Taliban Says It Will Finish The Job If Young Rights Activist Malala Survives

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The Taliban has vowed to finish the job on Malala Yousafzai- the 14-year-old education rights activist who was shot in the head- if she actually survives.  I still want to know where the global Muslim outrage is over the shooting of an innocent young Pakistani schoolgirl.  Yes, some are outraged, but where are all the massive protests, like the ones for the Mohammed cartoons, or the anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims"? A stupid video posted on YouTube, or cartoons printed on a piece of paper outweighs, in importance, a human life?

Although the police have arrested some suspects, but that won't stop the continued violence. And though the world seems to think that the Taliban isn't as much of a threat as it was in the past, that simply isn't true.  CBS journalist Lara Logan claims they are stronger than ever. And the fact that they were able to target a young girl in broad daylight is evidence of that fact.

"The Taliban is clearly asserting themselves, saying A, we have not been eliminated, B, we can still target what we consider symbolic targets, and the message is that the government is not in control of the area," said Frederic Grare, South Asia Program director the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a nonprofit organization promoting international cooperation.

"Whether this is true or not is a different matter," Grare said. "But that's the message that they are trying to convey."

Analysts said that regardless of the revulsion over the attack, it won't lessen Taliban support in the short run.

"The news their supporters get is probably filtered through the Taliban sources so in some sense this girl may have been made out to be a monster or a sort of a Western agent," said S. Athar Hussain, director of the Asia Research Center at the London School of Economics. "At the same time, it was a show of force (by the Taliban) to say they can control people and for even a small disagreement with them, they can take revenge. It was demonstrating to the government and the public how powerful they are." 

"Unfortunately, they are quite powerful right now," he added. "The fact that they can walk in and shoot the girl with impunity serves notice to everyone else that if you disagree you might meet the same treatment."

Malala, in an interview this past August said:

 "When I see the current situation here, I thank God for the peace that prevails and that girls can attend school," she said. "My purpose is to serve humanity and fight for their rights."

But there will be no peace as long as the Taliban exists.  The Pakistani government needs to make a concerted effort to rid this world of these roaches, but that doesn't seem likely.