Another look at Afghanistan

[morgan_dhu]

As Canadians consider whether we want to extend our involvement in the NATO military mission in Afghanistan for another two years, and possibly longer, it may be instructive for us to consider the words of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) on just what's happening with the mission so many of us think is all about restoring peace, security and democracy to Afghanistan. In a communique entitled "The US and Her Fundamentalist Stooges are the Main Human Rights Violators in Afghanistan," issued December 10, 2007 (Universal Human Rights Day), RAWA states, among other things, that:

After about seven years, there is no peace, human rights, democracy and reconstruction in Afghanistan. On the contrary, the destitution and suffering of our people has doubled everyday. Our people, and even our unfortunate children, fall victim to the Jehadis’ infighting (Baghlan incident), the Taliban’s untargeted blasts and the US/NATO’s non-stop bombardments. The Northern Alliance blood-suckers, who are part of Karzai’s team and have key government posts, continue to be the main and the most serious obstacle towards the establishment of peace and democracy in Afghanistan. The existence of tens of illegal private security companies run by these mafia bands are enough to realize their sinister intentions and the danger they pose.

Human rights violations, crime, and corruption have reached their peak, so much so that Mr. Karzai is forced to make friendly pleas to the ministers and members of the parliament, asking them to “keep some limits”! Accusations about women being raped in prisons were so numerous that even a pro-warlord woman in the parliament had no choice but to acknowledge them.

Of course, RAWA spent years trying to get the world to pay attention to what the Taliban was doing to the Afghan people, particularly the women, and no one really thought anything about it until Americans were attacked by some people, primarily Saudi Arabians, who had some tenuous connections with the Taliban. At which time the West responded by bombing the Afghan people, who couldn't even be "bombed into the stone age" because decades of invasions and civil collapse had already done that for them - and claiming that it wasn't just revenge, it was for women's rights. Remember all those pretty speeches about schools for girls and getting rid of burqas?

So I'm thinking that no one's going to pay much attention now when RAWA tries to tell us that we're doing exactly the same thing that the Taliban, and the warlords, and the Russians, were doing before. Because it's never really about the people, especially the women, and what they think, need or want.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

We are in that strange inter-regnum where a new government has been elected and the new lower house has taken their seats but the Senate does not change until 1 July, bringing back all the old problems of one party controlling the lower house and another the upper. So there is thought once again to fixing the terms. The Senate here has three months to pass any bill - but failure to do so can only lead to a double dissolution which is just not going to happen. (Can this happen in Canada?)

So there is once again interest in the idea of fixing terms - which will require a constitutional change. This is normally popular because elections are unpopular. If however, the idea is not working in Canada then that will cause a re-think here.

I take it that the polls in Canada favour the Conservatives at the moment.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

The defeat of a bill in our Senate does not affect the standing of the House because our Senate is appointed and thus confidence votes are not allowed.

The polls slightly favour the Conservatives - the gap is anywhere from five to ten points on any given day. But the numbers aren't high enough to suggest they would gain a majority. However, Harper (Conservative leader and PM) does consistently out-poll Dion (Liberal leader) as best person for PM. Like I said, it's crazy time here.