Malalai Joya, called the “bravest woman in Afghanistan,” is finishing up a U.S. tour where she has pressed the Obama administration to pull the military out of her country. She says nothing could be worse for women than what she sees as the current civil war.
Surrounded by powerful men twice her age, Malalai Joya, then 27 and the youngest person elected to the Afghan parliament, raised her hand to speak. She denounced the warlords and drug traffickers in the government and stood up in favor of women’s rights.
That was 2005, four years after the United States invaded Afghanistan.
Two years later, Joya was expelled from parliament for criticizing the warlords who she says remain in control of the country under U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai.
Multiple times, her enemies have tried to kill her, forcing her to hide in safe houses and wear a burka.
Now, 31-year-old Joya, known widely as “the bravest woman in Afghanistan,” has come to the United States to promote her new book and deliver a message to the U.S. government as the Obama administration, according to widespread press reports, considers some level of troop buildup.
On tour from Oct. 23 to Nov. 12, she’s made the following demand in some two dozen engagements from New York to Los Angeles: “Leave my country as soon as possible.”
Joya is one of a handful of Afghan women speaking out against the occupation of Afghanistan and drawing attention to the worsening condition of women. Following the end of her U.S. tour, she will head to Canada for another round of speaking engagements.
Liberation for Afghan Women?
The United States billed the invasion of Afghanistan as a liberating moment for Afghan women.
“The last time we met in this chamber, the mothers and daughters of Afghanistan were captives in their own homes, forbidden from working or going to school,” President George W. Bush said in his 2002 State of the Union address. “Today women are free and are part of Afghanistan’s new government.”
Joya said the violence of occupation and the misogyny of the country’s current political leaders have made life worse.
“Woman’s situation is like hell,” said Joya in a speech at Brown University, as part of her tour, noting that a single hospital in Kabul reported more than 600 attempted suicides, primarily by women from 2008 to 2009.
Joya called the current regime under the recently re-elected President Karzai “mentally similar to the Taliban,” saying the government “only physically has been changed.”
She pointed to Karzai’s signing of the so-called “rape law” as evidence of the misogynist nature of his government. Following global outcry in April, Karzai vowed to change the law, which mandated that Shia women submit to sex with their husbands. A second version of the law, which permits Shia men to deny food to their wives if they do not obey sexual demands, was passed this summer.
Afghanistan is “sandwiched between two powerful enemies . . . external enemies and internal enemies,” said Joya. “It is much easier to fight against one enemy than against two.”
The Afghan presidential runoff election scheduled for Nov. 7 was cancelled and Karzai, the incumbent, declared the winner after his opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, who had accused Karzai of fraud, withdrew from the race Nov. 1.
More U.S. Troops for Support
Although the legitimacy of Karzai’s presidency remains in question due to charges of vote tampering, President Obama appears poised to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to support him.
Many in the United States, including Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, believe that a civil war would erupt in Afghanistan if U.S. troops withdrew.
Joya is among those who say that the country has already reached levels of violence that amount to a civil war and that the Afghan people should be trusted to take control.
“Democracy by war is impossible,” she said in response to a question at Brown University about who would provide security in the absence of the U.S. military. “Let us breathe in peace,” she said. “We know what to do with our destiny.”
Joya gained international recognition in 2003 when she spoke out against warlords and drug traffickers at the Afghan constitutional assembly. Addressing the “felons” who controlled the country, she called them anti-woman, demanded they be put on trial in international court and declared that history would never forgive them. She was then pushed out of the assembly room in a sea of both threats and applause.
After speaking at Brown, Joya met with Women’s eNews and recounted with a smile another speech in which she compared members of parliament to animals, attacking their integrity and usefulness. That got her banned from parliament and stripped of her formal political role, but she has not stopped speaking.
Joya has little security at her speaking events, even though, as she told Women’s eNews, she faces threats from allies of Afghan warlords in this country.
Worth the Threats?
When asked if it is worth the threats and the separation from her family, Joya, who became emotional when talking about her siblings back home, responds with stories about women and girls who have been raped, tortured and murdered in Afghanistan.
She tells of a 5-year-old girl killed for resisting a grown man’s attempts to rape her, another girl who begged for the right to divorce after her husband tortured her and hundreds of women who have burned themselves alive to escape nightmarish lives of poverty and abuse.
Sometimes she is unable to sleep at night after she has seen pictures of the horrors, she said. It is loyalty to “my people” that has brought her to the United States, where she has spoken to packed auditoriums and sold copies of her 2009 book, “A Woman Among Warlords.”
