Afghan Watch- New Blog Coming!!!

I feel that this new blog that is being proposed will fulfill a real need. I hope readers will check in and have a look at it from time to time, as it will hopefully fill in crucial gaps about the situation in Afghanistan and aid our understanding of the current conflict.

Democracy' in Afghanistan - Code for Occupation
June 2, 2009
MADRE, Feminist Majority Foundation, CODEPINK: Women for Peace, OneWorld US, New America Media, Afghan Watch, Reuters, Washington Post

WASHINGTON, Jun 2 (OneWorld.net) - A long-standing member of an Afghan women's association fighting for justice and rights calls for U.S. troops to withdraw, saying they are occupying her country under the misused slogans of liberation and democracy.

What's the Story?

Afghan women in a literacy class. United Nations Photo (flickr)Afghan women in a literacy class. © United Nations Photo (flickr)

"In 2001, the U.S. and its allies occupied Afghanistan under the beautiful slogans of 'war on terror,' 'women's rights,' 'liberation' and 'democracy,'" says Afghan rights activist Zoya in an interview published on PINKtank, a blog run by the grassroots peace and justice movement CODEPINK. "But when they installed the brutal and criminal warlords after the fall of the Taliban, everyone knew that Afghanistan had once again become a chessboard for world powers."

"The plight of our people, and especially of women, has been misused to legitimize the foreign military presence in our country," adds the activist, who uses a pseudonym to protect her identity.

Citing the U.S. government's lack of support for democratic organizations and the extreme poverty, insecurity, and dearth of women's rights still facing regular Afghans, Zoya proposes several solutions.

U.S. and NATO troops should immediately withdraw from Afghanistan, sanctions should be imposed on any foreign government that supports the Taliban, foreign governments should halt funds to warlords and drug lords fighting the Taliban, and warlords should be prosecuted in international courts for crimes against humanity, specifies Zoya.

The United States, she continues, has "has given billions of dollars" to the Afghan Northern Alliance, which the BBC News describes as a "disparate group of rebel movements united only in their desire to topple the ruling Taliban." The money has gone into the pockets of warlords and drug lords, says the activist.

In the interview, Zoya also explains her history with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), an organization she joined at 14 and found to be "the most serious, honest, radical, anti-fundamentalist, democratic organization fighting for justice and women's rights" in her country. (Read the full interview with Zoya below.)

U.S. Urged to Put Women and Children Front and Center

The human rights of Afghan women and girls must be central to any future U.S. foreign policy to gain peace and stability in the region, warns Dr. Sima Samar, chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

According to a report by the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF), Samar says: "People want accountability, transparency in the flow of aid to Afghanistan, and justice -- not impunity and support for those who violate human rights."

As President Barack Obama's administration concluded a review of U.S. policies toward Afghanistan in late March, Samar echoed Zoya's belief that, "for victory to be achieved, the U.S. must not re-arm the warlords who have terrorized the people, especially the women and girls."

FMF recently launched a campaign to "galvanize women's groups, campus and community activists, as well as ordinary citizens to help Afghan women and girls."

New U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan

President Obama recently unveiled a new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan that will employ "a broader approach aimed at disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan," reports Reuters.

Specifically, the president ordered an additional 17,000 U.S. soldiers to the beleaguered nation to supplement the 38,000 U.S. soldiers and 42,000 NATO troops already there.

The Obama administration has also "urged the international community to give more aid to Afghanistan to build infrastructure, expand its military and police, and ensure security for elections this year," notes the Washington Post.

Many peace and rights groups have expressed their staunch opposition to the military "surge" in Afghanistan.

Says the women's rights group MADRE: "Each year that the occupation drags on, more Afghan civilians are killed. In 2008 alone, more than 2,100 civilians were killed, a 40 percent jump over 2007."

Get the Voices from the Ground

To document the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan as the military and political strategy shifts in coming months, OneWorld.net has teamed up with the U.S.-based ethnic media network New America Media to present the new blog Afghan Watch.

The blog offers insights and analysis on the policy, politics, and on-the-ground realities of life in Afghanistan at a crucial moment in that country's history. The contributors are aid workers and researchers, policy experts and community organizers, Afghans and non-Afghans, in the United States and in Afghanistan.