Crossfire Briefs PFDebate October 2010

Volume 4, Number 2

October 2010

Release 1: September 9, 2010

Resolved: NATO presence improves the lives of Afghan ci zens.

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PFDebate.com | Crossfire Briefs October 2010: Release 1: NATO in Afghanistan

October 2010: Release 1

Crossfire Briefs are published on a weekly basis. This is the first of four releases for the October 2010 topic. You will receive an email no fica on from ShareFile when a new file is available. You have 24/7 access to your files at h p://pfdebate.sharefile.com. Look for addi onal releases on these dates: September 16, 2010 September 23, 2010 September 30, 2010 Finding evidence on the war in Afghanistan (Opera on Enduring Freedom and the Interna onal Security Assis-tance Force) is not difficult. Finding evidence that compares life in Afghanistan before and a er NATO’s involvement that also assigns credit or blame to NATO is going to be much more difficult. Release 1 has some general informa on about situa on in Afghanistan, but the primary focus is on the effect of the war on the women of Afghanistan. Future releases will address issues like opium poppies, Afghan securi-ty, government corrup on, etc. Don’t forget that back issues of Crossfire Briefs are available as free downloads. You may want to take a look at the January 2010 (Obama’s Plan for Afghanistan) at h p://shop.pfdebate.com/backissues. Don’t forget to sign-up for the Crossfire Briefs Free Card of the Day to receive a new piece of evidence each day at: h p://blog.pfdebate.com/2010/09/01/crossfire-briefs-card-of-the-day/.

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PFDebate.com | Crossfire Briefs October 2010: Release 1: NATO in Afghanistan

Index—Release 1

General Background On NATO’s Involvement In Afghanistan 4 The October Topic In A Nutshell 4

PRO

General Afghanistan’s Macroeconomic Indicators Show Improvement 5 Afghanistan’s Health Care Has Improved 6 Women The Women’s Ac on Plan For Afghanistan Seeks To Improve The Lives Of Women 7 NATO’s Presence Has Improved The Treatment Of Women 8-10 Educa onal Opportuni es For Women Have Improved 11

CON

General On Balance, The Quality Of Life In Afghanistan Has Decreased 12 Military Ac on Undermines The Credibility Of Humanitarian And Development Workers 13 The Needs Of The Afghan People Are Marginalized 14 Afghanistan Is The Second Most Impoverished Na on In The World 15 Afghanistan Has An Alarming Infant Mortality Rate 16 Women The Protec on Of Women Is Used To Jus fy War 17 The Rights Of Afghan Women Con nue To Be Diminished 18-19 Afghanistan’s Women’s Reforms Have Been Only Been Cosme c Changes 20 NATO’s Presence Has Diminished The Lives Of Women In Afghanistan 21-25 The Longer The War Goes On, The Greater The Harm To Afghan Women 26-28 Few Girls Are Able To Take Advantage Of New Schools 29 Schools Are Being Built And Improved By Aid Groups, Not NATO 30


PFDebate.com | Crossfire Briefs > General October 2010: Release 1: NATO in Afghanistan

_______. Background On NATO’s Involvement In Afghanistan.

Ebbe in 2009, Annelise Ebbe [Women's Interna onal League for peace and Freedom, Denmark]. "Afghanistan, NATO and Women's Security." Interna onal Congress No to NATO, Strasboug. April 3/5, 2009. h p://www.wloe.org/fileadmin/Files-DE/PDF/Themen/NATO_April_09/ANNELISEFinal.pdf. Accessed September 7, 2010. The war against Afghanistan was allegedly a reac on to the 11 September 2001 a acks on the Pentagon and World Trade Centre. NATO Member States invoked Ar cle 5 of the North Atlan c Treaty, “that an armed a ack against one or more of them [the Par es] in Europe or North America shall be considered an a ack against them all”. The first US military re-sponse to the 9/11 a acks commenced on 7 October 2001 and were assigned the name Opera on Infinite Jus ce which was changed to Opera on Enduring Freedom because it caused offence to Muslims for whom infinite jus ce is the domain of god alone. The ini al military objec ves of Opera on Enduring Freedom, as ar culated by President George W. Bush included the destruc on of terrorist training camps and infrastructure within Afghanistan, the capture of al-Qaeda lead-ers, and the cessa on of terrorist ac vi es in Afghanistan. On 5 October 2006, NATO officially took over control of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In December 2001 the United Na ons Security Council established the Interna onal Security Assis-tance Force (ISAF), which transferred to NATO command and coordina on in August 2003. This was NATO’s first “out of area” mission outside the Euro-Atlan c region, which is cast by NATO as part of its, “transforma on to meet the threats of the 21st century.” The ini al Security Council resolu on 1386 (2001) has been extended on an annual basis, bestowing NATO with a UN mandate for this role in numerous UN Security Council Resolu ons from 2002 ll now. ISAF’s mission was ini ally limited to Kabul, but resolu ons since 2003 have mandated ISAF to operate beyond Kabul in the form of Provincial Reconstruc on Teams (PRTs) – a force that is said to “extend the authority of the Afghan Government across the en re country.” NATO describes ISAF’s role as, “assist[ing] the Government of Afghanistan and the Interna onal Community in maintain-ing security within its area of opera on. ISAF supports the Government of Afghanistan in expanding its authority to the rest of the country, and in providing a safe and secure environment conducive to free and fair elec ons, the spread of the rule of law, and the reconstruc on of the country.” ISAF and the PRTs are working in coopera on with the Afghan Na onal Security Forces and the Opera on Enduring Freedom (OEF) coali on. The NATO countries contribu ng to the ISAF mission in Afghanistan are the following 26: Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Roma-nia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States. The non-NATO countries are the following 14: Alba-nia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Croa a, Finland, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, Jordan, Singapore. [Brackets in original]

_______. The October Topic In A Nutshell. Weitz in 2009, Richard Weitz [Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Poli cal-Military Analysis at the Hudson Ins tute]. “Afghanistan: War By Metrics.” Central Asia‐Caucasus Ins tute Analyst. October 28, 2009. h p://www.cacianalyst.org/?q=node/5206. Accessed September 5, 2010. Such diverging indicators naturally lead observers to wonder whether the glass is half empty or half full in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The problems with using these metrics to assess such a complex social phenomenon as war is that one does not know which of these many measurements provide the best indicator of an evolving situa on. As they now stand, pundits and policy makers can and will cite them as evidence that the Afghan and Pakistani government is winning the war, losing it, or figh ng it to a stalemate.


PFDebate.com | Crossfire Briefs > PRO October 2010: Release 1: NATO in Afghanistan

_______. Afghanistan’s Macroeconomic Indicators Show Improvement.

Campbell, O’Hanlon, & Shapiro in 2009, Jason Campbell, Michael E. O’Hanlon, Jeremy Shapiro [The Brookings Ins tu on]. “How to Measure the War.” Policy Review. No. 157. October 1, 2009. h p://www.hoover.org/publica ons/policy-review/ar cle/5490. Accessed September 4, 2010. From an economic standpoint, some of the macro indicators such as gdp, per capita income, and volume of trade have risen steadily over the past few years, and infla on has largely stabilized. However, this has not translated to greater pros-perity for all, as the gulf between the very rich and the dangerously des tute con nues to grow. According to the Afghan government, an es mated 42 percent of the popula on lives below the poverty line (defined as a monthly income of $14 or less) while an addi onal 20 percent lives only slightly above it. Essen al services remain meager, with only about 23 percent of the popula on having regular access to potable water and 12 percent having access to adequate sanita on. And though there has been some recent evidence of electricity produc on improving in Kabul, it was es mated in 2007 that only 20 percent of the total Afghan popula on had even limited access to public power. Weitz in 2009, Richard Weitz [Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Poli cal-Military Analysis at the Hudson Ins tute]. “Afghanistan: War By Metrics.” Central Asia‐Caucasus Ins tute Analyst. October 28, 2009. h p://www.cacianalyst.org/?q=node/5206. Accessed September 5, 2010. Notwithstanding these caveats, what do the indexes tell us about the course of the insurgencies? The socioeconomic indi-cators for Afghanistan and Pakistan remain low. In par cular, Afghanistan s ll falls near the bo om end of most economic measures. Although some progress has occurred in aggregate growth indicators as well as the availability of health care, the overwhelming majority of Afghans live in poverty with minimum access to essen al public services.



