I don't know who is the greater threat to the USA, the Pakistan ISI or the Pakistan Supreme Court. The ISI protected Osama bin Laden and they reconstituted the Taliban. Now, the Pakistan Supreme Court turned loose a known killer. This is not a friend to the USA. Considering the danger that may exist in the world, the Pearls are best to get on with life outside the media spotlight.
I think travel to that region has always been tenuous. I believe today with convicted terrorists allowed to leave prison it is even more dangerous. It was time for the USA to leave Afghanistan. There is dearly little this country can do to influence another in that region after four years of destroying the USA image of strength and democracy.
By Mariane Pearl
Almost two decades ago, (click here) the people of Pakistan sent me messages expressing sadness and anger at the murder of my husband, Daniel Pearl, in their beloved country. Danny was 38 and the Wall Street Journal’s bureau chief for South Asia. “I am a Muslim and this, my friend, is not Islam,” one wrote. My favorite message read: “Your husband had a great smile ... a happy mixture of Pope John Paul and Dean Martin.”
On Jan. 23, 2002, we had just arrived in Karachi, an intricate puzzle of a city. In the recent years, it had metastasized into a hub of blind hatred and violent militancy. Danny was in search of a radical Muslim cleric who had led a man to try to blow up a flight from Paris to Miami. In these last few days, Danny’s schedule had been hectic. He was exhausted and increasingly worried about what he was finding, but he dressed with his usual understated elegance and headed out. It was to be his last interview before we were to fly to Dubai for a break. Three hours later, I just knew by intuition that Danny had been kidnapped. Soon after, the name came up: A man named Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh kidnapped him with the intention of murdering him. I never saw Danny again.
Last week, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that Saeed and the accomplices responsible for this crime should be released from prison and absolved of any wrongdoing. The High Court of Sindh, where Saeed was held, argued that the men should have been charged only with kidnapping, which carries a prison sentence of seven years, not murder....
