Althouse: "Horrific video footage has emerged of Taliban insurgents stoning a couple to death for alleged adultery in northern Afghanistan."

January 27, 2011

"Horrific video footage has emerged of Taliban insurgents stoning a couple to death for alleged adultery in northern Afghanistan."

"Hundreds of villagers can be seen on the video standing around as the woman, Siddqa, is buried up to her waist in a four foot hole in the ground. Two mullahs pass sentence before the crowd begins to throw rocks at her head and body as she desperately tries to crawl free...."

79 comments:

Fred4Pres said...: بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

bismi allaahi arrahmaani arrahiim

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.; 1/27/11, 11:25 AM
The Drill SGT said...: Beyond the horrific crime, what concerns me is that I think of the Taliban as being a Pashtun disease.

This crime appears to be up in the Uzbek ethic areas and they are relatively liberal (as afghani's go) IMHO; 1/27/11, 11:31 AM
Roger J. said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 1/27/11, 11:32 AM
Emil Blatz said...: A description will do. Thanks.; 1/27/11, 11:32 AM
KCFleming said...: Rest assured, MN Lutherans will sponsor their immigration to the US.; 1/27/11, 11:32 AM
TWM said...: What did Dexter say to his sister when she asked him if some people deserved to die. Oh yes, "Some people don't deserve to live."

That pretty much sums up my feeling about the Taliban and the rest of radical Islam. I'll leave it to each of you to decide how much of Islam is radical.; 1/27/11, 11:36 AM
Fred4Pres said...: The Macy*s Million Dollar Makeover ad just before the video of the guy being tied up for stoning was a nice touch. Because if you are going to get stoned to death, you definitely want to do so after a million dollar make over. Not wearing some crappy salwar kameez.

Unless it is a stylish salwar kameez from Macy*s that costs 100x more than if you got it in the baazar in Pakistan.; 1/27/11, 11:37 AM
MDIJim said...: Afghanistan is a tough call. Say what you will about Obama, he is right to get us out of there. Afghanistan may or may not be harboring OBL. Or is he in Yemen or Sudan or Pakistan or Somalia or any number of other hell-holes controlled by the likes of the Taliban? We have tried and failed over more than a decade to rid the world of these creeps. It is time to move on and exercise some meaningful control over our borders. God or Allah help those poor bastards, especially the women, but we have not been able to do it. And let us pray that the Jasmine Revolution, that is spreading without our help to overthrow dictatorships that we support, will find its way to Afghanistan.; 1/27/11, 11:38 AM
Sofa King said...: Let's remember, these are the people that Kos and his groupies directly parallel to their political opponents in the United States.

And they dare complain about civility?; 1/27/11, 11:40 AM
Roger J. said...: Wait--OBL? you mean President Obama hasnt caught him yet? wasnt that job one?; 1/27/11, 11:41 AM
Anonymous said...: What did Dexter say to his sister when she asked him if some people deserved to die. Oh yes, "Some people don't deserve to live."

That pretty much sums up my feeling about the Taliban and the rest of radical Islam.

And, apparently, the way radical Islamists also feel.

Word verificatino: sness. (Gesundheit.); 1/27/11, 11:43 AM
Roger J. said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/27/11, 11:44 AM
2yellowdogs said...: Ahhh, the religion of peace.; 1/27/11, 11:44 AM
Automatic_Wing said...: Say what you will about Obama, he is right to get us out of there.

Um...where did you get the idea that Obama is getting us out of there?; 1/27/11, 11:46 AM
Roman said...: Religion of Peace, Welcome to the 10th century!; 1/27/11, 11:46 AM
Roger J. said...: althouse: your blog sweetie, and no hard feelings-it is always nice to know where your limits of free speech are. In the future I will propose less draconian solutions.; 1/27/11, 11:47 AM
PaulV said...: Instapundit got a message from Michael Yon
"Glenn,

Tonight, I read a detailed message on a private forum from a highly experienced combat writer. Unfortunately, due to the bylaws of that forum I cannot reprint it. What I can say is that it sounds like the US Marines are waging death and destruction on the Taliban in a way the Taliban are not used to. Average patrol finds 1 IED and kills 1 Taliban and they are going night and day."
WV: emeter; 1/27/11, 11:56 AM
Roger J. said...: The Roman approach to Carthage may also provide a model. when was the last time there was a carthaginian terrorist attack?; 1/27/11, 11:59 AM
Pastafarian said...: From the article, according to a Taliban spokesman: "Anyone who knows about Islam knows that stoning is in the Koran, and that it is Islamic law. There are people who call it inhuman - but in doing so they insult the Prophet."