_______. Afghanistan’s Health Care Has Improved.

Campbell, O’Hanlon, & Shapiro in 2009, Jason Campbell, Michael E. O’Hanlon, Jeremy Shapiro [The Brookings Ins tu on]. “How to Measure the War.” Policy Review. No. 157. October 1, 2009. h p://www.hoover.org/publica ons/policy-review/ar cle/5490. Accessed September 4, 2010. The news is not all bad, however. With the help of outside donors, the Afghan government has made great strides in providing increased access to basic health care, with 82 percent of the popula on now living in districts that have a basic package of health care programs, up considerably from 9 percent in 2003. This metric is of limited value for truly sick indi-viduals, who probably s ll cannot access health care in many cases. But it has translated into significant improvements in the rate of vaccina ons as well as infant and child mortality rates. Though literacy rates con nue to linger at less than 30 percent, more than 6 million children currently a end over 9,000 schools. Gender equity is improving as 2 million of the students are girls and 40,000 of the 142,000 teachers are women. This represents a marked improvement over the Taliban years. Finally, telephone usage has increased drama cally to an es mated 7 million Afghans, up from just 1 million in 2002.



_______. The Women’s Ac on Plan For Afghanistan Seeks To Improve The Lives Of Women.

Morse in 2010, Jane Morse [Staff Writer]. “U.S. Plan Would Help Afghan Women Build Be er Lives.” America.gov. February 2, 2010. h p://www.america.gov/st/democracyhr-english/2010/February/20100202151423ajesrom0.1885296.html. Accessed September 8, 2010. Empowering women is cri cal to improving life in Afghanistan, and the Obama administra on has unveiled a plan to do just that. The Women’s Ac on Plan for Afghanistan outlined by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the London Conference on Afghanistan on January 28 seeks to increase Afghan women’s security, leadership in the public and private sectors, access to judicial ins tu ons, educa on and health services, and ability to take advantage of economic opportuni es, es-pecially in the agricultural sector. In a January 29 statement, the State Department said the Afghan government is taking “important steps” toward improv-ing the lot of women. It has commi ed to enac ng legisla on to eradicate violence against women and has recognized the importance of women in both the Afghan Na onal Development Strategy and the Na onal Ac on Plan for the Women of Afghanistan. U.S. Department of State in 2010, U.S. Department of State. “Statement on Advancing Rights of Women, Girls in Afghanistan.” January 29, 2010. h p://www.america.gov/st/tex rans-english/2010/January/20100201115754xjsnommis0.6967584.html. Accessed September 8, 2010. Women’s empowerment is inextricably linked to security, economic opportunity, effec ve governance, and social devel-opment. It is up to the Afghan government and people to work toward a vision we all share: of a country where ci zens are free from violence and coercion; where girls can go to school; where parents can find jobs and quality health care is more easily accessible. These will be the greatest barometers of Afghanistan’s progress. Secretary Clinton unveiled the U.S. plan to support women’s ini a ves, outlined in the Women’s Ac on Plan for Afghanistan, at the London Conference on Afghanistan on January 28. The Plan includes ini a ves focused on women’s security; women’s leadership in the public and private sectors; women’s access to judicial ins tu ons, educa on, and health services; and women’s ability to take advantage of economic opportu-ni es, especially in the agricultural sector. This is a comprehensive, forward-looking agenda that stands in stark contrast to the oppression and marginaliza on women face from Afghan insurgents. Women are key to every element of this agenda – from strengthening the economic sector, to promo ng good govern-ance, to energizing civil society, to sustaining peace and security. Progress is not possible if half a country’s popula on is le behind. Afghan women must not be viewed simply as vic ms who need to be sheltered. They must be respected and valued as leaders -- a reserve of talent that Afghan society needs to draw upon in order to prosper and succeed. The Afghan government is taking important steps. It has commi ed to enac ng legisla on to eradicate violence against women and has recognized the importance of women in both the Afghan Na onal Development Strategy and the Na onal Ac on Plan for the Women of Afghanistan. Much more remains to be done. The U.S. looks forward to suppor ng these and other ini a ves that will help build the capacity of Afghan women to par cipate fully in Afghan society and shape their country’s future.



_______. NATO’s Presence Has Improved The Treatment Of Women.

Qazi in 2010, Abdullah Qazi [Former Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs; 2009 Afghan Presiden al Candidate]. “The Plight of the Afghan Woman.” Afghanistan Online. Updated August 6, 2010. h p://www.afghan-web.com/woman/. Accessed September 8, 2010. The vast majority of Afghanistan's popula on professes to be followers of Islam. Over 1400 years ago, Islam demanded that men and women be equal before God, and gave them various rights such the right to inheritance, the right to vote, the right to work, and even choose their own partners in marriage. For centuries now in Afghanistan, women have been denied these rights either by official government decree or by their own husbands, fathers, and brothers. During the rule of the Taliban (1996 - 2001), women were treated worse than in any other me or by any other society. They were forbid-den to work, leave the house without a male escort, not allowed to seek medical help from a male doctor, and forced to cover themselves from head to toe, even covering their eyes. Women who were doctors and teachers before, suddenly were forced to be beggars and even pros tutes in order to feed their families. Since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, many would agree that the poli cal and cultural posi on of Afghan women has improved substan ally. The recently adopted Afghan cons tu on states that "the ci zens of Afghanistan – whether man or woman – have equal rights and du es before the law". So far, women have been allowed to return back to work, the government no longer forces them to wear the all covering burqa, and they even have been appointed to prominent posi-ons in the government. Despite all these changes many challenges s ll remain. The repression of women is s ll prevalent

in rural areas where many families s ll restrict their own mothers, daughters, wives and sisters from par cipa on in public life. They are s ll forced into marriages and denied a basic educa on. Numerous school for girls have been burned down and li le girls have even been poisoned to death for daring to go to school.




Nordlund in 2010, Rod Nordlund [Staff Writer]. “Portrait of Pain Ignites Debate Over Afghan War.” The New York Times. August 4, 2010. h p://www.ny mes.com/2010/08/05/world/asia/05afghan.html. Accessed September 7, 2010. Even in the absence of a government run by the Taliban, Afghan women suffer from religious extremism, although they have enjoyed a great deal of progress. Thousands of girls’ schools have opened since the fall of the Taliban, and women are ac ve in the Parliament and the aid community, where an es mated half a billion dollars in interna onal assistance is

now des ned for gender-equality programs. Roddy in 2010, Melissa Roddy [Filmaker. Director of Conflict of Interest]. “Correc ng the Record on Bibi Ayesha.” The Huffington Post. September 7, 2010. h p://www.huffingtonpost.com/melissa-roddy/correc ng-the-record-on-_2_b_707425.html. Accessed September 9, 2010. A December 2009 survey conducted by the Afghan Center for Socio-Economic and Opinion Research (ACSOR) showed that only 6 percent of Afghans would prefer a return to Taliban governance. Like the French who supported German control of France, these Vichy Afghans are a ny minority with es to Pakistan which have corroded their concern for the well-being of Afghanistan. According to the ACSOR poll, 70 percent of Afghans say that the Taliban is the biggest threat to their country, and 68 per-cent support the presence of the interna onal Coali on forces in Afghanistan. It is absolutely false to state that the condi on of women in Afghanistan is worse now than it was under the Taliban. 25 percent of the members of Afghanistan's Parliament are women, girls go to school, women doctors are prac cing in hospi-tals and clinics, and there are ba ered women's shelters where women in Bibi Ayesha's situa on can take refuge and get help to rebuild their lives. All of this would instantly disappear if the Taliban is allowed to return to power.




