#2 of 6 Reasons to Oppose the War in Afghanistan

#2 of 6 Reasons to Oppose the War in Afghanistan
by Brian Lenzo | Monday, June 15th, 2009

“Its time American’s woke up from this nightmare and expose the occupation of Afghanistan as one part of a broader war, against both Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.” – 6 Reasons to Oppose the War in Afghanistan

2. Far from liberated, women in Afghanistan are worse off than before the invasion.

“It [is] essential to change the position of women in Islam, for it is Islam’s degradation of women, expressed in the practices of veiling and seclusion, that [is] the ‘fatal obstacle’ to the Egyptian’s ‘attainment of that elevation of thought and character which should accompany the introduction of Western civilization.’” (Leila Ahmed, pg. 153)

This little gem was uttered by British Consul General Lord Cromer in the late 1800’s during their occupation of Egypt. The interesting part is that it came out of the mouth of a founding member of the Men’s League for Opposing Women’s Suffrage. Of all the 6 reasons to oppose the war in Afghanistan, the hypocrisy around women’s rights emits the greatest stench.

Since the colonization of the world began in the 1500’s, Western powers have long cloaked their conquest in the language of “civilization” and “democracy.”

Condelezza Rice said it herself, “What we’re seeing here, in a sense, is the growing — the birth pangs of a new Middle East. And whatever we do, we have to be certain that we are pushing forward to the new Middle East, not going back to the old one.” (Washington Post, 2006)

The peace-loving Westerners, flowing robes and all, again play the mid-wife to a new, more progressive era. However, I‘m afraid Afghanistan is more of a cloak-and-dagger affair.

“Humanitarian Intervention”

The claim that we (the American, British and other token military forces) are saving Afghan women from the evil Taliban, and by extension, oppressive, male Muslims in general, is not only factually wrong but it reveals a fundamental acceptance of what was classically called “the white man’s burden,” now couched in terms of “humanitarian intervention.”

Since the American invasion, the Afghan government has made many gestures that might suggest things are, indeed, improving for women. In 2001, the Afghan Transitional Administration created the “Ministry of Women’s Affairs.”

Ratified in 2004, the constitution of Afghanistan states, “The citizens of Afghanistan – whether man or woman –have equal rights and duties before the law.” Female athletes Friba Razayee and Robina Muqim Yaar represented Afghanistan for the first time in the country’s history in the 2004 Olympic games in Athens. There is quite a long list of “firsts” for women in Afghanistan which should not be ignored. But unfortunately, that list is a mile long and only inches deep.

To start, many of these accomplishments have been handed down on high, from male government officials (on the instruction of US “advisors”). They have served not as a door to further rights, but as a façade to cover the ugly reality of life for ordinary women.

Meena Nanji, journalist and documentary film-maker on Afghan Women writes,

“While ostensibly there are increased opportunities…in reality few women can take advantage of these possibilities and they are largely restricted to Kabul. According to the many aid workers and Afghan women that I spoke to, women continue to be very fearful of the armed US-backed mujahideen who exert control over much of the country. Most women, even in Kabul, still wear the burqa (the head to toe garment that covers the whole body) as a protective measure against public humiliation and physical attack. The U.N and international human rights groups recently released reports detailing increased incidents of beatings, kidnappings and rape by U.S-funded regional warlords and their militia, stating: “local militia commanders…violate women’s rights and commit sexual abuse with impunity”.

As Nanji points out, the new rulers in Afghanistan are no different than the Taliban, and in many cases much worse.

“The Jehadis, notorious for throwing acid in the faces of women, slicing off their breasts and other atrocious acts, gained power during the 1980’s when the U.S saw fit to fund, arm and train them in the fight against Soviet occupation. During their rule, they terrorized the civilian population with blanket rocket shellings, rape, torture and killing, to such a degree that when the Taliban emerged in 1996, they were initially welcomed.

After the fall of the Taliban these same Jehadi leaders, including Buhruddin Rabbani, Abdul Sayyaf, and members of the Northern Alliance, have re-emerged, with disastrous consequences for Afghans, especially women. (“Afghanistan’s Women after ‘Liberation’”, Nanji, 2003)

A Gruesome Picture

Accurate figures are notoriously hard to come by given 30 years of almost continuous war and internal conflicts. However the statistics that are out there paint a gruesome picture.

In 2007, “almost 500 women chose death or disfigurement to a life of despair by setting themselves on fire to escape forced marriages, slavery or sexual and other types of abuse.” (Mandy Clark, Kabul, May 2008)

If those figures are true, Afghanistan would be the world leader in female suicide rates.

According to a 2007 report by Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), “while the Taliban are condemned for their treatment of women, the AIHRC recorded more cases of violence against women in the capital, Kabul, and in the western province of Herat than in Kandahar – once a Taliban stronghold…”

What the numbers really reveal, however, is that the situation of women more directly relates to the overall standard of living than any so called “backward” religious or cultural heritage. Its been long known that here in the US that the poorest women are up to 6 times more likely to be the victim of non-fatal abuse by their spouse or partner. (Intimate Partner Violence in the US, 2006)

With the utter devastation of Afghanistan’s already fragile economy, access to healthcare and especially women’s healthcare has dropped drastically along with education and the general economic stability.

Again, according to the AIHRC report, during the past five years (2001-2007), some 3,900 women have died during childbirth because of a pervasive lack of obstetric facilities.

In Urozgan and Zabul provinces in the south, more than 90 percent of girls are deprived of formal education. According to the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), about 90 percent of Afghan women are illiterate. (Summary of AIHRC report)

“Freedom and democracy can’t be donated”

As army Specialist Suzanne Swift can attest, the US military isn’t a bastion of women’s liberation either. Swift was harassed repeatedly and “command raped” by two of her sergeants. Her ordeal continued unabated for over 2 years before she went AWOL and went public with her case. And this is not an isolated case (read more: Suzanne Swift.org; N.O.W. Report on Women in the Military; “Rape in the US Military”, LA Times, 2008)

George W. Bush, who launched the invasion, is a stanch opponent of Abortion rights, stem cell research, same sex marriage, and repeatedly denied funding for AIDS prevention and sex education programs that taught condom use and safe sex practices.

Should we really expect “liberation” to come from institutions, headed by men who are publicly and adamantly opposed to the practical content of women’s rights?

In fact, liberation will not come on the front of an Abrams tank, in the debris cloud of a smart bomb or the tip of a bayonet. The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) says it quite clearly,

RAWA believes that freedom and democracy can’t be donated; it is the duty of the people of a country to fight and achieve these values…

Today RAWA’s mission for women’s rights is far from over and we have to work hard for establishment of an independent, free, democratic and secular Afghanistan. We need the solidarity and support of all people around the world.” http://www.rawa.org

In my opinion, the antiwar movement here in the US needs to spend a little less time ranting about the clothing on Afghan women’s heads and more time demanding the boot of occupation be removed from their necks.

Check out:

6 Reasons Introduction

#1 of 6 Reasons

Post Script: Since there is such little information on this issue, below are a collection of links I found in my research.

Tags: Afghanistan, anti-war, Antiwar, immediate withdrawal, oppression, RAWA, revolutionary organization of the women of afghanistan, terrorism, war, War on Terror, Women, Women's Liberation

8:17 pm. Activism, Politics.

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“Humanitarian Intervention”

A Gruesome Picture

“Freedom and democracy can’t be donated”

Post Script: Since there is such little information on this issue, below are a collection of links I found in my research.

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