Activists: Afghan women no better off

Chicago Tribune ^ | Thu, Sep 23, 2004 | Sarah Frank

[Area Freeper]

Human-rights organizations criticized the Bush administration Wednesday, saying in the three years since the Taliban was ousted from most of Afghanistan, the U.S. has not fulfilled promises of safety, freedom, education and health care for Afghan women.

"They have failed, misguided and betrayed Afghan women by giving them false hope," said T. Kumar, an Amnesty International advocacy director for Asia and the Pacific, at a news conference addressing Afghan women's issues. "Three years later, they are still dreaming, and it may be a pipe dream."

Kumar said he believed the Bush administration "used the Afghan women" when it said liberating them was a major reason to remove the Taliban from power. He contends that Afghan women's rights were never a concern of the Bush administration until after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

On Oct. 9, Afghan citizens are scheduled to elect a president. Millions of women are registered to vote, and most of the 19 candidates have women's issues as one focus of their political platform, Kumar said.

But there is minimal voter education in Afghanistan, and many women are expected to vote the same as their husbands or not at all, said Malaly Volpi, director of the Policy Council on Afghan Women.

"Ninety percent of Afghan women are illiterate. How will they know who to vote for?" Volpi said.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush ordered troops to Afghanistan to drive out the Taliban, which had harbored Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Bush said the war also would mean freedom for Afghan women, who had few rights under the Taliban.

Since then, "remarkable progress" has been made, said White House spokesman Jim Morrell.

[Yardstick]

"Activists" = socialists with an agenda

[dfwgator]

If the President had a "D" next to his name, these yahoos would have already nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

[Hank All-American]

"But there is minimal voter education in Afghanistan, and many women are expected to vote the same as their husbands or not at all, said Malaly Volpi, director of the Policy Council on Afghan Women."

Of course, Bush personally made sure that these women would vote the same as their husbands or not at all, and we know that none of their husbands cares one wit about them.

So I guess liberals think freedom really is just another word for nothing left to lose.

[dirtboy]

Afghani women are repressed and illiterate mainly because of Islamism - but if one were to condemn Islam, the same people condemning the lack of progress for women would condemn you as a bigot. So they're basically irrelevant.

[Billthedrill]

"Ninety percent of Afghan women are illiterate. How will they know who to vote for?" Volpi said.

They can learn to read, which millions of them are also doing, and which they were not allowed to do under the Taliban. This activist is a fool. Women in Afghanistan are so much better off now that I cannot imagine anyone who knows even the rudiments of what things were like under the Taliban making this ridiculous claim.

[risk]

They're getting bullets in the back when no one is looking, but the point is that there is progress. There's progress all around. And there are people trying to make even more progress, which is better than before. Notice that they're critical of the people responsible for trying. In western terms, that means they're appealing to America to try harder. Note that they would have nowhere to appeal if the Taliban were still in power!

[katana]

Almost half of the millions of Afghanis who have registered to vote are women and, yes, one of the candidates for president of the country is female. Three years ago any of those millions registered and any woman who would dare present herself in public without a burka (much less for public office) would have been subject to immediate execution. Some failure.

[dfwgator]

"But there is minimal voter education in Afghanistanlabor unions, and many womenunion members are expected to vote the same as their husbandsunion bosses or not at all"

[t-1000]

I agree.

Just yesterday they were being rounded up and shot like wild game.

Women's rights in the that region has nothing to do with having a job or driving.
For them, living and not being beaten on a daily basis is a good start.
Look how long the woman's rights movement took to develop in the US. How can we expect things to happen overnight there when it took 100's of years here?

[Hank All-American]

Good one. And I bet those women are forced to make campaign contributions to those they oppose, to carry the analogy one further.

[lilylangtree]

"many women are expected to vote the same as their husbands or not at all, said Malaly Volpi, director of the Policy Council on Afghan Women."

And whose fault is that? Why aren't these groups getting the word out? Is it because of their "religion of peace" mullahs? Yo Volpi, look to your organization and others like you for the fault. Sheesh!

[oyez]

...the same people condemning the lack of progress for women would condemn you as a bigot.

They need to go to Afghanistan to see for themselves.

[Dat Mon]

You have to understand the far-left liberal mindset:
Gulags and death camps aren't so bad as long as they're OUR gulags, run by OUR people. It takes a village you see...even a Taliban one.

[Melpomene]

many women are expected to vote the same as their husbands

Why is that surprising. My husband and I, who happily agree on most things political, usually vote the same. I would think most married couples do.

[the_devils_advocate_666]

Published on: 2004-09-20

Schoolgirls marvel at differences

By Kevin Maurer
Staff writer

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Each time Maj. Andrea La Force slid her sunglasses over the eyes of a young Afghan girl, she giggled and pushed them off her face. The girl probably had never worn anything like them.

Photo by Steve Hebert

Air Force Maj. Andrea La Force, right, talks with Afghan girls during a visit to their school near a special operations fire base in the Kunar Province, Afghanistan.

La Force and Maj. Kathleen Chapman paid a visit last week to a school built by civil affairs soldiers in the Kunar Province in northeastern Afghanistan. The children surrounded the soldiers when they arrived. The Afghan girls seemed happy that some of the soldiers were women. The children ranged in age from 7 to 15.

The visit quickly turned into a primitive show-and-tell, as La Force and Chapman looked at the girls' notebooks and backpacks. Most of the supplies were provided by coalition forces, and each of the girls' backpacks carried images of the American and Afghan flags.

From taking pictures of the children to asking them what they wanted to be when they grew up, the American officers tried to show the Afghans an alternative to the traditional role of women in Afghan society.

Photo by Steve Hebert

Capt. Kim Belmont of the 25th Infantry Division escorts Afghan boys to their school.

"We are different than their elders," said Chapman, who is in the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion at Fort Bragg.

Positive image

La Force wanted to portray a positive image for the girls.

"We are people trying to communicate. We are here to be allies," she said.

La Force is an Air Force foreign area officer who specializes in Afghanistan. She assists the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan.

Photo by Steve Hebert

Afghan boys gather for a closer view of female U.S. officers who are visiting their school in the Kunar Province.

The officers said they are not trying to change Afghan culture, which often restricts a woman's ability to get an education. During the Taliban's rule, women were not allowed to go to school.

"We can't expect things to change overnight," La Force said.

As Afghanistan modernizes, La Force said, the role of women could change.

The school, which is just outside the task force's fire base, was one of the first projects tackled by the civil affairs soldiers in the camp.

The soldiers built six classrooms next to the school's main building. The plywood structure was built in three weeks and allows the school to house three times as many students. The school now has more than 300 students.

Photo by Steve Hebert Air Force Maj. Andrea La Force shows Afghan girls how to wear sunglasses before letting the girls try them on.

Photo by Steve Hebert Army Maj. Kathleen Chapman, right, and Air Force Maj. Andrea La Force talk with curious Afghan girls at the children’s school.

[wrathof59]

Remember this is from the Chicago Tribune where everything about America is "evil".

[Mr. Keys]

Let me see. Beatings,burqas,stadium executions,no schooling,etc. OR... registering to vote,schooling,etc. Hmmmm. Nope.no difference.

[Melpomene]

No kidding. Have you seen the trailer for Celsius 41.11? There's some moron who asserts that dictators have pros and cons. If that dictator provides free education, health care, etc., then that's a good dictator. Idiots.

[Dat Mon]

Amen mon...I thought it was Kelvin 274.11, by the way. ;0)

[Guillermo]

Yeah, I never heard Bush use "womens rights" as a justification for overthrowing the Taliban...