Karzai said that this bomb was “against all principles of Islam.” Yet the Taliban likely put the bomb there, and they’re rigorous in their observance of Islamic law. What’s more, Karzai a few months back threatened to join the Taliban if the Americans kept asking him for things he didn’t want to deliver. Yet they have set bombs like this before. Did he not notice in the earlier instances that they were violating all the principles of Islam?

In any case, Karzai’s remark is interesting. It would be useful if there were some sort of public discussion about whether such bomb attacks violate the principles of Islam or not. But of course there will not be.

“Afghan official: Bomb kills 12 civilians,” by Rahim Faiez for Associated Press, March 6:

KABUL, Afghanistan – A roadside bomb killed 12 civilians, including five children, in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday in an attack President Hamid Karzai condemned as “against all principles of Islam.”A spokesman for the governor of Paktika province, Mokhlis Afghan, said another five people were wounded Sunday when the bomb planted by insurgents exploded next to a truck carrying civilians. He said the dead included five children, five men and two women. The truck was traveling between the towns of Turwa and Wazakhwa.

The Interior Ministry confirmed the attack but said only 10 people were killed. There was no way to immediately reconcile the difference in numbers.

NATO said initial reports indicated the truck hit a bomb planted in the road.

“This blatant disregard for innocent Afghan lives is appalling,” said Rear Adm. Vic Beck, the coalition’s director of public affairs….