the women of Afghanistan...

[mzteris]

I abhor war, and I hate the lives lost and money hemorrhaged . . .

but yet when I think of the lives of the women and girls in this country - they had SOME hope with us there- made some strides in education and equality. As soon as we leave, they will become nothing more than slaves again. No rights at all and no hope.

I don't want us to be there, but I don't want them to be abandoned either.

[ismnotwasm]

1. My daughter was stationed there

At Kandahar a few years back. She wasn't in the city, she was at the base. She did a lot of rural 'female search missions' Searching those women for bombs or whatever. She said a number of interesting, and sad, things. One was that there was a general lack of water, these women didn't have the mean to wash often, and they smelled. They were in poor health and illiterate. No birth control. When she would search them, often they would feel her breasts to ensure themselves that my daughter was actually female, and not some male trying to defile them. They were also terrified.

She said there was a decent sized male homosexual community in the city, with the males often cross-dressing. (I ask her how those guys survived the Taliban, but she didn't know) These men did not consider themselves homosexual. "Women are for babies and men are for pleasure" was the general motto.


Anyway, you're right, we've made some inroads, and least have made help available. Afghan women are as tough and wise as they need to be and they will rise strong if they're allowed

The last thing I'll share that my daughter said, that both chilled and disgusted me, for several different reasons; "The Marines went in there and kicked the Talibans ass, I mean they just kicked there ass, it was no contest. But the Taliban are still there, all over the place"

Wouldn't it be nice if would could accomplish human rights without war? That somehow always seems to be a female-centered concept, (not to disparage all the wonderful male anti-war activists)

[femrap]

2. There are strong

women there. We can't give them their freedom. They have to fight for it. If anyone deserves to be armed, it's these women.

But their religion says to 'suffer in silence.'

RAWA offers hope and courage.

[ThomCat]

3. I don't know.

Everything we see lead me to believe that we are making things worse for women throughout most of Afghanistan. :(

We thought our army was charging in there bringing hope, and instead they brought mass destruction to civilians. There is a huge backlash, and women are feeling that backlash most.

The Taliban is still there, and will pick up power again the moment we turn around. They are going to use women as collective scapegoats for everything we have done. I don't see any way we can protect the women of Afghanistan from that.

We were supposed to have this big campaign to provide education for women, but the schools are closed and women are terrorized into not attending the one or two that are still open.

We were supposed to be building a government that would create stable change, but we supported the warlords who were entrenched in the old power structure, so there couldn't be any change. You don't get change by keeping the people were want things the way they have are and have already been.

These warlords are known to be corrupt and won't support reforms. In fact, they undermine reforms, especially any reforms that would help women.

I wish I saw hope in Afghanistan. I wish I saw the US playing a good role there. I don't. I see us sacrificing the people there, especially the women, for access to geopolitical power.

We're destroying the people there so that the US can turn Afghanistan's resources over select corporate honchos so the right people get the right kinds of profit, before Russia and China go in there and do it for their corporations instead.

In all this scheming, the soldiers aren't important enough for our politicians to really care about with all the geopolitical influence to be had, and only the people of Afghanistan are less worthy of consideration. The women of Afghanistan seem to be at the bottom of the pile, the least worthy of consideration, and the ones bearing the most cost for all that we're doing there.

We will be paying for this war as a deficit for generations. We will be living in national poverty. But that's nothing compared to the way they are going to be paying for this war. :(