'My daughter deserved to die for falling in love'

The Guardian (UK) ^

[Mount Athos]

Two weeks after The Observer revealed the shocking story of Rand Abdel-Qader, 17, murdered because of her infatuation with a British solider in Basra, southern Iraq, her father is defiant. Sitting in the front garden of his well-kept home in the city's Al-Fursi district, he remains a free man, despite having stamped on, suffocated and then stabbed his student daughter to death.

Abdel-Qader, 46, a government employee, was initially arrested but released after two hours. Astonishingly, he said, police congratulated him on what he had done. 'They are men and know what honour is,' he said.

Rand, who was studying English at Basra University, was deemed to have brought shame on her family after becoming infatuated with a British soldier, 22, known only as Paul...

It was her first youthful infatuation and it would be her last. She died on 16 March after her father discovered she had been seen in public talking to Paul, considered to be the enemy, the invader and a Christian. Though her horrified mother, Leila Hussein, called Rand's two brothers, Hassan, 23, and Haydar, 21, to restrain Abdel-Qader as he choked her with his foot on her throat, they joined in. Her shrouded corpse was then tossed into a makeshift grave without ceremony as her uncles spat on it in disgust.

[StarFan]

The Clinton’s hatchet man, Blumenthal, has been looking under every conceivable rock hoping to find something. Without the full context of Obama’s point, I think had it been as awful as that statement indicates, we would have heard about it long before now.

[Bigg Red]

I know God is blessing me for what I did,’ he said, his voice swelling with pride.

&&&
Yes, this brutality is pleasing to his god, Satan.

[CodeToad]

“The hubris of the idea that we can reform a muslim country.”

We are trying to tech them to vote and their mentality is to kill their own children. A totally useless effort.

[Bigg Red]

The Iranians hang people who commit honor killings. Never thought I’d agree with them about something.

**
Caveat: I certainly would not call myself any sort of authority; this is strictly anecdotal.

I have known about 10 Persians, which is what the people are that we call Iranian. Now, true, they were here in the US, so they most probably do not represent a cross-section of the society, but all of them were pro-Western and, though nominally mohammedans, very secular in their outlook. I found them to be absolutely engaging, cosmopolitan, and intelligent.

To be honest,I have read very little about the country, but what I have learned has caused me to conclude the following:

Iran, under the Shah, was doing quite well, although, by all accounts, it was not very democratic. Then the fundamentalists overthrew the Shah, an event which Carter apparently approved of and did nothing to stop and which brought us the Iran Hostage Crisis.

It appears that many inhabitants of Iran, most of whom are young, are not backwards and ignorant like those in most Muslim countries. They are very Western in their ways and pro-West in their attitudes toward world affairs. They are held in check by the repressive muzzie leaders. Perhaps they will be able to bring about an overthrow of the fundamentalists.

[Bigg Red]

I seem to recall that the National Geographic cover girl was from Afghanistan.

[Mila]

"I seem to recall that the National Geographic cover girl was from Afghanistan."

You are absolutely correct in your recollection.

[TomasUSMC]

We should not be spending billions and losing thousands of American LIVES for this.

Once we allowed them to write a constitution that stated NO LAW SHALL CONTRADICT ISLAM, from then on it was a wasted effort.... and a win win for Iran.

[streetpreacher]

Except we’re trying to convert them to American Idol and Vanity Fair.