Baker in 2010, Aryn Baker [Staff Writer]. “Afghan Women and the Return of the Taliban.” Time.com. July 29, 2010. h p://www. me.com/ me/world/ar cle/0,8599,2007238,00.html#ixzz0v5Xev7e1. Accessed September 5, 2010. When the U.S. and its allies went to war in Afghanistan in 2001 with the aim of removing the safe haven that the Taliban had provided for al-Qaeda, it was widely hoped that the women of the country would be liberated from a regime that de-nied them educa on and jobs, forced them indoors and violently punished them for infrac ons of a strict interpreta on of Islamic law. Under the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, women accused of adultery were stoned to death; those who flashed a bare ankle from under the shroud of a burqa were whipped. Koofi remembers being beaten on the street for forge ng to remove the polish from her nails a er her wedding. "We were not even allowed to laugh out loud," she says. It wasn't always so. Kabul 40 years ago was considered the playground of Central Asia, a city where girls wore jeans to the university and fashionable women went to par es spor ng Chanel miniskirts. These days the streets of Kabul once again echo with the laughter of girls on their way to school, dressed in uniforms of black coats and white headscarves. Women have rejoined the workforce and can sign up for the police and the army. Ar cle 83 of the cons tu on mandates that at least 25% of parliamentary seats go to female representa ves. During Taliban mes, women's voices were banned from the radio, and TV was forbidden, but last month a female anchor interviewed a former Taliban leader on a na onal broadcast. Under the Taliban, Robina Muqimyar Jalalai, one of Afghani-stan's first two female Olympic athletes, spent her girlhood locked behind the walls of her family compound. Now she is running for parliament and wants a sports ministry created, which she hopes to lead. "We have women boxers and wom-en footballers," she says. "I go running in the stadium where the Taliban used to play football with women's heads." But Muqimyar says she will never take these changes for granted. "If the Taliban come back, I will lose everything that I have gained over the past nine years." Rubin in 2010, Alissa J. Rubin [Staff Writer]. “Afghan Women: Fearing A Taliban Future.” The New York Times. July 31, 2010. h p://atwar.blogs.ny mes.com/2010/07/31/afghan-women-fearing-a-taliban-future. Accessed September 6, 2010. Behind compound walls and deep in government offices, schools and in hospitals, Afghan women have made great strides in the last nine years. In every province, thousands of girls a end — even in the war torn ones. In most government offices there are at least a few women workers. Most hold jobs involving limited, if any, responsibil-ity. A few have powerful posi ons but even in the minor jobs, it is important that they are there, a reminder of the more than half the popula on that in earlier days was kept at home. A reminder, too, that women and the workplace are not an the cal concepts. They have miles to go. Around 85 percent of women and girls cannot read; the maternal mortality rate remains one of the highest in the world, and women rarely hold jobs of authority other than teachers. Women fear that even these small steps will be threatened if the Afghan government and western donors, in their anxiety to stop the figh ng, make a peace that does not allow small steps to become larger ones. The most important thing is that women are dreaming again, dreaming of more learning, of making Afghanistan a be er place.



_______. Educa onal Opportuni es For Women Have Improved.

Morse in 2010, Jane Morse [Staff Writer]. “U.S. Plan Would Help Afghan Women Build Be er Lives.” America.gov. February 2, 2010. h p://www.america.gov/st/democracyhr-english/2010/February/20100202151423ajesrom0.1885296.html. Accessed September 8, 2010. The number of girls being educated in Afghanistan has improved drama cally, with girls making up about 35 percent of the 6.2 million students now enrolled in Afghan schools. Under Taliban rule, fewer than 900,000 boys — and no girls — were enrolled. U.S. Department of State in 2010, U.S. Department of State. “Advancing the Rights of Women and Girls: Keys to a Be er Future in Afghanistan.” State.gov. January 29, 2010. h p://www.state.gov/s/special_rep_afghanistan_pakistan/2010/136250.htm. Accessed September 9, 2010. Inves ng in girls’ educa on is the single most effec ve development decision a country can make. Beyond doubling the skilled workforce, this investment results in healthier young women, delayed marriages, and healthier children in the fam-ilies that these educated young women create. Under the Taliban, fewer than 900,000 boys – and no girls – were enrolled in Afghanistan’s schools. Today, more than 6.2 million students are enrolled in Afghan schools, 35 percent of whom are girls. Although educa onal indicators remain poor in Afghanistan – and are worse for women who have only a 21 percent literacy rate – USG ini a ves are removing barriers and opening doors.


PFDebate.com | Crossfire Briefs > CON October 2010: Release 1: NATO in Afghanistan

_______. On Balance, The Quality Of Life In Afghanistan Has Decreased.

Campbell, O’Hanlon, & Shapiro in 2009, Jason Campbell, Michael E. O’Hanlon, Jeremy Shapiro [The Brookings Ins tu on]. “How to Measure the War.” Policy Review. No. 157. October 1, 2009. h p://www.hoover.org/publica ons/policy-review/ar cle/5490. Accessed September 4, 2010. A er 30 years of nearly uninterrupted war, Afghanistan now ranks at or near the bo om of nearly every interna onal eco-nomic or quality-of-life metric recorded. While reliable data during the Taliban years are difficult to come by, repor ng conducted beginning in 2003 provides adequate evidence of the daun ng baseline inherited by the new Afghan govern-ment. In 2003, annual per capita gdp was less than $200 (based on current prices). Basic services, such as health care and educa on, were considered luxury items. The infant mortality rate ranked last in the world at 165 per 1,000 live births. Life expectancy was a mere 42 years. During the Taliban years, fewer than a million children regularly a ended school (probably about 10 percent of the school-age popula on) and of these few students, none were girls. As Afghanistan has become a higher strategic priority over the past couple of years, there has been a corresponding im-provement in the repor ng of data. On the whole, it can be said that the situa on has been trending downward. From a security standpoint, by almost any measurement 2008 represented the most violent year since the onset of the war in 2001, and 2009 is clearly eclipsing 2008 as we write. Economically, while some macro indicators con nue to rise, it is be-coming more apparent that the benefits of economic growth are not being shared equitably, as most Afghans con nue to live below or near the poverty line. Finally, public support for the nascent Afghan central government is rather low; cor-rup on is rampant, and there is a dearth of qualified technocrats capable of running a func oning bureaucracy. For each of these categories, there are mi ga ng circumstances and silver linings. While security has been deteriora ng, violence levels in Afghanistan remain far less severe than those in Iraq in 2004–07 (and, sta s cally speaking, the level of violence in a deteriora ng situa on in today’s Afghanistan is roughly comparable to the situa on in today’s improved Iraq). In economics, there have been impressive improvements in a number of quality of life indicators, even if the star ng point was abysmal and overall standards remain quite mediocre today. Poli cally, while the Afghan popula on is more discouraged than before, its support for the government and even for foreign forces remains significantly greater than that which was found in Iraq during the worst years of its war. On the whole, the trends in Afghanistan are bad, but the situa on is far from irredeemable.



_______. Military Ac on Undermines The Credibility Of Humanitarian And Development Workers.

Ebbe in 2009, Annelise Ebbe [Women's Interna onal League for peace and Freedom, Denmark]. "Afghanistan, NATO and Women's Security." Interna onal Congress No to NATO, Strasboug. April 3/5, 2009. h p://www.wloe.org/fileadmin/Files-DE/PDF/Themen/NATO_April_09/ANNELISEFinal.pdf. Accessed September 7, 2010. In oral evidence taken before the UK Defence Commi ee a tes mony from Afghanistan expert Rory Stewart stressed the importance of the interna onal community to be associated with permanent development projects so that “in 50 years’ me they could point to and say, ‘This is a gi from the interna onal community to the Afghan na on.’ There are very few

permanent symbols of our commitment. There is very li le that Afghans can point to when they are asked what we have done for them.” At this point the prevailing commitment is military, and the symbols are all too o en connected to de-struc on and do not bring human security such as food, clean water, a livelihood. When troops in Afghanistan are working alongside humanitarian organiza ons on reconstruc on projects, they are blurring the dis nc on between military and civilians roles, which affects the credibility and trust of non-military humanitarian and development actors.



