Polio vaccinator shot dead in Pakistan

AfPak really is a backward part of the world. anyone who thinks that a bit of bombing and lots of aid money is going to sway hearts and minds and bring this bunch kicking and screaming into to the 20th century is sorely deluded.

A schoolteacher AND a vaccinator. Oooohhh... very dangerous.

Ignorance strikes again.

Another crime under the cover of ignorance of a believe system premeditated on a human floating into the sky..next thing a cartoon character will start his or her own beliefs system.

Polio vaccinator shot dead in Pakistan

Brought to you by the religion of peace.......

@Fadamor

Even if you don't believe the CIA (and there's no particular reason you should believe them), you don't need to be killing the workers.

But then there is the part about "already suspicious, uneducated, backward people" to take in account. It was completely irresponsible to use a vaccination campaign as a tool for espionage, specially when done to people that would for sure use it as an excuse to pick up targets for violence. The polio eradication effort is way too important to put it at risk for whatever information they could get. From that day cases both sides become responsible of further cases of polio.

Simply don't conduct your Al-Qaeda/Taliban activities in any vaccination tent and there's no way that a spy agency can collect intel on you.

False, as with the original scheme the CIA only needs to take care of preserving disposable materials used in the vaccination and check them for DNA and they will know if the children are related to whoever they have samples for, including terrorism suspects. They have then intel about where their families are without anyone entering ever any vaccination tent (including the children and the vaccinator since the vaccination is done door by door).

Not at all because it is not "their" polio program is ours. Polio is a virus that affects only humans, if we could get one generation of people immune to the disease then it would disappear of nature, that would mean that the huge amount of resources that are being used in the world to treat and vaccine against the disease could be used for anything else that is needed.

The disease has been eradicated in most countries of the world, but thanks to the few pockets were it is still maintained, all governments have to keep spending on vaccines or risk a huge epidemic when immunity fails, that is a lot of money that have to be expended every year, in part thanks to the CIA.

That and of course the moral decadence of considering innocent babies getting sick or dying as acceptable collateral damage against terrorists, if you think is justified keeping children with polio I am afraid that the terrorist already won.

This is so sad.

The militants claim that polio vaccination is a front for espionage or a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims.

Pity the ignorant they make it hard on everyone else.

Fence this place off let them pray to allah for what they think they need.

The truly sad part is the U.S. government has made it much more difficult for the vaccination teams to do their work. According to NBC news, several years ago, the CIA did use agents traveling in vaccination teams to gather intel in the country. Not a good thing when you are trying to build trust among already suspicious, uneducated, backward people. I watched an interview with a vaccination team member, a young woman, who said she will continue to try to help her people no matter the risk to her own life. I don't know where that kind of courage comes from.

It is indeed sad even today in this age of advanced technology and medical attention available to the public our Muslim folks continue to consider an important vaccination program such as polio vital to children as anti-Islam!

"Brought to you by the religion of peace......."

Since the Taliban shun translations of the Koran into languages they can read (if they can read any language) I think it might be a bit presumptive to say they are adherents of any religion.

I think its also important to point out that correlation does not equal causation. We are talking about a place of constant tribal warfare. The article even states the reason may have been personal enmities. Don't assume that he was killed because of the immunizations. The article even states that two previous attempts on his life occurred and it seems at that time he was not immunizing anybody.

"The militants claim that polio vaccination is a front for espionage"

Is anyone going to come forward and insist there is no way that could be happening? How do you suppose espionage happens? Like it does in James Bond films?

Ignorant savages who would rather kill anything they don't understand than to learn about it.

The truly sad part is the U.S. government has made it much more difficult for the vaccination teams to do their work. According to NBC news, several years ago, the CIA did use agents traveling in vaccination teams to gather intel in the country. Not a good thing when you are trying to build trust among already suspicious, uneducated, backward people.

While true, the fact is that now that this method of intel-gathering has been "outed" and the CIA has stated they won't be using humanitarian activities as "cover" anymore. Even if you don't believe the CIA (and there's no particular reason you should believe them), you don't need to be killing the workers. Simply don't conduct your Al-Qaeda/Taliban activities in any vaccination tent and there's no way that a spy agency can collect intel on you.

Apparently they need polio infectors and not vaccinators. I say we help them with that.

@chikv Killing Osama was worth messing with their polio program if it is failing because of their own idiocy/war with the US.