Joya said she wrote the book in order to communicate a small part of the sorrow and pain of her people and to reveal the truth about the warlords who were her peers in parliament. Although government officials have demanded Joya’s apology for insulting them, she does not believe she is the one who should be sorry.
“Someone had to do that and I did it . . . and I don’t regret it,” she said.
Re: Afghanistan’s bravest woman calls on US to leave
Afghanis hate the Americans from the bottom of their hearts
Jerome Starkey in Shinwar
“People hate the Americans from the bottom of their hearts,” Haji Akhtar Mohammed Shinwari said as he recalled how the US military had brought death to his homeland.
For residents of Shinwar, a village in distant Nangahar province, the message from President Karzai’s address yesterday that the Americans would hand over security over the next five years was disappointing.
At the village bazaar, Mr Shinwari told The Times that he could not wait that long. In 2007, a unit of special forces was speeding along a busy road a few miles from his village when they opened fire, killing 19 people and wounding 50. The unit responsible was sent home and the local US commander described the incident as a “stain on our honour”. He paid out almost $40,000 (£25,000) in compensation.
But trust, in Afghanistan’s conservative Pashtun belt, is hard won and easily forfeited. In the 20 months since the attack house raids by Nato troops had continued, Mr Shinwari, 44, said. More civilians had been killed, while little had been done to help ordinary people. “People don’t like their operations,” he said. “They search houses without permission, detain people without trial.”
In the neighbouring village of Rakhzi, Niaz Amin, a 20-year-old student, lost his older brother and grandfather in American operations last year. “We still don’t know why they did it,” he said. “When they came into the house I tried to speak to them in English but they shouted, ‘Don’t speak’.
“The first time they came my brother ran out and he was wounded by an airstrike. They took him to the hospital but brought back his body. Eight days later my grandfather was shot when he went out of the mosque.”
The Shinwar district, close to the border with Pakistan, has a reputation for smuggling. Its fierce hostility towards the Americans has made most of it a no-go area for foreign aid workers. Security officials claim that it is an occasional sanctuary for insurgents.
But many of the villagers’ complaints are more mundane. “When [the Americans] drive along the roads they don’t let anyone overtake them,” Mr Shinwari said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re transporting a dead body or a sick woman to hospital. Even if they get a puncture or break down, if it takes one hour or two days, they don’t let anybody overtake them.”
As The Times drove east yesterday from Jalalabad, the capital of Nangahar province, along tree-lined avenues flanked by orange groves, our car swerved on to the hard shoulder a few miles from the main Shinwar bazaar. A green laser from an American weapon flashed across our chests.
Drivers here have learnt the hard way. You pull over and stop to let the American convoys pass. It is a far cry from General Stanley McChrystal’s strategy of protecting the people.
The villagers’ complaints underline the difficulty that foreign forces face in trying to win over a wary population. Most US soldiers look at Shinwar and see a deathtrap, full of roadside bombs and Taleban ambushes.
Fazil Hakim, 36, a friend of Mr Shinwari, insisted that security in the area was fine. The only risk, he said, was being caught up in an attack against the Americans. “Wherever the troops are there’s instability. They bring problems with them,” he said.
Mr Shinwari added: “They should just stay in their bases. More troops won’t bring peace. We need economic development, not soldiers.”
Gerard Russell, a former British political attaché in Kabul, warned that the big foreign presence was hindering the Afghan Government. “There are many disadvantages to having foreign troops on the front line,” he said. “It’s holding the Afghans back and saving them from the need to solve their problems themselves. Until the Government realises this is a fight for its own survival it won’t make the tough decisions, and they won’t realise that as long as we [the international community] are in the way.”
Mr Karzai promised much yesterday: a complete handover of security control within five years, more roads and railways, a crackdown on corruption, plans to negotiate with the Taleban and for at least 40 per cent of foreign aid to be spent through his administration. He reiterated the need to eliminate civilian casualties at the hands of Nato forces.
Mr Shinwari said that a US aid agency had levelled the road in his village but that the most valuable development project had come from the Afghan Government, which gave his village almost $50,000 to improve an irrigation canal.
> They are not building roads but bombing Afghans. 70% parts are under Taliban so you can understand how much they want US or NATO in Afghanistan. There have been no winners in this war OF terror. Americans are losing their jobs back home and losing thousands soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"When the Qur'an is read, Listen to it with attention, And hold your peace: That ye may receive Mercy" ~ 7:204
"Then do ye remember Me; I will remember You. Be grateful to Me, And reject not Faith. ~ 2:152
Thanks very much for sharing! Malalai is probably admired for her bravery. And she is right, if she doesn't do it, if she doesn't speak out for Afghans, whether it be men, women, or children, then who will do it?