_______. The Needs Of The Afghan People Are Marginalized.

Barakat in 2008, Sultan Barakat [Professor in the Department of Poli cs, University of York (UK)]. “Why is Life Not Ge ng Be er in Afghanistan?” Parliamentary Brief Online. May 9, 2008. h p://www.parliamentarybrief.com/2008/05/why-is-life-not-ge ng-be er-in-afghanistan. Accessed September 5, 2010. If you were to ask an Afghan what his country needs, the answers would be simple and straight-forward: incomes for its people, educa on for its children and security. If you were to ask the same ques on to the Select Commi ee on Interna-onal Development, the answer would include: improved donor co-ordina on, improved local governance, a reformed

judiciary, an end to narco cs trafficking and a plane for embassy personnel. Herein lies the answer to the ques on, why aren’t things going be er in Afghanistan? Simply put, foreign governments con nue to pursue their own desire for na onal security while, in many cases, marginalising the needs of the Afghan peo-ple. Farr in 2010, Grant Farr [Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Portland State University]. “The Failing War in Afghanistan Has No Easy Solu ons.” OregonLive.com. July 10, 2010. h p://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/07/the_failing_war_in_afghanistan.html. Accessed September 5, 2010. Although the Afghan war has been portrayed in the West as a religious or ideological ba le, most Afghans are concerned with the day-to-day struggle to maintain a decent standard of living. While Afghanistan has never had a high standard of public services, the basic ameni es of everyday life have deteriorated during the last nine years of war. Electricity is spo-radic, the post office does not func on, banks don't work, governmental ministries are corrupt and incompetent, and in general basic public services are in disarray. The average Afghan is frustrated and fed up with the current state of affairs. The people of Afghanistan did not ask for this war, just as they did not ask for the Soviet invasion in 1979, and their lives are the worse for it. According to the United Na ons, more than $36 billion of interna onal humanitarian aid has been given to Afghanistan between 2001 and 2009. Yet the standard of living, as measured by the U.N.'s Human Development Index, con nues to be one of the lowest in the world. Afghanistan now ranks 181 out of 182 countries on this index, which measures quality of life, literacy, educa onal a ainment and income growth. This may be because more than half of this foreign aid has gone to strengthen the Afghan police and military rather than to the public services for which it was in-tended. TomDispatch.com in 2010, Tom Englelhardt [Founder and Editor] “Tomgram: Ann Jones, In Bed With the U.S. Army.” The Na on Ins tute’s TomDispatch.com. August 1, 2010. h p://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175280/. Accessed September 9, 2010. The release of these documents has certainly not helped bolster NATO allies, whose ci zens are ever more eager to head for the exits in Afghanistan. But in all this, one thing – quite unnoted – has been missing: what these events have looked like through Afghan eyes. However striking the Wikileaks revela ons may have been, in one way at least they paralleled the coverage we’ve seen for years. These documents came from rela vely low-level American military and intelligence officers and largely reflect the war as seen through American eyes. What they deliver -- poten ally devasta ngly -- is U.S. military frustra on over a situa on that has long been going from bad to worse. In this morass of reports, not surprisingly, Afghans play a dis nctly collateral role.



_______. Afghanistan Is The Second Most Impoverished Na on In The World.

Pathak in 2010, Sriparna Pathak [Junior Fellow, Observer Research Founda on]. “Yet Another Great Game in Afghanistan: The US and China.” Eurasia Review. September 1, 2010. h p://www.eurasiareview.com/201009017637/yet-another-great-game-in-afghanistan-the-us-and-china.html. Accessed September 5, 2010. The United Na ons (UN) Human Development Report of 2009 rated Afghanistan as the world’s second most impoverished country. One of the severest problems in Afghanistan is that of poverty, coupled with those of unemployment, lack of de-velopment, and the poor infrastructure. Afghanistan relies on aid for around 90 per cent of its budget.



_______. Afghanistan Has An Alarming Infant Mortality Rate.

Jilani in 2010, Seema Jilani [Physician]. “Fatalism is Contagious in Afghanistan.” The Huffington Post. September 2, 2010. h p://www.huffingtonpost.com/seema-jilani/fatalism-is-a-way-of-life_b_698650.html. Accessed September 6, 2010. Afghanistan has the third highest under-five mortality rate in the world, with only Angola and Sierra Leone surpassing its abysmal numbers. One in five Afghan children do not reach their fi h birthday. This data is exceedingly hard to gather, and even more difficult to interpret, given cultural boundaries and rural limita ons of repor ng. A recent WHO Bulle n suggests that baby girls' deaths are being under-reported or not reported at all. Since a family is held in higher esteem if they have sons, some families in rural areas lie to the community, saying their newborn child is a boy, rather than a girl. Hence, when the child dies, she is counted as a male for sta s cal purposes, thereby introducing error and skewing gen-der sta s cs on the under-five mortality rate of Afghanistan. Essen ally, dead baby girls are being overlooked, even in WHO sta s cs.



_______. The Protec on Of Women Is Used To Jus fy War.

Kolkatkar & Rawi in 2009, Sonali Kolkatkar [Co-Director of the Afghan Women’s Mission] and Mariam Rawi [Pseudonym for a Member of the Revolu onary Associa on of Women of Afghanistan]. “Why is a Leading Feminist Organiza on Lending Its Name to Support Escala on in Afghanistan?” AlterNet. July 8, 2009. h p://www.alternet.org/reproduc vejus ce/141165/why_is_a_leading_feminist_organiza on_lending_its_name_to_support_escala on_in_afghanistan/. Accessed September 7, 2010. Feminists and other humanitarians should learn from history. This isn't the first me the welfare of women has been tro ed out as a pretext for imperialist military aggression. Columbia Professor Lila Abu-Lughod, a woman of Pales nian descent, writes: "We need to be suspicious when neat cultur-al icons are plastered over messier historical and poli cal narra ves; so we need to be wary when Lord Cromer in Bri sh-ruled Egypt, French ladies in Algeria, and Laura Bush, all with military troops behind them, claim to be saving or libera ng Muslim women." Feminists around the world must refuse to allow the good name of feminism to be manipulated to provide poli cal cover for yet another war of aggression. The Feminist Majority Founda on would do well to heed the demand of dissident Member of Parliament Malalai Joya, represen ng Farah province, who was kicked out of the parliament last year for courageously speaking out. Addressing a press conference in the wake of the U.S. bombing of her province she was clear: "We ask for an end to the occupa on of Afghanistan and a stop to such tragic war crimes." Evans in 2009, Jodie Evans [Co-Founder of Codepink: Women for Peace]. “The Military Hides Under the Skirts of Women to Jus fy War in Afghanistan.” AlterNet. May 21, 2009. h p://www.alternet.org/story/140174/. Accessed September 8, 2010. The United States must quit hiding behind the skirts of Afghan women and come forward in support of real and sustained peace. Drone a acks, midnight home raids, and increased U.S. military presence only serves to alienate Afghans and fuel support for the Taliban's armed resistance. Afghan women are calling on the Obama administra on and Congress for a surge in doctors, teachers, and economic development for food security, job training and infrastructure. If only they would listen.



_______. The Rights Of Afghan Women Con nue To Be Diminished.

Boone in 2009, Jon Boone [Staff Writer]. “Plight of Afghan Women May Worsen as War Effort is Stepped Up, Warns Report.” The Guardi‐an (UK). December 7, 2009. h p://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/07/afghanistan-women-plight-may-worsen. Accessed September 6, 2010. Rape was put on the statute books as a criminal offence this year but it is s ll not widely regarded by the police or the courts as a serious crime, with the a ackers o en receiving greater legal protec on than the vic ms. One survey found that 52% of women had experience physical violence, while 17% reported sexual violence. "Police and judges see violence against women as legi mate, so they do not prosecute cases," said Soraya Sobhrang, a commissioner at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. Human Rights Watch said that more than half the women and girls in Afghan prisons were held for "moral crimes", such as adultery or running away from home – although the la er is not a crime under Afghan or Islamic law. "Whether it is a high-profile woman under threat, a young woman who wants to escape a child marriage, or a vic m of rape who wants to see the perpetrator punished, the response from the police or courts is o en hos le," the group said. Baker in 2010, Aryn Baker [Staff Writer]. “Afghan Women and the Return of the Taliban.” Time.com. July 29, 2010. h p://www. me.com/ me/world/ar cle/0,8599,2007238,00.html#ixzz0v5Xev7e1. Accessed September 5, 2010. Parliamentarian Sabrina Saqib fears that if the Taliban were welcomed back into the fold, those who oppress women would get a free ride. "I am worried that the day that the so-called moderate Taliban can sit in parliament, we will lose our rights," she says. "Because it is not just Taliban that are against women's rights; there are many men who are against them as well." Last summer, Saqib voted against a bill that authorized husbands in Shi'ite families to withhold money and food from wives who refuse to provide sex, limited inheritance and custody of children in the case of divorce and denied wom-en freedom of movement without permission from their families. The law passed, and that 25% quota of women in parlia-ment couldn't stop it. Saqib es mates that less than a dozen of the 68 female parliamentarians support women's rights. The rest — proxies for conserva ve men who boosted them into power — aren't interested.



