In all the debate about Afghanistan, we don’t hear much about our obligation to the wretched lives of Afghan women. They are being treated as collateral damage as the big boys discuss geopolitical goals. No, we can’t go around saving every failed state, but as well as clear national security interest, there’s a moral obligation here that is being forgotten.
More than a million Afghan men died fighting our proxy war against the Soviets. The streets of Kabul today are full of sightless beggars and amputees who paid the price for that nine-year struggle. America funded the Islamic revival, giving out Korans and Stinger missiles to beat the Communists, then pulled out and was surprised when the assassins of 9/11 were spawned by the chaos left behind.
The women of Afghanistan, left behind as their men fought, did what the women of World War II did—used their wits and resourcefulness to preserve some semblance of civilization. The Taliban’s backward vision of a radical Islamist state was a utopian fantasy. Except in the rural villages of the south, women before the Taliban worked as doctors, judges, teachers, broadcasters, and budding politicians.
Now Afghan women are terrified we will abandon them again. Anne McBride, who observed the elections last month, emailed me: “The women I met at polling stations risked their lives to come out and vote, but they are angry that the Taliban ruined their lives and are willing to risk it. They are not tolerant of half-steps for women.” Are we really considering throwing them back into the dark, leaving them even more vulnerable after their return to freedom?
http://newageislam.com/let-s-not-abandon-afghan-women/war-on-terror/d/1830
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1:10 AM
Moderate Islamist here
