Anti-Education Attack Poisons 150 Afghan Schoolgirls

An anonymous reader writes "The water at a high school in Afghanistan was contaminated today, poisoning roughly 150 girls in attendance. Afghan officials say this was a deliberate attack: 'We are 100 percent sure that the water they drunk inside their classes was poisoned. This is either the work of those who are against girls' education or irresponsible armed individuals.' From the article: 'Some of the 150 girls, who suffered from headaches and vomiting, were in critical condition, while others were able to go home after treatment in hospital, the officials said. They said they knew the water had been poisoned because a larger tank used to fill the affected water jugs was not contaminated. ... None of the officials blamed any particular group for the attack, fearing retribution from anyone named.'"

If Afghanistan hadn't been so neglected...

[dryriver]

There were many, many opportunities during the 20th Century to deliver sorely needed aid to Afghanistan, and put some money into helping the country modernize and industrialize. Under Western Cold War Political Doctrine, however, that simply wasn't seen as being "necessary" or a "priority". So after the Soviets were defeated in Afghanistan by the Western-armed Afghan Mujahedeen, Afghanistan was left to its own devices (= the country was left to rot in abject poverty). With the bone-crunching poverty, and political-abandonment by the Developed World came support for the Taliban. With the Taliban came a particularly hateful, denigrating view of women (women should cover at all times, girls should not go to school, girls should be married to older men by arranged-marriage). ----- Here we are many decades later, wondering why Afghanistan is an underdeveloped s__thole of place, where someone can so pissed at girls being educated, that he poisons their drinking water. Afghanistan should have been helped decades ago. The West, at the time, was too cheap to commit money to such a project. And now we have a genuinely "failed state" to deal with. "You reap what you sow", as they say.

Best Option: Allow them to leave the country

[ewieling]

Let these girls and their families (and other females who are attacked for wanting an education) have asylum in the USA or other country where girls don't get killed for wanting an education.

Re:And that, ladies and gentlemen

[Anonymous Coward]

I understand there are exceptions. In fact, I'm willing to believe people like you are the majority amongst conservatives and the anti-science, anti-education sect of conservatives are actually the exceptions. The problem is voices like yours are increasingly drowned out by people who want to do stupid shit like "teach the controversy", and more and more conservatives are perfectly willing to go along with it and vote for candidates who openly dismiss evolution or think it's an unresolved issue. And that seems to be the overall trend in Republican candidates lately, even though they've ended up with the relatively innocuous (if offensively delusional about his status as an everyman) Romney.
 
As an aside: from what I've read most scientists believe in God, but they also tend to be liberal. I'm not certain whether the majority of of God-fearing scientists are liberal, but I think so. Not particularly important, but I thought I'd mention it.

Re:RoP

[CanHasDIY]

Republicans just don't want to have to pay for someone else's birth control, you troll

They do, however, want someone else to pay for their hardons. [thinkprogress.org]

Also, if you honestly believe a group referred to as the "Religious Right" does not use religion as their motivation, well, I've got this bridge in NY state you may be interested in purchasing...

And people wonder why we're having a hard time the

[WOOFYGOOFY]

Here's the take away lesson. Why you fight a war, it has to be total war, not a "police action" type war. And yes I am a liberal and no I don't like that fact much but it's still a fact.

The Nazis and the Japanese ( suggested reading: The Rape of Nanking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_Nanking_(book)) [wikipedia.org] weren't any better than this in WWII. It represents a total devaluing of human life and unlimited freedom to make war on the opposition in any way conceivable.

We won WWII despite this because ultimately we fought back in just the same way . Millions of Germans died during the bombing of Berlin and many millions more starved to death AFTER the war during the occupation and this was deliberate. We were going to submit the nazis totally and absolutely and a part of that was the 1200 calories a day we allowed them. It's hard to maintain your fighting spirit and think of maintaining the ole Sig Heil when you're living amongst rubble and so mal-nourished and hungry you can barely stand.

Little Boy and Fat Man had the same effect on Imperial Japan. It wasn't about winning the war, it was about the psychological conversion of the population through REAL shock and awe, a total and absolute devastation and final full on shit-fuck invalidation of the poisoned government that population had permitted to arise.

That is how you fight subhuman scum like the Tali. Total war because that's what they're going to use against you. We should have nuked Kabul on Sept 12th. We should have turned Tora Bora into a radioactive wasteland and let Northwest Pakistan contemplate their fate if they decide they're going to continue to put the finger in the eye of civilian government in Islamabad. Fuck you and the god you rode in on.

As it stands, the world has learned the same lesson it learned in Vietnam. America fights civilized, limited wars and can be triumphed over by fighting a war of attrition with her.

Thanks, Colin Powell for your crucial speech at the UN which greenlighted a couple of fucking draft-dodging alcoholics to use the exact same failed tactics you yourself warned the country against after Vietnam.

Go fuck yourself and the son who rode in on you too.

Re:And that, ladies and gentlemen

[amicusNYCL]

Sure, but why would the rational religious people not care that the irrational religious people are speaking for them?

They know it was poison?

[abigsmurf]

So because the water in the tank wasn't contaminated, they know it was poison?

Afghanistan isn't especially well known for it's hygiene standards. The symptoms of headaches, Nausea and vomiting match up pretty well with salmonella or e-coli poisoning. It's obviously in a public official best interests to blame evil terrorists rather than lax health standards. Put your water jugs in a messy kitchen where meat it prepared, it could easily be contaminated.

Re:Why is this moderated down?

[GaratNW]

Yes, because the actions of a ruthless military junta to take over a 89% Buddhist country means those 89% are committing the violence. If other countries won't step in to help, how exactly do you overthrow a military regime with non-violence? Remember - they killed THOUSANDS in 1988 when people protested, and then in the first free elections, the junta refused to acknowledge the elections and kept power any way. I bet those non-ruling folks, mostly living in poverty, are incredibly peaceful. And of course, the ASEAN acknowledges that junta rule. So who exactly is to blame for the state of things in the country. Right.. continue blaming it on the Buddhists.

Re:Why is this moderated down?

[Tuidjy]

No, they are setting churches on fire, in their annual attacks on Christians around Christmas. Then some kids burn, and some firemen who come to fight the fire get shot at, but of course, no one gets punished. After all, non-believer public worship is illegal.

Funny that you would mention Malaysia. The above paragraph happened there. Wanna guess at the AVERAGE number of Christians they kill for Christmas every year?

As for Jordan, I have to admit that they do prosecute attacks on Christians. But now, given that the highest profile case was against people who tried TO BURN KIDS IN A CHURCH for disrespecting Mohamed... I think I have been trolled. Or you're a brainwashed ignoramus. It can go either way.

Re:Why is this moderated down?

[yurtinus]

Oooh this is fun. My turn!!

A non-peaceful religion - like Christianity - is where adherents are told to convert or die [wikipedia.org], get burned at the stake [wikipedia.org] if they don't agree, subjects members of other religions to derogatory and humiliating extra taxes and second-class legal status or worse [wikipedia.org], sentences people to death for converting away from it [wikipedia.org], and starts wars of conquest [wikipedia.org] to enlarge the areas in which they can practice barbarism openly. They may also be religions that were founded by hyper-polygynists [wikipedia.org] who may or may not have been pedophiles (remind [wikipedia.org] you of anyone else [wikipedia.org]?)

You would be *damn* hard pressed to find a religion in the history of the planet responsible for more violence and death than Christianity. Is there more violence being caused by Muslims right now at this very moment? Perhaps, but there are just about as many peace loving practicers of Islam as there are of Christianity. Wacko fundamentalists transcend religious lines.