Malalai Joya: Don't be fooled by Afghanistan's democratic façade - the people are betrayed

[IndianaGreen]

This is Obama's war of choice and he is as ill-served by his warhawk advisers, as Lyndon Johnson was ill-served by his.

It is immoral to ask our troops to sacrifice for a lie, or in the case of Afghanistan, a pack of lies!

Malalai Joya: Don't be fooled by Afghanistan's democratic façade - the people are betrayed

Thursday, 20 August 2009

In hiding and in fear of her life, the Afghan MP and women's rights campaigner says the warlords have already won

Like millions of Afghans, I have no hope in the results of today's election. In a country ruled by warlords, occupation forces, Taliban terrorists, drug money and guns, no one can expect a legitimate or fair vote. Even international observers have been speaking about widespread fraud and intimidation and, among the people on the street, there is a common refrain: the real winner has already been picked by the White House.

President Hamid Karzai has cemented alliances with brutal warlords and fundamentalists in order to maintain his position. Although our constitution forbids war criminals from running for office, the incumbent has named two notorious militia commanders as his vice-presidential running mates – Karim Khalili and Mohammad Qasim Fahim, both of whom stand accused of brutalities against our people.

Deals have also been made with countless fundamentalists. This week saw the return from exile of the dreaded warlord Rashid Dostum. And the pro-Iranian extremist Mohammad Mohaqiq, who has been accused of war crimes, has been promised five cabinet positions for his party in exchange for supporting Mr Karzai.

Rather than democracy, what we have in Afghanistan are back-room deals among discredited warlords who are sworn enemies of democracy and justice.

The President has also continued to absolutely betray the women of Afghanistan.

Even after massive international outcry – and brave protesters taking to the streets of Kabul – Mr Karzai implemented the infamous rape law, targeting Shia women, to gain support of the fundamentalist elements in the election. He had initially promised to review the most egregious clauses, but in the end it was passed with few amendments and the barbaric anti-women statements not removed. As Human Rights Watch recently stated: "Karzai has made an unthinkable deal to sell Afghan women out in return for the support of fundamentalists."

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/malalai-joya-dont-be-fooled-by-afghanistans-democratic-faccedilade--the-people-are-betrayed-14458897.html

[JDPriestly]

1. Could our presence in Afghanistan and Iraq have more to do with their

neighbors than the countries themselves? Just asking. This thought has occurred to me recently. Afghanistan is sort of between Pakistan and Russia and near India -- all nuclear powers. Iraq is near Iran and Syria and other countries -- potential nuclear powers. Is it really a chess game?

[IndianaGreen]

2. I play chess. Obama doesn't!

This is nothing but a failure to change course for fear of being accused of being "soft" on terrorism.

[JDPriestly]

3. In each country it's as though we placed our king (our military) in the most position

on the board at which they would be most vulnerable. By each country, I mean Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq may simply have been the weakest country in the area, but Afghanistan is a military nightmare. I don't think it has ever actually been held by any European invader.

[IndianaGreen]

4. You can occupy a country, but Afghanistan is not a country

but a collection of tribal areas run by warlords and tribal leaders. It is the height of hubris to think the USA can succeed where Alexander the Great, the British empire, and the USSR failed.