_______. The Rights Of Afghan Women Con nue To Be Diminished.

Gopal in 2009, Anand Gopal [Afghanistan-Based Journalist]. “What You Should Know About Women’s Rights in Afghanistan.” The Huffing‐ton Post. September 9, 2010. h p://www.huffingtonpost.com/anand-gopal/what-you-should-know-abou_b_186225.html. Accessed September 6, 2010. Most Afghan women have never heard of it. This is because the majority of Afghans are rural, living without electricity or a connec on to the happenings in Kabul. Afghan women suffer from the lowest literacy rate in the world, at 13 percent. And the ones that are familiar with it mostly shrug their shoulders, because the condi ons that the law imposes are no differ-ent than those that already exist in their everyday lives. The typical woman from the country's south or east, for example, cannot leave her home without a male guardian. She must wear the burqa in public at all mes, and in some villages she must even don one in private. Marital rape is the norm in a society where sex is a man's right, not a woman's. According to the UK-based NGO Womankind, anywhere between sixty and eighty percent of marriages are forced, 57 per-cent of brides are under the age of 16, and 87 percent complain of domes c violence. UNIFEM says that 65 percent of widows in Kabul see suicide as their only op on to "get rid of their miseries and desola on." Thousands of women turn to self-immola on every year. There are no reliable stats on rape, as most women will never report it. This is because women can be convicted of zina, extramarital sex, if knowledge of the rape becomes public. In most of the country, even a woman just found outside of her home without the permission of her male guardian will be thrown in jail and tried as an adulter-er. Ebbe in 2009, Annelise Ebbe [Women's Interna onal League for peace and Freedom, Denmark]. "Afghanistan, NATO and Women's Security." Interna onal Congress No to NATO, Strasboug. April 3/5, 2009. h p://www.wloe.org/fileadmin/Files-DE/PDF/Themen/NATO_April_09/ANNELISEFinal.pdf. Accessed September 7, 2010. Poverty and lack of human security in Afghanistan has a female face. A February 2008 report from the WomanKind World-wide organisa on found that violent a acks against females, usually domes c, are at epidemic propor ons with 87 per cent of females complaining of such abuse – half of it sexual. More than 60 per cent of marriages are forced. Despite a new law banning the prac ce, 57 per cent of brides are under the age of 16. The illiteracy rate among women is 88 per cent with just 5 per cent of girls a ending secondary school. Maternal mortality rates – one in nine women dies in child-birth – are the highest in the world alongside Sierra Leone. And 30 years of conflict have le more than one million wid-ows with no enforceable rights, le to beg on the streets alongside an increasing number of orphans. Afghanistan is the only country in the world with a higher suicide rate among women than men. Further comes, “The fact that a climate of impunity reigns throughout Afghanistan regarding the violence of the past encourages violence in the present. In this vein, scant progress has been made in holding individual perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including gender crimes, accountable for their ac ons. Nor have there been effec ve challenges to many of the structural and sys-temic factors that conspired to create a framework of collec ve gender apartheid. The reality of life for Afghan women remains one of segrega on and struggle within a climate of fear.” The risk of being raped or exposed to other kinds of sexual abuses – both by family members and strangers, both civilians and soldiers – is growing radically during armed con-flicts. In United Na ons Security Council Resolu on 1325 on Women and Peace and Security, concern is expressed that, “…civilians, par cularly women and children, account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict, including as refugees and internally displaced persons, and increasingly are targeted by combatants and armed elements, and recognizing the consequent impact this has on durable peace and reconcilia on.” This is the reality in Afghanistan.



_______. Afghanistan’s Women’s Reforms Have Been Only Been Cosme c Changes.

Kolkatkar & Rawi in 2009, Sonali Kolkatkar [Co-Director of the Afghan Women’s Mission] and Mariam Rawi [Pseudonym for a Member of the Revolu onary Associa on of Women of Afghanistan]. “Why is a Leading Feminist Organiza on Lending Its Name to Support Escala on in Afghanistan?” AlterNet. July 8, 2009. h p://www.alternet.org/reproduc vejus ce/141165/why_is_a_leading_feminist_organiza on_lending_its_name_to_support_escala on_in_afghanistan/. Accessed September 7, 2010. In the past few years, some cosme c changes were made regarding Afghan women. The establishment of a Ministry of Women's Affairs was one celebrated example. In fact, this ministry is so useless many think that it should be dissolved. The quota for 25 percent women in the Afghan parliament was another such show. Although there are 67 women in the Afghan parliament, most of them are pro-warlord and are themselves enemies of women's rights. When the famed mar-riage rape law was passed in the parliament, none of them seriously raised their voice against it. Malalai Joya, an out-spoken feminist in the parliament at the me, has said that she has been abused and threatened by these pro-warlord women in the parliament. The U.S. military may have removed the Taliban, but it installed warlords who are as an -woman and as criminal as the Taliban. Misogynis c, patriarchal views are now embodied by the Afghan cabinet, they are expressed in the courts, and they are embodied by President Hamid Karzai. Paper gains for women's rights mean nothing when, according to the chief jus ce of the Afghan Supreme Court, the only two rights women are guaranteed by the cons tu on are the right to obey their husbands and the right to pray, but not in a mosque. These are the convic ons of the government the U.S. has helped to create. The American presence in Afghanistan will do nothing to diminish them. Wing in 2010, Nick Wing [Freelance Writer]. "TIME Magazine Cover Explains What Happens to Afghan Women If 'We Leave Afghanistan,' But That Tragedy is Already Occurring." The Huffington Post. July 29, 2010. h p://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/29/ me-magazine-cover-expla_n_663617.html. Accessed September 7, 2010. Despite promising rhetoric for women's rights in the 2004 version of Afghanistan's Cons tu on and subsequent legisla-on, the country has largely resisted implemen ng any meaningful progress in the treatment of women. In fact, in 2009,

amid interna onal protest, Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a bill that was seen by many as the legaliza on of rape against women. Though President George W. Bush repeatedly spoke lo ily about the "freeing" of Afghan women following the invasion of the country in 2001, reports and numbers show that success stories more o en stand as sta s cal outliers rather than narra ve descrip ons of a be ering situa on for women. If the treatment of Afghan women has not improved – and may have even deteriorated – since the American invasion, the ques on of what happens if we stay in Afghanistan may be just as important a ques on as what happens if we leave.



_______. NATO’s Presence Has Diminished The Lives Of Women In Afghanistan.

Shaffer in 2010, Bre gne Shaffer [Writer and Filmmaker]. “Saving Women and Preven ng Genocide: The Real Reasons We’re in Afghanistan Now.” LewRockwell.com. August 10, 2010. h p://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/shaffer-br7.1.1.html. Accessed September 5, 2010. As journalist John Pilger puts it: "Unclassified CIA files leave li le doubt that the bombing was the catalyst for Pol Pot's fana cs, who, before the inferno, had only minority support. Now, a stricken people rallied to them." Having ignored the role of US military interven onism in helping to bring about the very atrocity he warns of, Stephens writes:

."..somebody might want to think hard about the human consequences of American withdrawal. What happens to the Afghan women who removed their burqas in the late fall of 2001, or the girls who enrolled in government schools?"