The second article talks about something that has always been there. I mean it's not that we hate Americans, but just don't like them in our country. It's true that most Afghans suffer because of this. If the Americans are known to be in one part of the place, people will usually avoid going there. They are not used to this. What they see are some foreign troops coming to their land and limiting their freedom. They just can't accept this and most likely they will fight until they are free, because for a long time they had to fight like this. A lot of Afghans have lost their lives due to this occupation. And every time Afghans lose their lives due to this, the locals hate even more them troops.
When is this freedom going to come, that when you walk on the street you know you are safe. When is that time going to come when it's safe for you to go back to your country. I hope soon inshaAllah.
Last edited by AabiruSabeel; 10-27-2009 at 06:12 AM.
Reason: Corrected Time & Date stamp
Re: Afghanistan’s bravest woman calls on US to leave
It should change the american/ British/foreign perspective that they are heroes coming to save the day and liberate these women, stop pushing your junk out on people to further your illegal occupations and looting. know that you are viewed as robbers and plunderers pillaging without having a commission from any sovereign nation, least of which the one you are invading. Parasites coming to feed off the blood of the innocent-- and it is time to get out!
That is how it should change things!
Text without context is pretext If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him
Re: Afghanistan’s bravest woman calls on US to leave
format_quote Originally Posted by Supreme
And this is going to change... what exactly? Afghans don't like being invaded, no one does, what's news?
Well keeping quiet does not do anything.
I was looking at myself talking to myself and I realized this conversation...I was having with myself looking at myself was a conversation with myself that I needed to have with myself.
Re: Afghanistan’s bravest woman calls on US to leave
format_quote Originally Posted by Guestfellow
Well keeping quiet does not do anything.
True, but this probably won't even make local news. The thing I don't understand is that the Afghans think they're the only people in history who don't like being invaded. No one likes being invaded. The Western powers never expected the Afghans to want us to incorporate their country into part of an empire.
It should change the american/ British/foreign perspective that they are heroes coming to save the day and liberate these women, stop pushing your junk out on people to further your illegal occupations and looting. know that you are viewed as robbers and plunderers pillaging without having a commission from any sovereign nation, least of which the one you are invading. Parasites coming to feed off the blood of the innocent-- and it is time to get out!
Stop kidding yourself. No one in this country believes we're in Afganistan to free women or save kids from burning buildings or helping pensioners cross the road or whatever- besides, with new laws enabling men to rape the wives, such a proposition is futile- we're not in there for the protection of Afghans. Most people in this country don't give two poos about the Afghans. We're in Afganistan to stop terrorist attacks in our country, supposedly. Yes, my sympathy is with the Afghans. However, it is misfortunate for them that bin Laden chose their chunk of land to settle in. Also, by 'illegal occupation', what do you mean? Is occupation of another land ever legal? Of course not.
Re: Afghanistan’s bravest woman calls on US to leave
^let us not live in disney land, ok supreme.
format_quote Originally Posted by Supreme
The thing I don't understand is that the Afghans think they're the only people in history who don't like being invaded.
Are you on weed? It would make sense if you don't attack with a straw man. Not a single person understand that Afghan are somehow saying or implying what you are currently smoking.
Their country is being invaded by your own people - the warmongers in the name of so called liberalism and eradicating terrorists. What the heck do you expect them to say other than "stop invading our countries"? The one who does not raise his voice is equally responsible for this invasion.
format_quote Originally Posted by Supreme
The Western powers never expected the Afghans to want us to incorporate their country into part of an empire.
more facts and less dream talking - their objective and aim from the start has been to control rich resourceful areas. What you say would make sense if this was their agenda. They do not need surety of what people wants because that is not their agenda or something they looked into.
This whole point is irrelevant to any discussion on this subject.
format_quote Originally Posted by Supreme
Stop kidding yourself. No one in this country believes we're in Afganistan to free women or save kids from burning buildings or helping pensioners cross the road or whatever
maybe you should also stop lying to yourself that there are many people in your countries who hold onto this idea which was propagated by your administration. Whether the whole idea a fat lie or not is whole different topic. The truth is that many of you still believe in this idea. You believe that somehow you are superior and Islamic rulings are inferior; therefore, you need to liberate those women from intolerance of Islam.
