Let's say you were the Prime Minister
Let's say you were the Prime Minister of a hypothetical country called... say, Pakistan.
And let's say that one of your cabinet ministers (from a party allied with your own) called on al-Qaida and the Taliban to do their holy duty to assassinate some people in the United States who this cabinet minister considers blasphemers. And let's say this cabinet minster offered to pay $100,000 for these de facto contract killings.
And let's say that you were, as Prime Minister, ostensibly in some manner of alliance with the United States, and ostensibly hostile to al-Qaida and the Taliban.
I don't know about you, but if I was Pakistan P.M. Raja Pervez Ashraf I would take bold steps.
Which he has!
First, he had the Foreign Office say in a statement that the bounty put out on American residents by Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour reflected Bilour's personal view and was not Pakistan's official policy.
And then he made plans to address the UN this week to argue that blasphemy should be criminalized under international law.
As for whether publicly offering financial support to al-Qaida to kill people in America is, or should be, somehow criminalized under international law... well, that's really too subtle a question.