Sadly, it is very likely that they will con nue to face abuse, disfiguring a acks and even death for their acts of simple cour-age – just as they do today under US occupa on. Indeed, there is good reason to believe that these kinds of a acks and the overall quality of life for Afghan women have only grown worse with the US presence. The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission reported in March of 2008 that violence against women had nearly doubled from the previous year, and a 2009 Human Rights Watch report concludes that "(w)hereas the trend had clearly been posi ve for women’s rights from 2001–2005, the trend is now nega ve in many areas." Other reports (including one from Amnesty Interna onal in May of 2005) call the first part of that statement into ques on: Says Ann Jones, journalist and author of Kabul in Winter, "For most Afghan women, life has stayed the same. And for a great number, life has go en much worse." Sonali Kolhatkar, co-director of the Afghan Women’s Mission, says "the a acks against women both external and within the family have gone up. Domes c violence has increased. (The current) judiciary is imprisoning more women than ever before in Afghanistan. And they are imprisoning them for running away from their homes, for refusing to marry the man that their family picked for them, for even being a vic m of rape." Anand Gopal, Afghanistan correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, says "The situa on for women in the Pashtun area is actually worse than it was during the Taliban me. ...(U)nder the Taliban, women were kept in burqas and in their homes, away from educa on. Today, the same situa on persists. They’re kept in burqas, in homes, away from educa on, but on top of that they are also living in a war zone." "Five years a er the fall of the Taliban, and the libera on of women hailed by Laura Bush and Cherie Blair, thanks to the US and Bri sh invasion," wrote The Independent’s Kim Sengupta in November of 2006, "such has been the alarming rise in suicide that a conference was held on the problem in the Afghan capital just a few days ago." The US military has made life worse for women in Afghanistan, not be er. Is it possible that a US exit will result in their lives becoming even worse than they are now, as Bret Stephens and Time magazine fear? Of course it is possible. But what is certain is that the occupa on has had a harmful effect on the lives of the vast majority of Afghan civilians – not a posi-ve one as the promoters of war as a vehicle for social change assert. Also indisputable is that the Taliban has grown in

strength since the occupa on began, and it only con nues to do so. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has looked closely at the mo ves for terrorism. Even US intelligence agencies have acknowledged that the US occupa on of Iraq has strengthened Islamic fundamentalism and ."..made the overall terrorism problem worse."




Courage To Resist in 2009, Courage To Resist. “Afghanistan: Ten Reasons to Resist.” CourgeToResist.org. August 5, 2009. h p://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/view/738/1/. Accessed September 8, 2010. We have been told that the ini al invasion, con nued presence, and escala on of foreign troops in Afghanistan are need-ed to “protect” Afghani women and girls. However, women in Afghanistan have endured oppression and mistreatment at the hands of the Taliban, the current government, and by foreign occupiers. Women have had their families torn apart by war and are themselves killed by military violence. The U.S. has been guilty of arming warlords and armed mili as in its fight against the Taliban, contribu ng to unstable condi ons which breed vio-lence against women and children. The increased presence of foreign troops has caused sex trafficking of young girls, pros-tu on, and rape to skyrocket.

Meanwhile, the US hypocri cally supports regimes such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Qatar that have similar repressive policies towards women as exist in Afghanistan. Kolkatkar & Rawi in 2009, Sonali Kolkatkar [Co-Director of the Afghan Women’s Mission] and Mariam Rawi [Pseudonym for a Member of the Revolu onary Associa on of Women of Afghanistan]. “Why is a Leading Feminist Organiza on Lending Its Name to Support Escala on in Afghanistan?” AlterNet. July 8, 2009. h p://www.alternet.org/reproduc vejus ce/141165/why_is_a_leading_feminist_organiza on_lending_its_name_to_support_escala on_in_afghanistan/. Accessed September 7, 2010. First of all, coali on troops are combat forces and are there to fight a war, not to preserve peace. Not even the Pentagon uses that language to describe U.S. forces there. More importantly, the red claim that one of the chief objec ves of the military occupa on of Afghanistan is to liberate Afghan women is not only absurd, it is offensive. Waging war does not lead to the libera on of women anywhere. Women always dispropor onately suffer the effects of war, and to think that women's rights can be won with bullets and bloodshed is a posi on dangerous in its naïveté. The Feminist Majority should know this ins nc vely. Here are the facts: A er the invasion, Americans received reports that newly liberated women had cast off their burquas and gone back to work. Those reports were mythmaking and propaganda. Aside from a small number of women in Kabul, life for Afghan women since the fall of the Taliban has remained the same or become much worse. Under the Taliban, women were confined to their homes. They were not allowed to work or a end school. They were poor and without rights. They had no access to clean water or medical care, and they were forced into marriages, o en as children. Today, women in the vast majority of Afghanistan live in precisely the same condi ons, with one notable difference: they are surrounded by war. The conflict outside their doorsteps endangers their lives and those of their families. It does not bring them rights in the household or in public, and it confines them even further to the prison of their own homes. Mili-tary escala on is just going to bring more tragedy to the women of Afghanistan.




Kolkatkar & Rawi in 2009, Sonali Kolkatkar [Co-Director of the Afghan Women’s Mission] and Mariam Rawi [Pseudonym for a Member of the Revolu onary Associa on of Women of Afghanistan]. “Why is a Leading Feminist Organiza on Lending Its Name to Support Escala on in Afghanistan?” AlterNet. July 8, 2009. h p://www.alternet.org/reproduc vejus ce/141165/why_is_a_leading_feminist_organiza on_lending_its_name_to_support_escala on_in_afghanistan/. Accessed September 7, 2010. If coali on forces are really concerned about women, these are the problems that must be addressed. The military estab-lishment claims that it must win the military victory first, and then the U.S. will take care of humanitarian needs. But they have it backward. Improve living condi ons and security will improve. Focus on security at the expense of humanitarian goals, and coali on forces will accomplish neither. The first step toward improving people's lives is a nego ated se lement to end the war. In our conversa ons arguing this point, we are told that the U.S. cannot leave Afghanistan because of what will happen to women if they go. Let us be clear: Women are being gang raped, brutalized and killed in Afghanistan. Forced marriages con nue, and more women than ever are being forced into pros tu on – o en to meet the demand of foreign troops. The U.S. presence in Afghanistan is doing nothing to protect Afghan women. The level of self-immola on among women was never as high as it is now. When there is no jus ce for women, they find no other way out but suicide. Ahn & Handow in 2010, Chris ne Ahn [Policy and Research Analyst with the Global Fund for Women] and Susanna Handow [Development Officer at Global Fund for Women]. “Gender: B.” Foreign Policy in Focus. January 28, 2010. h p://www.fpif.org/ar cles/gender_b. Accessed September 8, 2010. There have been some improvements on paper in the Afghan cons tu on. But for most Afghan women, life has stayed the same. For a great number of women, life has worsened. According to Wall Street Journal Afghan correspondent Anand Gopal, “The situa on of women today in the Pashtun areas is actually worse than it was during the Taliban me. The rea-son is because under the Taliban, women were kept in burqas and in their home, away from educa on. Today the same situa on presents— they’re kept in their burqas, in their homes away from educa on, but on top of that, in a war zone.” It is now well-documented that in war and conflict zones, women and children suffer dispropor onately and make up the majority of civilian casual es. Rubin in 2010, Alissa J. Rubin [Staff Writer]. “Afghan Women Fear Loss of Modest Gains.” The New York Times. July 30, 2010. h p://www.ny mes.com/2010/07/31/world/asia/31women.html. Accessed September 6, 2010. Women’s precarious rights in Afghanistan have begun seeping away. Girls’ schools are closing; working women are threat-ened; advocates are a acked; and terrified families are increasingly confining their daughters to home. For women, instability, as much as the Taliban themselves, is the enemy. Women are casual es of the figh ng, not only in the already conserva ve and emba led Pashtun south and east, but also in districts in the north and center of the country where other armed groups have sprung up.