That's not a religion, it's a disease.

Several administrations have told us and the world, repeatedly, that we're at war with the terrorists; we're not at war with Islam.

But this is Islam, according to those who actually practice it. At least, this is their Islam. Who are we infidels to define their religion?

We should be at war with these people, terrorists or not, on principle alone.; 1/27/11, 12:02 PM
traditionalguy said...: Sharia Law at its best. The young couple lost their lives for trying to have a real man-woman relationship rather than the tribes normal NAMBLA type relationships preferred by allah and his monsters all over the world.; 1/27/11, 12:03 PM
Pastafarian said...: Roger J, I didn't see your comment, but I'm pretty sure I'd second it.; 1/27/11, 12:04 PM
Fen said...: Meanwhile, the Enlightened West continues its crusade against Christians.; 1/27/11, 12:23 PM
Anonymous said...: "Horrific video footage has emerged of Taliban insurgents stoning a couple to death ... "

These are not "Taliban insurgents."

They're normal Muslims.

Adultery is a sin punishable by stoning, according to the holy Qur An (as is apostasy).

Pretty soon, girls in America can look forward to this sort of treatment.

Barack Obama should probably be nervous too since he rejected Mohummad.

Muslims don't buy the new civility act Obama is selling.; 1/27/11, 12:25 PM
TWM said...: "And, apparently, the way radical Islamists also feel."

You're seriously making a comparision there? Really?; 1/27/11, 12:25 PM
AllenS said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/27/11, 12:26 PM
AllenS said...: Islam is incompatible with Western Civilization. Whatever you said, Roger, I agree with it.; 1/27/11, 12:27 PM
Anonymous said...: "Anyone who knows about Islam knows that stoning is in the Koran, and that it is Islamic law. There are people who call it inhuman - but in doing so they insult the Prophet."

And we all know what happens to infidels who insult the Prophet ... don't we?

The next time they want to open a Mosque near your town, think about the religion which will be taught to people in that edifice.

This is it.

This is Islam.; 1/27/11, 12:28 PM
Anonymous said...: Also remember ... your president, Barack Obama, bowed to King Saud - protector of Mecca and Medina.

He bowed to Islam's protector.; 1/27/11, 12:31 PM
Anonymous said...: "And, apparently, the way radical Islamists also feel."

You're seriously making a comparision there? Really?

Am I? I thought I was being factual - clearly, the Taliban feel that some people don't deserve to live. And they act on that belief.; 1/27/11, 12:34 PM
virgil xenophon said...: "Suicidaly Naive" is, I think, the term best used to describe those who see no cultural threat to Western Civilization from that of Islam.; 1/27/11, 12:34 PM
TWM said...: "Am I? I thought I was being factual - clearly, the Taliban feel that some people don't deserve to live. And they act on that belief."

And the moral comparison? Are they the same?; 1/27/11, 12:37 PM
Anonymous said...: Thank God I now longer work in that almost all gay publishing house in NYC.

The young gays just loved to fantasize that the evangelicals were massing on the Hudson for a quick genocial strike. They attended "edgy" plays on this them as often as possible.

The real villain was President Bush, who these young gays knew wanted to kill all gays.

The real enemy, according to the loony gay left in NYC is, of course, American Christians.; 1/27/11, 12:38 PM
Anonymous said...: "Say what you will about Obama, he is right to get us out of there."

Huh?

Barack Obama put 30,000 more Americans IN there. Afghanistan is Barack Obama's Viet Nam.

I'm reminded of Hicks: "Get everybody back on the ship and nuke it from orbit. Only way to be sure."; 1/27/11, 12:40 PM
TWM said...: "I'm reminded of Hicks: 'Get everybody back on the ship and nuke it from orbit. Only way to be sure.'"

Kudos to our forces for the way they are kicking ass over there, but really, we cannot win - at least not the way we define winning. Withdraw, monitor, selectively strike, etc. is the way to go.; 1/27/11, 12:44 PM
Anonymous said...: And the moral comparison? Are they the same?

If you mean, is there a difference between wishing someone dead and actually killing them, then of course the answer is no.; 1/27/11, 12:45 PM
gloogle said...: Compare & contrast with Jesus' take on such things, as told by John in his Gospel:

"The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.

"Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?" They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.

And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.

But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”; 1/27/11, 12:45 PM
Scott M said...: Barack Obama put 30,000 more Americans IN there. Afghanistan is Barack Obama's Viet Nam.

That is stretching the point to the absolute breaking point.; 1/27/11, 12:46 PM
Tank said...: George Bush

Religion of Peace.

