Afghan Official Accused of Pecking With Impunity

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he's not intervening for now in the controversial case of Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, a reporter and journalism student who was sentenced to death by a three-judge panel two weeks ago for blasphemy. Kambakhsh had handed classmates a report, perhaps a satire, he found on the Internet that questioned why Muslim men are allowed to have four spouses but women don't have the same right.

After a five-minute trial with no lawyer, Kambakhsh was given a piece of paper saying he had acted against Islam and should be executed, according to his brother.

The case has sparked an international outcry, with human rights and news organizations condemning the arrest and sentence. Demonstrators in Kabul have demanded that the sentence be overturned. Lawmakers have been split.

The press groups, greatly aided by the blogosphere, are playing hardball. A Kabul Press editorial on Jan. 30 noted that Afghanistan's Senate supported the death sentence and noted Washington Post photos of the vice president of that chamber, Sayed Hamed Gailani, kissing first lady Laura Bush's hand at the State of the Union address in 2006.

"Kissing the hand of a woman is also a crime in Islamic law," the editorial said. "Shouldn't Hamed Gailani be arrested and tried?"

Well, our photos prove only intent to smooch. Could have been one of those "air kisses."

In any event, the Afghan Senate by the end of the week withdrew its support for the death sentence, noted its backing of defendants' rights to counsel (not unlike, for example, Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335) and to appeals, and said the earlier statement of support was a "technical mistake."

Meanwhile, Karzai is waiting for the courts to sort things out.

More Victims of Climate Change

There seems to be a growing consensus on the dangers of climate change, ice caps melting and so on. But not everyone sees the same kind of peril.

We just got a sharp warning on the risks of legislation on climate change from Patton Boggs, the powerhouse law firm/lobbying operation.

"Despite the considerable challenges confronting Congress as it attempts to pass a climate change bill that President Bush would sign," the firm's January Energy Alert newsletter tells us, "producers and heavy users of fossil fuels should remain very concerned."

"We cannot overstate the potential for disruption to the energy sector from climate change legislation," the newsletter says. ". . . One obvious and highly predictable result . . . will be a massive fuel switch from high greenhouse gas emitting fuel sources (e.g., coal) to low emitting fuel sources (e.g., natural gas and renewables)."