Public execution of a young woman in Afghanistan

Nan, I believe that Islam will take over the world with all my heart..I know that western society has many problems, & I know many people hate such things as Alchohol consumption to excess, sexualisation of our society, the way women dress etc..but what is the alternative?..please do not tell me that Sharia law is the answer, as women we would go back to the stone age as they will do again when we have to pull out of Afghanistan...The thing I hate most of all is hypocracy..I worked for 10yrs at a famous Health Farm, no names no pack drill!..Needless to say we had many Arab guests..I lost count of the times the porters told me that they nearly developed hernias carrying suitcases of illicit bottles of booze to these guests rooms..also a roaring trade was frequent in, lets say "ladies of the night" from London..gross hypocracy!! As I say we should be worried.

Sounds like quoted cauldron with witches! But seriously true!

haha jeni think that was a while back 1600s I believe. I know we on GN are the older members of society but not that old
But Northern Ireland is still bubbling!

Not nowadays surely? I can't personally remember Pendle! I must have been very young at the time!

Christians used to.. NB witches of Pendle etc
Catholic vs Protestants
Christian vs Jew
Crusaders etc etc

Not right whoever does it though

There's an evangelical one in Christianity too. But we don't go round killing people.
What am I saying?
I'm not evangelical!
Chacon a son goute I say

If it hurts treat with allopurinol

No it's not. There is an evangelical movement in Islam but it is not the mainstream as far as I am aware.

It may be their aim, but does that mean we should just give in and start knitting burkas?

Isn't/wasn't that the aim of all missionary religions??

I thought that was the main aim of Islam, to take over the world.

pammy hope that is ironic and not what you really believe??

Wake up everyone.. this is what is going to happen to us all...militant Islam is going to take over the world! I am knitting my darling Grandaughter a burka!

Excellent post, Absent - I agree with everything you say.

I didn't suggest turning a blind eye. I just don't believe sending a gunboat is the answer – not least because civilians, especially women and children, are usually the ones who suffer most in war. Diplomatic and other pressure, co-operation and education seem better and more certain ways forward in helping people in a different country with a different culture consider possible alternatives. True, this is likely to be slow but it is also likely to be lasting. Does anyone want to make a guess about what will happen in Afghanistan in the decade following the coalition withdrawal?

Greatnan Women and children are being mistreated and oppressed in Iraq now to a greater extent that they were in the days of Saddam. Of course, I didn't approve of such a tyrant but I also didn't approve of the illegal invasion of the country or the the outcome of the occupation. Death is a daily reality and many of the best educated – teachers, doctors, dentists, etc. – have fled abroad. That is not an improvement; it's just a different kind of wrong.

I confess to feeling ambivalent about interfering in other countries but it is hard to stand aside and watch women and children being beaten, raped and mutilated. I only wish I could be sure that the UK's reason for military intervention was altruistic.

But while I take your point, absent are we to turn a blind eye to barbaric customs like executing a woman WHO HAS BEEN RAPED (not this case) for adultery?
What hope is there for achieving equality or democracy if we fail to intervene?

I don't think we have a right to decide how other people should lead their lives in other countries, much less to enforce change through military action. In fact, change is most often effected by other, more insidious means. Look, for example, at the power and reach of American television and films, especially in the light of America's belief in the American way. Does anyone recall the American soldier interviewed in Baghdad during the occupation of Iraq who described a country generally acknowledged as the cradle of civilisation as"completely uncivilised – they don't even have a MacDonalds"? I bet they do now.

It raises the question - do we have the right to attampt to alter the customs of other countries because we find them barbaric? (I would say yes, but we need to accept that we are far from perfect in the West) and also, if a country wants aid/intervention should they "repay" in the sense that they modernise and become a more equal and democratic society?
Again, I feel Yes is the answer but as the French say "autre pays, autre moeurs" (different country, diffferent customs)
What do y ou think?

While troops have been in Afghanistan for rather longer than a couple of years (since 2001, in fact, Jacey), that does rather pale into insignificance compared with the length of time they were in India Greatnan. Not that putting an end to sati/suttee was anything other than a good thing.

The whole incident reminds us what sharia law actually can be like. I do understand that for millions of muslims this type of barbaric murder is not their idea of the muslim faith but it is to the hard line muslim and cannot be excused.

The video of this poor defenceless girl cowered on the floor, being shot by her husband was sickening and the cheers of the village after her killing was equally as sick. I do hope that the Afghanistan Parliament take on board this is not acceptable and they follow this case through to a conclusion, I will not hold my breath.

Her death was a tragedy witnessed by the west, how many more poor women and children are suffering at the hands of cowardly men who hide behind sharia law to disfigure and kill. Sadly not only in Afghanistan.

It worked for sati (or suttee) in India!

But are not western governments a littlearrogant to think that a couple of years of their military might will change traditions/customs that have been in place for hundreds of years??

gracesmum How barbaric was the killing of this young woman by the hands of these people I feel nothing will change in the near future whatever the outcry is from other countries.As most of you know I am very fortunate that my DSs came home safe and sound from Irag/Afganistan and I remember my DS2 telling me that the Govenments of those countries are just making the right noises and agreeing to go along with the help they are getting but have not intention of changing their way of life at all.

Frankly, gracesmumit's almost impossible to know why our service personnel are in Afghanistan as the goal posts have been moved a fair old number of times since the "intervention" started. Now, it appears to be training security forces so that the country has an active and capable military and police force and the various governments of coalition forces, particularly the UK and US, won't lose face when their forces are withdrawn. Like George W. they will be able to say, "Mission accomplished" because no one knows now what the mission is/was. At one point, it was "nation building"; intermittently it has been security. An "acceptable" leader (former oil company man) has been established as the president and little notice is taken of a not-so-gradual return to tribal ways. The original purpose was to capture or kill bin Laden (now done) and prevent Al Quaeda from undertaking any further training of terrorists (now also done as they have moved to Pakistan and the horn of Africa). I doubt whether Western politicians – and their supportive wives (Mrs Bush and Mrs Blair in particular) who mouthed off about establishing women's rights in Afghanistan – lose sleep over incidents as barbaric as this.