Yeah, lotta idiots in the WH these days.; 1/27/11, 12:48 PM
TWM said...: "If you mean, is there a difference between wishing someone dead and actually killing them, then of course the answer is no."

Well, we're getting away from "not deserving to live" to "killing" but the fact is there is no moral comparison between killing a Islamic murderer (or any kind for that matter) and killing someone who may or may not have comitted adultery. Or being a homosexual. Or honor killings. Or other things that radical muslims do quite often.; 1/27/11, 1:06 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: I don't see what the problem is. We've got to try and understand other cultures more. It's a pity we're at war with these people.

This is the United States' fault because we're trying to kill them - which leads to violence - rather than trying to engage them, peacefully, on their level.

We should all be ashamed of ourselves.; 1/27/11, 1:32 PM
Anonymous said...: "That is stretching the point to the absolute breaking point."

Barack Obama will go down in the Islamic history books as the "Butcher of Baghram."; 1/27/11, 1:33 PM
Scott M said...: Barack Obama will go down in the Islamic history books as the "Butcher of Baghram."

And nobody outside Bahram will really care. Honestly. How much traction do you think that is going to get?; 1/27/11, 1:39 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Oh - snark off now:

If anyone is willing to commit adultery in that barbaric cultural situation then they're a big enough pair of idiots that my sympathy for them is pretty fucking limited. Give me a crime where you weren't selfishly trying to hurt a family, deceive a spouse, etc., and it would be different, but adultery? Sorry:

My compassion is about all used up for that one.; 1/27/11, 1:39 PM
Unknown said...: Why don't we call it what it is?

A church-sanctioned lynch mob.

PS The Zero set a date for A-stan the same way he set a date for Gitmo.; 1/27/11, 1:47 PM
Amartel said...: Oh no, stoning people to death is bad. But wait, the Taliban say they're adulterers? Oh, well, nevermind then. Compassion, OUT.; 1/27/11, 1:59 PM
William said...: This is repugnant on its face. I would like to think that it inspires as much condemnation as, say, the banning of scarves in French classrooms. But I won't hold my breath.....Those who advocate an early out are saying that the Taliban have a right to win. Karzai is corrupt and possibly crazy, but he does not believe that women should be murdered for learning how to read. Where are the feminists on this issue?; 1/27/11, 2:12 PM
Mark said...: Dang, Florida beat me to it. Actually it was Ripley that said it, but I concur with her, "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."; 1/27/11, 2:27 PM
David said...: I blame it on American evangelicals.; 1/27/11, 2:29 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Mark said...
Dang, Florida beat me to it. Actually it was Ripley that said it, but I concur with her, "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

reminds me of a sick racist joke from Vietnam.

The Solution to the Vietnam War?
1. Load all the people on boats
2. pave the country over
3. go back and sink all the boats

made less funny in 75 when the good guys were in the sinking boats; 1/27/11, 2:34 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Roger J. said...
The Roman approach to Carthage may also provide a model.

Carthage can be used so many ways :)

"My mother said violence never solves anything." "So?" Mr. Dubois looked at her bleakly. "I'm sure the city fathers of Carthage would be glad to know that."
Source: Lt. Col. Jean V. Dubois (Ret.),; 1/27/11, 2:38 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Those horrible U.S. Evangelicals from Uganda must have visited them!

Or maybe Taliban culture is what we used to call savage and barbaric.; 1/27/11, 2:41 PM
Anonymous said...: "Barack Obama will go down in the Islamic history books as the "Butcher of Baghram."

Then maybe he can do The Running Man show!; 1/27/11, 3:00 PM
Naomi said...: "There are people who call it inhuman - but in doing so they insult the Prophet."

And guess what the penalty is for insulting the prophet. Guarenteed closed feedback loop.; 1/27/11, 3:06 PM
Anonymous said...: "Or maybe Taliban culture ..."

Sorry, but this is not "Taliban culture."

It is mainstream Muslim theology, a sentence directly from the Qur An.

This is not "extremist."

It is normal Muslim theology and these sentences are carried out every day in Muslim-dominiated societies. It's just rare that you'd ever get footage of it out of a Muslim country where video cameras are not ubiquitous and they don't have MohammadTube.

And no American newspaper or news program will show such footage because it makes Islam look bad. Very few British press are brave enough to show Islam in all its wonderous glory.

And please take note: They killed this girl for running away from an arranged marriage - a practice that billions of Hindu Indians still practice alongside their Muslim counterparts.

"Officials said that Siddqa had run away after being sold into an arranged marriage for $9,000 against her will."

In Islam ... they sell their daughters cheap cheap and they come with a guarantee this stoning is meant to cement.

Once Islam takes over America, your daughter can look forward to this kind of treatment too.

