Too many balls in the air...
by mrbill-
In reply to
A great documentary I mis ...
We needed to finish this one before we started another. It is almost impossible to change the religious mindset of these Islamics. They have been oppresing women for about a thousand years, they are not going to change overnight. We need to start re-educating the young men into thinking of women as humans and not property, this will take years if not generations. `
OZ I think that the COW got carried away
by HAL 9000 Moderator
In reply to
It's not something these ...
A great documentary I missed the first time
A detailed one hour look into the lives of Afghani women before and after the war, showed the results were not long lived.
Kandahar women must still wear a borqa anytime they are outdoors or else they will be beaten with sticks or anything people can find. Kandahar is still mainly occupied by the Taliban followers and operatives, even though there are schools for women, most are afraid to try and go to them, Others face armed thugs at the doors, instead of security, that often harass and humiliate the women publicly.
In the ?better off? areas of Afghanistan women flocked to Dr. Simi Samar, who I?m sure pretty much everyone is aware of by now, was the women?s affairs minister in Afghanistan until the interim government threw her out for suspected slurs against Islamic principals. She was forgiven for this after explaining she was misquoted by a Canadian reporter and then she was thrown from her position for showing her naked head in public and encouraging other women to do so.
She founded Shuhada Organization http://www.shuhada.org/ , ?a non-governmental and non-profit organization committed to the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan with special emphasis on the empowerment of women and children.?
She has been to the French consulate, The Russian consulate and British Consulates in Afghanistan and had no help in increasing security at these schools and hospitals, where Afghan women are trying desperately to build new lives. It?s seen as too expensive logistically. She met with personal friends of the US consulate and still was denied security funding or troops to support policing these areas where bombings are a constant reminder of the war with the Taliban.
When the female reporter visited Kandahar before the war, she was abducted and taken to a Taliban encampment, where she had ?one long sleepless night? with ?searchlights though my window every 30 seconds.?
In the morning she was released and thrown out of Kandahar.
Upon returning for the first time since the war the area is mainly Taliban occupied, DAMN scary looking place, not the usual bright sunny skies over top of little mud huts, but actually reminiscent of a red light district or underground. There wasn?t a woman in sight and the reporter was quickly shooed off by Taliban. This is AFTER the war.
While walking with what were supposed to be free women in Afghanistan, a group of local men were outside a small shop like building and were swearing at the women and waving sticks at them. When asked why, they said it is wrong that these women are showing their heads in public here, and criticized the reporter as a trouble-making infidel who was not wanted in their land.
The women do not have the freedoms we are lead to believe they have, the Taliban may be gone from the most populated centers of Afghanistan but for the most part, everyone still fears the Taliban in Kandahar. The general population still consists of Islamic fundamentalists
When Dr. Sumara was exiled from Afghanistan after being ousted from the Interim government (which was mainly filled with known Taliban supporters) she was ?rescued? by the UN and protected by them. She claims the UN is the most important force in Afghanistan now but are simply too few in number.
Very interesting story and it really makes you think. Will they actually survive the fight now and keep their heads above water or are they going to fall straight back into the same former repression they always lived under. Judging by the interviews with Islamic fundamentalists, and leaders and footage shown, I would say at this point it looks worse than it looks good. It IS possible I think to turn it around, but not with the current lack of restoration funding and troop support in the form of security and plain presence. Daily bombing still occur, ordinary residents still seek to harm the ?infidels? and Taliban operatives still have the majority rule in Kandahar.
Women are still not allowed to be in public without a borqa, they still get spit on and it with sticks in Kandahar.
Have we forgotten Afghanistan? I know we still have troops there but in such small numbers they are hardly effective. They are under funded in their rebuilding of infrastructure and providing security during the rebuilding and liberation phase.
As one woman said
?We are still a LONG way from freedom.?
This conversation is currently closed to new comments.