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The Northern Alliance seems like a good ally.

On another note, what does radical feminism have to say about radical Islam? Isn't it funny that many of the complaining groups we have in the US would suffer much more under fundamentalism?

I've never heard a feminist group support the Tahliban.That's just a stupid thing to say.

You asked about radical feminism and Islam. A LONG time ago (1980) I read an article in MS. Magazine slamming the Afghani mujahedeen, and supporting the Soviets in the Afghani conflict. Yes, I know some of it was knee-jerk feminist support for a Communist regime, but in retrospect it doesn't sound so stupid. The article pointed out that the Afghani "freedom fighters" were mad at the Soviets for, among other things, insisting that women have equal social rights with men, have freedoms, be able to vote, get on governing committees, etc. The Soviets put pro-Soviet Afghan women in positions of leadership in villages, for instance, but the fanatical Islamic men hated that. I never thought I'd waste any sympathy on the Soviets, but you know, *the Soviets were right* in that regard, at least.

Russia as a culture was severely degraded under Communism, and never has had a truly Western concept of freedom, but they were at the pinnacle of civilization compared to the mujahadeen, who wanted to lock women up in some version of the Stone Age. This is why, while I like the idea of our helping the local anti-Taliban forces, we're NOT solving anything in the long run if we don't *reconstruct* their society. My view is NO help, NO aid unless they set up a constitutional democracy with basic human rights for everyone. As far as the feminists of today go, who cares what they think. They just became highly irrelevant.

You asked about radical feminism and Islam. A LONG time ago (1980) I read an article in MS. Magazine slamming the Afghani mujahedeen, and supporting the Soviets in the Afghani conflict. Yes, I know some of it was knee-jerk feminist support for a Communist regime, but in retrospect it doesn't sound so stupid. The article pointed out that the Afghani "freedom fighters" were mad at the Soviets for, among other things, insisting that women have equal social rights with men, have freedoms, be able to vote, get on governing committees, etc. The Soviets put pro-Soviet Afghan women in positions of leadership in villages, for instance, but the fanatical Islamic men hated that. I never thought I'd waste any sympathy on the Soviets, but you know, *the Soviets were right* in that regard, at least.

Russia as a culture was severely degraded under Communism, and never has had a truly Western concept of freedom, but they were at the pinnacle of civilization compared to the mujahadeen, who wanted to lock women up in some version of the Stone Age. This is why, while I like the idea of our helping the local anti-Taliban forces, we're NOT solving anything in the long run if we don't *reconstruct* their society. My view is NO help, NO aid unless they set up a constitutional democracy with basic human rights for everyone. As far as the feminists of today go, who cares what they think. They just became highly irrelevant.