On another note, a very special woman, Laura Conrad published this piece today in the Brunswickan, at the University of New Brunswick:

HALIFAX (CUP) – Speaking through a megaphone to a crowd of over 100 people outside Halifax’s Westin Hotel, suspended Afghanistan MP Malalai Joya made her anti-war message clear.

“The U.S. and allies occupied Afghanistan under the name of ‘war on terror,’ but today they themselves are terrorizing Afghan people, and have deep hidden deals with terrorist groups,” she told the crowd Nov. 21.

“We Afghans can’t expect freedom to be donated to us by the U.S., which itself is the biggest terrorist country in the world, and has imposed war, destruction and mass-killings in countless countries since World War II. Afghanistan and Iraq are just two of the most recent examples.”

Joya, deemed “bravest woman in the world” by BBC, was suspended from the Afghan parliament in 2007 because she was accused of insulting other representatives. She’s known for speaking out at political meetings and opposing other members, and her controversial positions have received much international attention and criticism. Joya has survived four assassination attempts and now travels with bodyguards.

She stopped in Halifax during a two-week tour across Canada giving public talks on freedom, democracy, and peace, while promoting her new memoir, “A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice.”

Joya happened to arrive in Halifax on the same weekend of the International Security Forum. The forum included discussions of Canada’s future role in the Afghanistan mission, piracy and Arctic security. Some of the speakers who attended the conference included Canadian defence minister Peter Mackay, U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates and Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Joya was denied an invitation to attend the conference. In response, she addressed the public protest outside the Westin Hotel where the conference was being held.

She explained her reasons for opposing NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, which are also outlined in her book.

“The Western governments not only betray Afghan people but their own people too. They are wasting taxpayers’ money and their soldiers’ blood for a war which only safeguards the interests of the big [corporations]; not only did it not defeat terrorists but made them more powerful, and today the world is more dangerous than it was in 2001.”

Little information about the future of the NATO mission was released from the International Security Forum. Joya told the people of Halifax the mission is doing more harm than good.

“We call on the withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan because they are making the situation more complicated day by day. It is the duty of our own people to fight for their liberation, even if it will require a hard, long and decisive struggle. Let our people decide about the future.”

Joya also told the Halifax audience how grateful she was for public support of freedom, democracy and peace.

“I would like to extend my salutations and deep thankful regards to anti-war movements around the world. I see a huge difference between the war monger governments of the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and other governments involved in Afghanistan, and the support and sympathies of justice-loving people of these countries.”

Despite uncertainty about the Afghan mission’s future, she says she’ll continue to oppose it.

“I will never stop to say again and again that no nation can liberate another nation. History has no such example. My people throughout history have fought for their independence, and are now on the verge of rising up against the U.S. and NATO.”

Joya also spoke at the national general meeting of the Canadian Federation of Students at the end of November.