The Guardian: Some Muslims are fond of condemning western morality – alcoholism, nudity, premarital sex and homosexuality often being cited as examples. But Muslims do not have a monopoly on morality. In the west, child marriages and sex with children are illegal. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many Muslim countries. I recently...
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Archive for May, 2011
The hypocrisy of child abuse in many Muslim countries
Canadians believe Afghan detainees tortured — and disapprove: poll
Canwest News Service: A solid majority of Canadians believe prisoners detained by Canadian soldiers have been tortured after being transferred to Afgan authorities, a new Ipsos Reid poll suggests. A fat majority also say that if torture occurred, it was not only wrong but that they believe there was widespread knowledge of it within...
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AFGHANISTAN: Running on drugs, corruption and aid
IRIN: It is well known that the Taliban, local criminals and international drug cartels profit enormously from the drug trade; that corruption is rife; and that huge amounts of aid money are pouring into Afganistan. Less clear is the effect of all this on government power and the rule of law on which humanitarian...
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After nearly a decade of war, PTSD is afflicting the U.S. military
CAIVP: While the Afganistan and Iraq wars have cost the United States over $1 trillion, 5,000 deaths, and 30,000 maimings, there is yet another painful cost that is rarely discussed by the American public. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is plaguing both active and retired members of the Armed Forces. Multiple, repeated deployments to intense...
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Rape threats used to scare detainees into confessing
Globe and Mail: Guantanamo Bay, Cuba – Terrifying threats of dying from multiple gang rape “by four big black guys’’ who would catch little Afgan boys in the shower of a U.S. prison, was used by interrogators at Bagram to scare detainees into confessing, Omar Khadr’s lead interrogator admitted today. `It was a factious...
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Shootings of Afghans on Rise at Checkpoints
The New York Times: Shootings of Afgan civilians by American and NATO convoys and at military checkpoints have spiked sharply this year, becoming the leading cause of combined civilian deaths and injuries at the hands of Western forces, American officials say. The steep rise in these convoy and checkpoint attacks — which the military...
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In Brief: Floods cause havoc in Afghanistan
IRIN: Flash floods have killed over 80 people, wounded 240 and damaged more than 5,000 houses in 12 of Afganistan’s 34 provinces over the past 18 days, the Afganistan National Disasters Management Authority said. The floods have also killed livestock and ruined fields of crops.
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Eight civilians killed in Afghanistan
DPA: Seven civilians were killed in two explosions in central and northern Afganistan, while one other was shot by a private security guard near the capital, officials said Saturday. Two women, two children and two men were killed in Charkh district of the central province of Logar after their vehicle was blown up by...
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Thousands of acres of land illegal grabbed in north
PAN: Powerful men had forcefully captured thousands of acres of land in northern provinces, locals and officials said. The nomadic Kuchis and livestock owners also complained that the government had assigned them some chunks of green land where they could graze their herds, but the same was forcefully captured by some powerful people who...
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