Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Lie Down With Jihadi Dogs, Wake Up With Fleas--and Lots of Dead People

Funny how initial reports of that massacre in the Phillippines failed to mention the religious affiliation of the killers, as AFP gets around to doing today (my bolds):
MANILA — A Muslim clan blamed for a horrific political massacre in the Philippines was accused on Wednesday of killing more than 250 people during an eight-year reign of terror in a strife-torn southern province.


Explosive allegations of chainsaw murders and victims being buried alive were levelled by the nation's human rights chief as judicial authorities charged the leaders of the Ampatuan clan with rebellion.

Police also said they suspected at least 161 people, including rogue soldiers and policemen loyal to the Ampatuans, of direct involvement in last month's political massacre in Maguindanao that left 57 civilians dead.

Human rights commissioner Leila de Lima said the Ampatuans had murdered more than 200 other people during a brutal eight-year rule that President Gloria Arroyo's government had ignored because the clan were important allies.

"Everybody was aware (of the killings), but they have been tolerated," Commission on Human Rights chairwoman Leila de Lima told reporters.

"That is why we want full accountability now. The years of tolerance and neglect are over."

The patriarch of the clan, Andal Ampatuan Snr, had been governor of Maguindanao and an Arroyo ally since 2001.

Ampatuan Snr and and his relatives were allowed to run private armies as part of a government strategy to contain a long-running Muslim separatist insurgency in Maguindanao and other parts of the southern Philippines...
Uh, you might want to try another strategy, Gloria. That keep-your-friends-close-and-your-enemies-closer one doesn't seem to be working for you.

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