Oh, my.

Dr. Richard Benkin is convinced that, in the fall of 2006, he gave
Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama an ideal opportunity to prove his
touted “special sensitivity to injustice.” But, Dr. Benkin says, in failing to
come to the aid of a Bangladeshi journalist whose only “crime” was trying to
build peaceful relations between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East, Mr. Obama
displayed a shocking disregard for basic human rights in a part of the world
controlled by extremist Islamist ideology.
***
Mr. Choudhury had been charged by the Bangladeshi government with
blasphemy, sedition, treason, and espionage on behalf of Israel. His real crime
was that he had condemned terrorism and exposed the growing strength of Islamist
radicals in Bangladesh. He had urged the Bangladeshi authorities to recognize
Israel so that the two countries could establish trade and diplomatic relations,
and he advocated genuine interfaith dialogue based on religious equality.
***
Three weeks after Mr. Kirk became involved in the case, Mr. Choudhury was
released from prison. Mr. Choudhury and Dr. Benkin assume the Bangladeshi
government was reluctant to risk losing the annual $100 million it receives in
US foreign aid.
But although the Bangladeshi Ambassador in Washington had
promised also to have the charges against Mr. Choudhury dropped, that did not
happen.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury--The Moslem Hero of Moderation

"People are punished for crime, for creating anarchy and for putting humanity into horrifying terror. But, could we ever believe that someone would be arrested, tortured and imprisoned for 17 long months just for being in favor of global peace, inter-faith dialogue, ending religious hatred and thinking of everything good and noble for mankind? In my case it did happen and after being released on bail keeping their keeping the sedition charge very much alive. According to the allegations, my crime is: I am a living contradiction to today’s phenomenon in the Muslim world, a Zionist, a defender of Israel and a devout, practicing Muslim living in the second largest Muslim country in the world.”

These are not mere words! These are all facts. Such a courageous statement comes from the very heart of a Moslem journalist in Bangladesh named Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, who has been facing sedition, treason and blasphemy charges in his own country since 2003, for confronting radical Islam, for advocating interfaith understanding between Moslems, Jews and Christians and for demanding relations between Israel and the Moslem Bangladesh.

Bangladesh also has one of the highest population densities in the world, is extremely poor, and has been under a military-backed regime since January of 2007 (those they've pledged new elections by the end of this year.

I would very much like to know what on earth the good senator from Illinois was thinking. Or even if he was thinking.