Bird Flu or Bird Jews?

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Health authorities carried out Afghanistan's first chicken culling Wednesday since an outbreak of the deadly bird flu virus was confirmed in this war-ravaged Central Asian nation earlier this month, an Agricultural Ministry official said. About 200 chickens were killed and dumped into a deep, dry well in Tashti Barche, a town about 10 miles west of Kabul. Or at least that is the cover story.

Independent Curmudgeon reporting has found indications that the chickens were actually killed for converting from Islam to Judaism a crime punishable by death in the new, democratic Afghanistan. Suspicion fell upon the birds when they refused to lay eggs on the Sabbath, submitted plans to turn their coops (co-ops?) into condos and used phrases like "Oy Vey."

The chickens would be in good company as the story of Abdul Rahman, the Afghani who is on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity and could receive the death penalty continues. If that happens I'm looking forward to the Evangelical Christians who put W in office twice to either defend his job of not finishing his job in Afghanistan or, more likely, blame the media for reporting Rahman's plight.

W and Condi are frantically making calls to Hamid Karzi to stop this "Christian to lions" trial but it doesn't change the mentality over there. Invading Afghanistan and defeating Al Qaeda and the Taliban was a completely justified, necessary and noble cause. (It was of course fought with the military that Bill Clinton had built and presided over for the eight years prior to Oct. 2001) But people should understand who we will be dealing with in Afghanistan and Iraq after sending our sons, daughters and dollars there. Maybe if W read something other than the sports page he wouldn't look so shocked when converts (or chickens) are put on trial for exercising freedoms he claims are on the march.