What Happens if We Leave Afghanistan
Her name is Bibi Aisha.
The Grossman Burn Centers Provides Care and Hope for Bibi Aisha from Afghanistan.
At 16, her father promised her hand in marriage and she was handed over to a large family, who she claims were all members of the Taliban in Oruzgan province. "I spent two years with them and became a prisoner," she says. Tortured and abused, she couldn't take it any longer and decided to run away. Two female neighbors promising to help took her to Kandahar province. But this was just another act of deception. When they arrived to Kandahar her female companions tried to sell Aisha to another man. All three women were stopped by the police and imprisoned. Aisha was locked up because she was a runaway. And although running away is not a crime, in places throughout Afghanistan it is treated as one if you are a woman. A three-year sentence was reduced to five months when President Hamid Karzai pardoned Aisha. But eventually her father-in-law found her and took her back home. That was the first time she met her husband. He came home from Pakistan to take her to Taliban court for dishonoring his family and bringing them shame. The court ruled that her nose and ears must be cut off. An act carried out by her husband in the mountains of Oruzgan where they left her to die. But she survived. And with the help of an American Provincial Reconstruction Team in Oruzgan and the organization Women for Afghan Women (WAW), she is finally getting help. The United Nations estimates that nearly 90 percent of Afghanistan's women suffer from some sort of domestic abuse. "Bibi Aisha is only one example of thousands of girls and women in Afghanistan and throughout the world who are treated this way. Aisha is reminded of that enslavement every time she looks in the mirror. But there still times she can laugh. And at that moment you see her teenage spirit escaping a body that has seen a lifetime of injustice.
“To know that so many can breath easier and live a better life because of your support is to know that we have all succeeded. The gift truly does belong to the giver.”
Comments (5)
Maybe I'm just old and cynical, but I think this is more about American women than Afghan women. Looks to me like an effort to rally enthusiasm for the war among a key constituency of the sitting government.
I agree with Dayuhan. The photo of the girl merely makes visible to those unfamiliar with radical Islam, the reality of radical interpretations of Sharia law. What is sad is that American liberals (who claim to speak for all American woman) who fear for Afghan women fail to see that the central issue is this: Will moderate Muslims fall to radical Muslims worldwide. Will Sharia law, as interpreted by radical Muslims cleric impose its view of the world and salvation on the Muslim community worldwide. Non Muslims will have a "problem" should the radicals win the day--if you think this is not the case I suggest you read "The Hadith" [at least those portions in English].
I agree with Peter. This atrocity actually happened while the US is IN Afghanistan, so its hard to see why this picture says anything positive about the mission. Having said that, I think we should avoid the opposite conclusion, that leaving or staying has no impact on events. The fact is, leaving WILL make it worse, not just for women but for all Afghans. Whether the current mode of "staying" is the best use of resources and whether the US taxpayer should commit trillions to that end is another question, but that things will get worse if the US leaves without establishing a reasonably secure Afghanistan is a no-brainer.
The reality of it all....is that our continued presence now...next year or a decade from now will make little difference to the cultural norms of Afghanistan. It is what it is...in western cultures, this horrific event is at the top of the human rights abuses.
All remember, this act was somehow justified under Islamic law..sharia law. The accurate name for Afghanistan is the.."Islamic Republic of Afghanistan"..not the "Republic of Afghanistan"..or just "Afghanistan"..but with the word "Islamic" as part of it formal name as a country.
As we approach over nine (9) years of "lost" strategies ( can you say..Iraqi Freedom), strategies of "winning the hearts and minds"..(can you say Korengal Valley)..of protecting the population..to training the ANA and ANP (now into its 6th year)...we have very little to show for the blood and guts of those lost or wounded in Afghanistan.
Did not someone in the best and the brightest in the Bush era administration note on the map..that Iran is to the west..and Pakistan is to the east and the "Stan's" or to the north. None of these country are or were exactly deep and enduring friends with the US (can you say (infidels"). A land locked country based on tribal and clan alliances...a border with Pakistan with some 45 million Pastun..with about 1/2 of the total in Afghanistan..and the other in Pakistan. The border ..you say...the tribes do not adhere or respect the border..only their tribal alliances.
All this we know. But, let us remind ourselves that going back to 1962 to 1973, in the Vietnam War..we had some of the best and the brightest..we also had a changing strategy....and all in all lost over 58,000 men and some 250,000 WIA. Did we make mistakes...yes, big time mistakes that most military and historical authors clearly point out now.
So, what is the point: We make mistakes...clearly we have made mistakes in Afghanistan and as such we must fine tune the mission to what it was in the early days....to make certain terrorist camps with a strategic threat to the US or our partners is never again able to strike.
Aside from that mission....most others may become less visible based on the realities of the culture, tribalism and religion of Afghanistan.
Paktia Khost, Ghazni Provinces/2003
I know that the title refers to an article, but since it is suggestively linked to the picture as a fear-mongering device, I think that a more factual caption would be "What happens while we're in Afghanistan and will continue to happen WHEN we leave." Even if we stay here for 15 years, crude and reactionary things are going to happen. Far more "Westernized" and "advanced" countries near Afghanistan have had recent incidents that could produce similar covers. It is a poor and emotionally shallow argument for a strategic course of action.
Bruce Reidel's unfortunate op-ed today similarly and irresponsibly heightened the drama behind the debate on Afghanistan by saying that "cut[ting] and run[ning]... would give Al Qaeda a world-changing victory, jeopardize the stability of Afghanistan and Pakistan and increase the threat to the American homeland." Whatever course of action the U.S. chooses to pursue in the coming years, to bill a possible outcome as a "world-changing victory" for Al Qaeda without further elaboration in a newspaper op-ed is the height of fear-mongering irresponsibility. The image conjured to the general public is that an eventual U.S. withdrawal will send AQ along the road to state-like status (like the world-changing international Communist threat) or re-establishment of the caliphate. Reidel knows better (or should), so his wording is inexcusable.
Responsible analysts need to recage this discussion in much more appropriate strategic terms and provide an honest assessment of potential end states without implying that atrocities like the one on the Time cover aren't happening now and won't happen in the event of a "victory", or that a decision to withdraw at some point in the coming years will hand AQ a "world-changing" victory. Comments like Reidel's are accomplishing AQ's delusionally overstated PR campaign for them.
Posted by Peter Munson | August 1, 2010 3:34 PM