OUR PALS THE PAKISTANIS

Gee, I'd be worried about this if Bush and Cheney hadn't made it clear that the only countries we have to worry about are the ones whose names begin with "Ira-":

Pakistan jihad schools thriving

THE International Crisis Group has condemned President Pervez Musharraf's failure to curb Pakistan's extremist Islamic schools.

A report released yesterday by the group, headed by former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans, says promises made by General Musharraf in 2002 to reform madrassas, or religious schools, are "in shambles".

...The ICG says that because of the Government's failure to register the madrassas, as promised, the number operating in Pakistan is uncertain but could be as high as 20,000.

Yup -- twenty thousand. And this is nice:

...The influence of the religious schools was demonstrated yesterday when an FM radio station espousing jihad and identified with the Taliban went on air from the extremist Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) and its madrassas in the heart of Islamabad.

Dubbed "Radio Jihad", the unauthorised station can be heard throughout the capital, including in the nearby presidential and ISI spy agency headquarters.

Dudes, you may as well just move the radio station into ISI headquarters. No one would stop you.

...Thousands of students attend the Lal Masjid madrassas....

Asked about the presence of suicide bombers in Jamia Hafsa, principal Umme Hassan was quoted as saying her students were risking their lives "for a great cause".

"They are mentally prepared to sacrifice their lives any time," she said, claiming that "for President Musharraf, the Jamia is what Osama bin Laden is to President Bush"....

You mean, an enemy he pretends to give a rat's ass about only when an American TV camera is pointing at him?