The whole things is tied to Islam something which you people always try to put aside and hide behind stupid irrelevant points.
format_quote Originally Posted by Supreme
We're in Afganistan to stop terrorist attacks in our country, supposedly. Yes, my sympathy is with the Afghans. However, it is misfortunate for them that bin Laden chose their chunk of land to settle in.
same terrorists which you created with your own hands. Shouldn't it be your own people suffering because of doings of your own administration and not others? Some time bin Laden is in Pakistan and other times in Afghanistan. Maybe it is about time we stop this hide and seek game. How come US army does not directly attack Pakistan?
عن تميم بن أوس الداري أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: قال الدين النصيحة ثلاثا قلنا لمن يا رسول الله قال لله ولكتابه ولرسوله ولأئمة المسلمين وعامتهم - رواه مسلم
Re: Afghanistan’s bravest woman calls on US to leave
format_quote Originally Posted by Supreme
True, but this probably won't even make local news. The thing I don't understand is that the Afghans think they're the only people in history who don't like being invaded. No one likes being invaded. The Western powers never expected the Afghans to want us to incorporate their country into part of an empire.
There are many things that do not make the local news, does not mean we should all of a sudden stop reporting events.
Yes Afghanistan is not the only country that has been invaded in history. Of course other countries have been invaded in the past too. It still does not make it right to invade other countries, occupy them and terrorize them.
It is not about been invaded itself. It is about foreigners coming to your country, killing innocent civilians including people that you knew. What is the point of liberating people when you end of killing them and force your way of life upon them. That is what they don't like.
It is a disgusting war based upon fart rather than logic and facts. There was no need to go to war with Afghanistan, it made things worse and this war will only encourage more terrorism.
I was looking at myself talking to myself and I realized this conversation...I was having with myself looking at myself was a conversation with myself that I needed to have with myself.
Re: Afghanistan’s bravest woman calls on US to leave
Are you on weed? It would make sense if you don't attack with a straw man. Not a single person understand that Afghan are somehow saying or implying what you are currently smoking.
I understand that English may not be your first language, however; with all respect, I'm not sure what you're saying here.
Their country is being invaded by your own people - the warmongers in the name of so called liberalism and eradicating terrorists. What the heck do you expect them to say other than "stop invading our countries"? The one who does not raise his voice is equally responsible for this invasion.
I know very well who is in Afghanistan- when did I deny it?
more facts and less dream talking - their objective and aim from the start has been to control rich resourceful areas. What you say would make sense if this was their agenda. They do not need surety of what people wants because that is not their agenda or something they looked into.
That may be parft of the reason, although do you have a source from a reputable news company that suggests as such? The entire reason why so many more people think Afghanistan isn't as wrong as Iraq is because they genuinely believe it's being fought for the security of the peoples at home, and even if that weren't true, the fact that bin Laden is in Afghanistan at least justifies such an excuse.
terrorists which you created with your own hands. Shouldn't it be your own people suffering because of doings of your own administration and not others? Some time bin Laden is in Pakistan and other times in Afghanistan. Maybe it is about time we stop this hide and seek game. How come US army does not directly attack Pakistan?
Bin Laden did take it out on the West, via 9/11. It just so happens that the West has far better intelligence services than those in the Middle East, hence why it is far harder for al Queda to attack Western targets effectively. Also, the US does occasionally attack Pakistan via drones, but the Pakistanis rightly abhor any such action on their soil. And Pakistan has nukes. Lots of them.
Re: Afghanistan’s bravest woman calls on US to leave
There are many things that do not make the local news, does not mean we should all of a sudden stop reporting events.
True, but it does shed some light on just how insignificant an event is.
Yes Afghanistan is not the only country that has been invaded in history. Of course other countries have been invaded in the past too. It still does not make it right to invade other countries, occupy them and terrorize them.
Of course not, and I'm not saying it does make it OK. I'm just saying there are people on here who think the West thinks Afghanistan likes being invaded, when it doesn't and the West knows it doesn't. We're not in Afghanistan for the thrills and fun of it, and we're not going to pull out simply because the local populace does not appreciate it- the only way we could pull out if a) the government deemed the mission a failure or b) the people who live in the Western nations take action to show how much they hate the war, and even that may not do the trick, as it didn't in Vietnam.
It is not about been invaded itself. It is about foreigners coming to your country, killing innocent civilians including people that you knew. What is the point of liberating people when you end of killing them and force your way of life upon them. That is what they don't like
.
