Leave Islam, go to the gallows. That’s still the rule in Afghanistan, as we see in the sad case of Christian convert Abdul Rahman, on trial for his life there. (Michelle Malkin laid out his awful predicament in her column yesterday.) How is this still possible? Debbie Schlussel called the Afghani Embassy to ask that question and they laid the blame at the feet of "Mr. Shinwari, the Chief Justice, who is an old man and an intolerant Taliban remnant."

It’s not the first time the Taliban has threatened Afghan Christians—or Americans—with execution. In late summer of 2001, as Al-Qaeda was planning their murderous venture, the Taliban was spinning their "trial" of eight foreign aid workers, including two Americans, and sixteen Afghan Christians whom they accused of secretly proselytizing—and who, it emerged, faced the death penalty.  

How could the Taliban possibly justify such a barbaric practice? They didn’t really even try. According to Canadian Channel CTV, "Their priority was to propagate Christianity which they were not supposed to do here," as Sayed Rehmatullah Hashmi, an aide to the Taliban's foreign minister, told reporters.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! That name sounds familiar. Because the name of Yale’s prized "freshman" and former Taliban ambassador, Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, is a pretty close match.

But it couldn’t be the same guy. No, Yale’s tame Talib is a "moderate", a man who regrets the harsh things he’s said in his past (if not the ideology he embraced), a poor little lamb who "escaped the wreckage of Afghanistan", an earnest family man starting his life over. Yale’s Hashemi was no blustering theocrat, but according to Yale’s then-Dean of Admissions, "a person to be reckoned with and who could educate us about the world.'' Besides, the spelling is a little different, right? It could be some other Taliban fellow, right?

After all, the spokesman who was justifying the trial and likely execution of the missionaries wasn’t a sweet, thoughtful fellow like Yale’s prize catch. That guy at the press conference was one sick puppy, holding up "evidence" of bloodguiltiness like—gasp—a child’s Bible! That guy even joked about the prisoners’ crimes as he played a videotape seized from an NGO that had employed the captives:

"O.K., turn it on," said Rehmatullah Hashmi, a foreign ministry official. A television set—itself a forbidden thing—brightened into life. A movie called Jesus appeared, its narrator extolling "the good news of the Virgin Mother and the Savior's birth." Soon, a young Jesus was on screen asking precocious questions of startled rabbis. "That's enough," said Mr. Hashmi, who tried some levity to accompany the grave accusations. "We have to put it off. Otherwise, we will also be proselytizing."

Ha, Ha. You might be proselytizing. And then you’d have to be executed, too!

Hilarious. 

But it couldn’t be the same guy, because that quote came from The New York Times.  And it was The New York Times Magazine article by Chip Brown that portrayed Yale’s Hashemi as a moderate, "disillusioned" with the Taliban. Surely the Times wouldn’t fail to check its own files on the guy, right, and leave out his justification of the Taliban’s religious persecution? 

Nah, couldn’t be the same guy. There’s no way he would still be spinning for Osama bin Laden on Sept. 12, 2001 in The New York Times:

In denying that Mr. bin Laden was involved in the attacks in the United States, Rehmatullah Hashmi, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said, "Amir-ul-Momineen condemns the attack," using another title for the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, one that means the commander of the faithful. "If we want peace for ourselves, we want peace for others. But such coordinated attacks cannot be carried out by one man or by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."

Couldn’t be the same guy. No way the Times would have left that detail out. And besides, Yale’s Rahmatullah Hashemi was taught English by an international relief organization, the International Rescue Committee, which was originally founded to assist German refugees fleeing Hitler. But this spokesman, in flawless English, is rationalizing the show trials of international relief workers just like the ones that sheltered him during the Soviet occupation. No one could be that viciously ungrateful.

Well, guess what:

Taliban official Rehmatullah Hashmi, an official from the Taliban's foreign ministry, shows a book conficsated from the International Assistance Mission, IAM. Eight foreign aid workers have been arrested and are on trial on charges of preaching Christianity.

Photo: BK Bangash, AP

  Continued...