A Different Drummer

This article on the Taliban takeover of the Swat valley in Pakistan is absolutely terrifying:

Using a portable radio transmitter, a local Taliban leader, Shah Doran, on most nights outlines newly proscribed “un-Islamic” activities in Swat, like selling DVDs, watching cable television, singing and dancing, criticizing the Taliban, shaving beards and allowing girls to attend school. He also reveals names of people the Taliban have recently killed for violating their decrees — and those they plan to kill.

“They control everything through the radio,” said one Swat resident, who declined to give his name for fear the Taliban might kill him. “Everyone waits for the broadcast.”

This is in a valley 100 kilometres from the capital of Pakistan. It is a good example of how, as mentioned earlier, the world pretty much doesn't care about crimes against humanity when they are committed by primative savages like the Taliban, rather than modern democracies like Israel.