Western Support for Abdul Rahman

From the A.P.

Muslim clerics have threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if he is freed, saying that he is clearly guilty of apostasy and deserves to die.

The case of an Afghan who could have been executed for converting from Islam to Christianity reflects contradictions embedded in the Afghan Constitution. Correspondent Steve Coleman reports.

Monday's protest ended peacefully about two hours after it started in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, said police commander Nasruddin Hamdrad. The protesters chanted "Death to Bush!" and other anti-Western slogans, while the police stood guard.

I had suspected that at some point this would turn into a
referendum on the west. There seems to be a generalized
resentment of the west that can be brought to the forefront
whenever the Islamic world feels threatened. So did President
Bush speak harshly enough about the Rahman case, or was his
tone more measured than we knew? It would do little good to
bellow and threaten if the end result would be more anger toward
Mr. Rahman.

And if we made demands on the government of Afghanistan; if we
told them what they must do, well then we haven't really given
the reins of government back to the people. The point was to
kick the Taliban out, not to set up an American colony.

So I'm thinking we've done what we can do. And, thank God, the
outcome is looking pretty good. Now the danger for Mr. Rahman
will be on the streets of Afghanistan. Will the leaders of the
religion of peace incite violence against Abdul Rahman? Some of
them already have. Will Mr. Rahman escape to a country where
Islamic hot-heads can't find him? I hope so, though it's been
reported that he wants to stay in his homeland.