Iran: Isn't it time we offered more money for Salman Rushdie's murder?

If you're younger than, say, 40, you might not remember the name Salman Rushdie - and you've probably never heard of a book he wrote called The Satanic Verses. In the late 1980s, the mad mullahs who run Iran declared that the book was blasphemous against Islam and declared that the British author Rushdie would need to be subjected to a friendly little talking-to. Just kidding! The demanded his death, prompting Rushdie to go into hiding and basically spend decades as a recluse, even as he did continue to do some writing and eventually appear in public a little more often on the notion that there's no point living if you have to live in fear all the time.

---

Well, Obama and Kerry's BFFs in Iran are still the same psychopaths who were running it back then, and they still control the state media, which has now announced it's tired of Rushdie running around breathing, and it's time to do something about it:

Forty state-run Iranian media outlets have jointly offered a new $600,000 bounty for the death of British Indian author Salman Rushdie, according to the state-run Fars News Agency. Fars News Agency, which is closely affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), was among the largest contributors, donating one billion Rials - nearly $30,000. The announcement coincides with the anniversary of the fatwa issued the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, the agency said. Ayatollah Khomeini, the First Supreme Leader of Iran, issued the fatwa against Rushdie on charges of blasphemy for his novel The Satanic Verses on Feb. 15, 1989. The Ayatollah called for the death of the book's author along with anyone "involved in its publication". Hitoshi Igarashi, the Japanese translator of The Satanic Verses, was stabbed to death outside his office at Tsukuba University, the Italian translator Ettore Capriolo survived being stabbed at his apartment in Milan, and the novel's Norwegian publisher was shot three times in the back and left for dead outside his home in Oslo. Rushdie was put under police protection by the British government and spent many years in hiding.

---

---

Rushdie is now 68 years old, and I suppose he may be at the point in his life where he's not willing to just sit inside under police protection all the time. Then again, given the the state of the world and the role of radical Islam these days, you'd think the threat would be more serious than ever. Iran doesn't have to specifically dispatch a government agent to do the job. Any fanatical terrorist cell member anywhere in the world could just do the job in the hope of getting the reward - although you'd have to somehow provide to Iran that you did it while escaping the notice of authorities wherever you happen to catch up to Rushdie. By the way, Rushdie these days describes himself as a hard-core leftist and atheist. He was actually raised as a Muslim, and you can understand why that's lost its appeal for him. But far beyond that, he rejects the notion of any supernatural being whatsoever. That being the case, pray for his survival as long as possible so he can figure things out a little better. In the meantime, one wonders what excuse Obama and Kerry might offer for the behavior of their Iranian friends - the same people who are now going to find it much easier to acquire nuclear weapons because Obama and Kerry didn't think it was worth the bother to stop them. In addition to all the cheating they've already done and will continue to do on the nuclear deal, no one should be surprised to learn that they're also taking contracts out on people. I don't know if you've noticed, but it's usually the people who preach false doctrines who are most hypersensitive about other people criticizing said doctrines. Given Obama's super-friendly stance toward Iran, I wonder if Rushdie regrets supporting him for the presidency - which he did. Everything Obama has done vis-a-vis Iran has emboldened the mad mullahs to act like, well, mad mullahs. Hopefully it doesn't help to cost Rushdie his life.

---