[FormerLib]

I wonder how many Talibatheist posters will try to connect this to conservative Christians in America. They're usually good for two or three such bits.

[Mixer]

The Telegraph reported that a civil defense officer said that he saw three members of the religious police "beating young girls to prevent them from leaving the school because they were not wearing the abaya."

Imagine if the muslims were not a peaceful nation?

[Blood of Tyrants]

Just keep repeating to yourself, "Islam is peace" and pretty soon you might even begin to believe it.

[Wm Bach]

What a beautiful people and a beautiful culture! Surely the Islamic nations represent heaven on earth. I would move there, but I have to re-arrange my sock drawer.

[sheik yerbouty]

The Saudi authorities are downright demonic. They care so little for their children that they would watch them burn alive!

[dighton]

See also:

15 girls die as zealots 'drive them into blaze'

[neutrino]

Interesting, isn't it? If one of us were to suggest doing what the Saudi "virtue police" did, we'd be roundly criticized. But they do it to their own children and the silence is notable.

[FreePaul]

Is this the result of inbreeding in Saudi Arabia? These comission members are certainly certifiably insane. Since there seem to be so many there must be something in the country causing it.

[Vladiator]

I think those guys used to post here a lot.

[HamiltonJay]

Ahh yes the religion of Tolerance that kills those of other believes but is kind and loving to its own murders some more children.... Barbarians! There time has past... lets end this charade and do what must be done.

[ZULU]

Saudi Arabia's Prince Abdullah clarified last night that his latest peace proposal includes "normalized relations," and not merely peace, between the entire Arab world and Israel.

It is not possible to have "normalized realtions" with barbarians and savages.

[freeeee]

Looks like we'd buddy up to Charles Manson himself, if he had a few trillion barrels of oil under his yard.

[jonatron]

Islam - The religion of peace(tm)

[kapn kuek]

Islam must be the most evil cult ever thought up by a human! Crazy Mo must be proud of all the death and destruction in this world that he has caused.

Has any nation been able to ward off the plague of Muslims? Are there any success stories out there? Were the Crusaders the last to stop this onslaught of evil?

[Gladwin]

Here is an article from the BBC on the same subject.

Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress, according to Saudi newspapers. In a rare criticism of the kingdom's powerful "mutaween" police, the Saudi media has accused them of hindering attempts to save 15 girls who died in the fire on Monday.

About 800 pupils were inside the school in the holy city of Mecca when the tragedy occurred. 15 girls died in the blaze and more than 50 others were injured. According to the al-Eqtisadiah daily, firemen confronted police after they tried to keep the girls inside because they were not wearing the headscarves and abayas (black robes) required by the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islam.

One witness said he saw three policemen "beating young girls to prevent them from leaving the school because they were not wearing the abaya". The Saudi Gazette quoted witnesses as saying that the police - known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice - had stopped men who tried to help the girls and warned "it is a sinful to approach them".

The father of one of the dead girls said that the school watchman even refused to open the gates to let the girls out. "Lives could have been saved had they not been stopped by members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice," the newspaper concluded.

Relatives' anger

Families of the victims have been incensed over the deaths. Most of the victims were crushed in a stampede as they tried to flee the blaze. The school was locked at the time of the fire - a usual practice to ensure full segregation of the sexes.

The religious police are widely feared in Saudi Arabia. They roam the streets enforcing dress codes and sex segregation, and ensuring prayers are performed on time. Those who refuse to obey their orders are often beaten and sometimes put in jail.

[Long Cut]

Reading this breaks my heart as surely as stories of dead American Firemen and Jewish victims of terrorism does. These poor girls were victims of extremist Islamics the same as the others.

I cannot for the life of me imagine why Islamic males hate(and that is the proper word) women so much. That such barbarism not only exists in the 21st century, but actually controls one of the Earth's most valuable resources, must be some kind of cosmic mistake of history. I used to call it a joke of history, but I'm not laughing now.

My heart goes out to these unfortunate angels. In words they would have understood, "Peace be with you".