Afghan women and security
Fri, 2008-02-08 08:56
#1
writer
Afghan women and security
Fri, 2008-02-08 08:56
#2
writer
quote:
While there are a few historical references to women, gender, females and girls in the 90-page report by the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan, how the current situation affects them is not seriously explored. Neither is what Canada can do about it. As the political parties debate about our involvement, there is one unanswered question: How central an issue do we really consider the future of women there to be?[url=http://section15.ca/features/news/2008/02/06/afghan_women_and_security/]...
... Thought there might be some interest in revisiting the whole we're-in-Afghanistan-for-the-sake-of-women thing.
Fri, 2008-02-08 09:15
#3
NATO leaders and our stoogeocrats couldn't care less about women's rights in Afghanistan, just like they turned their backs on that country from 1992 to 1996 as U.S.-backed mercenaries, or [url=http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8001][b]"Islamic Gladios"[/b][/url] tore the country apart.
[url=http://www.glennsacks.com/us_policy_has.htm][b]U.S. Policy Has Betrayed Afghan Women for 20 Years[/b][/url] by Glenn Sacks(American) from several years ago
quote:
Before the reform-minded PDPA took power in the late 1970s, Afghan women were forced to wear the stifling head to toe veil, and had no right to own property, go to school, or divorce. They were considered non-persons in the eyes of the law. The female literacy rate was one percent and polygamy was common.The PDPA regime promoted education for girls, gave women the right to divorce and own property, and reduced the bride price to a nominal fee. It also distributed land to the impoverished peasants and restrained the power of the mullahs, the Muslim clergy.
In response, the mullahs told the peasants that Allah would hang them upside down in the sky for all eternity if they accepted the government land grants and allowed women to be unveiled and to go to school. Soon rural Afghanistan had exploded in a rebellion which threatened to topple the PDPA--perhaps the only war in modern history begun largely over women's rights.
One picture taken shortly after the Taliban takeover says it all: a trembling woman covered in a head to toe veil, her face completely obscured, sobs as she speaks with a Western reporter. Who is she? An impoverished peasant? A homeless woman? [b]No, she's the recently removed chief surgeon at the country's largest hospital![/b]
It's time for Canadians to get the fuck out of Afghanistan. Karzai may be a stooge, but he's not our stooge.
[ 08 February 2008: Message edited by: Fidel ]
Fri, 2008-02-08 09:29
#4
remind
Yes, so much for the bogus arguement; "we are in Afghanistan for the women, don't you know, how dare you as a feminist be against our fighting for the freedom of Afghanistan women".
From the OP link:
quote:
Canada did make a commitment to the women of Afghanistan almost one year ago. On March 5, 2007 – at the beginning of International Women’s Week – the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations announced this country was launching its Action Plan for the Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.Eleven months later, Canada has not completed this action plan, despite a continued commitment to Resolution 1325. [b]And nowhere is the resolution mentioned in the report of the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan. [/b]
Not everyone forgot about it. When the panel was gathering information, several submissions from non-governmental organizations asked that the report recommend the full implementation of 1325 in the Afghanistan mission.
Fri, 2008-02-08 12:17
#5
Writer
Thank you for linking this interesting article. Obviously Canada has not provided as well as we should have.
If there is an election focusing on Afghanistan in the near term hopefully the NDP will bring this subject to the attention of the Canadian people and these mistakes will be corrected.
Fri, 2008-02-08 12:35
#6
remind
Why are you shrugging it off and onto the NDP's shoulders, to some later date? The mainstream media should be exposing this, and Canadians at large right here and now should be actioning this.
In fact, this should be being raised in the HoC right now.
[ 08 February 2008: Message edited by: remind ]
Fri, 2008-02-08 12:50
#7
It's not like they give a 'shrig' anyway.