Update: A Jihadist Goes to Yale

Back on February 27 in the post A Jihadist Goes to Yale, I questioned the decision of Yale University to admit Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, former ambassador-at-large for the Taliban, who is now enrolled in a non-degree program on the New Haven campus.

(That's Rahmtullah in the photo, apparently hard at work on a fundamentalist Islamic word processor, or something.)

The Yale kerfuffle broke after a New York Times Magazine cover story, which is now hidden behind the Times' damned subscription firewall.

Having decided to admit the dude, the unapologists at Yale are doing a pretty good job of running from their self-made mess. They are trying to supress public discussion of the controversy, including cancellation of a campus debate on Rahmatullah.

In fairness to the former spin doctor, Rahmatullah told the Times that he started having serious doubts about the Taliban's harsh moral code all the way back in 1998, but acknowledged that hecontinued sucking at its insidious teat until fleeing Afghanistan for Pakistan after the 9/11 attacks out of fear of a U.S. bombing campaign.

But that's okay, because he now considers himself to be "the luckiest person in the world." Luckier certainly than the countless victims of the Taliban's lashings, rapes and executions.

Is having second thoughts about one of the vilest political regimes in modern times sufficient reason to give a key operative for a terrorist group who once met with Osama bin Laden a U.S. visa and then admitting him to one of the most prestigious universities anywhere? No. In fact, the whole thing stinks to high heaven.

Anyhow, Penraker provides an update here.

(Hat tip to Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.)