Taliban : Biting the hands that feed them

In the brave new world of the Taliban, the strict Islamic regime ruling Afghanistan, citizens can be jailed for six months if they are caught watching a video. Men risk prison if their beards are too short, and religious police whip women for using outlawed fingernail polish.

Such Draconian restrictions and other indignities are not just abhorrent to Westerners. Muslims the world over are increasingly embarrassed and chagrined by the Taliban's outrages. Now the regime has arrested and plans to try eight foreign aid workers--including two Americans--on charges of preaching Christianity.
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The country, devastated by famine and economic dislocation, is in dire need of international assistance. Yet it won't take help. On Friday, the Taliban closed the offices of two Christian aid organizations that run hospitals and clinics there and sent their foreign workers packing. They may be lucky to get out.

Two American women, two Australians and four Germans--all workers for the German-based group Shelter Now International--were jailed for allegedly violating a Taliban law against proselytizing. Sixteen Afghan workers for the organization also face trial. The penalty for foreigners is jail and expulsion. The penalty for Afghans can be death.

It's possible the foreign aid workers took foolish risks. Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer, the two U.S. women accused by the Taliban of trying to convert Muslims, insist all they did was sing about God and give two books on Jesus to a Muslim family.

But that's hardly a felony in most of the world. Even if the Taliban have laws against proselytizing, as does Saudi Arabia, among others, the punishment hardly seems to fit the crime. This is only the latest infringement of human rights and religious freedom in a long litany for the Taliban.
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This is the same regime that complains the West is ignoring its plight and isolating it through sanctions and opprobrium.

The Taliban can't have it both ways, but the West is virtually powerless to make it change. Only Muslim nations like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates--the only three that recognize the Taliban as the legitimate power--have any real leverage with the outlaw government. They should use it. The world's 1 billion Muslims could speak loudly and clearly that this regime undermines the image of Islam and doesn't follow the Koran's basic teachings about religious freedom.
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