Seeing Afghan women again worth the war

by Eyebrow 12 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Eyebrow

  This may seem trivial to some that do not agree with the US going after the Taliban by bombing Afghanastan, but I had to make a comment.

  I watched the news the other day and saw for the FIRST time, women and girls in Afghanastan outside, and many showing their facs and smiling. There are a few that have been able to return to work after 5 long years. Kids are now allowed to fly kites again, and you could hear music playing.

  These are things that I, and many others I am sure, have taken for granted since we are so free in this country. It encouraged me to see an immidiate GOOD result of this campaign. I just hope that the new government that will form in Afghanastan will realize that the Taliban lost control because they killed the soul of so many of their people.
• 

  WildHorses

  I agree, I was on my way home from work when they spoke about this on the radio. I was smiling. I felt happy for them. Freedom!1

  "I don't want someone in my life I can live with, I want someone in my life I can't live without."
• 

  Stephanus

  The men are hopefully better off too:
  http://www.reason.com/cy/cy111601.shtml

  "He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot." - Groucho Marx
• 

  Yerusalyim

  I've always liked the National Geographic cover photo of the 12 year old Afghani girl with the piercing eyes. She'd be about thirty today, and I often wonder if she's still alive, and if she turned out to be as beautiful as the photo showed she had the potential to be. I wish National Geographic would go back and find her.

  YERUSALYIM
  "Vanity! It's my favorite sin!"
  [Al Pacino as Satan, in "DEVIL'S ADVOCATE"]
• 

  Satanus

  Well, if the television shows it, it must be true....

  SS
• 

  Pathofthorns

  Never forget in times of war, what you see is propaganda. In order for the US population to justify a war, it has to make sense to the people.

  So before the war you will see images that incite the public to go to war, such as flag burnings, human rights violations, images of terrorists.

  During the war, you will see images of smart bombs hitting buildings. (Of course, only evil terrorists are in those buildings)

  After the war, to make the public feel good and that it was worth it, you see images of liberated people celebrating.

  What is not shown are the innocent people, women and children, that lost lives or limbs due to US bombs. In a country like Afghanistan, it would be hard to feel good about being 'liberated' when you have to live the rest of your life without an arm or leg.

  One has to keep in mind that this war is not about human rights or freeing oppressed women. It supposedly is a war on terrorism, therefore defeating the Taliban is only a piece of the puzzle in a bigger picture and a victory in a battle, but by no means the whole war.

  In a "war on terrorism" there really is no defined "victory" except a day to day peace that most people take forgranted. The American public has become impatient and wants to see some sort of 'results' from all the bombing, thus your images of liberated women.

  Much remains to be seen just how capable the next government in Afghanistan is and just how long term the restoration of human rights is. The US has a reputation for going into countries trying to restore order or implement their policies on other countries, but in the meantime weaving a web that is difficult to get out of.

  While the liberating of women and some restoration of human rights is certainly good, that is more of justification for the war and not the primary goal. Quite likely, the US has intensified the backlash against themselves in that part of the world because of the bombings, thus the war might have been counterproductive to it's real objective.

  I guess, all I am saying is at what price have the good results come? Have the goals been achieved, or have we at least made substancial strides toward achieving them? Does the end justify the means, even when the 'end' is likely to be infinitely elusive?

  Path
• 

  SixofNine

  Eyebrow, I agree it is a wonderful sight. I was traveling yesterday, and saw a newspaper pic of an afghani woman, holding a little child in her arms, lifting her veil so the photog could capture her beautiful face and smile. I wanted to post it in the "hottie" thread.

  Path, you said...

  Quite likely, the US has intensified the backlash against themselves in that part of the world because of the bombings,

  JMO, but I think likely not, except perhaps from those who were specifically in process of taking action, ie, Bin Laden's operatives. And even they are no doubt being severely limited.

  I do hope the world has the intestinal fortitude to force, yes force, the establishment of a government that guarantees, if not equality, at least humanity, for women in afghanistan.

  After all, what did the world say after Hitler? Never again?

  Never again my ass.
• 

  Bridgette

  It brought tears to my eyes when I heard of women and girl children taking off their burquas and flying kites, etc. Propoganda? Probably--but the pictures of the suffering before the fall of Taliban was TRUE, I assure you.
  Path, thanks for reminding us to keep our heads about all this and yes, war sucks. And I am most dismayed that Women's Human rights have not been put on the forefront of the agendas over there. Yes, I wrote my congressmen (it's me you're talking to
  Anyway, I urged them to use this opportunity to demand that whatever gov't is left to rule, puts an immediate end to the systematic discrimination of women. I of course, support a broadbase gov't under the watch of the U.N.
  Having said all that---when I saw pictures of those women and watched "beneath the veil" on CNN, I felt as though I were a citizen of the 1940's watching film of the jews in the concentration camps. I am so glad that the Taliban fell by whatever means (I truly do not believe they were going to be "massaged" out). Of all the grotesqueness that was WWII, I think that any means justified the ends, there (the liberation of those camps--can you imagine?). This war is nothing yet, compared to what it took in human suffering and death to put an end to Hitler's regime.
  Now, we have to watch that the women over there don't go from the frying pan into the fire. Watch, write letters, e-mails, faxes. We have the potential to do such good on this planet. If you think war is evil (I'm close to agreeing with you there), then let's get some workable solutions for ending regimes like to Taliban, and preventing their fostering and growth. I agree that the U.S. helped the Taliban get to where it was, but guess what, now I'm ALL OVER IT. I may just be jane blow citizen #0012345, but I've got a voice, and a government who pays lipservice to listening to me. So, I make myself heard. You'd be surprised at what a little voice can do. Especially if you vote.
  Love,
  Bridgette
• 

  MadApostate

  This is somewhat off-topic, but when I saw the title of this thread, I thought the topic would be similar to the early-1990s Iraqi Women are SCUDS jokes.

  However, those do not necessarily hold true for many of the Afghanis.

  In 1997, I met an Afghani "lady" Doctor, who had fled to the US after the Taliban took power, and SHE WAS AN ABSOLUTE KNOCKOUT!
• 

  Pathofthorns

  I'd also like to see human rights elevated in the world. To sound like the WT, much of these problems are tied to fundamental religious thinking, making them extremely difficult for a quick fix.

  Religion in the middle-east especially has to evolve to become more tolerant. Unfortunately this will take time, and rushing it and forcing it will only polarize that part of the world against the west.

  Waging war in the interests of human rights (is that an oxymoron?) is a dangerous precedent. Would the US put it's own soldiers on the line to go into a country like China to free oppression there?

  Why was the US not concerned enough over the treatment of women in Afghanistan to act sooner? Quite simply because that is not an issue enough for US involvement. The issue is national security mingled with revenge and punishment.

  Liberating countries and 'freeing' people is not as beautiful and easy as it sounds. There are always an enormous amount of politics involved and what seems a simple and obvious solution is not always the case.

  Throw religion into the equation and a culture that is unfamiliar, what seems to be logical and reasonable from a western perspective might no longer be so.

  It is a disturbing thing to see suffering and then realize the politics that block the way to these people getting relief. Having the wealth and power to effect change is only part of the solution.

  Path

  (Bridgette, I like the stuff u write btw)