You owe it to her to show her what the future holds for her and to remind that her president proudly insists he be called by his Muslim name and bows to Saudi monarchs.

Rock her vote.; 1/27/11, 3:11 PM
Naomi said...: What's amazing is that this video is being circulated at all. Last year whan an African based anti-sharia blog tried to call attention to this behavior there were claims that the issue was either completely fake or very, very rare.

What's sad is that it isn't getting more publicity than it is. Zombies latest post http://www.zombietime.com/zomblog/?p=1689 seems very timely in this case.; 1/27/11, 3:20 PM
rhhardin said...: I don't suppose they play rock music.; 1/27/11, 3:23 PM
Anonymous said...: "What's sad is that it isn't getting more publicity than it is."

There's a reason for that.

You see American media outlets won't cover these atrocities because they're afraid Muslims in the United States will murder them and bomb their offices.

And they're right to be scared.

So you mustn't blame the media.

They're terrified.

You see the terrorists won.; 1/27/11, 3:26 PM
HKatz said...: I had read about this elsewhere - hideous.

Regarding the adultery charge... the man in this case was already married, but then it's acceptable in Afghanistan for a man to have multiple wives, isn't it? The woman in this case (as I'd read elsewhere) was sold against her will for 9000 dollars into a different marriage that she was trying to escape. That I believe is what lies at the root of the adultery charge - the fact that she had been forced into marriage just prior. And that adds a further gruesome dimension to this execution.; 1/27/11, 3:45 PM
Ankur said...: Apropos of Ann's other conspiracy theory post, I suggest an analogy!

What if this was a video by pakistanis to make afghans look bad? Or or or, maybe it was a video made by christians to make muslims look bad. Oh wait - maybe it was the jews!

Here is what I don't understand, you guys. You can see evil clearly when its on the other side. And that is fantastic! But you are completely oblivious to the nuts on your side.

How can any fair minded person be that way? How can you just conclude that "no true conservative" can be a nut, and that they must be a moby/leftist plant? Okay, so the guy who sent the fax to the leeland yee was a plant. Was the guy who was going to shoot up the tides foundation a plant as well? Was Timothy Veigh a plant as well? IS EVERYONE ON THE RIGHT WHO EVER COMMITS A CRIME A LEFTIST PLANT?

I bet Al Gore is a right wing plant, to make environmentalists look bad!; 1/27/11, 4:20 PM
Ankur said...: By the way - I want to stress that I believe this video/screen caps are EXACTLY what they purport to be - another example of stone age barbarity in a muslim nation.; 1/27/11, 4:22 PM
Terrye said...: This reminds me of Sati in India. It took years to stop that practice and it never has been stopped entirely. In 2006 2 brothers threw their 95 year old mother on her dead husband's funeral pyre.

I read a story about this once in which an Englishman was said to have told an Indian official that "we hang chaps for that sort of thing" in my country.

This story is so awful. It sounds as if the only crime committed by these young people was to fall in love. The Taliban really are monstrous.; 1/27/11, 4:37 PM
pavlova8 said...: Truly horrific. How awful is this - the United States currently has the largest inmate population in the world, with more than 2½ million or more than one in a hundred adults in prison and jails. Although the United States represents less than 5% of the world's population, over 25% of the people incarcerated around the world are housed in the American prison system.; 1/27/11, 4:58 PM
Methadras said...: pavlova8 said...

Truly horrific. How awful is this - the United States currently has the largest inmate population in the world, with more than 2½ million or more than one in a hundred adults in prison and jails. Although the United States represents less than 5% of the world's population, over 25% of the people incarcerated around the world are housed in the American prison system.

What horrifies you more? That 2.5 million people are in prison or that 25% of them are illegal foreigners from other countries?; 1/27/11, 5:03 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Terrye said...
I read a story about this once in which an Englishman was said to have told an Indian official that "we hang chaps for that sort of thing" in my country.

General Sir John Napier:

You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; [then] beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."

I love using that quote. It's a great attack on multi-culturalism and the meme, that the Britsh Empire was eeevil :); 1/27/11, 5:05 PM
The Dude said...: Liberals love muzzies.; 1/27/11, 5:30 PM
traditionalguy said...: In middle eastern marriages the ceremony of marriage is years down the road from the parents entering into the engagement contract for the little girl...but the ownership of the breeding animal is already settled. Adultery is seen just as much a capital crime for engaged/betrothed men and women as ceremonial married ones.; 1/27/11, 5:41 PM
Bartender Cabbie said...: savages. Any Taliban, AQ, etc. should be made eunuchs.; 1/27/11, 5:42 PM
Unknown said...: I've been in this village. I've lived beside these people; breathed the dust, drank the water, eaten the bread. This action is a part of Islam. Islam as a religion, cannot seperate from these actions. So,to those of you who say we cannot win and who are so anxious for us to exit Afghanistan I ask; do not the young of Afghanistan deserve a future beyond this ancient madness, and who if not us will help them find it?; 1/27/11, 6:04 PM
bagoh20 said...: "Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid defended the stoning.

