Not in My Name President Obama, Please!

We should be able to see rather plainly that our troops in Afghanistan are being asked to prop up men who should not be! Bring them home or have that tough talk with the Afghan president about what we will and will not tolerate as we try to help them.

clipped from www.ipsnews.net MELBOURNE, Jul 13 (IPS) - It is easy to understand why epithets such as brave and courageous often accompany the name of Malalai Joya. Slight of stature and serenely demure, the young Afghan woman’s past and present encapsulate the plight of her countrywomen. Malalai Joya returned to Afghanistan in 1998 - she had spent most of her life until then in refugee camps in Iran and Pakistan - as an underground volunteer educator of girls, a decidedly dangerous and difficult role given that the hardline Taliban were in power. It is true that in some big cities like Kabul, like Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif, some women have access to jobs and education but in most of the provinces, not only is there no justice at all - even in the capital - but in faraway provinces the situation of women is becoming more disastrous. The killing of women is like killing a bird today in Afghanistan.