The only way people are 'forcing their way of life' on the Afghans is by democracy. And even that isn't really democratic, what with Karzai being a corrupt President and deliberately forging the election. Also, more Afghans are being killed by the Taliban than foreign troops. Should it matter whether the person killing you is foreign or not? Not that it matters, the Taliban are also (largely) a foreign occupying force, consisting of Uighers, Pakistanis, Arabs and Chechnyans.
It is a disgusting war based upon fart rather than logic and facts. There was no need to go to war with Afghanistan, it made things worse and this war will only encourage more terrorism.
No one is going to war with Afghanistan anymore. That was eight years ago, Afghanistan lost, a new government was installed. Now, instead of going to war with Afghanistan, the West is going to war in Afghanistan.
Re: Afghanistan’s bravest woman calls on US to leave
format_quote Originally Posted by Supreme
Of course not, and I'm not saying it does make it OK. I'm just saying there are people on here who think the West thinks Afghanistan likes being invaded, when it doesn't and the West knows it doesn't. We're not in Afghanistan for the thrills and fun of it, and we're not going to pull out simply because the local populace does not appreciate it- the only way we could pull out if a) the government deemed the mission a failure or b) the people who live in the Western nations take action to show how much they hate the war, and even that may not do the trick, as it didn't in Vietnam.
I see.
The only way people are 'forcing their way of life' on the Afghans is by democracy. And even that isn't really democratic, what with Karzai being a corrupt President and deliberately forging the election. Also, more Afghans are being killed by the Taliban than foreign troops. Should it matter whether the person killing you is foreign or not? Not that it matters, the Taliban are also (largely) a foreign occupying force, consisting of Uighers, Pakistanis, Arabs and Chechnyans.
Well what I meant is the Afghans never had the chance to establish how they want to rule their country. The international community makes matter worse. The Taliban would not have gotten in power if the America did not hand them over weapons. Now the Taliban have been removed, and now the Afghans have a government that are just as corrupt.
It is a pointless process. Nothing is working.
I was looking at myself talking to myself and I realized this conversation...I was having with myself looking at myself was a conversation with myself that I needed to have with myself.
Re: Afghanistan’s bravest woman calls on US to leave
format_quote Originally Posted by Supreme
Also, by 'illegal occupation', what do you mean? Is occupation of another land ever legal? Of course not.
Well, yes. It is perfectly possible for an occupation to be legal. In the case of Afghanistan the US and NATO have an explicit UN mandate. They also have the explicit permission of what is the internationally recognized government of Afghanistan.
Legality isn't the issue here, it is whether NATO involvement in this war is 1. moral and 2. effective.
Re: Afghanistan’s bravest woman calls on US to leave
format_quote Originally Posted by islamiclife
The whole things is tied to Islam something which you people always try to put aside and hide behind stupid irrelevant points.
I disagree. It is naive to think the US is willing to expend blood and treasure in order to 'save' people from 'Islam'. Islam is not the core issue here at all. After all, the US has perfectly good relations with the overwhelming majority of Muslim nations, including those that more fully implement Islamic rulings, such as Saudi Arabia.
US involvement in the Afghan war is much more about real-politik than about ideology. The US would be perfectly willing to tolerate Islamic rule, if it did not consider such rule a threat to its national security. It does consider the Taliban a threat, while it does not consider Saudi regime a threat.
I think it is a mistake to think US foreign policy (let alone military interventions) are guided by some anti-Islamic ideology. The mere fact that they invaded Iraq to topple what was essentially a secular and socialist dictator should show us as much. Iraq is considerably more 'Islamic' now than it was in the Saddam-era.
Re: Afghanistan’s bravest woman calls on US to leave
format_quote Originally Posted by Guestfellow
Well what I meant is the Afghans never had the chance to establish how they want to rule their country. The international community makes matter worse. The Taliban would not have gotten in power if the America did not hand them over weapons. Now the Taliban have been removed, and now the Afghans have a government that are just as corrupt.
It is a pointless process. Nothing is working.
Yeah .
Some people want to idealize this conflict and frame it as a war of 'Islam' vs. 'the West'. This happens both in the West and among Muslims. It is turned into a lot more than it really is IMHO.
But lets be honest here, there is a civil war going on in Afghanistan. If all Western forces would leave tomorrow there would still be a war going on. Just like the war continued after the Soviets left in 1989. The Taliban never controlled the whole country. Nor are they likely to control the whole country any time soon were the US to 'cut and run'. If only they would actually. At least then there'd be a real government with which you can talk and negotiate. Chaos is the last thing the US wants, because it is in such an environment that extremists like Al-Qaeda can thrive.
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