Kolhatkar in 2009, Sonali Kolhatkar [Co-Director of the Afghan Women’s Mission]. “A Call for Clarity on the Afghanistan War.” Znet. November 3, 2009. h p://www.zcommunica ons.org/a-call-for-clarity-on-the-afghanistan-war-by-sonali-kolhatkar. Accessed September 5, 2010. One of the original jus fica ons for the war in 2001 that seemed to resonate most with liberal Americans was the libera-on of Afghan women from a misogynist regime. This is now being resurrected as the following: If the U.S. forces with-

draw, any gains made by Afghan women will be reversed and they'll be at the mercy of fundamentalist forces. In fact, the fear of abandoning Afghan women seems to have caused the greatest confusion and paralysis in the an war movement. What this logic misses is that the United States chose right from the start to sell out Afghan women to its misogynist fun-damentalist allies on the ground. The U.S. armed the Mujahadeen leaders in the 1980s against the Soviet occupa on, opening the door to successive fundamentalist governments including the Taliban. In 2001, the United States then armed the same men, now called the Northern Alliance, to fight the Taliban and then welcomed them into the newly formed government as a reward. The American puppet president Hamid Karzai, in concert with a cabinet and parliament of thugs and criminals, passed one misogynist law a er another, appointed one fundamentalist zealot a er another to the judici-ary, and literally enabled the downfall of Afghan women's rights over eight long years. Any token gains have been countered by setbacks. For example, while women are considered equal to men in Afghani-stan's cons tu on, there have been vicious and deadly a acks against women's rights ac vists, the legaliza on of rape within marriage in the Shia community, and a shockingly high rate of women's imprisonment for so-called honor crimes — all under the watch of the U.S. occupa on and the government we are protec ng against the Taliban. Add to this the un-acceptably high number of innocent women and children killed in U.S. bombing raids, which has also increased the Tali-ban's numbers and clout, and it makes the case that for eight years the United States has enabled the oppression of Af-ghan women and only added to their miseries. Kolhatkar in 2009, Sonali Kolhatkar [Co-Director of the Afghan Women’s Mission]. “A Call for Clarity on the Afghanistan War.” Znet. November 3, 2009. h p://www.zcommunica ons.org/a-call-for-clarity-on-the-afghanistan-war-by-sonali-kolhatkar. Accessed September 5, 2010. Those who make the case that withdrawing U.S. troops will unleash another bloody civil war where Afghan women and men will be at the mercy of the Taliban and warlords, are raising the exact same jus fica on made for the war in 2001: that it's our moral duty to protect Afghans from fundamentalist violence. This logic ignores the fact that we have nurtured and created the very fundamentalist violence that targets Afghans as explained above. By empowering war criminals and protec ng a corrupt government that has forgiven the crimes of all sides including the Taliban, and that even includes some Taliban leaders, all we have done is complicate a war that was on-going. "A member of RAWA who goes by the pseudonym Zoya in a U.S. speaking tour last month made it clear that it's hard to imagine things ge ng worse if the U.S. does pull out immediately. The damage isn't being prevented by the United States — it's being carried out by the United States. Instead of subjec ng Afghans to the three oppressive forces of a stronger Taliban, a corrupt and criminal government, and a deadly foreign occupa on, the first thing we Americans can control most directly is to end our occupa on immediately. This alone won't address the Taliban and Northern Alliance. But it will reduce the oppressive forces at work, and poten al-ly reduce the legi macy of the warlords and the mo ves driving the Taliban.




Jones in 2010, Ann Jones [Author of Kabul in the Winter. She Does Humanitarian Work in Postconflict Zones]. “Afghan Women Have Already Been Abandoned.” The Na on. August 30/September 6, 2010. h p://www.thena on.com/ar cle/154020/afghan-women-have-already-been-abandoned. Accessed September 8, 2010. Consider the creeping Talibaniza on of Afghan life under the Karzai government. Restric ons on women's freedom of movement, access to work and rights within the family have steadily ghtened as the result of a confluence of factors, including the neglect of legal and judicial reform and the obliga ons of interna onal human rights conven ons; legisla on typified by the infamous Shia Personal Status Law (SPSL), gaze ed in 2009 by President Karzai himself despite women's protests and interna onal furor; in mida on; and violence. Women legislators told the UN Assistance Mission in Afghani-stan (UNAMA) last year that they have come to fear the fundamentalist warlords who control the Parliament. One said, "Most of the me women don't dare even say a word about sensi ve Islamic issues, because they are afraid of being la-beled as blasphemous." (Blasphemy is a capital offense.) Women journalists also told UNAMA that they "refrain from cri -cizing warlords and other power brokers, or covering topics that are deemed conten ous such as women's rights." A se-ries of assassina ons of prominent women, beginning in 2005, have driven many women from work and public life. Wom-en working in women's organiza ons in Kabul regularly receive threatening le ers and, recently, high-tech videos on their mobile phones showing women being raped. The Taliban claim responsibility for some, but not all, of the assassina ons and threats, while most members of the Karzai government maintain a complicit silence. These developments have sent into reverse what li le progress women in the ci es had made since 2001, while most women in the countryside have seen no progress at all, and untold thousands have been harmed and displaced by warfare. All this has taken place on Karzai's watch and much of it with his connivance. Our government complains that the Karzai administra on is corrupt, but the greater problem—never men oned—is that it is fundamentalist. The cabinet, courts and Parliament are all largely controlled by men who differ from the Taliban chiefly in their choice of turbans. If our government were truly concerned about the lives of women in Afghanistan, it would have invited women to the table to take part in decision-making about the future of their country, beginning with the Bonn conference in 2001. In-stead, they have been consistently le out. Kolkatkar & Rawi in 2009, Sonali Kolkatkar [Co-Director of the Afghan Women’s Mission] and Mariam Rawi [Pseudonym for a Member of the Revolu onary Associa on of Women of Afghanistan]. “Why is a Leading Feminist Organiza on Lending Its Name to Support Escala on in Afghanistan?” AlterNet. July 8, 2009. h p://www.alternet.org/reproduc vejus ce/141165/why_is_a_leading_feminist_organiza on_lending_its_name_to_support_escala on_in_afghanistan/. Accessed September 7, 2010. Sadly, as horrifying as the status of women in Afghanistan may sound to those of us who live in the West, the biggest problems faced by Afghan women are not related to patriarchy. Their biggest problem is war. More than 2,000 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2008. And disastrous air strikes like the one in Farah province in May that killed an es mated 120 people – many of them women and children – are pushing the death toll ever higher. Afghans who survive these a acks o en flee to ci es, where overcrowded refugee camps strain to accommodate them. Living in tents without food, water and o en blankets, the mortality rate soars. For those who do not flee, life is not be er. One in three Afghans suffers from severe poverty. With a 1 in 55 chance of mothers surviving delivery, Afghanistan has been, and s ll, is the second most dangerous place for women to give birth. Afghan infants s ll face a 25 percent risk of dying before their fi h birthdays. These are the consequences of war.



_______. The Longer The War Goes On, The Greater The Harm To Afghan Women.

Crowe in 2010, Derrick Crowe [Poli cal Director at Brave New Founda on]. “TIME’s Epic Distor on of the Plight of Women in Afghani-stan.” RethinkAfghanistan.com. July 31, 2010. h p://rethinkafghanistan.com/blog/2010/07/ mes-epic-distor on-of-the-plight-of-women-in-afghanistan/. Accessed September 8, 2010. U.S. forces could stay for another twenty years in Afghanistan (would that s ll be “early?”), and even if they pound Kanda-har into dust, no development in the war so far even remotely suggests the possibility of military force elimina ng the Taliban as a significant poli cal and armed force. Therefore, the war’s end would s ll involve some sort of poli cal se le-ment that involves Taliban (unless, of course, the U.S. wants to guarantee the most ferocious civil conflict possible upon their exit by totally excluding them). At the end of that twenty years, we’d be faced with the same problems regarding the rights of women in Afghanistan, plus the effects of those years of war on the U.S. force and the Afghan popula on. TIME’s depic on of the women’s rights issue is based on a faulty premise: that “staying” rather than “leaving” is having the effect of weakening an insurgency hos le to women’s rights. In fact, if we are to believe the official reports from the Pentagon to Congress, the opposite is true. As the first several months of President Obama’s escala on strategy played out, the military reports claim the insurgency gained in strategic and poli cal power in the key areas of Afghanistan. As those trends con nue, the poli cal difficul es for women in the eventual reconcilia on and reintegra on processes in-crease. Prolonging the massive U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan makes it more likely that the regressive elements in the Kabul government will achieve their agenda through “compromise” with powerful insurgent elements during the reconcilia on/reintegra on processes. Some sort of reconcilia on process is going to take place. When it comes to securing the rights of women in Afghanistan, all other things being equal, sooner is be er. Crowe in 2010, Derrick Crowe [Poli cal Director at Brave New Founda on]. “TIME’s Epic Distor on of the Plight of Women in Afghani-stan.” RethinkAfghanistan.com. July 31, 2010. h p://rethinkafghanistan.com/blog/2010/07/ mes-epic-distor on-of-the-plight-of-women-in-afghanistan/. Accessed September 8, 2010. As the reader can tell, the issue is far more complex than the farcical “stay or leave” choice framed up on TIME’s shameful propaganda cover art. The U.S.’s massive troop presence and the escala ng instability is strengthening the hand of the poli cal forces that want to roll back women’s poli cal equality, so the longer we stay, the worse off women will be as they a empt to navigate the eventual poli cal se lement of the conflict. Yet, U.S. ina en on to (or outright malignant influence on) the factors shaping the field for that poli cal struggle are affirma vely hur ng the struggle for women’s po-li cal equality. We will leave the combat field, and we have to do it soon, and while we leave, we have to do our best to help shape a poli cal field suppor ve of the Afghan women’s struggle to liberate themselves.




