An outrage in Afghanistan

Apparently, a man is on trial in Afghanistan for converting to Christianity, and is facing the death sentence.  (Here is another story).  And this is after the ouster of the Taliban!

The U.S. State Department is watching the case closely and considers it a barometer of how well democracy is developing in Afghanistan.

"Our view … is that tolerance, freedom of worship is an important element of any democracy," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "And these are issues as Afghan democracy matures that they are going to have to deal with increasingly."

I hope the United States State Department -- and, more particularly, the armed forces of the United States -- are doing more than "watching the case closely."  It would be, in my judgment, grossly immoral to permit this farce, given the current presence and role of American troops in that Afghanistan, and the not-insignificant responsibility the United States has for the current government in that country.

One would hope that the execution of a convert would prompt at least the same level of hand-wringing by Western watchers as, say, the publication of insensitive and juvenile cartoons.