[lilylangtree]

Read in Sunday's Parade (May 9, 2004) Intelligence Report by Lyric Wallwork Winik entitled Afghani Women Still Struggle

Yes, life is better for many women in Afghanistan without the abuses of the Taliban. But they still face grievous threats. Human Rights Watch says soldiers and police frequently attack women. In some areas, women are afraid to leave their homes to do more than gather water because of widespread kidnapping and robbery. Armed bandits will rob a man driving a pregnant woman to the hospital. "They may be robbed even with the woman in labor--the gunmen are that uneducated," says residents of Paghman, outside Kabul. (Even without bandits, one in six Afghani women dies in childbirth, says UNICEF. Infant-mortality rates also are among the world's worst.) Human Rights Watch reports that women worry about the future and fear that the protections of their rights could worsen, since many of the warlords who ruled under the Taliban have returned to power.

Considering that she was honored by a questionable award for her advocacy of human rights and democracy in her homeland, Ebadi should concentrate her efforts to speak out for Afghani women instead of murderous islamics who would rather stick a knife or shoot a coalition member if given a chance.

[The Scourge of Yazid]

Not only Afghanistan of course, but it is one of the most volatile places in that region of the world. She could also put a spotlight on the purdah in neighboring Pakistan, the honor killings that still have not been banned in Jordan or better yet, the continuous denial of rights to women in her own backyard on a daily basis.

Why is it that she can accept the Peace prize with a bare head in Europe but has to wear a veil in her native country? Once she answers that question, I think that we'll have more respect for her point-of-view on these matters.