts to introduce non-religious classes have been futile, according to the report.
A law that "bars jihadi and violent sectarian teachings" is highly unlikely, as Islamic teachings on jihad are part of the standard Pakistani curriculum, and are not at all limited to the notion of an "inner spiritual struggle."
The group recommended the government establish financial controls on the schools, to establish where they receive funding. Students should also be registered, the group said. Certificates issued by the schools shouldn't be treated as the equivalent of university degrees to encourage participation in mainstream education, it added.
Indeed.
"Religious extremism" and "holy war"? More examples of Muslims taking Islam out of context?
Translation: Musharraf continues to weaken and except in instances where Vice President Cheney calls out the dogs and those loyal to the west in the Pakistani military and intelligence move on al Qaeda and Taliban, the entire structure of Pakistan supports terrorism and Islamofascism.
In reading the "experts" who now advocate fighting terrorists in Pakistan instead of Iraq, none has figured out that Pakistan is nothing but mountains, caves and terrain which would be a terrorist jihad dream. Iraq is the perfect nation for the fight in being nowhere to hide for terrorists.
Musharraf though is our precarious man bought and paid for by Saudi Arabia for the purpose of Pakistan built the atomic bombs for the Saudi's.
The conclusion seems to be pointing to as people are pressuring for an end to the Iraq solution that this region is being set up for a culling of millions of radicals, instead of as President Bush advocated in simply letting them grow old so napping would be more appealing to them than jihad.
At the least, it will be from the Plains of Sharon to Hindu Kush. At the worst, some stray missiles with atomic warheads are going to end up in eastern Europe and into Bombay.
Misery is a Muslims addiction and Islam is a Muslims drug to make them feel like supermen.
I hate to say this, but a Saddam Hussein would know exactly what to do. He'd understand the only incintive these people are capable of responding to.
A couple hundred shreaders, and the problem would be solved.
Sad, but true.
Really" Islamic schools are rife with extremism?
Surprise me MORE.
PS. I'd be genuinely shocked if they were NOT.
"``Musharraf's periodic declarations of tough action, given in response to international events and pressure, are invariably followed by retreat.''
....especially when the Muslim murderers say "BOO."
"The group recommended the government establish financial controls on the schools,"
...how about recommending some serious bulldozer activity if the schools fail to comply and actually conduct some legitimate school activity instead of just being a learning center known in other countries as war colleges....
"President Pervez Musharraf has failed to tackle Islamic extremism"
...why would you want to tackle your own teammates?....
where islam controls, pakiland becomes hell on earth.
lwould give India a lot more arms, bombs to keep them pakis busy.
...why would you want to tackle your own teammates?....
simply because said 'teammates' joined your team only under duress and are, and have always been, actually working to eventually defeat you.
The group called on the government to introduce a law that ``bars jihadi and violent sectarian teachings'' in madrassas.. That's like calling for a law that bars torah reading in Hebrew schools. Jihadi and violent teachings are the very definition of madrassas; in fact, jihad and violence is the very essence of Islam.
As Musharraf faces his mortality , he faces the real prospect of dying a hypocrite.He will embrace the jihad more as time passes.
Noble Qur’an 2:190 Footnote: “Jihad is holy fighting in Allah’s Cause with full force of numbers and weaponry. It is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of its pillars. By Jihad Islam is established, Allah’s Word is made superior (which means only Allah has the right to be worshiped), and Islam is propagated. By abandoning Jihad Islam is destroyed and Muslims fall into an inferior position; their honor is lost, their lands are stolen, their rule and authority vanish. Jihad is an obligatory duty in Islam on every Muslim. He who tries to escape from this duty, or does not fulfill this duty, dies as a hypocrite.”
Pakistan's raison d'etre is islam. The nation was not founded on any other glorious principles of humanity such as freedom, equality, liberty, fraternity..
In fact, Pakistan is the only country on earth founded on the basis of hatred. So naturally in its schools you can only find such material.
Whoever thinks Pakistan has something good in it is living in a fool's paradise.
If there is an enema to kept in this world, it must be placed in Pakistan
"Certificates issued by the schools shouldn't be treated as the equivalent of university degrees.."
-- from the article above
And most university degrees now awarded in the United States, and Great Britain, and a few other countries, given the standards today, given many of the contents and subjects of the courses, the level of education of the faculty, the atmospherics of college and university life, should no longer be "treated as the equivalent of university degrees" of, say, 40 or 80 or 120 years ago.
There must be a clear demonstration by graduating pupils (I like that word, "pupils"), have learned how to read and write, and know a bit of their own history, and of the world, and something of literature, not really very much, just what might have been expected of students in eighth or ninth grades a century ago, through testing. Not multiple-choice testing. Real testing.
My apologies to exsgtbrown for my earlier reaction to your comment. I completely misread your original comment and just realized you were essentially saying the same thing as me. I guess I need some more coffee.
Pakistan, Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia all need to loose 'stability'.
KORAN IS RIFE WITH EXTREMISM THUS...
(the pre-headline)
For example:
The Buddha said: "Wake up; be compassionate.
Jesus said: "Blessed are the peacemakers..."
Lao Tzu said: "Mastering others requires mere force; mastering yourself requires great strength."
Mohammad said: "Strike at their necks!"
Not another dime.
Is this article really a surprise to anyone?! They are known to harbor the Taliban that is trying to take over in Afghanistan again, they harbor al qaeda (and only capture a few #2 and/or #3 men in order to 'prove' they are doing something and grab some more of our money), and they are teaching young boys to slit throats, and use weapons in their 'inner struggle' of jihad (note sarcasm) since they insist this is a 'religion of peace'. sharia law is practiced - 'honor killings' is rampant - and basically it is the usual continual creation of sociopathic murderers in a muslim society. thugs rule and because they have sharia law - I suppose they could claim that their crime rate is low - since their murderers just follow the koran and sharia law.
Pakistan is a hole of radicals - and it has been since they were able to cede from India. Musharaff is a known supporter of terrorists - and was only stopped (I actually doubt he was stopped - he just doesn't go through the known banks/channels anymore) because we started to get tough on terrorist supporters. Our 'friend' is a 'friend' from hades.
A lot of us are missing the point about just how dangerous Pakistan is. We are worried (most rightly) about Iran and its desire for Nuclear weapons. Pakistan has them already. The only thing keeping Pakistan anywhere near in check, is it's extremely unpopular ruler Pervez Musharraf. The Mullahs in Pakistan would dearly love to get rid of him. Should the unthinkable ever happen, and he is murdered or overthrown Pakistan will most likely fall into the hands of Mullahs who support both the Taliban and you guessed, it Al Qaeda!!
This undoubtedly must make Pakistan the most dangerous country in the Muslim world. At the instant of his overthrow, Pakistan's nuclear weapons will be in the hands of terrorists.
I very much hope we have plans in place for this eventuality. I would hazard a guess India has, that would be called a pre-emptive strike with their own nukes. I sincerely hope we will help them.
I don't even discount the possibility that with Pakistani help, the Iranian weapons program is in fact far nearer a usable device than we fear. The capture of our Sailors could just be the final delay tactic whilst the master of Evil assembles his first bomb ready for test. Someone many years ago told me "never trust a PAKIstani"
I fear that man was right, although being young and naive at the time I simply dismissed him as a "racist". I have learnt a lot since then. He was a Patriot, as am I.