He told the BBC: 'Anyone who knows about Islam knows that stoning is in the Koran, and that it is Islamic law.

'There are people who call it inhuman - but in doing so they insult the Prophet. They want to bring foreign thinking to this country.'"

He's got a point. It definitely is foreign thinking to see this as inhuman.; 1/27/11, 6:05 PM
Caroline said...: I haven't read all the comments. Has Alpha Liberal dropped in yet to pin this on conservatives in America?; 1/27/11, 6:09 PM
Phil 314 said...: Another connection to violent religious zealots and Christian missionaries

If they had just stayed home this wouldn't have happened.; 1/27/11, 6:23 PM
bagoh20 said...: "Say what you will about Obama, he is right to get us out of there."

This is where I tend to part with many, including libertarians whom I generally agree with.

I would prefer to kill or, die trying to, these sons of bitches as long as necessary. I know we can't save the entire world, but we are there and already invested, and we can't claim to love or care about liberty, freedom and human rights if we are able to walk away from a fight with these assholes. We are fakes and cowards if we can. Their victims are innocent human beings wanting nothing more than to be treated as such.
Our level of involvement there now makes it the same as if it was happening in our back yards. We all have to die sometime and somehow, I prefer to go while attempting to killing those bastards, rather than by dying in some car accident, heart attack or shot by some pussy drive-by gang member. No mercy, Marines.; 1/27/11, 6:25 PM
Anonymous said...: but in doing so they insult the Prophet."

I happily insult their child molesting, death culting "prophet"; 1/27/11, 6:45 PM
Martin L. Shoemaker said...: Ankur, we just had a couple of weeks of the left lying to blame conservatives for the attack on Rep. Giffords. Long after it was clear they were lying, they kept embarrassing themselves with ever more tenuous theories of causation. Check their blogs, and they haven't given up the lie yet -- even after it was conclusively shown that the shooter was ignorant of talk radio and Sarah Palin.

And now, today, we suddenly have a new, untraceable "threat" which conveniently manages to point the finger directly at Rush Limbaugh. There's no way to know who really sent it; but we're supposed to just accept it as true because "it just might be".

At this point, when "evidence" is untraceable, assume it's a lie. Remember Lucy Ramirez, Dan Rather, and the phony National Guard memos. Don't be naive.; 1/27/11, 6:57 PM
Skyler said...: We installed a government there that claims a specific religion in its title, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

The president of that religious government often threatens to side against us with the Taliban.

Our Marines and soldiers are required to "respect" their "culture."

I say enough is enough. We should recognize the obvious and help eradicate these barbaric peoples and their barbaric form of Islam from the face of the earth.

Giving these murderers respect is to make ourselves complicit in their murders.; 1/27/11, 8:19 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Not really worse than blowing up a crowded market. Why are barbaric judicial sentences worse than mass murder? We seem uniquely outraged by stonings but curiously jaded to bombs. The victims are just as dead.

Do we need any more proof that our enemies in Afghanistan (and elsewhere) are barbarians? I got the message a long time ago.; 1/27/11, 9:25 PM
test said...: I wonder why liberal media refer to these liberal allies as "conservative"? Is this the Gary Condit treatment?; 1/28/11, 7:13 AM
Clyde said...: Every time I read about an incident like this, which is too often, I question whether what we are trying to do over there is worthwhile. I question whether it is worth a single American life to attempt to civilize people who appear to be irredeemable barbarians due to their religion.

After Operation Iraqi Freedom, I briefly thought that we might be able to civilize the Muslims, in order to prevent another 9/11 or something worse. It's become increasingly clear that hasn't happened. I don't think there is going to be the equivalent of a Reformation in Islam.

We've tried the carrot approach and it isn't working. I think we should revert to the big stick: Let the Muslims do their own thing in their own countries, but cut off Muslim immigration to the U.S. completely. If anyone attacks us again, then blow the living hell out of them, with none of the silly "don't target mosques and civilians" crap. Big bombs, population centers. Obliterate anyone who dares to attack us as an object lesson for everyone else. And bring our troops home.; 1/28/11, 7:26 AM
Anonymous said...: Would a cartoon of Mohammad casting the first stone be appropriate?; 1/28/11, 10:59 AM