Stories like this one really get me.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Afghan police have arrested 10 Taliban militants involved in an acid attack this month against 15 girls and teachers walking to school in southern Afghanistan, a provincial governor said Tuesday.
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The attackers squirted the acid from water bottles onto three groups of students and teachers walking to school in Kandahar city on Nov. 12. Several girls suffered burns to the face and were hospitalized. One teenager couldn’t open her eyes days after the attack, which sparked condemnations from around the world.
Girls are attacked for going to school. Teachers are attacked for teaching girls. Because they are girls, and because in this retarded culture girls are only good for sweeping floors and generally uphold the family’s “honour” by not stepping out of the house unless covered from head to toe and accompanied by a male relative. Yet girls in the area continue to go to school anyway. These kids are more brave than any of us. The least we can do is add our voice to those demanding harsh punishment for the criminals who think nothing of burning their faces.
One of the attack’s victims, a teacher named Nuskaal who was burned through her burqa, called Tuesday for a harsh punishment for the attackers.
“If these people are found guilty, the government should throw the same acid on these criminals. After that they should be hanged,” said Nuskaal, who like many Afghans goes by one name.
President Hamid Karzai earlier this month called for a public execution of the perpetrators.
I say: Anything that would help stop those attacks works for me. You?








It is a pity to hear that school girls are attacked.Today, over 60 million girls are not in school, accounting for more than half of all unschooled children worldwide. Educating girls is the single most effective step a country can take to combat poverty, yet the barriers that prevent girls from attending school are numerous. We must overcome these challenges in order to ensure that every girl enjoys her fundamental right to an education.Studies show that increasing the number of educated girls in a country fosters economic growth, promotes political stability and reduces health care costs.
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janeashley
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Bigoted Muslim chauvinists are people too, you know. How can we claim to love life and yet espouse a punishment which is clearly based on our our sense of vengeance than on justice and charity?
Certainly these attacks need to be stopped. But I disagree with the “anything that gets the job done” mentality, which is often employed by those who espouse ideologies other than our own to our great chagrin. Punishments must be dealt through the prudent application of reasonable justice and not through untempered wrath, otherwise, we’re no better than they are.