Crowe in 2010, Derrick Crowe [Poli cal Director at Brave New Founda on]. “TIME’s Epic Distor on of the Plight of Women in Afghani-stan.” RethinkAfghanistan.com. July 31, 2010. h p://rethinkafghanistan.com/blog/2010/07/ mes-epic-distor on-of-the-plight-of-women-in-afghanistan/. Accessed September 8, 2010. Here’s HRW’s summary of the law:

The Amnesty Law states that all those who were engaged in armed conflict before the forma on of Afghanistan’s Interim Administra on in December 2001 shall “enjoy all their legal rights and shall not be prosecuted.” It also says that those engaged in current hos li es will be granted immunity if they agree to reconcilia on with the government, effec vely providing amnesty for future crimes. The law thus provides immunity from prosecu on for members of the Taliban and other insurgent groups, as well as pro-government warlords, who have com-mi ed war crimes.

All through this process, the U.S. was either silent or suppor ve of these developments, and now the Amnesty Law stands as one of the threats most iden fied by Afghan women’s advocates to the progress of their poli cal agenda during the reconcilia on process. Those most dangerous to the women of Afghanistan–powerful fundamentalist warlords with a his-tory of serious war crimes against women and girls–may find their way into influen al nego a ng posi ons where they can link up with their an -women brethren already inside the Kabul government. The solu on posited by Human Rights Watch and by women parliamentarians is to repeal the Amnesty Law and ins tute strong ve ng processes that exclude the worst war criminals from the ballot or from poli cal appointment while s ll allowing par cipa on of their home tribes or groups. This solu on goes hand in hand with that discovered last year by UK’s DFID to be preferred by those in insur-gency-prone areas: a new “black list” standard for what crimes disqualify one from elec on or appointment, applied to everyone, including Taliban, other insurgents, or pro-Kabul-government figures.




Evans in 2009, Jodie Evans [Co-Founder of Codepink: Women for Peace]. “The Military Hides Under the Skirts of Women to Jus fy War in Afghanistan.” AlterNet. May 21, 2009. h p://www.alternet.org/story/140174/. Accessed September 8, 2010. For eight years, many Americans have jus fied the war in Afghanistan as a moral ba le to "protect" Afghan women. But Afghan women tell another story: more U.S. war will bear them more suffering. Three decades of foreign occupa on – with li le sign of ending – have led to the complete collapse of more than a century of progress in Afghanistan for women's rights, which reached their peak in the 1970s. Occupa on destroyed Afghan public services and created incredible poverty, a perfect void of power ready to be filled by the Taliban (encouraged by the U.S. to counter Soviet influence). Many Afghan women say the collapse poses a greater threat to women's lives: 87 percent are illiterate, 1,600 out of every 100,000 mothers die while giving birth or of related complica ons, and 1 and 3 women expe-rience psychological, emo onal or physical abuse. Since the 2001 invasion, despite rhetoric of "saving" Afghan women, U.S. policies put in place did not do so. Meanwhile, this week, Congress is deba ng a $84.2 billion war funding bill that designates only 10 percent of the funds for develop-ment assistance – the rest goes to military efforts. If the United States really cared about the women and children of Af-ghanistan, it would fund real needs-health care, educa on, food security – and minimize spending on weapons systems and combat troops. Gen. Petraeus himself outlined a counter-insurgency doctrine of 80 percent non-military and 20 per-cent military, and told the Associated Press earlier this year that "you don't kill or capture your way out of an industrial-strength insurgency." But in the "save the women" argument, many say more troops will protect Afghan women from the Taliban. Not so – in-creased troop presence will raise the risk as it further incites the Taliban and al-Qaeda and inspires more of their propa-ganda; as they strengthen, they further destabilize the country, spark many more to live in constant fear or to join the insurgency. Troops cannot defeat an ideology: a RAND Corpora on study last year found that only seven percent of terror-ist organiza ons gave up their violent ac vi es as a result of military defeat.



_______. Few Girls Are Able To Take Advantage Of New Schools.

Boone in 2009, Jon Boone [Staff Writer]. “Plight of Afghan Women May Worsen as War Effort is Stepped Up, Warns Report.” The Guardi‐an (UK). December 7, 2009. h p://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/07/afghanistan-women-plight-may-worsen. Accessed September 6, 2010. Although western and Afghan poli cians like to hail the increase in school building since 2001 as a major success story, the Human Rights Watch report says the par cipa on of girls remains very low, with just 11% of secondary school-aged chil-dren in educa on.



_______. Schools Are Being Built And Improved By Aid Groups, Not NATO.

Kristof in 2010, Nicholas D. Kristof [Op-Ed Columnist]. "1 Soldier or 20 Schools." The New York Times. July 28, 2010. h p://www.ny mes.com/2010/07/29/opinion/29kristof.html. Accessed September 7, 2010. What’s more, an unbalanced focus on weapons alone is o en counterproduc ve, crea ng a na onalist backlash against foreign “invaders.” Over all, educa on has a rather be er record than military power in neutralizing foreign extremism. And the trade-offs are staggering: For the cost of just one soldier in Afghanistan for one year, we could start about 20 schools there. Hawks retort that it’s impossible to run schools in Afghanistan unless there are American troops to protect them. But that’s incorrect. CARE, a humanitarian organiza on, operates 300 schools in Afghanistan, and not one has been burned by the Taliban. Greg Mortenson, of “Three Cups of Tea” fame, has overseen the building of 145 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan and operates dozens more in tents or rented buildings — and he says that not one has been destroyed by the Taliban either. Aid groups show that it is quite possible to run schools so long as there is respec ul consulta on with tribal elders and buy-in from them. And my hunch is that CARE and Mr. Mortenson are doing more to bring peace to Afghanistan than Mr. Obama’s surge of troops. Morse in 2010, Jane Morse [Staff Writer]. “U.S. Plan Would Help Afghan Women Build Be er Lives.” America.gov. February 2, 2010. h p://www.america.gov/st/democracyhr-english/2010/February/20100202151423ajesrom0.1885296.html. Accessed September 8, 2010. Since 2001, the U.S. Agency for Interna onal Development (USAID) has repaired or built more than 670 schools and im-proved the qualifica ons of 54,000 Afghan teachers. U.S. government assistance has extended to 18 provinces and more than 43,000 children, of whom 60 percent are girls. The United States hopes to work with the Afghan government to fur-ther expand these programs. But these programs won’t do much good if girls are afraid to go to school. While extremists have destroyed schools and thrown acid on young schoolgirls, U.S. assistance programs will provide greater protec on for girls’ schools and health facili es. Building walls around schools, if requested, is one way. Be er training for the Afghan Na onal Police and Afghan Na onal Army is another. Bringing more women in as police officers — the United States has helped train more than 500 female police officers since 2003 — is s ll another. U.S. Department of State in 2010, U.S. Department of State. “Advancing the Rights of Women and Girls: Keys to a Be er Future in Afghanistan.” State.gov. January 29, 2010. h p://www.state.gov/s/special_rep_afghanistan_pakistan/2010/136250.htm. Accessed September 9, 2010. Since 2001, the U.S. Agency for Interna onal Development (USAID) repaired or built more than 670 schools, printed 69 million textbooks, and improved the qualifica ons of 54,000 Afghan teachers in instruc onal methodologies, subject knowledge and professional a tudes. These programs have expanded and improved the quality of community-based edu-ca on in areas where there are no government schools. USG assistance has extended to 18 provinces, 1,565 communi‐es, more than 43,000 children (60 percent of whom are girls), and 1,565 teachers. In the last fiscal year, we provided

literacy training and instruc on in produc ve skills to more than 100,000 people from over 1,500 communi es in 20 provinces. We are commi ed to working with the government of Afghanistan to further expand these programs, and to enhance the female literacy rate and women’s and girls’ access to formal and informal educa on at all levels.

Documents

Crossfire Briefs PFDebate October 2010