Don't forget about the state of women in Afghanistan.

Remember how one of the advantages of us invading Afghanistan was supposed to be how it would liberate women from the yoke of the Taliban?

Well, not to defend the truly despicable and sexist actions of the Taliban, but anyone who knew anything about Afghanistan could have spotted that one was a whopper -- considering that the Taliban were often not so much sexist thugs as ethnic cleansing thugs who hid their racism behind sexism (persecuting women from tribes/groups they did not like in the name of enforcing religiously based sexual mores) and also that, in many cases, women themselves welcomed Sharia because even under its most sexist (mis-)interpretations it was still kinder to women than many tribal laws were.

So of course, not unpredictably, in many areas of Afghanistan, women are still as bad off as ever (and of course the Taliban are back besides) ... way to go, Bush & CO (see: I'm a poet / and I do know-it).

This is depressing, but ultimately looking at one country or another country only is a very limited lens. I understand that Iraq is under the spotlight these days because of the U.S. war there, and that makes it pertinent, but the larger issue is still the condition of women worldwide. We shouldn't allow a focus on Iraq to filter that out, because worldwide action can really only be taken at the United Nations.

I’ve posted once before about Laura Bush speaking on the radio address about her concern over women in Afghanistan. It was more like an adherence to war than a heart felt ambitious gesture to uplift women from the deplorable subjection they live in; otherwise wouldn’t she still be rallying the call?
We’ll hear nothing from her. What a shame to waste such an important position as a role model for Christianity and women around the globe. I don’t think the so called conservatives should be let off the hook for ignoring the ugly rubble left behind as the troops roll through. This is a life issue. We are talking about human lives!
The Dancing Girls of Lahore by Louise Brown is a fantastic documentary style book that explains different religious sects; the Sunni and Shia, as well as, the veils; dupatta, the chador and the burqa and their significance in the caste system. It’s about women in the red light district in Pakistan. Women who are raped are worthless, poor women who have no choice but to sell there bodies are deemed worthless, married women are worthless. So when I rant about Laura Bush, it’s because she epitomizes the uselessness of women by abandoning her voice just because her husband has sold himself to the far right. UGH.
Hey Ms. Bush, Edna Ferber would not like you!