Afghani Women Left to Clean Up Mess of US Invasion

I received another email update from RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan). These are the courageous women who have fought for their dignity against the Soviets, the warlord rape squads, and the Taleban.

Their photos of the atrocities committed by all sides in Afghanistan have been shown around the world. Their most famous video, you may remember, is of a woman being shot in the head in a soccer stadium. George Bush and the US press used that video over and over to justify the invasion of the country.

Indeed, Mr. Bush just boasted at Elmendorf, "From the deserts of Iraq to the mountains of Afghanistan, America's Arctic Warriors are leaving their mark, and leaving a legacy of freedom."

You will also remember the cant and crowing of Pres. Bush about Afghanistan's women now being free. Unfortunately, according to RAWA, since the US went off to destroy Iraq, women in Afghanistan continue to suffer brutality and bestiality...

The most recent communique from RAWA paints a tragic picture of women under the heel of warlords, former Taleban become American sycophants, and fundamentalist fanatics. Reporting at the Kwangju Forum for Asian Human Rights in South Korea, RAWA representative Mariam Rawi told the conference participants

"People of the world should know that in the so-called 'liberated' Afghanistan, Afghan women are still suffering harshly," she said, citing the case of Amina, an Afghan woman stoned to death under a local court decree in northern Afghanistan in April this year.

"One elderly government official wanted to take a nine-year-old schoolgirl as his third wife, because his other two wives were uneducated and he wanted a literate wife."

In August, an 18-year-old girl was reportedly arrested in Herat province for running away with her boyfriend and was gang raped by officers at the police station. None of the cases documented by RAWA have been taken to court.

"The majority of women in Afghanistan are not happy - statistics show more than 95 per cent of the women have depression problems. Every 30 minutes, a woman dies in pregnancy, childbirth or from other gynaecological problems."

Ms Rawi said RAWA's main weapon against Islamic fundamentalist oppression was education. About 86 per cent of women in Afghanistan are illiterate.

I ask you to pass on this story. Visit their web site and see for yourselves the atrocities and barbarity these women have suffered. Ask yourself why the US left the job of liberating Afghanistan undone, to such tragic consequences.